Discover Movies

After almost two years of a class full of unique personas and flairs, at last, 12 STEM 1 stars in a limited documentary feature series as they paint the academic year with high flying colors.

Jana Montllor Blanes, daughter of the well-known artist Ovidi, has lost the only photograph she took of her father on a trip they made to Mallorca. Navigating through the Mediterranean among family images, objects, smells, songs, press clippings and television programs, Jana embarks on another journey through memory to try to find the memory of her father, a person known to the general public and yet distant to her.

In the late 1980s, thousands of Belgians began reporting strange sightings in the skies over their otherwise stable country: large triangular unidentifiable flying objects. Nobody knew for sure what they were. To solve the mystery, a civil investigation group started working together with the authorities, counting on the support of the gendarmerie and the Belgian Air Force. Thirty years later, the Belgian UFO wave still lives in the minds of witnesses and onlookers from the era, some of whom are still searching for answers today. What on earth was going on in the skies over Belgium?

A 2,000-mile journey from Georgia to Maine, which uncovers the personal struggles and healing of hikers seeking solace, purpose, & transformation. The film reveals how nature becomes a powerful path back to wholeness.

During 2020, when the pandemic policy loosened, a violinist went back to hometown in mainland China to meet his parents and his friends. A sudden accident happened, everything changed, and a ceremony is no longer a "ceremony".

The Red and White Sky addresses the mystery of the filmmaker's female relative, who was killed in the Finnish Civil War in 1918 in Vyborg. Was the distant relative the leader of the female Red Guard? The film also deals with ethical concerns associated with filmmaking, which witnesses another person's life.

Ornithologist and artist Dr. Rob Butler explores the complicated and beautiful lives of crows while looking back on a lifetime of corvid obsession.

Guided by the voice of her ancestors, Mariposa searches for water in the Mexican desert.

Indonesian activist, Rukka Sombolinggi believes the key to confronting the climate crisis is to unite and mobilize the Indigenous communities who are often impacted the most. Now, as the first female general secretary of the world’s largest Indigenous Peoples organization, she has the power to do just that. But the challenge is monumental. One October thousands traveled from across the island nation of Indonesia to attend one of the largest gatherings of Indigenous Peoples in the world. Whether arriving by open-air trucks, boat or even by foot the AMAN congress, led by Rukka, drew thousands of people across the Indonesian archipelago and its 17,000 islands.

Documentary exploring the affordable housing crisis in the bay area, revealing key insights about the crisis around the country.

A meditation on lockdown, isolation, and yearning.

Fragments is a documentary that explores the feelings expressed in dedications, using archival images and videos to reveal the emotions and memories they evoke.

Documentary.

After a devastating wildfire ravages the countryside, a secluded couple finds refuge in their cabin in the desert, huddling for warmth on a frigid night. With the world outside still burning, they finally begin to relax—until a mysterious knock echoes through the silence. No one else is supposed to be out there. Who—or what—could it be? As tensions rise, they must confront the horrors lurking in the darkness, testing both their survival instincts and their trust in each other.

In Part 2 of what happened to the Brit Crew, we explore the complexities of putting your relationships online for the world to see. How this benefited the Brit Crew in helping them grow, but also how it affected them when life inevitably gets in the way.

A cultural worker turned farmer extols the healing power of nature, a sea-diving model tackles marine pollution, a wildlife buff practises ‘wellness photography’, and a real estate agent channels his love of birds into paintings.

Chad Michael Campbell's documentary short takes us inside the horror room of Roger.

It presents the pioneering work of Casa Dibarro, its Fouther Mother, and some of their "children" who make up the house and the ballroom scene in Sergipe, showing that clay carries the fingerprints of those who shaped it.

A debut short film, using beautiful imagery of places in England—grass, mountains, insects, lakes, wildlife, etcetera, in almost a poetic way; Nostalgic for anyone who has ever lived properly.

The dance of semi-trailers, the hum of high-voltage power lines, a glimpse of a nuclear power plant, a nighttime journey through the heart of the factories… The film takes viewers on a sensory journey through France’s largest industrial and port complex. The scale of this mega-infrastructure is so vast that it inherently defies human perception.

“The Harvard Five” as they became known –Philip Johnson, John Johansen, Landis Gores, Eliot Noyes and Marcel Breuer– were fueled by a sense of hope and optimism in the wake of WWII, but their modern ideals and avant-garde designs were snubbed by the locals in this traditional town who did not understand these pioneers –or their ”Kleenex box” houses. Nevertheless, the Harvard 5 found New Canaan’s wooded, rolling hills to be the perfect canvas for experimentation with Bauhaus ideals in design and architecture. From there, they triggered an intellectual movement that not only changed the landscape of this New England community forever, but would resonate worldwide.

A biographical exploration of the changes in psychiatric support - from the 1970s to the present.

For more than thirty years, Andreas Dresen has been exploring the question of what makes someone German. Without resorting to patriotism, Dresen's cinema addresses the soul of his country through space, but also through time. The era of East Germany, a divided then reunified country, has an impact on characters who live their intimate, friendly, and romantic lives fiercely...

A tribute to my memories.

Jan Troell turns the camera toward his own life and work, assembling a flowing mosaic of film excerpts, personal recordings, landscapes, and fleeting moments. Spanning eight decades of filmmaking, the film meditates on time, perception, and the quiet persistence of artistic curiosity. Structured as an evolving work rather than a definitive farewell, this version—completed in January 2025—presents cinema as a way of living attentively in the present.

