Friday 16 Nov – Archivio RIFF

The Fifth Sun

riff — Fri, 16 Nov 2018 22:20:49 +0000

Is travelling a form of vagrancy or is it more of an inner journey that completes you when you finally reach the end of the road? This is one of the questions pondered on this documentary about the Wanderlust, the irresistible desire to wander the world, which for someone is a syndrome to be found in the DRD4 gene, for others the gift of those born to explore.
That’s how the directors decide to follow Panu, a Finnish traveler, in a road trip from Finland to Australia to witness a full sun eclipse. A week from the end, unexpectedly, something goes wrong.
The Fifth Sun is a glimpse into a lifestyle where your whole life fits into a backpack, trying to make you consider your own ideas about freedom.

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We (Wij)

riff — Fri, 16 Nov 2018 20:15:54 +0000

During a languorous summer in a village on the Dutch-Belgian border, eight rebellious teens go in search of fun, sex and excitement. Their originally innocent sex games gradually turn into professionally sold porn, prostitution and blackmail. Their playful lives acquire a dark undercurrent and come to a crashing halt when something goes badly wrong. Dreamy, ‘The Virgin Suicides’-like images alternate with hedonistic violence and sex in this adaptation of the eponymous, controversial novel ‘Wij’ by Elvis Peeters.

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Aleksia

riff — Fri, 16 Nov 2018 20:00:47 +0000

Aleksia is a troubled teenager of Russian descent who grew up with her mother and a little brother in the outskirts of Marghera. After telling about her pregnancy to her friend Angela, she is pushed to steal a tablet to raise the money needed for abortion. Something goes wrong and Aleksia is arrested by the police.

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After Prayers

riff — Fri, 16 Nov 2018 18:20:41 +0000

Routine violence and muezzins’ calls for prayers shape the time-flow of daily life in Indian Kashmir. From traumatic memories of a guerrilla’s funeral to the present anti-India street-riots, throughout a maimed muhajideen’s tale, people’s destiny seems to be stretched between hope and anger, love and grief, poetry and brutality. Every milestone in people’s stories -being it the first army crackdown in the valley or the decision to leave for Afghanistan to get guerrilla-warfare training- seems to happen in a mosque, just immediately after prayers. Almost 30 years have gone since the beginning of the armed struggle and notwithstanding a widespread frustration, the controversial dream of Kashmir’s independence, along with the nightmare of the conflict, is still preserved alive. It is again after Friday’s prayers that Kashmiri youngsters regularly engage Indian soldiers in stone-throwing riots, and it is ultimately here that the vicious cycle of violence, nourished by new martyrs’ fresh blood, keeps perpetuating in the intimacy of ordinary life.

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Everyone on stage

riff — Fri, 16 Nov 2018 16:20:51 +0000

The Medico professional externship of Colombes welcomes 35 adolescents with mental disabilities. This documentary traces the career of 10 of them who are registered in a circus activity, from the preparation of the show to its performance before an audience. During these six months we can observe their evolution, difficulties and problems but also their unsuspected abilities. This activity is part of a process of inclusion of people with disabilities, with as a highlight their acceptance of the eyes of others and for those who attend the show the recognition of difference as social wealth.

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A steep without feet

riff — Fri, 16 Nov 2018 16:20:06 +0000

“A Step Without Feet” is a documentary about connecting and sharing each other’s cultures through universal themes like music, art, family and friends. Within the backdrop of Berlin’s beautiful winter landscape, we captured the daily lives of seven extraordinary Syrians exiled from their home country.
Due to misguided stereotypes perpetuated by the media being labelled a “efugee” tends to carry negative connotations and this makes them feel isolated. The purpose of this film is to counter the medias dehumanization of the Syrian asylum seekers. Meeting them reminds us of their humanity.

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