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- During the Soviet era, the people of Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan were used as human guinea pigs in the testing of nuclear weapons. Today they live with the consequences: sheep graze in radioactive giant bomb craters and in the most affected villages 1 in 20 children are born with birth defects. Dr Toleukhan Nurmagambetov, the boss of the city's maternity clinic, wants a genetic passport which will prevent those with suspect genes from giving birth. Bibigul - a local woman from the test-site - is pregnant and her "defected and frightful" face arouses the suspicion of local medical staff. Nurmagambetov labels her a genetic failure. He implores Bibigul to get tested and abort the child who he fears will be born disabled. Will Bibigul give in? If not, will her child be disabled?
- In 1973, an album was released that against all odds and expectations went to the top of the UK charts. The fact the album launched a record label that became one of the most recognisable brand names in the world (Virgin), formed the soundtrack to one of the biggest movies of the decade (The Exorcist), became the biggest selling instrumental album of all time, would eventually go on to sell over 16 million copies and was performed almost single-handedly by a 19-year-old makes the story all the more incredible. That album was Tubular Bells, and the young and painfully shy musician was Mike Oldfield. This documentary features contributions from Sir Richard Branson, Danny Boyle, Mike's family and the original engineers of the Tubular Bells album among others. The spine of the film is an extended interview with Mike himself, where he takes us through the events that led to him writing Tubular Bells - growing up with a mother with severe mental health problems; the refuge he sought in music as a child, with talent that led to him playing in folk clubs aged 12 and signing with his sister's folk group at only 15; his frightening experience of taking LSD at 16; and finally arriving at the Manor Recording Studios as a young session musician where he gave a demo tape to a recording engineer who passed it along to young entrepreneur Richard Branson. After the album's huge success, Mike retreated to a Hereford hilltop, shunned public life and became a recluse until he took part in a controversial therapy which changed his life. In 2012 Mike captured the public's imagination once again when he was asked to perform at the London Olympic Opening Ceremony, where Tubular Bells was the soundtrack to 20 minutes of the one-hour ceremony. Filmed on location at his home recording studio in Nassau, Mike also plays the multiple instruments of Tubular Bells.
- Tatjana dreams of escaping St Petersburg, and thinks she's found a man that can take her away. Meanwhile in Mexico City, Champinon struggles to find himself a girlfriend. In Los Angeles, Asha discovers her fiancé has been cheating on her, and in Kenya, Matthew struggles to break into Nairobi's burgeoning hip hop culture. The cast of characters react to the building pressure to create TRANSIT: Tatjana leaves Russia for Mexico City in search of her lover, and Asha for Nairobi to shoot a film for her graduation project. In their new locations our characters meet and our four stories become two when Tatjana finds Champinon and Asha finds Matthew. Love follows but their relationships are not as simple as they first appear, as we discover that all their stories are interlinked.
- A film about one of the most iconic images of the 20th century, the moment when the radical spirit of the 1960s upstaged the greatest sporting event in the world. Two men made a courageous gesture that reverberated around the world, and changed their lives forever. This film is about Tommie Smith and John Carlos' protest at the 1968 Olympics.
- What is the relationship between Manchester in 2018 and the Russian Revolution of 1917? The German philosopher Friedrich Engels, who wrote the Communist Manifesto with Karl Marx, lived for years in this British industrial city. Through this founder of communist theory, artist Phil Collins investigates what remains of his ideas in today's United Kingdom. How would Engels view the world today? And has anything changed for 'the working poor'? Collins not only brings Engels back to Manchester metaphorically, but also literally. We follow the journey that a statue of the philosopher makes from a Ukrainian village through Europe and back 'home'. With his visually layered Ceremony, a combination of documentary road movie and social-activist pamphlet, Collins proposes a renewed link between Manchester and the idea of communism as a radical and visionary alternative for the 'tyranny of capital' that still has a grip on our political, economic and emotional life. [IFFR]
- A documentary portrait of the African photographer Malick Sidibe, and a journey through Malian history inspired by his iconic images. Sidibe's snapshots from the late 50s through to the early 70s capture the carefree spirit of a youth asserting their freedom from colonialism in the early days of Malian independence - until a coup ushered in decades of austere military dictatorship. So this is a film not only about art, but also about a culture reflected through a camera lens, in a country that today is one of the poorest in the world.
