If there is one person Matthew Lancit can’t get out of his mind, it is his uncle Harvey. Dark rings around his eyes, pale, blind, his legs amputated. Like Harvey, the filmmaker also suffers from diabetes. He has the disease under control, but one question is always nagging at him: How much longer? His long-term (self-)observation reliably revolves around fears of infirmity and mutilation. He translates the feared body horror into film, stages himself as a zombie, vampire, a desolate figure. Lancit playfully anticipates his potential decline, serving up a whole arsenal of effects which – as video recordings prove – go back to his youth. It is not for nothing that the “dead” in the title is also reminiscent of “dad.” Because “Play Dead!” also negotiates his own role as a father.
Ricardo Bar (22) is a young man who lives with his family in a little farm, in the border of Brazil and Argentina. There is mainly the jungle and the settlers, descendants of German immigrants. Ricardo doesn't want to inherit his father's land; he wants to become a pastor. Problems begin when Ricardo and the community tell the directors to stop shooting and leave. From that moment on Ricardo Bar tells two stories: one about a deal, the directors' offer to Ricardo in order to be able to shoot the film, and the other about Ricardo's life at this moment, his reaction to the director's offer, reenacted for the camera.
Amid blinding prejudice, a vivacious blonde teacher gets married to an honest man, only to see him leave for the Greco-Italian Front, a few hours after their wedding ceremony. Will she cope with her loss, when there's no one to turn to?
Pedro is a young peasant who leaves home to join the Rebel Army, based in Sierra Maestra.
A group of peasants of Realengo 18 must face the greed of an American company trying to evict them from their place. One of the peasants will have to deal with the conflict of seeing her son join the rural guard who represses them.
A bride and her three friends travel to Puerto Rico for her wedding when chaos ensues.
High school student Sam Adams has just moved to a new house in a sleepy, all-American town. His new school seems perfect at first and he is quickly accepted onto the football team. But something about his fellow players seems a bit off, particularly the brutish and arrogant Jack "Boot" Butkowski. As Sam soon discovers, the team have appointed themselves as dictatorial leaders of the school, openly modeling their behaviors after the SS and terrorizing anyone who doesn't fall in line, while rewarding those who pledge blind allegiance. When Sam's unwillingness to submit results in a violent attack on an elderly family friend, he decides to take matters into his own hands...
Sairam, an assistant manager in a supermarket treads on an unethical path for a promotion, leading to dire consequences. Gayatri a thrifty housewife manages her middle class household. Mahitha's friend, a street child goes missing and she goes out of her way to find him. Abhiram, the bright student falls in love with Aira and pursues her. Four stories seemingly unrelated are all bound by one string called family.
When thirteen year old Aharon,is selected for the great honor of carrying the big Torah book around the neighborhood in 'Simchat Torah' celebrations, he feels life is finally about to change for the better. But his selection causes age-old tensions between his parents to surface, and the symbolic happy ritual becomes a life-threatening struggle.
A compilation of home movies and video journals shot by a depressed teenage girl.