Under the Skins

Part fictional documentary, part musical anthropology, scientific magic, and eco-anarchic utopian journey in a landscape of eight parts. You're Kaloyan, the sax player. Or Diana, the Gypsy dancer. You journey together through Bulgaria in search of the utopian village Dolphinovo. It's not Sofia, Paris or New York. That's why this story is rural, rustic and polyphonic. It's like a string of painted walls of village houses, folk songs and allegories. However, who is Ivo? And why does he lead you through these winter landscapes a year later?

This film documents the Kukeri rituals in Bulgaria, focusing on the mask makers and performers who keep this ancient tradition alive. Their dedication to this agrarian custom is a visual testament to the power of tradition to provide hope and community in a time of diaspora and urbanization.

The Balkans is home to an ancient pagan tradition where magic and mystery still have a sacred place in the cosmic order. The Kukeri festival has had a strong hold over Bulgarian cultural life since the fifth century, surviving the Ottomans, Christendom and communist rule. Every winter, hundreds of terrifying figures prowl snow-capped forests and village centers in search of evil spirits to dispel from their communities.

Every year in June, the small Bulgarian village of Balgari celebrates St Constantine with a special ritual. Initiated ‘nestinari’ go into a music-induced trance and dance on bonfires in a display of religious passion.

A documentary about lamentation songs of Bulgarian funeral rites.

Graying Spaniard Daniel has a healthy budget for indulging in the finer things in life. Daniel's favorite luxury is playing sponsor to younger men amid the lights and sights of Madrid's gay club scene. After Daniel shares a night with handsome Bulgarian emigre Kyril, he finds himself consumed with an insatiable lust for the charismatic foreigner. But, as their relationship takes shape, Daniel's latest conquest reveals his own manipulative tendencies.

A portrait of American actress Uma Thurman, muse of legendary filmmaker Quentin Tarantino and courageous voice for the many victims of despotic producer Harvey Weinstein.

The world – full of sensitivity – lies far away. Changeable as the northern sky. Monotonous – like a prayer. Wonderful as stones. At the same time familiar and mysterious. We are advancing by a big river. It's autumn on the river. Somewhat empty – but it is a sensitive void: filled with vital meanings. Downstream and downstream…

A documentary recorded during the filming of "The Wandering Soap Opera" by Raúl Ruiz. Made in 1990 and completed 27 years later, in 2017. The film brings closer the approach in Ruiz's directing style and his personal vision of Cinema.

Stories of three women who have been living in Itaewon, Seoul, Korea since the era that the town was run by U.S dollars of the U.S. Army.

An extraordinary document from one of the Cold War's bitterest conflicts - between the Soviet Union and Communist China - this film spares no quarter in its indictment of Maoist evils and misrule.

A film about the development of virgin and fallow lands in Siberia, Kazakhstan, and the Volga region.

Through abrupt soundtrack shifts, this short film jumps between historical political imagery to explore the cinematic language of propaganda, unpacking complex concepts through sensory explosions — from the Brazilian military dictatorship to the Chinese revolution.

Via reminiscences from writer/actor Gene Wilder and others, this documentary recalls the making of the 1974 film Young Frankenstein.

Wang Bing concludes his monumental Youth trilogy in expansive fashion, giving ever wider scope to the lives of migrant workers in Zhili’s textile factories as they plan to go to their remote hometowns to visit their families and celebrate the festivities for New Year’s break.