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An observational documentary about a nomadic mother of five, belonging to the Nenets people living in the Russian Arctic, that beautifully follows the adage that the best way to learn about people in general is to look at one person in particular, and with great care.

Who can fathom the numbers involved when we’re talking about nuclear energy and waste? Especially when comparing their pros and cons with those of fossil fuels. In Nuclear Forever, director Carsten Rau does an admirable job of letting the unfathomable sink in.

Can we make it rain in the desert? And if we could, should we? Or is controlling the weather dangerous hubris? Finnish Filmmaker Halttunen seeks to weigh up these moral concerns in assessing the work of meteorologist Hannele Korhonen, for whom the opportunity to widen scientific research in the field is too appealing to turn down.

Volkan Üce’s story of two young Turkish men trying to settle into jobs at the all-inclusive Nashira Resort makes for an engaging and insightful documentary that perfectly encapsulates the eternal culture clash between the haves and have-nots.

On April 24, the VdR Int’l Feature Film Competition jury comprising filmmaker Thomas Imbach, Savina Neirotti (Artistic Director Torino Film Lab) and Josh Siegel (MoMA) awarded the 2021 Grand Jury Prize to Faya Dayi by Jessica Beshir. Special Jury Awards were given to 1970 by Tomasz Wolski & Les Enfants terribles by Ahmet Necdet Cupur. All awards follow.

Did the Nazis change the tuning of music to manipulate the masses? Is this the same pitch we are still using today? This urban legend kicks off a wonderful exploration of the meaning of sounds in human life. A celebration of listening, from the sizzling of champagne to the wailing of ghosts.

The Close Up section of the Bergamo Film Meeting, which kicks off 24 April running to May 2, comprises 18 documentaries screening for the first time in Italy. Two awards are up for grabs, awarded both by the audience and a jury made up of Bergamo trade union delegates.

In Little Palestine: Diary of a Siege Abdallah, Al-Khatib has composed a love song to a place that resists, with dignity, the atrocities of war.

There is a rhythm to the film’s sounds and images, a balance between the wild and the thoughtful. It’s as if we’ve entered Hobert’s mind and are dancing with her thoughts, associations and emotions…and what a privilege.

Anais Clanet’s Paris-based sales outfit Reservoir Docs, which earlier this week picked up international rights to new CPH: DOX and Hot Docs title Dark Blossom, has announced a raft of new sales on other titles on its current slate, including the Harry Belafonte doc The Sit-In.