Journeys and dreams in the mountains of Mexico's south east, the jungle and the city... Rituals, emotions and words for everyone!

In Ecuador, the indigenous movement has one of the longest and most intense traditions of resistance in the history of modern Latin America. César Pilataxi, a Kichwa man from the Andean region, explains the reasons behind the confrontation between his community and Western interests.

The U.S.-Mexican Border is the site of a disturbing increase in violence and racial intolerance. Along the border there are now a number of autochthonous groups that have organized with the stated purpose of ending undocumented immigration. “Natives” follows the individuals involved in San Diego's anti-immigration movement. Relying principally on a direct cinema style and an eye for the absurd, the film critiques the autochthonous position by contrasting their professed love of country with their racist and anti-democratic attitudes. Though the US has long maintained a reputation as a haven for immigrants, there is nonetheless a strong tradition of xenophobia. In the decade of the 1990s, there was a new surge of anti-immigrant sentiment. This film examines the autochthonous discourse along the US-Mexico border, a place that brings issues of nationalism and intolerance into sharp focus.

Unfolding without narration, Mother Dao, the Turtlelike is a spare and elegant film constructed entirely from archival footage... Luminous nitrate images are set against a simple soundtrack of birdcalls, bells and murmuring voices, punctuated occasionally by native poems and songs. The film's careful construction reveals the face of systematic colonization and the effect of economic expansion on a culture. There are stunning moments: a child leaves off breast-feeding to drag on a cigarette; crocodiles are lassoed in a round-up; a strange white snow floats in the air as workers beat their way through enormous mountains of fluff. Much of the footage, shot by white Dutchmen and meant as propaganda for their colonial causes, now seems both comical and ominous - especially the recurring image of the white-clad colonialist intent on improving native culture and forcing industry forward. The natives' songs and poems, on the other hand, are full of regretful laments against hunger and the drive for profit. A quiet yet pointed journey through the past, Mother Dao is both an informative time capsule and a moving tribute to a lost world. (Rachel Rosen, San Francisco Film Festival)

Treichville is a poor suburb of Abidjah, the capital of Ivory Coast and the destination of the two protagonists in this docudrama by Jean Rouch. The two men in question are originally from Nigeria, and they call themselves Eddie Constantine and Edward G. Robinson, clear indications of who their heroes are. The perpetual conflict between traditional ways of life and new Western imports comes up several times as the two men continue on their daily rounds and reveal a little about their hopes for the future.

At the beginning of the eighties a new road reached the most remote villages of Soraland, in the Ganjam District of Orissa. From then on, the Lanjia Sora, a tribe with their own special conception of illness, life and death, got in touch with the people from the plains and fell under the influence of the missionary activities of several Christian groups. This culture clash meant a structural change among the Lanjia Sora tribal society. Around 90% of the young people have currently converted to Christianity (Catholic, Baptist and Pentecostal) and they have completely abandoned the old rites and traditions.

Map compilation: The Palestine-Israel area. The Ottoman Empire. Ottoman provinces in the Middle East. Jewish and Arabic towns in Palestine under the Ottoman Empire. The Middle East divided up between France and Great Britain. The Palestine – Transjordan division. The UN partition of Palestine between Arabs and Jews. A Map of the main aquifers in the area. Jewish and Arab towns in Palestine before the partition decreed by the UN. The creation of the State of Israel. Maps of the area after successive wars and crises. The Israeli control matrix of the territory. Map of Greater Jerusalem reclaimed by the state of Israel. Those under Palestine autonomy acknowledged by Israel. Annexations by the wall.  

Jamaica – a tropical, beautiful land, rich in milk and... banana's, But, at best, a prime example of the impact of economic globalization on a developing country. This startling and award-winning feature-length documentary provides a shocking insight into a Jamaica that we don't normally see as a tourist, and guides us through the film as though we were a visitor to the country. It portrays a troubled nation, robbed of its natural resources and dependent like a small child on the West.

In Italian Somalia in 1934, a powerful colonist is running a vast estate with many indigenous workers, helped by a young, energetic and well-liked overseer. Then the colonist's beautiful, innocent daughter who had remained in her home country arrives, eager to experience the romance of Africa, full of exotic animals and human beings with strange, delightfully primitive customs. The young people fall in love, but the landowner vehemently rejects what he sees as an inappropriate match. The young overseer leaves and finds consolation in the arms of a beautiful native woman, but the tribe and her husband strongly and tragically oppose this.