Canvas

During the time of apartheid Nelson Mandela drove around South Africa in a limousine disguised as a chauffeur while organizing the armed struggle against the apartheid regime. But who was the distinguished looking white man sitting in the back seat? Meet Cecil Williams, an acclaimed gay white theatre director and communist.

A group of Kuchi children are living in a minefield around Bagram airfield, Afghanistan. They dig out anti-personal mines in order to sell the explosives to child workers mining in a Lappis Lazulli mine. The trajectory of the blue precious stones goes towards Tajikistan and China, through an area controlled by child soldiers. When they are not waging their own mini-wars in the daily madness of life in Afghanistan, the children are fleeing away in their personal fantasies and dreams, while the American soldiers are planning their retreat...

Nelly and Nadine meet in Ravensbrück concentration camp. They spend the rest of their lives together. Decades later, Nelly’s granddaughter goes in search of clues. A poignant film about a love story and the need for individual and collective remembrance.

Third Act is a film about aging. Leo is 80 years old and tours the world with the internationally renowned dance-theatre company Peeping Tom. On stage Leo is condemned to an elderly home crowded by local extras in their third age. But in real life, his wife waits for him - in an elderly home in Belgium. What do you do in the third and last act of your life? And what do the elderly in other countries and cultures do when the curtain is about to fall?

Stage registration of the eleventh show by the Flemish cabaret duo Kommil Foo. In 'Wolfijzers en Schietgeweren' Raf en Mich Walschaerts collect the best songs and stories from their old shows and turn it into a new show.

3-part documentary on the life of Belgian singer Arno Hintjens.

Strong-willed, funny and charismatic, at 37, Belgian athlete Marieke Vervoort’s time is running out. As her strength falters and her body begins to fail, she determines to end her life with the aid of her doctor. Liberated by the legal permission to die, Marieke rediscovers the freedom and thrill of living and competing and becomes a Paralympic champion. Her acceptance of death becomes an affirmation of life. Marieke demystifies one of the most controversial issues of our time.

Stage registration of the ninth show by the Flemish cabaret duo Kommil Foo. 'IJdele hoop' is the thematic successor of the previous show 'Bek', and all about craving. Recorded live at Cultureel Centrum Beveren, Belgium on 29 and 30 October 2001.

The paradox of the successful, worldly conductor, who makes the centuries-old world of classical music accessible, and the intimate composer feels rather like standing on a delicately balanced pile of rocks. And staying there until the rehearsals are concluded and the concert is about to begin. The conductor goes on stage and moves in front of the orchestra. He lifts his hands in the air - ready to embody music. In his documentary 'Brossé', Jacques Servaes gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the day-to-day life of conductor and composer, Dirk Brossé.

Documentary about the belgian painter Roger Raveel (1921-2013) as part of his centennial celebration.

Stage registration of the tenth show by the Flemish cabaret duo Kommil Foo. 'Lof der Zotheid' is an amalgam of songs, stories, and circus acts. Mich is sawn in 2 on stage, a cacophony of kitchen-, garden- and household utensils accompanies an insane story about the apocalypse, shadow puppetry with two hands, a sheet and a spotlight and a handful of sensitive love songs complete the work.

In this documentary, filmmaker Bram Van Paesschen takes us to Katanga province, in the south of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Back in the days of Belgian colonial rule, Katanga was a prosperous mining area. It is now a devastated ruin; its vast industrial ghost sites and rusting machinery are now nothing more than a lasting reminder of its glory days... glorious for the whites.

Beneath a reservoir in Romania lies the drowned village of Bözödújfalu, where a community of different faiths lived in peace for centuries. However, due to the village destruction policy of Ceaucescu, the inhabitants were expropriated in 1989 and the village was overrun. 25 years after the evacuation, they meet again on the edge of the lake. The survivors organize a memorial moment, in a vain attempt to pass on the special values of their complex but beautiful society to the next generations.

Carnotstraat 17 is a feature documentary looking more closely into the effect on someone’s identity through migration.

Brighton-based animator and illustrator Laurie Rowan unleashes a host of wide-eyed and pastel-hewed critters into the unique architectural space of FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) in Liverpool. Just one of a series of short films from Canvas and It’s Nice That, highlighting three of Britain’s best-loved cultural institutions through the individual talents of three different UK-based artists.