Benedict Men

"The suburb is on fire" - about the alienation of young people. How is it that a destructive lifestyle feels like the only way to face the future?

An introverted man runs a "car cemetery" where people come to find parts for old vehicles.

THE FARMER is the story of one man's resistance against the seemingly unstoppable megatrends of our time, spearheaded by a Bhutanese farmers' leader, Sangay, and told from the perspective of a German film director, Irja. Together they shoot a fictional TV series for the only Bhutanese broadcaster to contrast the rapid rural exodus currently taking place in Bhutan with the vision of a new, forward-looking generation of farmers. While the fictional scenes tell the story of a young woman from the city being confronted with the challenges of farm life, the documentary scenes show two people's struggle to realize their dream of changing things for the better. Both journeys lead into a new world full of huge obstacles, unexpected precipices and hidden treasures.

A Matter of Land recounts the first year of application of Colombian's Land Restitution Act from the perspective of a community who decide to engage with the process. The film explores the tensions that arise when such communities come face to face with the complex institutions responsible for enforcing the law. The result of these tensions is a narrative worthy of Kafka, in which a doorway to justice is opened for the sole purpose of demonstrating that no one can pass through it.

"Bangkok Girl" is a 'remarkably accomplished, beautifully photographed and intimate debut documentary that puts a human face on the devastating social issue that, sadly, is the fate of too many impoverished girls.' The documentary provides a glimpse of Thailand's sex tourism told through the experiences of a 19-year-old bar girl named Pla.

PACKED IN A TRUNK is the story of artist Edith Lake Wilkinson, committed to an asylum in 1924 and never heard from again. All her worldly possessions were packed into trunks and shipped to a relative in West Virginia where they sat in an attic for 40 years. Edith's great-niece, Emmy Award winning writer and director Jane Anderson, grew up surrounded by Edith's paintings, thanks to her mother who had gone poking through that dusty attic and rescued Edith's work. The film follows Jane in her decades-long journey to find the answers to the mystery of Edith's buried life, return the work to Provincetown and have Edith's contributions recognized by the larger art world.