Thomas Ernst

The Jump

In the Cold War years of the 1970s, an American patrol boat meets a Soviet ship off the east coast of the United States for talks about fishing rights in the Atlantic. In the midst of this, while Russian commanders are aboard the U.S. Coast Guard vessel where the talks are being held, a Lithuanian sailor jumps across the ten feet of icy water separating the boats. Crash-landing on the deck of the American ship, he desperately begs for asylum. Though they try, the Americans ultimately fail to provide protection and the Soviets are allowed to capture him and brutally return him to their vessel. Thus begins a stranger-than-fiction story of imprisonment, discovery, fame, and freedom. Through rare archival footage and a dramatic first-person re-enactment of that fateful day by Simas Kudirka, the would-be defector himself, this tale of one of the biggest Cold War muddles takes us on a journey of uncanny twists of fate, and the emotional sacrifices of becoming a universal symbol of freedom.

Ayouni

Ayouni follows two high profile figures of the Syrian revolution and asks how do you rebuild country when its civil society has been disappeared, killed and scattered across continents?

Scars

Vetri decided to find her fellow former child soldiers. They, like her, fought for the independence of the Tamil state in northern Sri Lanka. Talking together, they open up the traumas of war and reveal stories that were meant to be forgotten.

How Far The Stars

Self-effacing Hungarian pianist, József, has a unique talent for fusing contemporary jazz with traditional Roma music. This new sound catches the attention of the acclaimed saxophonist Tim Ries and the two begin performing together. József dreams of escaping his humdrum life and making it big in the home of jazz: America. Along the way, he conquers his demons and learns that when shooting for the stars, success is not the destination, but the journey itself.

When Pigs Come

Dragoslava has four TV sets, three grandchildren, two best friends, and a husband with whom she fights over a remote control. She keeps her private archive of memories of all major events in recent political history of five countries in which she has lived, without ever moving from her apartment. She is a trained poll monitor, passionate about her right to be in the minority, but more and more desperate as another early election approach.

H*art On

H*ART ON dives off the deep end of modern art. A film about the yearning to create, to mould everyday emotions into a meaningful life and, most of all, to live beyond one's death. A struggle that gets to the existential core of each of us. How do you find meaning in everyday fear, love, sex and loneliness?

H*art On

H*ART ON dives off the deep end of modern art. A film about the yearning to create, to mould everyday emotions into a meaningful life and, most of all, to live beyond one's death. A struggle that gets to the existential core of each of us. How do you find meaning in everyday fear, love, sex and loneliness?

The Pearl of Africa

Captures an intimate's struggle for the right to love. Following a Ugandan transgender girl, forced to leave her country.

Drifter

A close-up portrait of a rebellious racecar-driving teen coping with the twists and turns of life in rural Hungary.

Overdose - Run for a Dream

As the carrier of a nation's hopes, there is a lot riding on Overdose. The successes of Hungary's premier racehorse have provided welcome relief from a decades-long legacy of fiscal austerity. But with Big Business cashing in on this symbol of optimism, the horse soon becomes a pawn in a game of egos and politics.

Cold Shower

During a warm summer night, Róbert, a naive 17 year old, and Ferenc, the gypsy member of the high school drama group, are forced to deal with prejudices that have existed longer then themselves.

An Old-Fashioned Story

In the second half of the 1800s, the daughter of a Debrecen family marries a landowner, Kálmán Jablonczay. The couple move to the husband's castle. The marriage starts off happily but the new wife, Mária Rickl, soon finds herself at odds with the gentry lifestyle, her husband and her father-in-law...