Director: Ferenc Moldovanyi.
“Expanding upon themes he explored in Children: Kosovo 2000 (SDFF 24), Ferenc Moldoványi’s latest documentary is at once hypnotically beautiful and acutely disturbing. Shot over a two-year period in four countries on four continents—Ecuador (South America), Mexico (North America), Democratic Republic of Congo (Africa), and Cambodia (Asia)—Another Planet unfolds as a cinematic tone poem in the tradition of Koyaanisqatsi, exposing the unequal distribution of wealth around the world as a major humanitarian crisis. Framed by pastoral sequences in which a Tarahumara shaman imparts a dream of paradise on earth, the film moves quickly and seamlessly between the lives of seven children inextricably linked by their shocking and tragic experiences of daily exploitation and abuse. We meet lonely, aimless urchins, barely eking out a living on the streets. We see child laborers toiling in brick factories, garbage dumps, and brothels, only to be beaten when business is down. And perhaps most harrowing of all, we get to know the child soldiers of Congo as they are turned into killing machines. Throughout this journey, Moldoványi’s unwavering vision reminds us of the eternal coexistence of beauty and horror all over the world. Informed by the haunting cinematography of Tibor Máthé as well as Tibor Szemzö’s ethereal soundtrack, Another Planet crosses cultural boundaries to forge a commentary on the human condition as damning as it is open-ended.” 31st Starz Denver International Film Festival Official Catalogue "This globe-spanning film hits hard on many levels—visually, intellectually, emotionally. Beautifully shot in Ecuador, Mexico, Africa and Asia, Moldoványi’s film presents images that sparkle in the eye even as they punch you in the heart. Moldoványi introduces us to children in Cambodia, Ecuador, Mexico and the Democratic Republic of Congo, each of whom is struggling to survive. Working long hours, often in dangerous and dirty conditions, these children show us a side of existence that many have never seen or even imagined. While many in the US hold childhood as a special and protected time of nurtured innocence, this film reminds us all that for many children life is a brutal and precarious game of survival. With subjects that include children scavenging dumps for recyclables, child soldiers and child sex workers, this film offers a sympathetic and unblinking eye. The children themselves are our strongest storytellers, and they open up to Moldoványi’s camera to give us their own perspective. Their frankness astonishes as they talk matter-of-factly about their jobs and the consequences of not earning. The children either are at the mercy of adults—often the parents who force them to work and beat them when they don’t earn enough—or have been abandoned by adults altogether. While the film is not a gentle journey, it imagines a better world, a greater one. The filmmaker relies on your humanity and empathy to be moved by these children, while never directly suggesting a call to action. This film offers an unprecedented opportunity to explore another planet, a trip definitely worth taking." SILVERDOCS: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival

Director: Andreas Apostolidis.
A film about how the local population of Tanzania has been evicted to make way for the creation of the world’s most famous nature reserves. Set in the famous Serengeti and the Ngorongoro crater, the film explores how the parks came to be and how western perceptions about nature radically altered both the East African landscape and society. The film focuses on the people who "shouldn't be there", not only because their voices are rarely heard but also because they are still being antagonised and excluded, while the tourist industry is rapidly depleting the area's natural resources.

Director: Gloria U. Y. Kim.
It's Christmas in Toronto, 1978. Eight-year-old Meehee Park longs for two things: to make her mother happy and to get a Cindy doll from Santa. But she soon realizes that Santa isn't real and her parents are struggling to make ends meet. This distresses Meehee to no end, that is until one fateful day when she comes across a neighbourhood auction that will pit her two greatest desires, leaving Meehee to choose between dreams of the past and fitting in with the present.

Director: See Woo Kim.
A brother and a sister who were bereaved of their parents in early adolescence…Beside an older brother, Bada, a blind, deaf-mute sister, Hanul, has been living hopelessly…In the world of complete darkness, Bada has been the only light for Hanul…As for Hanul, her brother is the only small door through which she can communicate with the world…All of a sudden, Bada is driven to despair after he realized his sister’ imminent death…# and Hanul gradually falls in love with Bada…then eventually, they come to have physical relationship, contravening a social norm…"

Director: Ocusonic.
A Diamond Forms Under Pressure, is an anomaly existing somewhere between experimental film and music video, computer animation/ programming, science and art. An improvised electronic soundtrack drives proprietary software, which analyses the frequency content of the audio and generates a cogent synchronous image in real-time. Frequencies push and pull against each other stabilising or agitating the central image.

Director: Sam Donovan.
Oddball Boris tries to reunite his parents on a shark-spotting trip off the North Yorkshire coast. Only, his biggest enemy is along for the ride… his mother’s girlfriend, Lilah. Only once Boris accepts Lilah can he unite his family in his own unique way, through his obsessive love of sharks.

Director: Marie Losier.
The latest in Marie Losier’s ongoing series of film portraits of avant-garde directors (George and Mike Kuchar, Guy Maddin, Richard Foreman), DreaMinimalist offers an insightful and hilarious encounter with Conrad as he sings, dances and remembers his youth and his association with Jack Smith.

Director: Slaven Zimbrek.
No Place for You at This Workplace deals with social prejudice against certain vulnerable groups and the discrimination against them in the workplace, seen through the personal stories of the protagonists. The documentary is divided into five thematic sections, each presenting experiences of one of the groups at risk: persons with physical disabilities and sensory impairments, persons with mental health difficulties, Roma, persons living with HIV/AIDS, and persons with same-sex orientations. The viewers are introduced into each topic through opinions of accidental passers-by in the center of Zagreb.