Playing with Gods

Inocentes

2021 · ★ 10

In a time marked by longing and uncertainty, at the beginning of a social isolation, two friends disappear. The pandemic becomes a backdrop for the loss of innocence and the rescue of long-lost things. Ingenuous is like a farewell gift from the only link that united these two missing figures; two strangers who get lost, or maybe, just maybe, just met.

YAPs

2025

Widespread closures threaten the very existence of live theater in America. A traditional career as an opera singer seems less and less viable. And yet: In spite of a system stacked against them, young singers continue to follow their calling, risking everything to gain entry into fiercely competitive apprenticeship programs. In VHO’s searing, intimate new documentary film, 5 young opera singers across America share a year of their lives with unprecedented access. What is driving their ambition? Who will “make it”? And what does success even mean to the next generation?

The Last Cruise

2021 · ★ 6.4

Using intimate footage recorded by passengers and crew, The Last Cruise is a first-person account of the nightmare that transpired aboard the ill-fated Diamond Princess cruise ship, which set sail from Japan on the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Letter League

A short documentary that tells the story of queer artist Heather Spooner and the adult pen pal program she created during the pandemic, featuring the poignant and humorous stories of connection and humanity that came from it.

Rusalka

1986 · ★ 9

Dvořák's "Rusalka" in a production by David Pountney at the English National Opera in 1986. Mark Elder conducts the orchestra, accompanied by the English National Opera Chorus in English.

Walter Hus, a Musical Journey

2021

During his thirty-year career, Walter Hus, a Belgian composer and pianist, has taken a thousand musical faces. While he wanted to compose a new work, a crisis blocked his creation. During an exchange with his therapist, he comes to an existential question: "Who am I musically? » Through the portrait of this composer, as abundant as it is fascinating, the film aims to give access to his creative process and thus to the endurance and beauty of creation.

Covidwood

2021 · ★ 9

A French documentary on how Covid-19 affected Hollywood and the cinema industry in the United States.

La Scala: The Force of Destiny

2025 · ★ 8

Legendary opera house, La Scala is more than just a stage— it’s a dream factory. And this year, over the course of four intensive months, 900 people will work relentlessly to incarnate Verdi’s opera masterpiece, ‘‘The Force of Destiny”. Under the masterful eyes of director Léo Muscato, we will follow set designer Federica Parolini, as her sketches evolve into towering architectural marvels crafted by dedicated artisans. In the costume workshop, Silvia Peroni and her team weave magic with fabric and thread through their expert hands. Then, a stellar international cast of virtuosos arrives in Milan, ready to fill La Scala’s hallowed halls with their soaring voices. But with the clock ticking, and expectations going through the roof, tensions unfold like an opera of its own. As Milan holds its breath for the legendary Prima on the 7th of December, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Will they be ready in time for curtain rise?

Frozen Hell

2011 · ★ 8

During the Continuation War, there were dozens of POW camps in Finland. About the third of 70,000 prisoners died during the first year of war. Most of the archives of the camps were destroyed and the majority of the war crimes were never revealed.

Finlandia

1922 · ★ 4.3

A documentary from Erkki Karu, one of the earliest pioneers of Finnish cinema: This government-produced propaganda film introduces the nature, sports, military, agriculture and capital of Finland.

Valldaura: A Quarantine Cabin

2022 · ★ 6

A group of young architects, confined to a forest in Barcelona during the COVID crisis, explore the problems generated by the ambition of wanting to be completely self-sufficient.

The Day Sports Stood Still

2021 · ★ 6

The story of the unprecedented sports shutdown in March of 2020 and the remarkable turn of events that followed. This sports documentary is a chronicle of the abrupt stoppage, athletes’ prominent role in the cultural reckoning on racial injustices that escalated during the pandemic, and the complex return to competition in the summer and fall.