The iconic archive of renowned Belgian photographer Herman Selleslags lies hidden behind the walls of his majestic but run-down mansion. An overwhelming collection unravels the story of an extraordinary photographer who has managed to sketch an exciting musical and social era, spanning more than 70 years. The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Edith Piaf, film stars, artists, and sports heroes – all the big names shared intimate moments in front of his camera. While some made the front page, many of these unique pictures have never seen the light of day. Now they are all collecting dust, piled up to the ceilings.

The archive also includes the photographic heritage left by Herman’s father and the work by his son Jan. Thousands of prints conceal a complex, dual father-son relationship that has marked this family of photographers. Life Will Give You Pictures is a journey through Herman’s memories and thoughts. Wandering and rumbling from crunching floor to floor, life and work pass by. Behind the walls, melancholia, history, and the eternal struggle between fathers and sons come together.

The mansion is for sale. Will the collection be rescued from oblivion and find its way out of the house to be discovered by the world?

Liliana, a young indigenous Pasto woman, travels through her territory awakening memories.

In an encounter with the Elders and the sacred places deep in the Andes, she evokes and reconstructs the vivid statements of Juan Chiles, who 200 years ago summoned everyone to become like water, stone and foam. His voice still travels through the river to encounter the word of the Awá people.

In the depths of the jungle, memory flows like water and springs forth, revealing that the concept of “origin” inhabits and persists in every native people.

In Living Art, the rich tradition of pottery in Bengal’s Lakshikol Pal community stands on the edge of extinction. For generations, these artisans have shaped the earth into intricate, functional art, their craft deeply intertwined with cultural heritage. But with the rise of plastic and industrialisation, this ancient art form is being pushed aside, leaving its practitioners struggling to survive.

Through the lens of master potters like Jagannath Pal and Kanchan Rani Pal, Living Art explores the intimate connection between art, identity, and environmental sustainability. Their craft, born from soil, becomes a poignant metaphor for the environmental degradation caused by modern consumerism.

This film is a call to preserve not just a dying tradition but also the ecological balance that this craft nurtures. Living Art is a visually stunning documentary that transcends borders, urging viewers to reflect on the costs of cultural and environmental neglect.

Luciano lives with his mother and sister in Barrio Tablada, a marginal area of ​​the city of Rosario, Argentina. He helps her with housework as she works long hours to bring home food and raise her daughter. Since money is never enough, he does all kinds of jobs to help his family of women, while looking for a stable job.

Day by day, Luciano trains for hours at a popular gym. After years of hard work, he has managed to see himself in the body he wanted. Life, however, imposes new challenges in his permanent search to build his own identity.

In Mama Micra, the mother is a figure made of felt who recalls, in her own voice, her powerful urge to find freedom: “I was a real vagabond,” she explains. She travelled to Syria and Beirut and lived with nomads in the desert. During the last 10 years of her life, she lived in a Nissan Micra, washing in the morning in hotel bathrooms and sneaking into breakfast rooms to eat.

Her freedom came at a cost. She lost contact with her daughter, who counterpoints her mother’s account with her own recollections. But no harm is irreparable in this affectionate film.

The film Miralles tells, like in a novel, the vision of the world of one of the most important Spanish architects of the contemporary international scene.

Enric Miralles died at the age of 45 from a brain tumour. The next day, he is buried in his masterpiece, the Igualada Cemetery, an unfinished forest cemetery. From that moment on, his life and his work are inextricably linked.

The film unfolds in variations, following Miralles' creative method inspired by Giacometti. A search without the possibility of conclusions, as in the extraordinary and complex Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, one of the architect's last works and also one of his magisterial works.

Moving with freedom through different places and floating in the city of Barcelona, the narrator's voice, written by one of the most interesting Spanish authors of the moment, Sara Mesa, talks to a ghost, it searches for him, evokes him in its spaces, asks questions about his architectures, crossing the threshold between death and life.

In November 1992, a racist arson attack shattered the lives of İbrahim Arslan and his family. At just seven years old, İbrahim survived, but he lost his sister, his cousin, and his grandmother. In the aftermath of the Moelln attacks, the city received hundreds of letters of solidarity, which remained unnoticed for nearly three decades.

Woven into İbrahim’s poignant journey of discovery and his encounters with three letter writers, these rediscovered letters form a visual and emotional bridge between past and present. The film follows İbrahim and his siblings, painting a complex portrait of the lasting trauma that continues to affect them today.

While İbrahim has found a way to cope by fighting against racism and advocating for a remembrance culture that centres the victims’ perspectives, his brother Namik is still at the beginning of his journey to come to terms with the traumatic experiences. The film not only centres the perspectives of the victims and survivors but also reveals the vibrant solidarity that once existed – solidarity that the victims and survivors were unaware of.

This film is a powerful plea for a new form of remembrance, one that takes the voices of survivors seriously and finally gives them the space they deserve.

This project is part of DOK Preview Germany.

After Camp Moria on Lesbos burned down in September 2020, six refugees were held responsible for its destruction in a questionable trial. The focus of the documentary is the exchange of letters between Hassan, one of the six convicted teenagers, and the director. In his letters, Hassan talks about his day-to-day life, his longings, and fears.

The film uses the controversial conviction as a cause to shine a particular light on the new European refugee policy and the accompanying structural marginalisation. The contrast between the Greek vacation paradise, the island of Lesbos, and the newly built refugee camp which acts as a high-security camp located in an almost undisturbed island landscape could not be more drastic.

The new camp reveals how Europe looks upon refugees: with shut doors and an inhumane view of the “Other”.

Elahe returns to her hometown in Mashhad, Iran to assist her family's move to a new house after 40 years. Even though Elahe stopped wearing a hijab many years ago, she still had to wear it when she was among her religious family. Now, influenced by the Woman Life Freedom movement, she has decided to stop wearing the hijab on all occasions, which is challenging for her deeply religious family's norms.

As they move home, in an intimate and honest atmosphere, this documentary takes us into the unique space of an Iranian family after the big social movement, highlighting that the feminist resistance still exists, despite all the suppressions. It explores this parallel transformation within Elahe's family and her homeland; and in this context, it suggests that not only Elahe’s home, but potentially her homeland too, will be a better home for everyone when no one forces their opinion on the other and everybody coexists in peace.