First Hand Films

The tenth edition of Polish Pride parades a colorful trail of rainbow flags through the streets of Warsaw. Along the route, Antek and his friends line up to warn of the “pink threat” in prayer and edifying hymns. As traditional Catholics, he and his Brotherhood hold deeply conservative views: sex before marriage is out of the question, homosexuality can be cured, abortion is a great evil and Poland is for the Poles. His sister thinks his homophobic ranting is pointless, because in a few years the planet will be destroyed anyway as nobody is doing anything about climate change.

A documentary about the life and activism of Jaha Dukureh, a Gambian anti-female genital mutilation campaigner who returns to her country of birth to confront the harmful tradition that she and 200 million women and girls have undergone globally.

“Negotiators, how to make peace” is a documentary that takes a penetrating look at the identity and evolution of people who seek solutions to armed conflicts in places such as Colombia, Mexico, South Sudan and the Balkans.

After her father Asllan has lived in exile for sixty years, Dea returns with him to Makermal. This Kosovar village that was once his home was destroyed in the war, leaving only the stories of the survivors. Together with the remaining villagers, Swiss-Kosovar director Dea Gjinovci and her father embark on a search for traces of the past and are confronted with the collective scars of a community.

Once upon a time there was a large Finnish company called Nokia that manufactured the world’s best and most innovative mobile phones. Nokia’s annual budget was larger than that of the Government of Finland and their phones spread everywhere and changed the whole culture of communication. But then something changed. Film portrays the rise and fall of Nokia and the Finnish mobile phone industry. Nokia engineers, designers and managers tell their story about the creation, success and downfall of the Finnish mobile phone.

This personal and compelling portrait follows Gudrun Schyman, spokesperson of Sweden's Feminist Initiative political party, as she moves between small towns, refugee camps, and the corridors of power.

Dating and matchmaking in the "Haredi" (ultra-orthodox Jewish) world has always been mysterious and intriguingly different from the secular world. At a time when the institution of marriage in the modern secular world is about to go bankrupt – increasing divorce rates, infidelity, the trend of extended bachelorhood, single parenting, etc. – the question arises: where are we going wrong? And what is it about Haredi relationships that keeps them strong and stable? A Match Made in Heaven explore the world of matchmaking in the different sectors of the Haredi world and observe couples in different stages of relationships.

In a society marked by gendered violence, nine-year-old Arushi and Milena, twenty-one, reclaim space through Kalari—the world’s oldest martial art. The film follows their fight for self-empowerment and the freedom to be the women they chose to be.

December 21, 2012. This date, identified by the Maya nearly 1,400 years ago, has in recent years become the source of great curiosity and debate. Some believe it will bring catastrophic events. Others, an era of enlightenment. But what did the ancient Maya themselves believe? In 2012: THE BEGINNING, we travel the world to examine what the Sacred Maya texts really say. Throughout, our journey is guided by noted archaeologists, scholars, and the living Maya, who take us into the field--to the very origins of the Maya Long Count Calendar--and into their lives and sacred ceremonies. Together, these people from very different worlds shed light on a date that has long been shrouded in mystery and intrigue.

Six Palestinian stand-up comedians write and tour a comedy show exploring the unlikely, often dark humour that surrounds the complexity of Palestinian identity. What starts as a blending of comic traditions to encourage honest and open reflections through the shared enjoyment of laughter becomes an existential imperative to survival and sharing common humanity.