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GCFF 2023 OFFICIAL SELECTION | IRON BUTTERFLIES

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

Global Cinema Film Festival of Boston (GCFF) is committed to spotlighting films that make us care. Our annual programs proudly showcase unconventional styles that speak to the evolution of the documentary form. Moreover, through the visual language of film, we invite audiences to embark on a journey, exploring sensitive stories captured by unflinching lenses held by filmmakers with the audacity to inform, inspire and visually transport audiences to places near and far. Our 8th annual edition included award-winning independent films from around the globe. Come and discover extraordinary films that make us care!

GCFF 2023 Press Coverage Highlights! 

SCROLL DOWN TO DISCOVER THE FILMS!

 

Global Cinema Film Festival is exited to announce that all films screening in GCFF 2023 will be made available for audiences to stream in all 50 U.S. states during the festival from May 19-21, 2023!

LAS ABOGADAS: ATTORNEYS ON THE FRONT LINES OF THE MIGRANT CRISIS

2022 | USA, MEXICO | 93 MIN | DIRECTOR: Victoria Bruce

CATEGORY: DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM

Online Screening w/English Subtitles | USA |  May 19-21

Las Abogadas follows four immigration attorneys over a four-year odyssey as the U.S. Government upends every law to protect those fleeing from violence and war. From setting up a legal clinic in a Volkswagen bus in the middle of five thousand desperate migrants, to forcing border guards to follow the law and accept a blind woman into U.S. custody, to crossing the border to counsel African migrants stuck in Tijuana, to giving legal advice in the brutally hot Mexican sun to families desperate to see American soil — we watch our characters’ surreal journeys to try and help. 


As COVID-19 shuts down international borders, trapping the migrants in a political quagmire and global pandemic, our four attorneys struggle to find ways to continue their quest to help, one brave and anguished soul at a time. We follow Rebecca, Charlene, Jodi and Mulu into the Fall of 2020, to the day of the Presidential election. We feel their gripping anxiety as they witness what could usher in some semblance of hope, or bring about their greatest fear. Even in 2021, with the change in presidential administrations in the United States, the attorneys and their clients continued to face greater challenges than they could have imagined.

HIDE & SEEK 

2022 | United Kingdom | 88 MIN | 

DIRECTOR: Victoria Fiore 

CATEGORY: DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM

Online Screening w/English Subtitles | USA | May 19-21

Nascondino (HIDE AND SEEK) follows four years in the life of “scugnizzo” streetkid Entoni as he fights for freedom during a state crackdown on children at risk of entering organised crime. Meanwhile his grandmother Dora, the family matriarch, watches him roam the narrow city streets whilst confronting her own past horrors. in the city of Naples, a world where nothing is as it seems, dreams and half truths may be their only chance for survival.


AFRICAN MOOT

2022 | South Africa | 85 MIN |

DIRECTOR: Shameela Seedat

CATEGORY: DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM

Online Screening | USA | May 19-21

Every year, over a hundred of the most talented law students from across the African continent gather in a different capital city to compete at the prestigious African Human Rights Moot Competition, the largest mock court competition in Africa. At the competition, these young aspirant lawyers act as both prosecution and defense in a cutting-edge human rights fictional court case, each hoping to win the case and bring back the trophy to their home country. AFRICAN MOOT takes a journey with 4 passionate law student teams - from Cape Town, Cairo, Kampala and Nairobi, as they spend months preparing in their home countries for a case dealing with refugee rights, and then travel to Botswana to converge for one intense week of legal oratory, debate, adventure, bonding and high emotion. 

FOREST BROTHERS

2022 | Norway | 54 MIN | Online Screening 

DIRECTOR: Øyvind Elvsborg

CATEGORY: DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM

Online Screening w/English Subtitles | USA | May 19-21

Forest Brothers» tells the story of a way of life that is almost gone, of the sorrow of staying behind and of refinding joy in life. In order to document rural life that is about to disappear, Øyvind Elvsborg started taking pictures of the twins that resulted in a photo exhibition at Kistefos Museum, a modern museum in Norway. He then started filming the brothers and continued filming Olaf after Sven had passed away. Øyvind followed Olaf with a camera for more than a decade. The film is a tribute to the simple, thrifty life and the forgotten knowledge.

BEIRUT '22

2022 | Lebanon | 33 MIN | 

DIRECTOR: Patrick H. Kohl

CATEGORY: DOCUMENTARY SHORT  FILM

Online Screening w/English Subtitles | USA | May 19-21

On the 4th of August 2020, a large amount of unstable

stored ammonium nitrate exploded in the port of Beirut. More than 200 people died. 6,000 were injured and 300,000 left displaced. Among them, many refugees residing in Beirut.


Two years after our critically acclaimed documentary "4/8 Beirut", which documented the devastating dimensions and damages of the Beirut blast, we return to our protagonists. Beirut '22 sheds light on the lives of Syrian and Iraqi refugees affected by the explosion. At a time when Lebanon is struggling with a deepening political, economic and humanitarian crisis, the documentary traces the hopes and perspectives of a community in transition, telling their own, intimate stories of adversity, trauma, hope and despair.