Massimo D'Anolfi and Martina Parenti recount the birth and development of Bestiari, erbari, lapidari, their latest film, presented out of competition at the Venice Film Festival in September 2024.

In this film release from The Drop podcast, hosts Alayna and Andy have begun to dig into one of the greatest mysteries plaguing theme park enthusiasts today — Where Is Scott Leeker? In a world of many exciting and bizarre theme park stories and mysteries, this one might be the most unusual, and it’s unfolding before our eyes. Just one month ago, St. Louisan and theme park enthusiast Scott Leeker went missing after being spotted outside of Disney’s Animal Kingdom with a group of unidentified individuals. His friends and family have heard nothing and there is no trace or clue as to their whereabouts — or is there?

Amidst the silent, frozen wilderness of Greenland, a small sailboat becomes home for the winter. This documentary follows the remarkable story of adventurers Juho, Sohvi, and their dog Nova, who deliberately freeze their vessel into the Arctic ice for the season. Filmed by a visiting documentarian who spends a week onboard, the short film offers an intimate look at the surprisingly ordinary life lived in an extraordinary location—exploring the resilience, routine, and profound isolation of spending a winter locked in the ice.

Zirconium mining is affecting communities along Senegal's Grande Côte coastline. The Grande Côte Operations open-pit mine is cutting into the coastline, causing dunes to disappear and forcing communities to relocate.

Young astrophysicists translate any cosmic phenomena into sound and record any sounds in the reality surrounding them, trying to capture something beautiful in every physical phenomenon and in every moment of their lives.

In the 1960s and '70s, Brady Street became a thriving hub of counterculture—a legacy that persists in Milwaukee today. Like many neighborhoods, Brady Street has faced its share of decline. But by the end of the 20th century, determined community efforts sparked a renaissance, revitalizing the area and transforming it into a diverse urban haven. Longtime resident Julilly Kohler puts it best: "It’s people that make the street. It’s really about people and getting people involved."

A work of speculative cinematic writing, the film is about war and displacement, architecture and place-making. It tells the fragmented biography of the so-called Rock Church, an iconic building in Helsinki and its architects who were excluded from the canon of Finnish modernism. The architects' personal history of displacement due to the Finnish Winter War of 1939 and Soviet occupation is braided with the war on present-day Gaza. Past and present histories, temporalities and geographies fold into, and over one another collapsing time, place and identities narratively to consider, in the gentlest of tones, the impact of atrocities on contemporary lifeworlds.

O Bater das Ondas, the crashing of the waves. In December 2024 a group spends 10 days in Portugal to surf and explore the nightlife of Lisbon. A trip for inspiration in search for new stories.

Hoda, a tattooed choir singer, Coptic Christian, and fighter against adversity, longed to have biological children, but her wish remained unfulfilled. Twenty years ago, she met little Mariam at a Coptic children’s home. Despite adoption being forbidden by law in Egypt, Hoda’s love for Mariam blossomed, as if Mariam were her own daughter.

"The Red List" chronicles Kevin’s year-long quest to collect seeds from 25 endangered species in a desperate race against time. Set against the backdrop of the hottest year on record, this gripping documentary reveals the immense challenges he faces: navigating bureaucratic red tape, battling the relentless impacts of climate change, and enduring the personal losses of key team members. With every seed collected, Kevin and his team carry the fragile hope of safeguarding Wales’ biodiversity for generations to come.

A documentary that is a testimonial about how a trained service dog has opened up his person’s world.

Followed my friends during 15 days in the wintered Netherlands capturing their destructive lifestyle & seek of adrenaline peaks. Fully filmed on my phone without intervening their behaviour so the viewer becomes a member of the group. A collection of moments in which coherence & narrative is found later on in the editing room, where emotions and understanding are revealed.

Inevitable as it seemed, the premature death of Russia’s main opposition leader Alexei Navalny on 16 February 2024 still came as a shock. Immediately afterwards, his supporters went to the monument that President Putin himself unveiled in 2017 for the victims of Stalin’s political oppression. The large crowds laid flowers, which were instantly removed by police. Over time, the commemorations continued and merged with opposition to the invasion of Ukraine. Arrests followed, and peaceful protest has been brutally suppressed. Among the demonstrators is Alyona, a young woman with blonde curls and a pink coat. She refuses to be silenced by police batons and is taken away. Facing absurd charges, she must undergo a trial and risk an excessively harsh sentence. Her terrified mother begs her to passively endure the political repression, and avoid getting into further trouble.

More and more women are deciding to leave their countries of origin, fleeing violence and human rights violations, and embarking on the Canary Islands route, one of the deadliest in the world. During their migration process, they are exposed to greater violence simply because they are women. This double discrimination does not end when they reach European soil, where they also face prejudice and other types of structural violence that exacerbate their vulnerability. Mar de fóra seeks to portray this reality through the voices of the protagonists and people involved in their reception process in Canarian society.

Sisters Adelaide and Lucinda grew up spending a lot of time with their Nana Ann, also known as “Nansie”, who would help look after them as children. However, roles were reversed when Nansie was diagnosed with dementia in 2018. For the last few years, Nansie has been saying to her granddaughters that she goes swimming in the ocean every morning. The girls know this isn’t true as Nansie never learnt to swim, but instead of correcting her, they go along with the stories her dementia has created. Eventually, they decide to see if this story in Nansie’s mind could come true.

A look at the gatherings, film presentations, Q&A's and other activities that take place during a film festival in Lisbon.