Revolution's Daughter

In 1978, just after Le fond de l'Air Est Rouge, which mercilessly analyzed the previous ten years of the revolutionary left's momentum until its collapse, Chris Marker made this complementary piece entitled Quand le Siècle a Pris Forme (Guerre et Révolution).

Released from prison, former oil oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky expounds on his newfound freedom and complex relationship with Vladimir Putin.

The Argentine, begins as Che and a band of Cuban exiles (led by Fidel Castro) reach the Cuban shore from Mexico in 1956. Within two years, they mobilized popular support and an army and toppled the U.S.-friendly regime of dictator Fulgencio Batista.

The murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh by an Islamic extremist in 2004, followed by the publishing of twelve satirical cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed that was commissioned for the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, provides the incendiary framework for Daniel Leconte's provocative documentary, It's Hard Being Loved by Jerks.

In 2020, the USA experienced a multiple catastrophe: No other country in the world was hit so badly by the coronavirus pandemic, the economic slump was dramatic, and so was the rise in unemployment. A rift ran through society. In the streets there were protests of both camps with violent riots, authoritarian traits were evident in the actions of the leader of the nation. And all of this in the middle of the election year, when the self-centered president fought vehemently for his re-election. From the start of his presidency, Donald Trump had divided American society, incited individual sections of the population against one another, fueled racism, hatred, xenophobia and prejudice, insulted competitors and denigrated critical journalists as enemies of the people. The documentary shows how this could happen and what role the targeted disinformation of certain sections of the population through manipulative media played.

Ingo Zamperoni has been known as one of the anchormen of the popular German late-night news journal Tagesthemen since 2016. The German-Italian knows the USA like only a few people because he studied there and later he reported from there as an US correspondent. He is also married to an American. That is why he has many relatives in the United States. But the rift that runs through American society also runs right through his in-laws living there. While father-in-law Paul is a supporter of the Republicans under Donald Trump, his wife Jiff and mother-in-law Lynn are supporters of the Democrats and concerned for their country. As an African American, the second husband of his mother-in-law brings his own insights into the increased racism in the country. Zamperoni embarks on a family-political search for the causes in order to understand why the whole country and its family are so torn.

Amany Al-Ali stands out as one of Syria's few female cartoonists, residing in her father's home in Idlib, the last city unconquered by Assad's forces. Like her remaining neighbours she's submitted to relentless Russian airstrikes and caught between advancing troops and extremist groups. Despite acclaim for her art, she faces threats, condemnation, and degradation, causing her to contemplate leaving. Ironically, her artwork has graced galleries in France and Italy but never received exposure within Syria's borders. The film captures her endeavor to organize her inaugural exhibition in Idlib. This experience compels her to confront the harsh realities of a city defined by bombings and male interference. While organizing drawing lessons for women and girls, comforting her young niece, and sharing her story with the documentary crew, Amany's outlook on the future gradually erodes.

A Southern Indiana man endures a fatal night of torture after being arrested for a routine traffic stop.

Considered for a few years the “country of the future”, Brazil has seen since 2013 a deep disenchantment between the middle and popular classes that culminated with the rise of Jair Bolsonaro to the Presidency in 2018. Enchanted portrays this recent Brazilian history from a homonymous neighborhood of the Rio suburb transfigured by the 2016 Olympics. From Rio to Paris, a political and poetic testimony of Brazil through the eyes of the first generation of the popular class to study abroad.

The six-decade transformation of a block of houses, shown by means of artfully featured archival shots, highlights the beauty and sadness of human-made decay. In the blink of an eye 66 years pass by and a savings bank replaces a church.