BHS

Competition 2023

Dear Memories
Dear Memories
Thomas Hoepker is one of the most important living photographers worldwide. His pictures became icons of photojournalism. In 2017, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The man whose art has become part of the collective memory is now slowly losing…
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Flotation
Flotation
In Eastern Serbia, in a town with a dual identity divided between magic and industry, a family whose destiny is intrinsically linked with both does their best to ensure the survival of their traditions and their future generations. Lifelong miner Dragan…
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Las Abogadas
Las Abogadas
Las Abogadas follows a group of immigration attorneys over a multi-year odyssey, as the U.S. government under President Trump upends every law meant to protect those fleeing from persecution, violence and war. From setting up a legal clinic in a Volkswagen…
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Laughing in Afghanistan
Laughing in Afghanistan
A young Afghan actor, Karim Asir, in the midst of bombs and disasters, decides to become the Afghan Charlie Chaplin. He wants to change the world using pantomime and humor and gives performances with laughter - his only weapon. After the Taliban takeover…
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Make People Better
Make People Better
In 2018, the Chinese scientist Dr. He Jiankui crossed a Rubicon in human evolution by altering the genetic structure of embryos to produce the world’s first genome-edited babies. This controversial experiment, supported by China's government and top…
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Mrs. Iran's Husband
Mrs. Iran's Husband
Sultan Mohammad's quest for power and expansion puts the burden on his two wives: Iran, and Sara, to maintain his prestige and assets. As the ruler of a mountain kingdom with 11 children and a flock of sheep, he seeks to marry for the third time, but…
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My Name is Happy
My Name is Happy
Aspiring popstar Mutlu Kaya (Mutlu means ‘happy’ in Turkish) narrowly escapes an attempted femicide. Despite life changing injuries, Mutlu goes in search of justice and tries to reclaim her voice as a singer.
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Pure Unknown
Pure Unknown
Every night nameless bodies land in Dr. Cristina Cattaneo’s autopsy room. She calls them the Pure Unknown. These Pure Unknown often belong to the fringes of society. They are homeless, sex workers, runaway teenagers. Lately, they have mostly been migrants,…
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Return to Raqqa
Return to Raqqa
Return to Raqqa follows the story of Marc Marginedas, a Spanish journalist who was kidnapped by the Islamic State in Syria. He was one of 19 journalists taken captive by the terrorist group in 2013, and he was detained for six months before being released.…
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Spring in Mariupol
Spring in Mariupol
When the Ukrainian city of Mariupol was besieged in the spring of 2022, the Italian journalist Maurizio Vezzosi was a remarkable eyewitness to the siege. Following the advance of the Russian troops, he was at times the only Western journalist reporting…
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The Mind Game
The Mind Game
When he was just 14, Sajid Khan Nasiri fled Afghanistan alone. After a two-year journey filled with danger and hardships – which he minutely documented on his phone camera – he arrives in Belgium to seek asylum. He is sure that when he arrives, he’ll…
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Tomorrow's Freedom
Tomorrow's Freedom
In 2017, filmmaking sisters Georgia and Sophia Scott gained intimate access to the story of imprisoned Palestinian political leader Marwan Barghouthi. Working closely with Marwan’s family in the occupied West Bank in Palestine, the Scott sisters spent…
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When Spring Came to Bucha
When Spring Came to Bucha
What happens when a chapter in a war comes to an end? This is an unsentimental account from Ukraine of the existential spring cleaning that awaits people when they return to their city, first besieged, and then liberated. After 35 days of fighting and…
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