Geislemacher

The Day of the Dead is one of the most deeply rooted and celebrated traditions in our country and when this festivity takes place in a magical town, the event becomes something memorable. The Day of the Dead tradition in Huautla de Jiménez, Oaxaca begins on October 27 with the arrival of the chá to xo´o´ and the celebration lasts six days. Hand in hand with its inhabitants, we will take a tour to witness all the colors, smells, flavors, sounds, textures, and visions that surround this ancestral festival and that of the Mazatecs.

This is not just a “folkumentary”, but an invitation to reflect on the future of humanity on a planet where tradition and technology coexist, and where the unknown reminds us that there are still unanswered questions.

In this layered short film, filmmaker Janine Windolph takes her young sons fishing with their kokum (grandmother), a residential school survivor who retains a deep knowledge and memory of the land. The act of reconnecting with their homeland is a cultural and familial healing journey for the boys, who are growing up in the city. It’s also a powerful form of resistance for the women.

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Click for full movie details & trailers.

Highlighting the unique culture of the Zapotec people of Oaxaca, Mexico, this groundbreaking documentary chronicles the lives of those who identify as muxes, a widely recognized third gender.

Nestled behind high mountains and dark forests lies Triberg, the birthplace of the cuckoo clock. For centuries, this cult item has been handcrafted right here, attracting tourists from all over the world. Ever since the boom of the 1980s has faded, the cuckoo clock has gradually lost its appeal and magic. And so has the place, which now resembles a ghost town. Its residents however still believe in their clock: Vendors, clockmakers and tourist guides alike fight to preserve their beloved heritage. Between abandoned restaurants and souvenir shops they hope for new tourists, while the clock continues ticking away.

The Kalaallit people of Greenland have been intimately connected to the eternal ice for millennia. These massive glaciers stand as records of ancient eras of the planet – but recently they began disappearing. As the foundation of their traditions literally melts beneath their feet, members of the Kalaallit community work with artists to capture the images and stories of a vanishing landscape and way of life.

The oldest Quebecois Benedictine convent open its gates to a documentary filmmaker for the first time. Observed up close, life behind its walls is busier than one would expect. About twenty cloistered nuns, most of them over 70, share their daily life with diligence and humor. A contemplative portrait of a community of sisterhood and solidarity emerges, punctuated by prayer, work and games evenings.

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The story is set at the beginning of the 20th century in Sicily. Salvatore, a very poor farmer, and a widower, decides to emigrate to the US with all his family, including his old mother. Before they embark, they meet Lucy. She is supposed to be a British lady and wants to come back to the States. Lucy, or Luce as Salvatore calls her, for unknown reasons wants to marry someone before to arrive to Ellis Island in New York. Salvatore accepts the proposal. Once they arrive in Ellis Island they spend the quarantine period trying to pass the examinations to be admitted to the States. Tests are not so simple for poor farmers coming from Sicily. Their destiny is in the hands of the custom officers.

IJswee is a documentary film about an ice club, a village and the warm winters. In the film we follow Oringers, the inhabitants of Odoorn, through the winter. The Oringers all experience IJswee in their own way. You will also see the Icecounter (Rafael van der Ziel), who builds ice sculptures and drinks frozen milk. You see the Drenthe countryside changing with the weather. You see animations, archive material and you hear the mysterious sounds of IJswee in the music of Wietse de Haan. And there are two trumpet players, who welcome winter with their music and say goodbye to it.

The Shipibo-Konibo people of Peruvian Amazon decorate their pottery, jewelry, textiles, and body art with complex geometric patterns called kené. These patterns also have corresponding songs, called icaros, which are integral to the Shipibo way of life. This documentary explores these unique art forms, and one Shipibo family's efforts to safeguard the tradition.

This documentary looks at the stories that take place around a unique 1.5 kilometre long bamboo bridge that for generations has been built every year following the rhythms of nature across the Mekong River to join the rural community of Koh Paen to the city of Kampong Cham in Cambodia.

From 1949 to summer the next year, Robert Kloster and Brita Gjerdåker Skre documented the daily working lives of the people on Havråtunet (Havretunet), a cluster farm on Havrå, Osterøy, that remains one of the only cluster farms to survive the 1850 Land Consolidation Act. This is the 130-minute original version of the documentary, distributed on DVDs by Geir Sundal in 2004, with the permission of Norsk Filminstitutt.

SINOPSIS / SYNOPSIS Every year in Spain, some 16,000 Fiestas are organized, during which animals are used. Honoring the Holy Virgin and the Patron Saints, and with the blessing of religious and political authorities, entire towns -including children- are involved in celebrations of unbelievable cruelty. 60,000 animals are hence abused each year during these “Fiestas of Blood”.

When a Mongolian nomadic family's newest camel colt is rejected by its mother, a musician is needed for a ritual to change her mind.

Every New Year, and in celebration of their Independence, Haitian families gather together to feast in honor of a line of ancestors that fought for their freedom. The centerpiece of the festivity is the joumou soup—a traditional soup dating back centuries ago. The joumou soup is a concretization of war and victory, oppression and emancipation, and the deeply rooted celebratory traditions of the Haitian culture.

Boulders in Valais presents the canton of Valais in Switzerland, its bouldering climbing spots and some of its historical and current actors and driving forces including Lucien Abbet, Benoît Dorsaz, Fred Nicole, Dave Graham... Frédéric and François Nicole gives us spectacular demonstrations of this sport, showing us routes like "Radja", the world's first 8b+. A topo-video part contains 28 climbing sites with a geographical map, and more than 160 video sequences for as many chosen blocks... more than 2h30 of climbing.

A documentary that explores the centuries-old tradition of the femminielli in Naples—people assigned male at birth who live in feminine roles and hold a unique place in the city’s popular culture. Through intimate portraits and everyday moments, the documentary follows members of this community as they take part in rituals, celebrations, and acts of neighborhood solidarity that blend folklore, spirituality, and gender expression. From lively streets to the pilgrimage at Montevergine Sanctuary, the film reveals how the femminielli embody a longstanding yet fragile tradition, offering a moving reflection on identity, resilience, and the survival of a distinctive cultural heritage.