Yaël Bitton

Nocturnes

In the dense forests of the Eastern Himalayas, moths are whispering something to us. In the dark of night, two curious observers shine a light on this secret universe.

KIX

Handheld skate video meets hardcore social realism in a sensational film with the energy of a three-chord punk song and an unruly group of street kids in front of the camera, shot over 10 wild years of their young lives.

Smoke Sauna Sisterhood

Women share their innermost secrets and intimate experiences inside an Estonian smoke sauna. Cleansing their bodies and baring their souls, they embrace the healing power of sisterhood.

Sons of the Wind

Between 2002 and 2010, more than 10,000 civilians were killed by the Colombian army and thrown into mass graves—with the aim of demonstrating the success of the offensive against the FARC. Felipe Monroy offers a voice to the families of the victims of this unpunished state crime, thereby creating a heartrending film that stands against the worst crime of all: oblivion.

Invisible Demons

A prismatic meditation on pollution in the capital of the World’s biggest free-market democracy and the most polluted and populated city, Delhi – a film about the pollution inside of the human mind.

Forget Me Not

As 3-year-old Emilio is ready to start school, his family finds itself cornered in the United States' most segregated education system - New York City public schools. Fighting for their son's right to an inclusive education - where Emilio and other children with disabilities would be taught alongside their classmates without disabilities - film director Olivier and his wife Hilda investigate the personal stories of students and their parents in the US. With children with disabilities worldwide less likely to attend school, these experiences expose just a handful of the widespread injustices currently taking place in the educational system and beyond for kids with disabilities.

Radio Silence

Mexico, March 2015. Carmen Aristegui, incorruptible journalist, has been fired from the radio station where she has worked for years. Supported by more than 18 million listeners, Carmen continues her fight. Her goal: raising awareness and fighting against misinformation. The film tells the story of this quest: difficult and dangerous, but essential to the health of democracy. A story in which resistance becomes a form of survival.

Babenco: Tell Me When I Die

Besieged by cancer and nearing the end, the genius Argentine-Brazilian filmmaker Héctor Babenco (1946-2016) asks Bárbara Paz, his wife, for one last wish: to be the protagonist of his own death.

Origin of the Species

Origin of the Species is an experimental documentary that explores the current climate of android development with a focus on human/machine relations, gender and the ethical implications of this research. The film provides an insider look into cutting edge laboratories in Japan and the USA where scientists attempt to make robots move, speak and look human. These scientists and their discoveries are contextualized with cinematic and pop culture references, to underline the mythic, comic and uncanny aspects of our aspiration to create machines that are eerily similar to ourselves.

A Rifle and a Bag

Somi is pregnant with her second child. A girl, she hopes. Together with her husband she prepares for this new phase of their parenthood. It means that their son has to go to school, but as an ex-Naxalite that is tough to achieve in contemporary India, where people like them are third-rate citizens. They lack the certificates and an opaque bureaucratic process doesn't help. Directors Isabella Rinaldi, Cristina Hanes and Arya Rothe of the NoCut Film Collective concentrate on Somi's close family ties, painting a portrait of ex-Naxalites in India. Once, Somi and her husband were communist rebels fighting for the rights of Indian tribes. However, to safeguard their family's welfare, they surrendered to the government in exchange for marginal compensation and simple accommodation.

Rétrospective

A chronological selection from choreographies by Jérôme Bel exploring the political aspects of his dance.

Devil's Pie: D'Angelo

D'Angelo had it all: two platinum selling albums, a sold out world tour and a body chiselled to perfection. However, one day at the height of his career in 2000 the soul singer vanished. For 12 years he descended into darkness. Out of nowhere, in December 2014, his third album Black Messiah was suddenly released: soundtrack of the lost years.

The Jarariju Sisters

Viviana and Yandris weave red and yellow yarn into bags. In the distance we hear the hammering of machines, the wail of sirens and the thunder of explosions.

Advocate

Lea Tsemel, a Jewish-Israeli lawyer, defends Palestinians: from feminists to fundamentalists, from nonviolent demonstrators to armed militants. As far as most Israelis are concerned, she defends the indefensible. As far as Palestinians are concerned, she’s more than an attorney, she’s an ally. «Advocate» follows Tsemel in real time, including the trial of a 13-year-old boy — her youngest client to date.

Machines

This portrayal of the rhythm of life and work in a gigantic textile factory in Gujarat, India, moves through the corridors and bowels of the enormously disorienting structure—taking the viewer on a journey of dehumanizing physical labor and intense hardship.

Housemaids

After the death of her grandmother, filmmaker Juliana Fanjul has to return to Mexico City, where she realizes how unfair is the relationship between housemaids and their employees.

Venus

During casting sessions, young women from Copenhagen talk candidly about their sexual experiences. Initially, the two female directors wanted to make a film as a way of better understanding their own sexual desires and frustrations. In response to a casting call, more than a hundred ordinary young women turned up and talked straight into the camera about their erotic fantasies. As shooting progressed, the filmmakers realized that these intimate casting sessions should in fact be the final film.

Estherka

Esther Gorintin became a star at 85, having survived the harrowing 20th century, from her native Poland to the Rue de Rivoli in Paris. Between Cannes to the local fast food joint, with a taste for Ted Lapidus designs and a thing about plastic bags, Estherka is the heroine of this comic documentary, the portrait of a woman in the twilight of her life and at the dawn of her career As well as recording the incredible career of this 85 year-old débutant, I wanted to tell the story of her entire life. I had started filming Esther Gorintin before she started acting: her journey through the past century, her memories, her storytelling style, her unique relationship with the world around her, and her very special relationship with her son Armand. Here are the reasons why I followed her for more than ten years.

Podium (You Have Three Minutes)

Since Israel was established and its legislature — the Knesset — first convened, Palestinian lawmakers have served alongside Jewish ones. They’ve included poets, playwrights, philosophers, doctors, lawyers, educators and feminist activists. Be they communists, liberals, nationalists, or Islamists — every Arab parliamentarian steps up to the podium with pain, frustration, anger, and hope (otherwise they wouldn’t be there). Yet, regardless of tone or tenor (provocative, poignant, polarizing, or pacifying), most of their words fall on deaf ears. Were we to listen to a collection of 3-minute speeches by these parliamentarians, what would we hear? A hungry appeal for a rightful place at the civic table, rather than the carrot, the stick, and civil rights crumbs begrudgingly swept off of it.