Triste Trópico

Animated Hero Classics: Louis Pasteur

June 1995 •English

The great French scientist, struggling with his own limitations from a stroke, is not deterred by scientific criticism nor failed experiments. Pasteur had the courage to look into the unseen world and his perfected vaccines are his gifts to mankind.

Serial Killers: The Real Life Hannibal Lecters

January 2001 •English

This documentary examines a selection of real life serial killers and compares them to the fictional Hannibal Lecter.

The Announcement

December 2019 •French

How do you learn to talk about death when you are a future doctor? Mathilde and Fabian will be entering a residency next year. I'm looking at the gestural dialogue and language strategies that take place during the delicate moment of a "announcement" consultation. I am trying to understand how words, although they do not directly cure the disease, sometimes help to remove the fear it engenders.

The Rebel Surgeon

March 2017 •Swedish

Portrayal of a surgeon who feels stifled by Swedish bureaucracy and relocates to Ethiopia to practice medicine. In a small field hospital, with limited resources, he uses anything at hand to help the patients.

Plano B

April 2014 •Portuguese

The Last Shaman

May 2017 •English

James, giving himself 12 months before he has "a license to kill himself," sets off to the Amazon rainforest with hopes of finding a shaman who can save his life.

How to Die in Cinema

March 2002 •Portuguese

Memories of a parrot who participated in the filming of the classic Vidas Secas, in 1962, where it was featured along the puppy Baleia.

Dying for Drugs

January 2003 •English

Every year many new drugs come to market which offer hope to the sick and dying. This documentary film investigates just how far drug companies are prepared to go to get their drugs approved, what they will do to make sure they get the prices they want, and what happens when profits are put before people.

Drop by Drop

March 2015 •English

A Wisconsin doctor's controversial allergy treatment is shunned by the medical community for over half a century. Is a cure for the growing allergy epidemic on the horizon or will red tape keep patients wheezing?

The Virus Within Us

December 2022 •English

They are the most common creatures on earth. They have been around forever and are considered dangerous and deadly - but they are much more than that. Around 50 percent of our DNA comes from viruses.

The Dirty War on the NHS

November 2019 •English

John Pilger unearths the hidden agenda behind the NHS crisis.

The Uprising

August 2012 •Portuguese

As farm animals are prohibited anywhere in Recife, everyone who gets about by horse is made invisible from the point of view of the law. Only by dealing with the race as if it were scene from a movie – by being able, therefore, to have it considered as being to some extent a piece of "fiction" - is what would make the event feasible and fit to obtain the authorizations needed to make it happen from the official point of view.

Dzi Croquettes

October 2009 •English

A Brazilian theatre group that through talent, irony and humour confronted the Brazilian violent dictatorship in the 1970s revolutionising the gay movement worldwide and changing theatre and dance language to an entire generation.

Cancer: The Forbidden Cures

June 2010 •English

Cancer is the only disease that has been defeated dozens of times without anyone knowing it. In the last 100 years, doctors, scientists, and researchers have developed diverse and effective solutions against cancer only to be thwarted by the political and propaganda power of the drug-dominated medical profession. This is the story of Essiac, Hoxsey, Laetrile, Shark Cartilage, Mistletoe, and Bicarbonate of Soda all put together in a stunning overview that leaves no doubt that inexpensive cures for cancer do exist but are systematically blocked by Big Pharma because they come from nature and cannot be patented. Highly informative.

The Song That Calls You Home

October 2022 •English

A personal, scientific, mystical exploration of Amazonian curanderismo, focus on Ayahuasca and Master Plants, their healing and visionary properties and risks, along with the Shipibo people and their songs.

Sepultura Endurance

May 2017 •Portuguese

The long awaited documentary about Sepultura's incredible journey from Brazil to the world.

National Geographic: The Incredible Human Body

July 2002 •English

Cutting-edge medical technology and riveting, life-or-death personal dramas combine in this unprecedented, emotionally compelling exploration of The Incredible Human Body.

Auf der Suche nach Heilern

May 2014 •German

“I am a hypochondriac”, admits Rosa Von Praunheim, the icon of the gay movement, right at the beginning at the film. The director, who turned seventy in 2012, is afraid of cancer, and he actually suffers from glaucoma, with osteoarthritis in his big toe. Von Praunheim is interested in alternative medicine and goes on a foray into the scene.

Benzeduras

January 2008 •Portuguese

Emma Wants to Live

November 2016 •Dutch

This is a Dutch documentary about the last weeks of life in a Portuguese clinic for Emma Caris, a 18 year old girl who had been suffering anorexia nervosa since she was 16 years old.