LIGHTS OUT, BERLIN! (GERMANY) BY DIMITRIS ARGYRIOU

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Synopsis: Lights Out, Berlin! is a documentary about the effects of the covid-19 pandemic in Berlin's music & club scene. Berlin has always been a vivid and colourful city. A city that was full of inspiring spots, artistic opportunities, and loud nightlife. A city with a huge cultural background that was for two years on hold. Running time: 01:30:00.

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UNSINKABLE (IRELAND) BY PETER GROGAN, ALAN CORCORAN

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Synopsis: The story of Alan Corcoran’s unprecedented 500-kilometre sea swim for charity has all the hallmarks of a fascinating documentary. With the stunning backdrop of Northern Ireland and Ireland’s wild coastline, the story tells the succession of challenges faced during such a monumental undertaking. Raising €30,000 for cancer and stroke charities in memory of his dad, it’s a film that explores a person’s journey through grief, using the swimming project to channel negative emotions into a meaningful, hopeful, inspiring adventure. Running time: 01:00:00.

 

Selections/awards: Wales IFF (Documentary Feature - Jury's Special Prize), Prague IIFF (Best Documentary), Docs Without Borders FF (Outstanding Excellence Award), London International Monthly FF (Best Feature Film), Spotlight Documentary Film Awards (Documentary Feature Gold Award), and more.

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SOLO (POLAND) BY MACIEJ PISAREK

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Synopsis: There are 13 streetcar stops from the place where Boguslaw Schaeffer lives to the center of Krakow. The composer assumes that he ought to work out 13 ideas during the ride. In the streetcar he sits along with a notebook and composes as the trip goes. “Solo” is a journey with Schaeffer to the roots of his unusual art. Running time: 00:55:13.

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Selections/awards: FIFA Montreal (Grand Prix), Music On Film Film On Music Prague (Grand Prix).

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TAIYUAN MUSICAL NOTES (CHINA) BY LI QING

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Synopsis: Well-known female singer Wang Yunyi hates her stage name, so she devises a hundred ways to "kill" herself and the name. Li Qing, a middle-aged man, hopes to learn singing from Wang, but the two have starkly different worldviews. Their only common element is that both suffer from major depressive disorder. The film starts with music but deals with the ancient philosophical question of whether life has meaning. The five days of daily life show the spiritual crisis of our time. Running time: 01:11:00.

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ATMOSPHERIC MARGINALIA (USA) BY ADAM E. STONE

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Synopsis: Equal parts poetic essay film and family folklore, Atmospheric Marginalia is an enchanting probe into a pair of star-crossed lovers and misfits, the continuing bonds theory of grief, and the existence of an afterlife. Steeped in the tradition of raw, no-budget guerrilla filmmaking, it was filmed entirely by hand on an unmodified iPhone 8 in 2020 and 2021, without the use of tripods, external lenses, lighting aids, etc. The film's free-flowing cycles of imagery feature unconventional palettes of unpeopled skyscapes and waterscapes that evoke, in rich and enigmatic detail, a world that often remains hidden in plain sight. Running time: 01:15:07.

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Selections/awards: Brussels Independent FF, and more.

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G318 (CHINA) BY LI TAO

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Synopsis: In China, there is a highway from Shanghai to Tibet. It stretches 5,476km from east to west, crosses the three steps of China's terrain and runs opposite to the surging Yangtze River. This is National Highway 318. On the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, a motorcade set out from the coast of the East China Sea along this Chinese national highway. It took 36 days and traveled thousands of miles. On October 1, the motorcade arrived at the Jilong Port in Tibet, and presented its gifts to the motherland. Director Li Tao, a man with a machine, recorded the "Long March" of a group of people from a third person perspective. This is the first road documentary film in China to display the culture of National Highway 318. It took three years to unveil the magnificent mountains and rivers of the motherland and the upward spirit of all the way to the audience. Running time: 01:25:00.

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SHIVERING WALL (TAIWAN) BY TSENG YU CHIN

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Synopsis: A dark room. A reverberating bass. A languid heap of teenaged bodies at a house party. A heavy atmosphere. A slight smog represents a spirit in the space. Is the spirit someone else? Is the smog another you – a parallel you from another world to look at your own body in this group full of chaos and desire? All you can do silently look down at your body, and move away quietly. Running time: 00:10:00.

 

Selections/awards: Super Shorts London, Amsterdam Independent FF, Brussels Independent FF, and more.

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TO AMERICA (USA) BY ARYA JO SINGH

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Trailer

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Synopsis: In an effort to defend her “American-ness”, an Indian-American teenager writes a poem about her dual identity. Running time: 00:04:24.

 

Selections/awards: Venice Film Week, Doc.Boston, New Jersey Independent FF, Doc.London.

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