Message from Mungo

Lake Mungo is an ancient Pleistocene lake-bed in south-western New South Wales, and is one of the world’s richest archaeological sites. Message from Mungo focuses on the interface over the last 40 years between the scientists on one hand, and, on the other, the Indigenous communities who identify with the land and with the human remains revealed at the site. This interface has often been deeply troubled and contentious, but within the conflict and its gradual resolution lies a moving story of the progressive empowerment of the traditional custodians of the area.

The Homecoming

Sámi artefacts from the Finnish National Museum are returning home to Sápmi, while the holy drums of the Sámi people are still imprisoned in the basements of museums across Europe. The returning objects symbolise the dignity, identity, history, connection to ancestors and a whole world view that was taken from the Sámi people. Director Suvi West takes the viewer behind the scenes of the museum world to reflect on the spirit of the objects, the inequality of cultures and the colonialist burden of museums.

Etched in Bone

Drawing on original footage from National Geographic, Etched in Bone explores the impact of one notorious bone theft by a member of the 1948 American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land. Hundred of bones were stolen and deposited in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, until it became known to Arnhem elders in the late 1990s. The return of the sacred artefacts was called for, resulting in a tense standoff between indigenous tribespeople and the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian.

Home from School: The Children of Carlisle

“Kill the Indian to save the man” was the catchphrase of The Carlisle Indian Industrial School, a boarding school opened in Pennsylvania in 1879. It became a grim epitaph for numerous native children who died there. In 2017, a delegation from the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming attempts to retrieve the remains of three Northern Arapaho children buried far from home in the school cemetery, on a journey to recast the troubled legacy of Indian boarding schools, and heal historic wounds. This documentary film is produced by The Content Lab LLC, with support from The Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, The Wyoming Humanities Council, and Wyoming PBS.

Hard Bargaining: Museums Face Claims for Return of Artefacts

Four French museums, the Louvre, the Quai Branly, the French National Library, and the Rouen Museum, are faced with pressing demands for the return of works of art. The number of demands is multiplying. They come from all over the world, and in particular from Egypt, Mali and New Zealand. The question of returning works of art to their countries of origin is increasingly making news. Take for example the emotions aroused by President Sarkozy’s decision, on the 12th November 2010, to return 297 royal manuscripts to South Korea. The ensuing row involved diametrically opposed points of view. Was it a violation of the principle of inalienability of France’s national collections or was it a just reparation for the victims of colonization? The rich countries’ great museums and the countries of origin have completely different visions of the issue. The museums defend the idea of a universal museum whose works belong to the whole of humanity.

Album polski

University student Anna and her boyfriend Tomek use a precious photograph to trace and unveil the complex wartime and post-war past of their parents.

Repatriados

Delivery drivers Saul, Cesar and Adrian must work together to raise money and repatriate the body of a colleague back to Puebla, Mexico.

Geology of Separation

This period of limbo is plagued with tiresome, demoralising indignities that arise from casual racism raining down from various figures of authority. For much of the film the camera gazes lengthily, languorously, peacefully at landscapes, skyscapes and topographies; snow-covered mountainsides, cow-dotted pastures, cascades and pastoral lanes are all captured in striking black and white. Yet this is no holiday brochure, for the stark beauty of the images is pierced by unsettling questions that have perhaps drained them of colour: What does it mean to exist in a place where one is neither welcome nor unwelcome? How is it that such a decision rests on arbitrary boundaries, arbitrary histories, and policies that value paperwork over dignity?

LESS SUCKS: Overpopulation, Eugenics, and Degrowth

We've all grown up with the understanding that things are limited and that we can't always get what we want. So, the more of us, the less everyone gets, right? Thomas Robert Malthus was the most popular theorist behind this thinking, which follows a lineage that can be traced through the many horrible sets of logic that have been behind many of humanity's most heinous deeds. So was he correct? Well, no. History has proven him wrong again and again. With Less Sucks, Peter Coffin traces that lineage to today's "degrowth" movement, shutting down Malthusianism once and for all.

אנחנו לא ניפרד לעולם

Le chantier des Halles : un défi hors norme

Wanderer. The Conquest of Home

Between January 2019 and May 2020, Adriana Lestido undertook a journey, without company or assistance, through the Arctic Circle and the Svalbard Islands, a frigid and inhospitable region shared by Norway and Iceland. During those months, Argentine photography recorded, in all its splendor, a still unknown ecosystem.

The Bilbaos

Iván Bilbao has just spent 5 years in prison. Upon his release, he is reunited with his wife Yamila, his daughter Luz, and Chascomùs, his hometown, where his reputation is notorious. Eager to settle down, he resumes boxing and pawnbroking. Pedro Speroni films this chaotic return up close, underscored by tight, uppercut-like editing work.

Two Pandemics

Seven Asian-Americans discuss their experiences with racism and the spike in Asian-directed hate crimes as a result of COVID-19.

Marley Magic - Live in Central Park at Summerstage

Luminum

Mother and daughter Silvia et Andrea are also ufologists. They run a UFO research group together and stand guard, chasing the lights that appear mysteriously over the Paraná river. Joyously adopting the genre of (science-)fiction, Maximiliano Schonfeld uses humour and affection to paint the poetic portrait of a community.