The Contest

Biopic about legendary Turkmen philosopher and poet, Makhtoumkuli, who was also known as Fragi.

Biographical film about Eyne Kuliyeva, who was the first woman to be the head of a local governance in 1920s Soviet Turkmenistan.

In 2020, the World was closed. Life got cancelled. People were struggling. Here’s an emotional and entertaining true story shot live, during the pandemic, about courageous people who came together, despite the risk, to share their love with one another. The film opens in Times Square on NYE 2020. Everything seemed right with the World. Fast-forward six months into the pandemic, hundreds of artists from all different performance art genres are invited to come together over the course of several consecutive days, culminating in a group costume parade event on 10/10/2020 to witness the only live performances happening ANYWHERE. The goal was to lift each other's spirits during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. There were over a dozen genres represented including acrobatics, live music, magic, dance, and even a wedding. Dozens of unscripted live interviews were recorded and the event proved a huge success. The film captures the rawness of what it was like living during this unprecedented time.

A short poem from the perspective of a non-believer, that questions the realism of religious creation, using basic emotions as a motif.

Set in the mid-1950s when Tangier was still an international zone, El Chergui presents the city on the eve of its independence, as Aïcha resorts to magical practices to try to prevent her husband from taking a second wife. Around her, a society of women creates its own form of active resistance even as the larger independence movement grows around it. Through his unique use of montage, Smihi creates arresting images that present a society torn by the contradictions of colonialism, religion, patriarchy, and resistance. (Block Cinema)

A story of two boys who obstinately, in spite of everything and everyone run to the front when the war was almost over.

A social drama. The period of the Second World War in Turkmenia. In Central Asia the deportation program of the Soviet citizens of German origin begins. All adults are taken to camps in Siberia and children are put in orphanages. The six-year old Georg hides from the Red soldiers and finds himself left almost alone in his, now abandoned, German village. The horrifying reality sets in. The daily routine of his life is shocking: What to eat? How to take care of his sick friend Yashka? How to bury Aunt Lisa? Under these inhuman circumstances, the soul of Georg remains miraculously uncorrupt – he still believes in Little Angel from a children’s song, and he makes a nest for it in a tree. A miracle takes place: sometimes a glass of milk is left for Georg in the nest; sometimes an ear of corn...

A poetic, semi-autobiographical short film of the sun setting over a village, shot from behind the curtains of a small, dimly lit room.

A film about the dramatic lives of the people living in the village of Ráztoka during WW I. Women are left without husbands, families fall apart, finding themselves on the verge of poverty. Eva, the main heroine, is going through difficulties after her husband was drafted to the army. Her defilement and her tragic death cause a rebellion by which the village inhabitants finally stand up against their unbearable situation.

When she arrives in a new world, Isabela is tasked with discovering her true essence. Watched by Shadow, the guardian of this ghostly place, Isabela meets other travelers and reevaluates her memories, relationships and emotions.

The film is about a Turkmen who defends his homeland from invasion. He is captured, tortured, and brainwashed into serving his homeland's conquerors. He is so completely turned that he kills his mother when she attempts to rescue him from captivity.

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In Turkmen language, Atlan means "mount a horse and depart". Horse is the most important element in the life of Iranian Turkmen. That's why courses are some of the most significant social events in their land, Turkmen Sahara. Turkmen Sahara is a region in north eastern Iran and is homeland to Iranian Turkmen. Ali is a Turkman with his life, like many of his peers', intertwined with courses. Now his wedding depends on his success in courses. This documentary film is about Iranian horses.

A poetic film about ancient Lithuanian traditions and rituals.

A young Jewish girl, Terezka Zágorová, hides in Wallachia from the threat of deportation during World War II.

A young man visits the memory booth to recall his childhood and the accident in which he lost his parents during a journey to a beach house.

A village man living in the Turkmen Sahra of Iran makes the periodic trip to his aging parent's house, bringing them food and checking on them. They reside alone in the region's barren hinterland, where they have refused to move into town with him. From there, one witnesses a day in their daily life together. English subtitles are included.

A poetic and contemplative journey of harmony between different forms of life that coexist on the earth. This film is a meditation on the effect of time, movement of the human spirit, and passage to new forms of life, through the eyes, ears, and bodies of three elderly land workers living in a small community in the outskirts of Bauta, Cuba.

A short film following Anthony, a young child from the small, rural town of San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba. We see him in different moments of his daily life as he interacts with different forms of environmental, familial, and social influences. While Anthony displays contradictory traits of creativity, destruction, rigidity, and tenderness as he interacts with his external and internal worlds, we see a story built from the the multidimensionality of Anthony's layered personality as a young man.

A personal, poetic essay film exploring eye contact, social anxiety, and the nature of connection between self and other.