Bound by Flesh

Conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton were once the cream of the sideshow crop. Taught to sing and dance at an early age, the winsome duo ascended through the early 20th-century vaudeville circuit as a side attraction (working alongside Bob Hope and Charlie Chaplin as well as a memorable turn in the Tod Browning classic "Freaks") before a cascade of unscrupulous management and harsh mistreatment brought their careers (and lives) tumbling down. This engrossing glimpse into a bygone era is filled with fascinating interviews and rare archival footage.

Matějská pouť

A continuous, extreme show is held, every year, in Tesla Arena in Prague. The visitors can be impressed by shows of dangerous riding on motorcycles, amazing acrobatics on 4 wheel vehicles, etc…

Dust Devils

A beautifully done video of Burning Man 2001, 2002 & 2003. Lots of people interviews, Center Cafe activity and extensive coverage of artist David Best and the Temple construction and burn. This documentary captures the swirling columns of dust that were created during the intense heat of the 2002 Temple burn.

Carna

Although it was actually an impersonal commissioned film, the director's style is clearly recognizable. Once again he manages to make something that is normal very strange: the dancing people in costumes are filmed in such a way that they look bizarre and absurd. Jan de Bont's camerawork shows a series of color images of dancing people, edited to the rhythm of the music. Halfway through the film, a lonely clown can be seen among the dancing crowd, accompanied by sad music. This clown is played by Ditvoorst himself.

Carnaval: à procura de Paulo Moleiro

A 2008 short made in accompaniment with Our Beloved Month of August, documenting Gomes's and his crew's hapless search, during 2007's carnival, for one of Arganil's most storied and elusive characters (who does, in fact, ultimately appear as an interviewee/player in the finished film). Paulo "Miller" is known for taking a dangerous jump into the Alva from a bridge each year during carnival, but what this film is about is, in keeping with the free-roving feature, much less the subject himself than Gomes and co.'s inability to pin him down; not only does he not do his famous jump during this year's carnival, but an ostensible technical/audio failure (as with the feature, it's very difficult to say how much of this film is "fact," how much invented) during Gomes's initial on-camera meeting with Paulo "Miller" leads to five minutes of lip-readers attempting to decipher their conversation.

Estou Me Guardando para Quando o Carnaval Chegar

A documentary film about the Brazilian town of Toritama, the self-proclaimed capital of jeans. The workers of the city’s self-managed small businesses only get one real break from their self-exploiting lives in the textile business: the annual Carnival.

Carnalismo

In the heart of Durango, the Low Biker community has forged a unique bond through a shared love for cumbias and custom bicycles, uniting neighborhoods across the city in a vibrant, collective passion. Amid the joy of their culture, they face the harsh realities of discrimination and prejudice, navigating daily challenges from a society that struggles to accept their way of life.

Calcutta Pageant

Scenes from a lavish pageant held during the royal visit to India, celebrating King George V’s coronation.

Die wundersame Welt der Waschkraft

Behind the fluffy towels and crisp white sheets of Berlin's finest hotels is a tale of seemingly brilliant entrepreneurship: A company takes the dirty laundry of German hotels to Poland - and brings it back clean the very next day. Outside of Germany, labor is cheaper and regulations are less constricting. But over and beyond this fascinating capital venture there remains the harsh reality of the everyday life of the hard-working Polish laundrywomen, through whose hands the white sheets pass. While Beata struggles to raise her three children on her meager salary, Monika reminisces about her unrealized childhood dreams of becoming a doctor, and is compelled to watch her teenage daughter Marta gradually follow in her footsteps.

Joulukuun kuudes 1960

Independence Day celebrations at the Finnish presidential palace December 6, 1960.

Harrow Hospital Carnival

Harrow’s extraordinary and opulent pageant, and seaside holidays on the south coast.

Wolverhampton into the Seventies

Bricks and mortar makes way for concrete and reinforced steel as Wolverhampton sweeps the past aside in a modernist town planning utopia.

Le soleil a pas d'chance

Alaaf - 200 Jahre Kölner Karneval

200 years of Cologne Carnival! The most colourful and loudest festival in Cologne celebrates a big birthday. In February 1823, a few men from Cologne's upper class founded the so-called 'Festordnende Komitee' - the forerunner of today's 'Festkomitee Kölner Karneval'. This 'big bang' was a reaction to the old festival getting out of hand in orgies and violence. Carnival was in danger. A ban by the Prussian rulers was imminent. The new committee wanted to control the wild goings-on, establish rules and organise the celebrations.

Real Fake Streets

For the past two months, we dedicated out lives to documenting the life of Sam. Every human on a day to day basis encounters a "Sam", a peculiar somewhat unpredictable seemingly valueless person, and what you would probably refer to as "douchebag" or "arrogant prick". We found ourselves unknowingly siding with society until we took the time to really observe and realize the childhood trauma and drug abuse that contributed to creating this flawed but valuable human being.

Die Maskenmacher von Venedig

Festive Land: Carnival in Bahia

Festive Land examines one of the largest and most extraordinary popular celebrations in the world, the week-long Carnival that brings more than two million people to the streets of Salvador, the capital of Bahia, in northeastern Brazil. Carnival is the most expressive showcase of the unique cultural richness of Bahia, where African culture has survived, prospered, and evolved, mixing with other Brazilian influences to create forms found nowhere else in the world. The film captures this unique cultural energy through extraordinary footage of musical performances, dances, religious manifestations, and street celebrations. At the same time, Carnival reflects the racial and social tensions of Brazil's heterogeneous society. At first glance there appear to be two million people chaotically mixed on the streets, but a more detailed look reveals how patterns of segregation driven by racial, social and economic differences continue in Carnival.

Dulais Valley

Master baker, owner of Duffryn Bakery, Onllwyn, turns his hand to film-making and captures community events in glorious colour.

À Bissau, le carnaval

Documentary short that explores the meaning of the locals’ African identity through the Carnival festivities.

Sunshine in Soho

1950s Soho beats with far more energy than its 21st century counterpart in this vivid time capsule.