Documentary movies

A map of Gaza, its towns, camps and neighbourhoods. White paint on a black ground. Within the crudely drawn outlines, nine refugees who escaped the inferno tell their stories.

The story of a man who turned Ukrainian dance into an explosion of emotion and energy, Pavlo Virsky. The legendary Virsky Ensemble conquered stages from Paris to Tokyo, received standing ovations in the world's most prestigious halls, and made audiences applaud while standing. Virtuoso performances, from dizzying hopaks to complex multi-figure compositions, have become the benchmark of mastery that no one has yet surpassed.

A passionate hotel manager is obsessed with a clairvoyant's claim that he is to blame for the unexplained fire at his legendary grand hotel. To free himself from this burden, he teams up with an astute detective inspector to expose a former employee as the arsonist. This unexpectedly puts him at the centre of the investigation – and he must face the truth.

In GASLIT, award-winning actor and activist Jane Fonda embarks on a road trip through Texas oil fields and Gulf Coast communities, meeting the people who are fighting back against the oil and gas extraction boom. This boom, which has led to the United States becoming the world’s biggest liquified natural gas (LNG) exporter, is also fueling a massive expansion of plastics production, as fossil fuel companies double down on petrochemicals to secure their future. These are the stories of the shrimpers, cattle ranchers, former oil workers, families, members of faith communities, community organizers, self-described “reluctant activists”, and people across political and cultural spectrums who have come together in defense of the communities and coastlines they love. Join Fonda as she travels across Texas and Louisiana bearing witness to the decades-long struggle between fossil fuel profiteering and the lives of everyday people.

The beloved comedian Simo Salminen began his career as a National Championship level diver in the 1950s. Entertainment was an integral part of his sporting life, and Salminen began performing clown dives in a clown costume to the delight of children. The short film Simo Was Here takes the now elderly Salminen back to the Helsinki Swimming Stadium and illustrates his memories of the good old days. This nostalgic work is dedicated to the memory of Salminen, who passed away in 2015.

She was a prisoner in the corset of social constraints and conventions – and at the same time she fought for a self-determined life as a woman – Lydia Welti-Escher, the daughter of politician and business leader Alfred Escher. Due to an extramarital liaison, the Swiss authorities had her committed to a psychiatric ward.

After a traumatic encounter shatters a young director’s relationship with men, she stages a casting call as an experiment—using performance, observation, and dark humour to interrogate masculinity and her proximity to it.

Mark and Harri are two Finnish men who have volunteered to fight in Ukraine. Their return to civilian life proves difficult: PTSD symptoms, clinging to the emotional extremes caused by war, and the struggle to find meaning in life at times feel overwhelming. In trauma-informed therapy, these symptoms are processed and their experiences revisited.

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Explore the boundless nature of creativity in Central Minnesota. From local galleries to hands-on workshops, see how Community Art Centers create a unique environment where everyone is invited to participate, create, and belong. This is the first installment of Lakeland PBS's "Up North Arts"