ARIES

Better Living Through Ch... In the 1970s, Dr. Alexander “Sasha” Shulgin significantly contributed to the development and psychopharmaceutical use of MDMA: a catalyst to personal doors entombed or unknown. His widow, co-author, and research partner, Ann—alongside friends, family, and colleagues—gives a guided tour of their life and laboratory, reflecting on how risks and revelations opened a world of compound enlightenment. Stippled with spirituality, sadness, and skepticism, the Shulgins’ chemical love story examines the power of psychedelic psychotherapy, sacred alchemy, and challenging the path of misunderstood resistance.

A New World of Hurt Jodi Isenor, a 45-year-old Nova Scotia ultrarunner, sets out to become the first person to run the entire 300-kilometre Cabot Trail in one go. It’s an especially audacious goal just one year after being told by his cardiologist to stop all activity - forever. Supported by his wife and friends, Jodi battles oppressive heat and unrelenting hills in a journey about love, loss and the strength of the human spirit.

Pesadilla A woman who believes she has seen a murder is harassed by the alleged criminal.

What Will I Become? The story of a daring woman who passes part of her life by the question, what can I do?

Presidio Modelo “In this meditative essay on the infamous Cuban prison of Panopticon design, the walls in the prison crumble revealing a past that has been covered by layers of thick yellow paint. Exquisite photography and lyric narration reveal a world where pain left unvisited turns into amnesia; history cannot absolve everything.” – BIG SKY FILM FESTIVAL

Bread and Circuses Bread and Circuses isn't just a whimsical take on The Last Supper, it's a portrayal of the desperation of America's elite class to cling to everlasting power and the extent to which they will go in order to achieve said goal, even as they are prepared to sacrifice the loyalty of those closest to them.

Colossus A WW2 veteran is haunted by an alien encounter that took him out of the war.

8:37 Rebirth Every second is a lifetime. With the four-pound trigger pull, Jared and Sergei - two youths from vastly different backgrounds - become forever linked. From that split second as the hand of the clock hits 8:37, each of their lives veers onto a path that sets the seeds of their mutual destruction. 22 years later, Jared is released from prison for the death of Sergei's father; deeply regretful, he tries to forge ahead into a better life. Sergei, now a professor of mathematics, descends into a guilt-ridden abyss of a revenge-driven obsession. Both men must face their demons; one man might lose his life, the other his sanity.

Leonard Bernstein: A Gen... One of the first US born conductors to receive worldwide fame, Leonard Bernstein is an exceptional composer and certainly not only due to The West Side Story. Instead of concentrating exclusively on his most famous work, Thomas von Steinaecker sets out to paint a complete picture of Bernstein. Thus, the documentary focusses on the American’s less known later works and on three compositions in particular: his Mass, the musical 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and the great final opera A Quiet Place. The film paints a vivid picture of the multitalented Bernstein, struggling with his role as composer and conductor, tackling the tension between successes and flops, between the politics of his time and his own liberal humanitarian claim. It looks back on Bernstein’s major achievements, such as his acclaimed conducting of Mahler and his involvement in the Young People’s Concerts, and it shows Bernstein’s work with young aspiring musicians as well as his political commitment.

The New Normal Is the past the future we want ? The race to get back to normal made us question this very idea of normalcy itself – Is it normal that our planet is dying because of our economic priorities? Is it normal when lockdowns only protect the rich while the economically disadvantaged are left jobless and take to the streets? Is it normal that our children and relationships are dependent on the thin addictive threads of technology Is it normal that we live in a world without kindness? This film uses poetry and visual metaphor to explore these questions.