Women of Hope

Four Daughters

July 2023 •Arabic

Between light and darkness stands Olfa, a Tunisian woman and the mother of four daughters. One day, her two older daughters disappear. To fill in their absence, the filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania invites professional actresses and invents a unique cinema experience that will lift the veil on Olfa and her daughters' life stories. An intimate journey of hope, rebellion, violence, transmission and sisterhood that will question the very foundations of our societies.

Madagascar

May 2005 •English

Alex the lion is the king of the urban jungle, the main attraction at New York's Central Park Zoo. He and his best friends—Marty the zebra, Melman the giraffe and Gloria the hippo—have spent their whole lives in blissful captivity before an admiring public and with regular meals provided for them. Not content to leave well enough alone, Marty lets his curiosity get the better of him and makes his escape—with the help of some prodigious penguins—to explore the world.

Saaraba

January 1988 •French

Tamsir returns to Senegal after 17 years in Europe. His uncle gives him a patronage job in Dakar, virtually without duties. He visits his family's village to see his parents, and there he meets the beautiful Lissa. Tamsir espouses traditional ways, as does Lissa, but when her parents agree to marry her off to a corrupt and well-spoken member of parliament, Tamsir and Lissa dishonor the family and she becomes pregnant. The MP's response, his and Tasmir's uncle's plan to capture the village farmland, the reactions of Lissa's parents, who are strict followers of Islam, the disaffection of Dakar youth, and the dreams of a village mechanic to find "Saaraba" (Utopia) complete the story.

20,000 Days on Earth

July 2014 •English

A semi-fictionalized documentary about a day in the life of Australian musician Nick Cave's persona.

The Long Run

May 2001 •English

A failed track coach finally finds someone who he believes has what it takes to win. The Comrades Marathon is a 90-k race in South Africa. An aging running coach, Barry, wants to field a winner; he's working with four men from a factory, but when he's fired to make way for a smooth, corporate type, he's at loose ends. Then he sees Christine, a Namibian immigrant who runs to forget her troubles. He offers to coach her and soon she's living at his house, following his diet and training regimen. But his single-mindedness gets to her: she wants a job and a place of her own. Plus, the man who replaced Barry likes her and wants her away from Barry. Can runner and coach (woman and man, African and European) sort out their complex relationship before the race? Written by

Leroy

September 2007 •German

A gently humorous look at otherness and xenophobia in modern day German with this tale of a black Berlin teen named Leroy who rediscovers his roots after falling for a pretty white girl and meeting her racist family.

Fort Saganne

May 1984 •French

In 1911, a willful and determined man from peasant stock named Charles Saganne enlists in the military and is assigned to the Sahara Desert under the aristocratic Colonel Dubreuilh.

The Three Investigators and The Secret Of Skeleton Island

November 2007 •English

In "The Three Investigators and The Secret of Skeleton Island" the cult detective trio from Rocky Beach, California, fall into a breath-taking mixture of adventure, thriller and mystery. Only by a hairs-breadth did they escape with their lives after the successful completion of their last case.

The Snows of Kilimanjaro

October 1952 •English

Writer Harry Street reflects on his life as he lies dying from an infection while on safari in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro.

The Journey Is the Destination

September 2016 •English

The inspiring life story of the late photojournalist, artist and activist Dan Eldon, who abandoned a comfortable life in London to document the struggle, heartbreak and hope of a war-torn and famine-ridden region of Africa.

Mr. Kingstreet's War

May 1973 •English

A couple sets up an African game preserve, only to have British and Italian armies fight over the waterholes.

Fortress Europe

January 2000 •Serbian

People of different nationalities from Central Europe attempting to reach the West by crossing the controls and “European” rules.

Ceasefire

April 2017 •French

In the early 1920s, Georges Laffont, traumatized by the horrific trench warfare, decides to leave his life behind and travel to West Africa. In the vast territories of Upper Volta he - with the help of Diofo, artist and also survivor of the Great War - try to recruit the villagers as labor for plantations in Ghana. But his adventure leads him to a dead-end, and he comes back to Paris desperate to find his place in the world.

Samba Traoré

March 1993 •Bambara

Samba (Bakary Sangare) has returned unannounced to his home village, bringing with him a suitcase full of money. Despite his protests that this is money that he earned in the city, the villagers have their doubts. In fact, he held up a gas station and unintentionally killed its attendant, and is in hiding here. Meanwhile, he has married a woman (Mariam Kaba) with a child who left her husband and built a house for her. He is building a bar with his remaining money, but he encounters a situation which makes him believe that he will be exposed to the police, and runs away, leaving a pregnant, very ill wife behind, much to the disgust of the villagers and Samba's own family.

Vincenz Priessnitz

October 1999 •Czech

Tongpan

January 1977 •Thai

Tongpan is a 1977 Thai 16 mm black-and-white docudrama that re-creates a seminar that took place in Northeast Thailand in 1975 to discuss the proposed Pa-Mong Dam on the Mekong. Interwoven are sequences depicting a poor farmer, Tongpan, who had lost his land to another dam some years before, and his struggles to make ends meet.

Sounds of Sand

May 2007 •French

On the one hand, there’s the desert eating away at the land. The endless dry season, the lack of water. On the other there’s the threat of war. The village well has run dry. The livestock is dying. Trusting their instinct, most of the villagers leave and head south. Rahne, the only literate one, decides to head east with his three children and Mouna, his wife. A few sheep, some goats, and Chamelle, a dromedary, are their only riches. A tale of exodus, quest, hope and fatality.

Delwende

November 2005 •French

After a young boy dies of meningitis, Napoko Diarrha (Yaméogo) is accused of eating his soul because of a local sexist tradition. While this happens, her husband feels disgraced that Diarrha resists the idea of marrying off their daughter, so he exactes his revenge by spreading a dangerous rumor that would probably get her killed. Because of this, Diarrha's fate falls into the village elder's hands. When she finds out she will go trial, she decides to flee to the nearest town, Ouagadougou, before that can take place. After successfully leaving her village, Diarrha's age causes her health to decline, while her daughter grows up. Some time later, her daughter decides to travel to Ouagadougou, in search of her missing mother. Once they are reconnected, they attempt to escape from their male-dominated society.

Crossroads of Life

January 2007 •French

Fatima and the group of her high school friends will get their bachelor degrees. A question arises in each of them: to continue their studies in Mayotte, or leave for France. For Fatima, when love appears the choice gets complicated.

The Color Purple

December 1985 •English

An epic tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry. After Celie's abusive father marries her off to the equally debasing 'Mister' Albert Johnson, things go from bad to worse, leaving Celie to find companionship anywhere she can. She perseveres, holding on to her dream of one day being reunited with her sister in Africa.