IRON BUTTERFLIES

2023 | Ukraine | 84 MIN | 

DIRECTOR: Roman Liubyi

CATEGORY: DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM 

Online Screening w/English Subtitles | USA | May 19-21

On July 17, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down by Russian forces over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board. The reality of this attack, and its possible ramifications for the then-ongoing war in Donbas and the West’s relationship with Russia, was immediately questioned by the Russian government and media. As voluminous evidence — including physical artifacts like the butterfly-shaped shrapnel found in the bodies of the pilots — piled up, the lies denying reality only became more outlandish and incredible. In a world where violence can only be defended by lies, and lies only maintained by violence, Iron Butterflies presents the truth of what happened to MH17, but also what was at stake by not confronting it. 

DOGWATCH 

2022 | Greece | 78 MIN | 

DIRECTOR: Gregoris Rentis


CATEGORY: DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM  

Online Screening w/English Subtitles | USA | May 19-21

Mercenaries set sail for a life of action against Somali pirates. Yet, the sea is full of surprises. Or lack thereof. For a long time, cargo ships crossing the High Risk Area of the Somali coastline would hire private mercenaries in order to protect themselves from pirates. Faced with a decline in attacks, the mercenaries now have to deal with an unforeseen problem: the lack of action. In his first feature film, Greek director Gregoris Rentis (who boasts remarkable previous experience, having worked for example as an editor for the renowned American filmmaker Monte Hellman) depicts the daily life on the ship for these tough yet lonely men, who train and prepare themselves for combat that will never happen. The enemy is nothing more than tales from the past, while the ship continues its course through calm waters, with its cargo uselessly guarded. Perhaps, for some of them, the time has come to think about a desk job, a family or a less unusual life. With an impressive level of access, Rentis' sharp and profound gaze succeeds in capturing the somewhat absurd universe of these men of war, who end up not only wondering how to occupy these long uneventful stretches of time, but also questioning their jobs and their life paths. 

SEABIRD - THE CIVIL EYE

2022| Germany, Italy | 20 MIN

DIRECTOR: Simon Straetker, David Lohmüller

CATEGORY: DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM

Online Screening w/English Subtitles | USA | May 19-21

"Seabird" takes us to the deadliest border in the world. With a small propeller plane, a crew of dedicated civilians flies over the central Mediterranean. There they document the human rights violations by the Libyan coast guard.

DREAMERS @WORK

2023 | USA | 11 MIN | 

DIRECTOR: Amna Ali

CATEGORY: DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM

Online Screening w/English Subtitles | USA | May 19-21

Many kids with an ethnic background face tremendous pressure from not only their families but their communities when it comes to following a certain path provided for them. Many of those kids aren’t always given the support to pursue their dreams in art. I can argue that art is not only what shapes a young kid's mind but it’s what shapes the world. Rather that kid wishes to pursue painting, acting, music, fashion, instruments, dancing, or filmmaking. That child should be allowed to flourish into themselves through art. Art is all around us and the reality is that it’s what heals us. Dreamers @work is a short documentary film that highlights kids who come from different backgrounds. It showcases the unique gifts each kid possesses in art and how art brings us together as a society.

MUSK VS BEZOS : 

THE NEW STAR WARS

2022 | France | 59 MIN |

DIRECTOR: Agnès Hubschman

CATEGORY: DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM

Online Screening  | USA | May 19-21

The two richest men in the world are engaged in a vicious space race that has implications for us all. For years, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk have squabbled in the media over everything from who is the wealthiest to who did what first. But their rival space programs, satellite launches and plans to colonize the planets have launched a new Space Age. With his company, Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos has thrown himself into space tourism and, in doing so, has revolutionised access to Space. He sees himself as the leader in this burgeoning ’New Space’ market. But he faces a determined opponent: Elon Musk, the eccentric head of SpaceX. Musk’s company has already disrupted the traditional aerospace launch industry and now he’s aiming for Mars.

CRYPTOQUEEN - 

THE ONECOIN SCAM

2022| Germany, Bulgaria | 90 MIN |

DIRECTOR: Johan Von Mirbach

CATEGORY: DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM

Online Screening |USA | May 19-21

"Cryptoqueen" tells the story of OneCoin - a digital currency that Ruja Ignatova invented to become filthy rich. With her pseudo-cryptocurrency, she defrauded over 3 million investors worldwide and captured several billion euros. The film uncovers her fraud scheme and analyses the success story of the charismatic German-Bulgarian who hoodwinked so many and then disappeared. A unique financial thriller from the digital economy in which Bulgarian mafiosi, Arab sheiks, ex-spies and dubious bankers actively participated.

POWERING PUERTO RICO

2022 | USA | 41 MIN | 

DIRECTOR: Adam Fischer

CATEGORY: DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM

Online Screening w/English Subtitles | USA | May 19-21

Puerto Rico, 2017: It all started with a storm and a car battery. Eugene Smotkin, a Northeastern University professor, was home in San Juan for the summer when two disasters struck: His wife had a stroke and Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico, leaving more than 3 million people without electricity. 


After days of powering a cell phone and a small fan with a car battery, Eugene and his wife were finally able to make it to Boston for the medical treatment she desperately needed. Back on campus, he has an idea: In conjunction with just a few solar panels, Eugene believes he can make a fully functional, affordable, renewable nanogrid system powered by reconditioned hybrid car batteries. And he wants to do so all over Puerto Rico, giving back electricity to a neglected energy populace at a fraction of the current cost.

GCFF 2024 CALL FOR ENTRIES OPENS SOON! 

June 15, 2023 Exclusively on FilmFreeway! 


INDUSTRY SPONSOR 

PROUD SPONSORS

BAR | Belmont Against Racism 

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