Can't Feel Nothing

What is the internet doing to us?

A man lies in bed illuminated by the blue-white light of his mobile phone. He doom scrolls past cute pets, outraged opinion pieces and haunting images from the world's hotspots – and he feels absolutely nothing. With curiousity and humour, director David Borenstein travels the world to investigate how bad things really are. Who is pulling the strings when the internet makes us angry, sad, horny or just plain indifferent? And is there any way back? From the American internet troll, a burnt-out superstar in the Asian influencer industry, a cynical fake-news factory in Eastern Europe, Russian state propagandists and an online dominatrix, this is an alarming contemporary diagnosis, with a bold attempt to also look at solutions.

Disconnected

Australia enforces one of the world’s strictest measures against internet use for minors

The unconstrained power of social media has been linked to a burgeoning mental health crisis and the meteoric rise of disinformation. Around the world, momentum is finally building to hold hugely profitable social media companies to account.

Syria's Ticking Time Bomb

The Kurds, Turkey and ISIS

Despite the territorial defeat of ISIS in Syria by the Rojava Kurds, the jihadi group remains a significant threat. It is feared that the next generation of ISIS jihadists is being raised in the detention camps and prisons in the Rojava region. Adding to the already volatile situation, Turkish President Erdoğan has been fighting the Kurds for years, viewing them as terrorists and a greater threat to Turkey than ISIS.

Sweeties

Young summer love in the digital age

Three 14-year-old girls arrive at a campsite in the South of France, their heads full of dreams about love. This summer it will happen – their first romance. But will the reality live up to their fantasies? The girls navigate the complexities of young love and identity in different ways: Malak seeks new connections, Celia longs for her distant boyfriend, and Jae withdraws into the digital world. This intimate, dreamy and relatable coming-of-age film focuses on infatuation, insecurity, and that complex period between childhood and adulthood.

Capturing Water

South Africa's water crisis is a cautionary tale for the world

In 2018, Cape Town narrowly averted completely running out of drinking water. In a country sitting 29th on the list of water-scarce places in the world, this became a ghastly harbinger of things to come. The city council committed to take urgent action to protect the supply of water by enforcing a policy of limited access. Capturing Water follows the unfolding fight, led by working class activist Faeza Meyer, to overturn water cuts-offs, which are punitive to the Cape’s many poor and crowded dwellings. From the mayor self-financing crucial infrastructure to the communities living with sewage spills, and the campaigners fighting land developers that threaten the city’s aquifers, this expertly-crafted documentary exposes the lethal pitfalls of market-led solutions to the water crisis.

Eternal Sky

The world's leading astrophysicists seek to unravel the origins of time

Set against the remote Andes in the Chilean Atacama desert and New York City, this award-winning film tells an intimate story behind one of science's most competitive races: the hunt for the origins of our cosmos. In a unique, lyrical parallel, it also delves into the lives of several Atacameno elders who bring an original and intriguing vision of the cosmos, offering viewers a mysterious, magical, and philosophical perspective that will captivate them.

Retribution

With Trump victorious, fears grow among those he will see as traitors

There has never been a US president like Donald Trump — and now he is returning to the White House. This time with a detailed plan for his second coming, to include going after those who wronged him the first time around.

Ice Maiden

One woman's solo trip around Antartica

This raw, powerful documentary takes the viewer right into the incredible world of brave sailor and solo adventurer Lisa Blair as she embarks on her voyage to be the first woman to sail solo, non-stop, and unassisted around Antarctica.

Bitter Rice

A compassionate account of how troubled teens tough it out in a Chinese juvenile reform school

There's no way out - your every move is being watched and to survive your loyalty must be to the system, not to your friends. This isn't an Orwellian nightmare, it's the Peach Reform School. Filming inside the school for over a year, this intimate doc gets under the skin of China's extreme juvenile correctional establishments for the first time. From terrified 11-year-old Wenjun, to teenage secret lovers, Lei-gong and Chanjuan, and the rough but conflicted school instructor, Zhou Hai; intimate access to these characters reveals how everyone is a victim in a system that sets love and friendship against obedience and order.