S2.E7 ∙ Merles d'Amérique

Over the hills and far away, in the middle of the Russian steppe, you will find Chess City. It was built by Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the first and only President of the Republic of Kalmykia, one of the smallest and poorest republics in the Russian Federation. In Kalmykia, there also lives a boy called Alekhan, who dreams of becoming the World Chess Champion. And his younger brother Amir, who shares the same dream.The road to make their dreams come true passes through the Chess Competition in Chess City.

At the close of WWII, 8 year old twins Rene and Irene were sent to opposite ends of the globe. After two years of surviving the murderous Dr. Josef Mengele at Auschwitz, neither knew if the other twin had survived. 'Rene and I' is the remarkable true story of the coincidences that led to their reunion 4 years after the war, in Long Island, New York.

This is a documentary with rare images of real life stories in the so-called "asentamientos" in the poor underbelly of Uruguay's capital, Montevideo, and in its youth jails. It centers on the life of a family, and some of its teenage neighbors. Filmed at times by only one discreet camera, the documentary exposes the youth legal system and youth jails in Uruguay, as well as the daily lives of its former or future prisoners: teenage prostitutes, petty thieves, single mothers, and their miserable lives, contrasting with upper middle class neighborhoods. A former prostitute now "single" grandmother is a central character, being the mother of a few teenage criminals, a single mother who is also a prostitute, and a repeat offender who eventually dies of AIDS in jail, and whose burial we witness in the film.

Sean, Valeria, Odel and Asael are teenagers who are trapped in the stereotypes ordained for them by Israeli society. A major educational project allows them to show a play that is based on their personal lives and attempts to provide them a gateway and a stage. During the composition of the play, they find that both their homes and the educational project, however laden with good will and intentions, are not really able to look beyond the stereotypes themselves. This is the story of children who are trying to seize as many moments of grace as they can from a society whose members are unable to accept people who are different.

The fate of a market woman who is mentally and physically abused by her husband for years until she can begin a new life in freedom with her son in a women's shelter.

A letter from a boy about broken expectations from his beloved hometown, Karachi, written to Karachi itself.