Petit Samedi
After years of separation, filmmaker Karima Saïdi renews her relationship with her mother, Aïcha, now suffering from Alzheimer's. From Brussels to Tangiers, the odyssey of a family marked by exile is evoked through discretion and confession, pain, separation, grief, and joy.
"When I made this film, I experienced something very striking. I would never have allowed myself to make such an intimate film in the place where I come from. That would have been impossible for me." - director Karima Saïdi
The Filmmaker's House
When the Filmmaker (Marc Isaacs) is told his next film must be about crime, sex or celebrity to get funded, he decides to take matters into his own hands. He begins shooting a film in his home, with people connected to his own life becoming its stars: the two English builders, who Isaacs has employed to replace his fence; the Pakistani neighbour, who he now temporarily shares a garden with; a homeless Slovakian man, who invites himself in and tests everyone’s ideas of the expectations and boundaries between host and guests in the process; and the Filmmaker’s Colombian cleaner, who is charmed by all who visit.
Cotton100%
COTTON100% follows human rights activist Elena and farmer Mukhabbat, navigating the harsh working practices of Uzbekistan’s cotton industry. Mukhabbat leases land from the state, but water shortages make it difficult for her to meet stringent production quotas. The work is labour intensive, with many workers being forcibly recruited, and Elena works tirelessly to improve pay and living conditions. Borodin’s film documents the exploitation of workers in post-Soviet Uzbekistan, caught between tradition and the drive for modernity
Portrait of Kaye
Whilst awaiting the return of a younger lover, an agoraphobic film buff in her 70’s recounts her history through a series of comic monologues and eccentric home movies.
"a loving, kitschy monument...it is part character study, part time-capsule, but somehow far more expansive than either of those terms might immediately suggest. Much like it's protagonist, Portrait of Kaye transcends its confines through the preservation of memories" - Sight & Sound
Endphase
Tells the story of one of the last massacres of the Second World War. On the night of May 2, 1945, less than a week before the end of the war, 228 Jewish women, children and old men from Hungary were murdered in the small Austrian community of Hofamt Priel by perpetrators unknown to this day.
"Exemplary Austrian documentary chronicles the massacre of more than 200 women, children and older men just days before the end of the second world war" - Guardian