In the city of Gävle, Sweden, there is an annual fight between local custodians and mischievous pagans for the spirit of Christmas. Each year since 1966, local business owners have paid for a 40ft straw goat to be made and displayed in the main square for the Holiday season. In 37 of those years,...

In Marc Isaacs’ film, diverse London arrivals seek better lives: an aspiring Irish singer, a lonely ex-builder, a Kashmiri hotel worker, a Jewish WWII refugee, and a retired German stewardess. Blending humour and heartbreak, it’s a deeply affecting, non-polemical study of immigration.

During the Vietnam War, the US conducted a massive, secret CIA bombing campaign in Laos, making it the most heavily bombed country per capita in history. Decades later, Laotians live alongside over 80 million unexploded ordnance. This powerful documentary reveals the brave men and women risking t...

This anti-Western film uses a 'fake North Korean' found-footage device to critique American cultural influence. From its unique perspective, it first parodies propaganda stylings, then targets the hypocrisies of the modern Western narrative. Described as a damning indictment of 21st-century cultu...

Afghan-Danish journalist Nagieb Khaja critiques the West's uninformed Afghan view. To bypass biased media, he gave Helmand villagers smartphones to document their own lives—farmers, students, men, women—showing authentic narratives. He explores his Afghan heritage and the people's complex ties to...

Paralympic champion Azzedine is a hero abroad but an outcast at home in Morocco. Denied a salary, support, or even access to the city stadium, he and friend Yousef train for Rio's seated shot put. After winning gold, Azzedine returns hoping for change. Instead, he must fight for the most basic hu...

Post-apartheid, townships remain: under-resourced, largely-black communities. Residents describe cramped conditions, scarce amenities, and safety concerns, revealing a legacy of enduring inequality.

Peipei, a young aspiring artist in Henan, is counting down to the final exams. As a scapegoat for peers and teachers, this abandoned “wild flower” never adapted to school’s rigid rules. Now, she struggles to find her place as the year ends.

Controversial Mayor Geng Yanbo demolished 140,000 homes in Datong to relocate half a million people, aiming to restore ancient walls and pivot to tourism. His radical vision sought to combat pollution and revive the economy through culture, outlining a complex blueprint for China's urban future.

In Rignano, Ghetto residents implored me: “Do not display our lives in these precarious houses. This despair is not yours to show.” Yet, their profound misery was the first thing I saw and my initial, conflicting urge to document.

A Japanese mother and daughter dream of an art museum nestled in a mountain nature preserve. They hire I.M. Pei. Navigating strict codes—a 40-foot height limit, a sloped roof—they create a masterpiece. A stunning bridge leads to an entry tunnel. Post-construction, earth covers and reforests the s...

A journalist's war reckoning. Fourteen years after covering Lebanon's 2006 conflict, Gianluca Grossi returns to the Land of the Cedars. He confronts a heavy, lingering question about the purpose of his work and the nature of humanity: “What have I been used for? What is my job for?” A powerful re...

There are not many fish left in the Mediterranean Sea, and both fishermen and dolphins are fighting for survival. This film clearly shows the consequences of overfishing and unsustainable tourism in the island of Stromboli through two of the last guardians of a world that is disappearing. This i...

By 2036, one in three Japanese will be over 65. Confronting a shrinking workforce, Japan launched the Robot Revolution Initiative. "Circuits of Care" follows anthropologist David Prendergast meeting researchers creating assistive tech for older adults. From cybernetic walkers to companion robots,...

Sampat Pal Devi had had enough of the violence and lack of freedom in Indian women's lives and decided to take matters into her own hands. She gathered like-minded women together and, wearing pink, they started storming the offices of corrupt officials, hectoring and beating abusive husbands and ...

South Africa's "Brotherhood of the Hunt" campaign brilliantly redefined HIV testing. It turned a clinical procedure into a masculine rite of passage. Men were encouraged to "hunt" their status, framing the test as an act of courage and responsibility. This culturally savvy approach shattered stig...

Despite increasing smoking bans, New Zealand's Māori community is disproportionately affected. 46% of Māori are regular smokers (vs. 21% non-Māori), causing 31% of Māori deaths. "Dying For A Smoke" investigates this crisis, featuring personal stories like Natasha's, who started young. The anti-sm...

From a Yangon wood workshop to the Bay of Bengal's swell, "Springtide" depicts the birth of surfing in Myanmar. It captures the journey of crafting the first local boards to catching the very first waves, telling a story of pioneering spirit and the genesis of a new coastal culture.

Leni Riefenstahl claimed her art transcended politics. Yet her iconic films, Triumph of the Will and Olympia, glorify Nazi power and Aryan ideals. In Mueller's documentary, her steely perfectionism and denials persist, but the evidence within her frames tells a different story.

Cuban farmer Ezequiel is serving six years in prison for selling his own cow. His nephew, filmmaker Salvador, can’t comprehend this injustice. How will he explain it to his two-year-old son, Luca? His film “Lessons for Luca” becomes a quest, intertwining family history with Cuba’s political lands...

China’s top drama academy stages “Fame” as a Broadway collaboration and senior showcase. Over eight months, five single-child generation students grapple with parental pressure, corruption, and personal anxiety. Through the musical, they confront social realities and forge their own paths to succ...

After the USSR collapsed, orphans in a secret abandoned weapons city forged a new family. Their childhood innocence made their freedom feel like a fairytale. But brutal starvation and freezing temperatures soon shattered the dream, claiming three lives. The survivors are now left, battling hopele...

In Jakarta, young punks escape authority for freedom, their stigmatizing tattoos a permanent break with society. "A Punk Daydream" intertwines documentary and fairy-tale as Eka and his friends navigate a future marred by corruption and pollution. They feel a kinship with the Dayak people, another...

Zimbabwean refugees in the UK, Josephine and Michael send hundreds home monthly, living in deprived Meadow Well. They see their poor British neighbors’ struggle through a lens of global relativity—their story, "The Queen of North Shields," explores poverty’s fluid identity across Tyneside and Afr...