Fringes

Documentarian Paula Weiman-Kelman tells stories of young Jews’ spiritual innovation in Israel and North America. From the Secular Yeshiva in Jerusalem to the Ghetto Shul in Montreal, Canada, and the Stony Lonesome Organic Farm in Virginia, these inspiring portraits show a cutting-edge Judaism for the 21st century.

From criminals to cults to conflict zones and everything in between, FRINGES examines the outliers whose stories often fall out of the field of vision of the mainstream.

Tasai, Mitsushima and Ango are all married, but they want to have a girlfriend. They know that is not right, but they still want a girlfriend because they are not happy with their marriage life. Their problem is that they don't know how to find a girlfriend. Mitsushima then brings Ibuse Masumi who teaches men how to make girlfriends. Ibuse Masumi first had a girlfriend at the age of 22 and he also has experience having 11 girlfriends at the same time. ~~ Based on the manga series "Furinji Man" by Aoki Uhei.

They live on the edge of the known world - far from civilization but affected by its consequences nonetheless. The photographer Markus Mauthe visited these last indigenous peoples to capture the inherent beauty of their cultures, before they too fall victim to ever-advancing globalisation. The journey leads from South Sudan and Ethiopia to Malay sea nomads and Brazilian Indians in Mato Grosso, who have started to defend themselves against the destruction of their natural habitat. The result is a film that captures intimate and unadulterated encounters with sumptuous photography – while also serving as an appeal for the preservation of indigenous cultures, which will surely perish unless we rethink and act accordingly.

A day in the life of Azucena, who is running out of time to keep herself and her family from being evicted; Rafael, a lawyer who sets out to reunite a mother with her daughter; and Teodora, a sick old woman who searches for her long-lost son before it is too late.

Documentary about homeless people in São Paulo, Brazil (more than 9000!), discussing themes such as social exclusion, unemployment, alcohol abuse, madness and religiosity.

"On The Fringes of Sao Paulo: Scavengers" is a documentary that portrays the life of paper and recycled material collectors in Sao Paulo, Brazil. This documentary is the third piece of a combination of four films that started with the projects "On The Fringes of Sao Paulo: Homeless" and "Squatting on the Fringes of Sao Paulo".

In a corporate world void of human interaction, Ennis has lost her ability to relate to others. When the company fires her and forces her into a crowded tenement building, Ennis must overcome her fear of human connection to begin again.

The story of a mute hermit who lost his voice (or chooses not to speak) after a traumatic combat experience. He has a complicated relationship with his criminal brother and a stray girl, and there are certain problems they bring along to his almost autistic life.

Corruption in Southeast Asia does not always need to be fictionally invented, and Prachachon Nork is a case in point - it is based on real-life events played out on the lower echelons of society. When a farmer in a small village suffers the tragic death of his son because he could not afford medical help, he leaves the village for work in the city - and more suffering for himself as he joins the union, goes out on strike, and faces the consequences from the angered employers. Meanwhile, a student arrives in the village and tries to help out the farmers, only to step on the toes of the middlemen who want their profits for selling the produce. The student also suffers a terrible fate as his ideals and the reality of the cut-throat middlemen clash.