The artists draw and paint for the audience in the middle of the chaotic camp who hold a range of expressive and introverted techniques of visual storytelling. We follow these people as they express their personal understanding of what occupies the mind of a person in a stateless transition. We watch the demolitions of hundreds of peoples homes showing the account for the devastation these people continue to face. (United Kingdom)
Myanmar born, US-raised music student Jaden, makes his way through the crowded streets of Yangon, Myanmar to research his thesis on Burmese traditional music. His guide; beautiful and proud Burmese dancer Hnin Thuzar, accompanies him as he travels through the unique landscape of Bagan, Mandalay and Inle Lake in Shan State.
When he asks for her help locating his birth parents, their journey takes on another dimension. As he gets to know her, their cultural divide becomes more apparent, but it takes a tragic accident to make him realize he’s falling in love with her.
Directed by Christina Kyi, “Mudras Calling” is both a personal exploration of birth roots and a love story. Even as he is entranced by Hnin’s beauty, strength and sense of self, his world is thrown into turmoil. As he explores Myanmar, discovering the timeless landscapes and the deep rooted faith of its many tribes, he finds out unexpected truths about himself. While Jaden is provoked to question his own world view, Hnin fights for her life after a terrible accident. By saving her, he’s able to save himself.
Whether they can overcome their differences is an open question, but the ‘mudras’ of the title - hand gestures that call out to Buddha, seem to beckon him back to Myanmar. From the medicine man to the musicians, as the love story unfolds against life and death, we travel in our own way through the history of this long hidden country – Myanmar.
Myanmar
On May 4, 2014, Norma Bastidas, a single mother and fearless survivor of human trafficking, sexual violence, abuse, and addiction, shattered the Guinness World Record for longest triathlon by running, biking, and swimming 3,762 miles (6,054 km) from Cancún, Mexico to Washington D.C. as her stand against human trafficking. Norma’s mission is to educate and empower, demonstrating to the world that one’s past does not dictate one’s future, and prove that everyday people are capable of making extraordinary strides in the fight against the problems facing the world today.
Be Relentless is the binational, bilingual, feature-length documentary that captured every grueling step of Norma’s record-breaking expedition across two countries. Through Norma’s persistence, Be Relentless proves that everyday people can make an extraordinary impact in seemingly unchallengeable issues.
Be Relentless will capture conversation about the realities of child trafficking, inspire the world to address this issue, prevent what happened to Norma from happening to others, and prove to survivors and the to world that one’s past doesn’t dictate one’s future.
United States
A Bridge Between Two Worlds relates how Muslim and Catholic farmers, on the island of Flores, Indonesia, overcome poverty and enhance their environment with the support of North American and European families. This astonishing chain of solidarity was initiated by Gilles Raymond, a Canadian volunteer from Québec who has forged deep bonds in Flores over the past 15 years. This is the beginning of a worldwide family, which distance cannot affect, a story that is punctuated by hard work, children’s smiles and ancestor worship. This engaging adventure builds a living bridge between our two hemispheres, at a time when foreign aid is too often being questioned.
CanadaAnnette, a 1960's suburban housewife, comes face to face with her worst nightmare: the fear that her pretty (and youthful) maid, Mona, has seduced her husband, and may be plotting against her. Her fears are reinforced when their actions appear to be more and more suspicious. When decorating her home for a holiday party, she confides in her best friend, Shelley, who supports her suspicions and encourages Annette to act. At the party, Annette watches her husband give Mona a tin of cookies, and Mona flirtatiously laugh at his jokes. Finally pushed to the edge, Annette makes a decision from which there is no turning back. The result is the unraveling of the life she has created for herself, and the realization that not everything is as it seems.
United States
Djata is a care-free 12-year-old growing up in a brutal dictatorship shut off from the outside world. When the government imprisons his father, Peter, and Djata and his mother Hannah are labeled traitors, the boy will not rest until he sees his father again.
Cocktails provided by Cayman Spirits Company
United Kingdom
In their remote home in the North Atlantic the Faroe Islanders have always eaten what nature could provide, proud to put local food on the table. The land yields little, so they have always relied on harvesting their seas.
Hunting whales and seabirds kept them alive for generations, and gave them the way of life they love; a life they would pass on to their children. But today they face a grave threat to this tradition.
It is not the controversy surrounding whaling that threatens the Faroese way of life; the danger is coming from the whales themselves.
The Faroese are among the first to feel the affects of our ever more polluted oceans. They have discovered that their beloved whales are toxic, contaminated by the outside world. What once secured their survival now endangers their children and the Faroe Islanders must make a choice between health and tradition.
Faroe IslandsA four thousand kilometre journey across outback Australia. Seven amateur adventurers. Two second-hand flying machines. What could possibly go wrong?
This is the tale of Aidan, Daryl and their fiancees’ dream to pull off a daring feat that few have attempted before – to fly two microlights, otherwise known as ‘motorbikes with wings,’ across the largest island on earth. Led by Aboriginal elders Carroll Karpany and Bart Sansbury, the adventurers navigate tough flying conditions and crocodile infested swamps as they journey deep into the spiritual heartland of Australia and connect with a culture thousands of years old. The ultimate Aussie adventure story!
Australia
A feature-length adventure documentary that brings to light the consequences of our global disposable lifestyle. We thought we could use plastic once and throw it away with negligible impact to humans and animals. That turns out to be untrue.
Producers Adam Leipzig (March of the Penguins) and Jo Ruxton (BBC Blue Planet) take you through the plastic journey from source to solution. Featuring legendary broadcaster Sir David Attenborough and world renowned oceanographer, Dr. Sylvia Earle. This film has potential to make great contributions to the way viewers begin to engage in behaviourial change in their own lives and families. For even greater impact, our campaign will support a core subset to become advocates for this issue - going beyond their own homes and motivating others in their workplaces, schools, and communities to create an ongoing ripple effect from the film.
A Plastic Ocean is an epic global adventure following a documentary filmmaker and a world record free-diver as they travel the earth discovering the shocking impact plastic is having on our oceans and the marine animals that live there. The film investigates how our addiction to plastic is impacting the food chain and how that is effecting every one of us through new and developing human health problems. The expedition leads the two adventurers to unusual scientific discoveries, heart-breaking truths and important solutions to one of the biggest problems confronting mankind.
During its four-year production period, A Plastic Ocean was filmed in 20 locations around the world in beautiful and chilling detail to document the global effects of plastic pollution–and introduce workable technology and policy solutions that can, if implemented in time, change things for the better.
Cayman Islands
Joe goes up to Big Bear to tell his three buddies (Adam Brody, Tyler Labine and Zachary Knighton) that his wedding is off, and thus so is his bachelor party. So they do what any good friends would; they throw darts at his head until he spills the whole truth. When Joe admits that his fiancé is in love with some other Dude they insist that what he needs is to stay the course and party, like a bachelor. It’s the next day that things really take a turn when Joe finds that his friends have kidnapped the Dude and now he’s tied up in the basement.
Adam Brody, Tyler Labine and Zachary Knighton all grew mustaches for the film, some came in better than others!
United States