Evolution of the Apes

Extroversion is an attractive description, but why do we idealize this personality trait more highly? LISTEN TO THE WALLFLOWERS is a poetic short documentary about the need for quietness and spending time alone in a world that can't stop talking.

It has been a lifelong dream of Kyrgyz director Melis Ubukeyev to create an elaborate film version of the Kyrgyz national epic 'Manas'. He spent years working with the National Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyzstan to gather material for this film project, which was ultimately to remain a dream. However, the director's efforts were not in vain: Not only did he make films in 1962 and 1988 about the highly respected Manasçı – folk singers who passed on the epic over countless generations in melodic speech –, but in 1995, on the occasion of the 1,000th anniversary of 'Manas', he also made a beguiling essay film that not only outlines the plot of the epic with the help of magnificent images and lavish costumes, but also gives a semi-documentary account of the history of the Kyrgyz people interwoven with the myth. Long inaccessible, the essay film has recently been restored by the film studio Kyrgyzfilm and uploaded to YouTube in 4K.

From the crash of Air France flight 447 between Rio and Paris into the Atlantic in 2009, to the Germanwings flight 9525 crash in the Alps in 2015, the French investigators of the BEA (Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety) are called upon worldwide to determine the causes of air accidents. Line planes, helicopters, ultra-lights: BEA is investigating everything that flies. For the first time, they have allowed cameras to film their often confidential work. This documentary meets technicians and meteorologists, even ophthalmologists and acousticians, who are able to determine the causes of an accident from detailed details. It also follows the two-year search and recovery effort for an aircraft engine that went missing over the Greenland Ice Sheet.

A filmmaker’s meditation on loss and grief. A digital eulogy and swan song to his creative partner and best friend. Mixed media woven into the fading daydream of their time together.

Splitboarding is a fast-growing sport for snowboarders who want to venture out of the resorts and into the backcountry. A splitboard is a snowboard that splits in half and allows the snowboarder to cross-country ski into the mountains. You then put the board back together and ride down. Snowboarding in the backcountry is an entirely different sport than snowboarding at a resort. A rider gets only a fraction of the runs because they have to earn every foot of ascent. But when taking on these extra challenges ones could be rewarded with the best deep-powder snowboarding that nature has to offer; you won't find these conditions at a ski resort. Alex Maier has been snowboarding his whole life, but that was in the midwest. When he moves to Montana he has to start from scratch, this series shows what it takes to get into the backcountry safely and effectively.

Anthony Perkin’s face and name remain familiar to a younger 21st century audience, fond of Giallo and slashers. But he has long struggled in the shadow of his most famous character, Norman Bater – the seria killer in Alfred Hitschcock’s masterpiece, “Psycho". We also discover that he was an amazing crooner. His greatest success, “Moonlight Swim”, will be taken up by Elvis Presley. He even directed “Psycho III” – proof of his reconciliation with his favorite bogeyman.

Mel Gibson, Australian-raised US actor and film director, rose to stardom in the late 1980s, a privileged status he enjoyed for nearly two decades until his fall from grace due to his controversial opinions and scandals. Angel face, tormented soul: who is Mel Gibson really?