SOLDIERS: Six Stories, Six Wars – dir. Tony Villani

Original Film Title: SOLDIERS: Six Stories, Six Wars

Directors Name: Tony Villani

Writers Name: Tony Villani

Producers: Tony Villani

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: Czech Republic, Italy, United States

Language: Czech, English

Runtime: 1 hour 34 minutes

Film Description: 

Completed on March 1, 2021 SOLDIERS: Six Stories, Six Wars looks into the hearts and souls of people in uniform and describes their inner wars. It features exclusive interviews with veterans of various conflicts, people I once used to know simply as friends.

Syria’s Schools Under Attack – dir. Darren Conway

Original Film Title: Syria’s Schools Under Attack

Directors Name: Darren Conway

Writers Name: Darren Conway

Producers: Darren Conway, Debbie Randle, Mughira Al-Sharif, Feras Ahmed

Country of Origin: United Kingdom

Country of Filming: Germany, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, United Kingdom

Language: English

Runtime: 46 minutes 30 seconds

Film Description: 

On 26th August 2013 a fighter jet dropped an incendiary bomb in the courtyard of a school in Aleppo, Syria. Some pupils were killed immediately, more died of horrific injuries soon after.
A BBC team, including director / cameraman Darren Conway, was inside Syria that day, filming at a local children’s hospital when the casualties started to arrive.

This wasn’t the first time that a school has been bombed in Syria, but never before had the world seen so clearly the human impact.
There were false accusations that this attack never happened, that the BBC’s pictures were fake, and that the young victims were actors.

Eight years later, with the attacks still ongoing, Darren Conway and his team crossed back into north West Syria to meet the survivors of the attack and families of those killed.
They discover first hand the lasting damage an incendiary weapon can do and the agonising injuries it can cause.

We hear from the teacher who still sees the charred remains of his students every day and can no longer teach, the student who suffered 85% burns to his body and still lives in constant pain and the father of the girl who begged for the world to act, to stop the suffering, before she died from her injuries.

Iqra School was one of thousands of schools totally or partially destroyed during the Syrian conflict which began in March 2011. They are still being targeted today.

At least 25,000 children have been killed – that number continues to rise.


African Democracy/Hopes and Challenges – dir. IRVIN D REID

Original Film Title: African Democracy/Hopes and Challenges

Directors Name: IRVIN D REID

Writers Name: IRVIN D REID

Producers: IRVIN D REID

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: Botswana, Ghana, Liberia, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, United Republic of, United States

Language: English

Runtime: 1 hour 23 minutes 56 seconds

Film Description: 

After more than a decade of interviews and research, this documentary film “African Democracy: Hopes and Challenges” offers an expansive examination of the development of democracy in select countries on the world’s second-largest continent. This is the culmination of an 11-year journey across Africa which I took along with various teams of student researchers. The documentary also revolves around extensive interviews with more than 200 citizens in African countries including a dozen so current and former African presidents, prime ministers, rebel leaders and liberators from colonialism. It explores the struggle to establish democratic norms in areas such as human rights, elections, political parties, economic sustainability and corruption.


The Whisper of the Marimba – dir. Greta-Marie Becker

Original Film Title: El murmullo de la marimba

English Film Title: The Whisper of the Marimba

Directors Name: Greta-Marie Becker

Writers Name: Greta-Marie Becker

Producers: Greta-Marie Becker

Country of Origin: Germany

Country of Filming: Ecuador

Language: Spanish

Runtime: 1 hour 19 minutes 10 seconds

Film Description: 

The marimba is the bridge between Africa and Latin America. The sound of the wooden xylophone connects the present-day life on the Ecuadorian Pacific coast with its African roots. Hundreds of years ago, the marimba music came to Ecuador across the sea. Stormy drum rhythms and the gentle, undulating melodies remind us of the violence experienced during slave trade and colonial rule and also tell the story of the centuries-old musical resistance of the Afro-Ecuadorian community. In 2015 the marimba music has been declared as an UNESCO World Cultural Heritage.
“The Whisper of the Marimba” portrays three generations of musicians who lay bare their worries and dreams as well as their unshakable trust in the power of art and music to nurture their identity and community. A story of losing memory and rewriting history…


The System – dir. Ramazan Demir

Original Film Title: The System

Directors Name: Ramazan Demir

Writers Name: Ramazan Demir

Producers: Ramazan Demir

Country of Origin: Turkey

Country of Filming: Turkey

Language: Turkish

Runtime: 4 minutes 58 seconds

Film Description: 

The system works non-stop, and when one day it destroys all natural resources, it’s time to turn.


KEEP OUT!-Women Over 60 Only – dir. Seungju Lee

Original Film Title: 60세 미만 출입 금지

English Film Title: KEEP OUT!-Women Over 60 Only

Directors Name: Seungju Lee

Producers: Seungju Lee

Country of Origin: Korea, Republic of

Country of Filming: Korea, Republic of

Language: Korean

Runtime: 1 hour 42 minutes 17 seconds

Film Description: 

The documentary features three women in their 60’s who became alone for their own reasons: single, widowed and divorced. They’re looking for a way to live on their own. At the same time, they ponder if they will be able to live alone forever as they’re preparing for their old age. They want to find new alternatives to life. The documentary recorded a month-long ‘Together, Living Alone’ share house experience of three people who come from different places and lifestyles. They become close as they open up to each other about depression and fear that comes with being alone. As they briefly share their lives together, inevitable problems arise. Let us take one step further from the question of ‘Who am I going to live with?’ and try to find the answer to another question, ‘How am I going to live?’