S1.E5 ∙ Alexandria

In the twilight years of her life, Arlene Murtha, the matriarch of the Murtha Family, unveils her past and reveals stories of growing up against the backdrop of her family's Christmas celebration.

Filmed in the 1960s with the Wounaan, an indigenous riverine people of the rainforests of western Colombia and eastern Panama, this film was edited in 1974 and meticulously digitized in 2012. (It is the first of a trilogy documenting Wounaan culture, none of which have been distributed.) Wounaan extended families live in spacious houses dispersed along the riverbanks. The film focuses on the activities and human interactions centered in these households -- food preparation and consumption, childcare, crafts, relaxation. The activities of a constructed 'day' afford the viewer a unique glimpse into the cooperative nature of a subsistence culture; in closeups and candid moments, these Wounaan present many of the best gestures we know of ourselves, and challenge us to rethink our industrial capitalist society.

This film, a compilation of still photographs and newsreel footage, traces the growth of international Communism from Karl Marx and his Communist Manifesto to the present day. Highlights include the early days of Lenin; the sinking of a Russian warship during the Russo-Japanese War; the fight for power between Trotsky and Stalin; Stalin's political purges, mass executions, liquidation of the Kulaks, and pacts with the Allies; the German invasion of Russia during World War II; Communism in China; the Korean War; Stalin's death; the coming to power of Khrushchev; the Soviet suppression of the Hungarian revolution; Khrushchev's famous "kitchen debate" with visiting Vice President Nixon; Khrushchev in Hollywood during his visit to the United States in 1959; and the rise of Communism in Cuba under Fidel Castro.

A story about dreams and the manipulative power of films in a chaotic Kyrgyzstan, seen through the eyes of two cinema projectionists. The Kyrgyz town of Naryn is preparing for the 1000-year anniversary of Manas, their national hero. The complicated preparations are upset as a group of Islamic rebels invade Kyrgyzstan. The work and dreams of the film's protagonists, projectionists named Zarylbek and Murat, epitomise the present and the past in Kyrgyzstan, struggling through a process of transition. Through their eyes, we see a story that reflects the manipulative power that films exert on a colourful people influenced by socialism, the market economy, the Islamic faith and their nomadic culture.

Who were the Nabateans, caravan traders who once ruled over the Arabic peninsula all the way to Syria before building the majestic city of Petra?

The daily life of refugees (Syrian, Kurdish, Pakistani, Afghani, and other) in the camp of Idomeni. People waiting in queues for food, tea and doctors; waiting to cross the border between Greece and Macedonia. One day, Europe closes its borders for them once and for all. The 'residents' of Idomeni decide, in their turn, to occupy the train tracks, blocking the trains that carry goods across the border.