The best of VOD

Lisière

“A few cabins built along a hillside, on the margins of society and without men. A refuge, a space for collective and feminist transformation. From this edge of the world, alongside those who build it, I question my place in nature and in society, in my relationship, the freedom of my body, and the choice to have a child.” (Éva Tourrent)

Geographies of Solitude

_Geographies of Solitude_ is an immersion into the rich ecosystem of Sable Island and the life of Zoe Lucas, a naturalist and environmentalist who has lived over 40 years on this remote sliver of land in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean. Shot on 16mm and created using a scope of innovative eco-friendly filmmaking techniques, this feature-length experimental documentary is a playful and reverent col...

Aux sources de la vie

"The nec plus ultra of my work is the chapter entitled _Aux sources de la vie_ (The Sources of Life). [...] Plants are wonderfully organized from the point of view of reproduction. It's a marvel of ingenuity, spectacular to the last point! The secrets of nature lie in the infinitesimally small, in the minutiae of nature." (Father Venance, interview for _Le Samedi_, May 20, 1961)

Our Body

French documentary filmmaker Claire Simon observes the everyday operations of the gynecological ward in a public hospital in Paris. In the process, she questions what it means to live in a woman’s body, filming the diversity, singularity and beauty of patients in all stages of life. Through these many encounters, the specific fears, desires and struggles of these individuals become the health c...

Extinction

Since the fall of the USSR, the question of borders and territories has been sensitive – and sometimes explosive. At the centre of _Extinction_ is Kolya, a young Moldovan who claims citizenship in Transnistria, a state not recognized by the international community. Salomé Lamas blends fiction and documentary to better capture the violent climate brewing in the region, where a Soviet mindset is ...

Bye Bye Tiberias

Leaving her native village to follow her dream of becoming an actress, Hiam Abbass also left behind her mother, grandmother and seven sisters. Thirty years later, her filmmaker daughter Lina returns with her to journey through the vanished places among the scattered memories of four generations of daring Palestinian women.

Lisière

“A few cabins built along a hillside, on the margins of society and without men. A refuge, a space for collective and feminist transformation. From this edge of the world, alongside those who build it, I question my place in nature and in society, in my relationship, the freedom of my body, and the choice to have a child.” (Éva Tourrent)

To Remain in the No Longer

In 1962, Oscar Niemeyer was invited to conceive an international fairground in the city of Tripoli, Lebanon, which was never completed. _To Remain in the No Longer_ looks at how architecture operates in this failed state. By examining the precarity of the project site that remains to this day, the film reflects on the country’s current socio-economic crisis.

Tu as crié LET ME GO

_Tu as crié LET ME GO_ is an intimate and heartrending film in which filmmaker Anne Claire Poirier undertakes a personal investigation into the tragic death of her daughter Yanne, who was murdered at the age of 26. A former drug addict and sex worker, Yanne had fallen into the margins of society. Through this film, Poirier reaches out to those living with or working alongside people struggling ...

Days

Marie-Philip is a PhD student and part-time professor who loves cats and _Harry Potter_. But one week before her 29th birthday, she is diagnosed with breast cancer. For a year, without false modesty, we follow her through each step as she confides in us with shocking honesty. An ode to life, to courage and to the resilience of all those who fight every day against disease.

Just Above the Surface of the Earth (For a Coming Extinction)

A poetic portrait of contemporary wildlife conservation, _Just Above the Surface of the Earth (For a Coming Extinction)_ reflects on empathy, agency, and the role of hope in the midst of a sixth mass extinction. This debut nonfiction feature examines scientists and citizen scientists who conduct surveys of frogs, which serve as an indicator species; study sea stars threatened by disease; track ...

Wild Feast

A wounded moose escapes its hunters, later dying deep in the forest and becoming... a communal feast. As the seasons go by, mammals, birds and insects invite themselves to the banquet – multiplying ensuing games, rituals and conflicts. In exploring and occasionally foiling nature’s wildlife codes, our story becomes a simple yet poignant reflection on death, on its natural place in this world an...