Hong Kong Mixtape

this is Mount Rinjani

At once a journey and a reckoning, this film follows 19 year old Koen's ascent of Mount Rinjani—often regarded as Indonesia’s toughest summit. What begins as a test of endurance gradually transforms into something more intimate: a dialogue between self and nature. Shot as a reflective video diary, the film holds not just the view from the summit, but the moments of insight and introspection discovered along the way.

Printemps Now!

How Montreal is transformed from winter to spring. Inspired by Berlin: Symphony of a great city, Printemps Now! is a cinematographic poem, an audiovisual symphony of the city of Montreal transitioning from winter to spring.

Ferrum

Unconventional portrayal of mining in the Swedish Lapland ore fields, a powerful image and sound symphony that can be experienced both as a documentary and symbolic work.

Transmission

An audio-visual experience through the perspective of an iPhone depicting a harmonious city during the day quickly descend into technological madness as night falls.

From the Room to the Cinema to Outside

An experimental short where a character sends a series of progressively desperate emails asking for a job.

Pseudo Secular

They are frozen in place, stagnating without any direction. Around them, things change rapidly.

The Dawn is Too Far: Stories of Iranian-American Life

The Dawn is Too Far: Stories of Iranian-American Life poetically narrates the story of a community of Iranian Americans who have made the San Francisco Bay Area their home over the past five decades. The film explores Iranian immigration through turbulent histories of dissent, revolution, war, and separation, and the reinvention of identity in a new land and culture. The Dawn is Too Far highlights how Iranian students, activists, and artists have navigated displacement while drawing on and influencing Bay Area culture. This community offers a more nuanced story of the Iranian diaspora—the ways that this community enriches the region where they live, work, and build families. The Dawn is Too Far undermines the tired and overplayed news headlines that are dominated by narratives of enmity and mistrust between the government of Iran and the U.S., to offer a more humane understanding of the how people's lives and the sacrifices they make are part of the larger story of immigration.

Monstruo Obscura

Seoul, 1996. Wastewater from developed film reels is dumped into the sewers. From this toxic discharge, a monster awakens, carrying the memories of countless movies imprinted on the film reels. Burdened by a vanished past, the monster wanders the city.

o céu diante dos meus olhos nunca é cinza

Archivos VIH/sida: historias y voces de una pandemia

Texas, USA

A documentary film exploring what it takes to build a new, hopeful vision for democracy against enormous odds. It’s an underdog story, told through the lives of candidates and organizers during the statewide 2022 election who tell an unexpected story of persistence, community, and progress in an unlikely place.

Interview and Reading: Jonas Mekas

Jonas Mekas recites poems of his, both in English and Lithuanian. Exclusive Mekas interview by the poet Sparrow. The legendary poet-film critic and film diarist waxes philosophical in rare extended setting exhibiting his transcendental poetic humor. Jonas attacks the crass world of TV advertising and sell-out commercial filmmakers. Contributes zen anecdotes and filmmaking advice. Choice clips include Mekas' Film Diaries with deceivingly formalist amateur "home movie" style, but in small bursts of expression in a quick collage. Footage from Jonas' homeland as well as clips of famed pop figures John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Tiny Tim.

Ellas en la ciudad

"Ellas en la ciudad" (Them in the City) focuses on the first settlers of the neighborhoods on the outskirts of Seville. Through their stories, we discover that they have been the backbone of a city that has turned its back on them.

Hear O, Mahatma

In an open letter to the most influential modern Indian political leader, the Late Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the filmmaker sequentially narrates the stories of three distinct individuals - that of a confused filmmaker who flows with time, a dedicated social reformer who guides the stratified masses into social upliftment and a divisive and regressive politician. The juxtaposition of their disfigured trajectories provokes a pertinent question: Did Gandhi ever foresee the dehumanized shape that his legacy has now dangerously morphed into?

to the stranger who has loved you all your life

An experimental short film that traces the emotional landscape of life after heartbreak. Through intimate narration and cinematography, the film reflects on time, healing, and the rediscovery of self. A quiet yet cinematic portrait of learning to love the stranger within, and rediscovering the beauty of simply being alive.

Pride & Snide

A contrast between two kinds of attitudes to gay liberation in Adelaide.

Echo

A reframing of the classic tale of Narcissus, the director draws on snippets of conversation with a trusted friend to muse on gender and identity. Just as shimmers are difficult to grasp as knowable entities, so does the concept of a gendered self feel unknowable except through reflection. Is it Narcissus that Echo truly longs for, or simply the Knowing he possesses when gazing upon himself?

Pussy Riot: Rage Against Putin

Pussy Riot make a comeback after a long absence to stand with Ukraine. Their story and their struggle are told through archival footage and interviews with the group’s members.

my life through my eyes

A short experimental film that explores one filmmaker’s journey to preserve fleeting moments before they fade. Created as a heartfelt introduction into Koen's film making journey, the film blends nostalgic visuals with inventive storytelling techniques, exploring childhood dreams, the fear of forgetting, and the impulse to document life as it unfolds. This marks Koen’s first true dive into editing and cinematography, born from years of unfinished projects, it stands as a heartfelt introduction to a lifelong pursuit of storytelling, dedicated to the child in all of us who once dreamed.

The Road Forward

The Road Forward is an electrifying musical documentary that connects a pivotal moment in Canada’s civil rights history—the beginnings of Indian Nationalism in the 1930s—with the powerful momentum of First Nations activism today. Interviews and musical sequences describe how a tiny movement, the Native Brotherhood and Sisterhood, grew to become a successful voice for change across the country. Visually stunning, The Road Forward seamlessly connects past and present through superbly produced story-songs with soaring vocals, blues, rock, and traditional beats.