BABEL Doc

In Russia, criticizing the war in Ukraine or Vladimir Putin’s regime has become a crime. Thousands of ordinary citizens are being arrested, tried, and imprisoned. They are called “Politzek”: political prisoners. Filmed clandestinely over the course of more than a year, Politzek gives a platform to those who, despite the fear, continue to speak out against Putin’s repressive Russia. Through the intersecting stories of a teenager sentenced to five years in prison for criticizing the government on social media, a young artist jailed for placing anti-war stickers, a human rights activist, and two theater directors facing Kafkaesque trials, the film unveils the machinery of state repression in Russia. With rare footage, broken yet unyielding voices, this is a story of silenced resistance.

Dirlinho and his cousin’s childhood is marked by deprivation and violence. They try to escape by working as jockeys. While the punters bet on them, they gamble with their lives for a better future by riding doped horses.

The nephew of a Republican exiled during the Spanish Civil War is pushed to discover the fate of his uncle by a forgotten letter. Meanwhile, a researcher tries to discover what happened to another deportee after reading the novel "El impostor" by Javier Cercas. When the two coincide, they discover that the lives of their two ancestors are intertwined and end up unearthing the story of František Suchý and his son, who risked their lives and defied the Nazi regime from the Prague crematorium to save the ashes of more than 2,000 victims.

Oxycontin. Codeine. Fentanyl. All prescription drugs to which countless patients have become addicted. As America battles an opioid crisis that sees 170 citizens die everyday, lawyers and prosecutors are trying to bring an end to Big Pharma's impunity. How did it happen? And how can we hold those responsible to account?

Their words had never been heard before. Co-directed by French-Rwandan musician and author Gaël Faye and director Michael Sztanke, this movie records with sensitivity and for the first time the testimonies of Prisca, Marie-Jeanne and Concessa about their lives during the genocide and after. The three Tutsi women tell the camera about their daily lives during the genocide and in the refugee camps of Murambi and Nyarushishi, where they lived a nightmare under the guard of the French soldiers of the Opération Turquoise who, under a UN mandate, where supposed to protect them. While the French army denies any rape accusation, the three women filed complaints with the French justice system in 2004 and 2012. The investigation is now at a standstill.

Seven years after the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka, journalist Vanessa Dougnac travels through the North in search of testimonies.

Since the rise to power of Hindu nationalists in 2014, India has been gradually moving away from democracy towards a regime where ethnic identity prevails. This transition is driven by Hindutva, a Hindu supremacist ideology embodied by Narendra Modi. For the past 10 years, Prime Minister Modi has relentlessly pursued his fascist policy based on Hindu supremacy. This ideology of hatred towards other religions in the country, particularly Islam, has also spread globally. Those who follow this belief want India to be only for Hindus, treating people of other religions, like Muslims or Sikhs as second-class citizens. Attacks against Christians have surged by 400% since Modi's election, accompanied by discriminatory laws targeting Muslims and widespread lynching incidents. Hindutva's influence permeates all levels of Indian society. This documentary thus unveils a darker side of India, far from its portrayal as the world's largest democracy and Gandhi's dream of peace among communities.

The film follows the artistic body of the Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeiro when salaries are suspended. It records the wait, marked by the long days without good news, and the resistance: because despite ruin and misery, it is necessary to produce and survive.

American states and parents in both Europe and the United States are engaging in a joint fight against digital giants to ensure their responsibility in the addiction of young people to screens and social media is recognized. Among them, five women have chosen to disrupt their daily lives: Alexis, Kathleen, Elisabet, Laure, and Socheata.

Matilda Pierre, a 26-year-old Guyanese actress, chooses to tell her story and publicly embrace her sexual orientation in a society where homosexuality remains largely taboo. Attracted to women, men, and transgender people, she must deal with insults, threats, and the weight of others’ judgment. Through her testimony, Matilda reveals the reality experienced by many young LGBTQIA+ people in French Guiana. The documentary also gives voice to other young people, such as Marcus, a bisexual Amerindian who hides his orientation for fear of rejection from his family. Between silence, fear, and social pressure, many live their identities in the shadows.

Historical and personal archives, testimonials, and reports pay tribute to women in agriculture, who have been considered "invisible" for too long, in order to finally give them the recognition they deserve. Today, "women of the land" run more than a quarter of all farms and lead trade unions, cooperatives, and chambers of agriculture. Director Edouard Bergeon shares his memories of his mother, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers, all of whom were farmers. For this documentary, he travels around France to gather the confidences and rants of Marie-Claude, Lucie, Anne-Cécile, Claire, Estelle, and Jeannette, retracing the long and remarkable history of these women from the post-war period to the present day.

When the pandemic hit it highlighted how much Western countries rely on the chip industry. Today Europe, America and China are involved in an intense commercial struggle to dominate this sector that is so strategic for the future. From Taiwan to Shanghai, via Brussels and San Francisco, investigative journalist Nicolas Vescovacci went to meet the most influential players in this microchip war, which is redefining world geopolitics.

For 50 years, Berlin was the symbol of the Cold War. The city at the heart of the intelligence war between the US and the Soviet bloc. Thousands of KGB or CIA, agents observed each other, cogs in the biggest information war in history.