A hunter in a remote and idyllic forest stumbles on a make-shift tent fashioned from sheets of plastic and containing the mummified remains of a corpse. A detailed journal found on site reveals the man committed suicide by self-imposed starvation. Who was this man? Why did he kill himself in such a manner? Inspired by this true event and by the novella Until I Am a Mummy by Shimada Masahiko, Insects sensuously evokes the mysterious man’s last days. Director Peter Liechti, known for using experimental and impressionistic elements in his documentaries, layers lush images and sounds from the forest with sudden cacophonous flashes from an anonymous urban setting to draw us into the mummy’s experience. Driving the story is narration-affectingly performed by Canadian filmmaker Peter Mettler-from the mummy’s journal entries. Insects is a hypnotic, mesmerizing affirmation of life from one man’s radical renunciation of it. Shannon Abel.

(Hot Docs)

Eccentric artist/inventor/engineer/composer Trimpin (he only uses his surname) shuns the hype and hyperbole of the commercial art world, doesn’t have a cell phone or a website, and has never been represented by a gallery, dealer, or manager—yet his freewheeling sculptures and outrageous musical experiments are cherished by museums all over the planet. A Seattle resident since 1980—he moved here from Europe for the area’s greater access to used technological components—his work integrates sculpture and music in ingenious ways, often using computers to create compositions that are unrestricted by any human physical limitations. Filmed over two years, this documentary follows the artist-inventor as he devises a perpetual-motion machine, builds a 20-meter tower of automatic, self-tuning, electric guitars for the EMP Guitar Gallery, and collaborates with the Kronos Quartet on an outrageous world premiere. An amazing investigation of an extraordinary creative genius whose self-made world resembles both Santa’s workshop and Frankenstein’s lab, Trimpin: The Sound of Invention will delight anyone interested in the mysteries, pitfalls, and sheer joys of creative experiment.

(Seattle Film Festival)

Armed with a camera, a neon sign, and a compelling premise-that poverty is Africa’s primary resource-the Dutch artist Renzo Martens spent three years traveling throughout the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “Who owns poverty,” he asks. The filmmakers and photographers who document it? Western consumers of these images? NGOs? The people of Africa? Confrontational, provocative, and bluntly satiric, Martens’ journey is something of an art intervention. He brazenly encourages impoverished Congolese to enjoy their poverty, organizing them to capitalize on it. Martens also questions the ubiquity of NGO logos, Western photographers who make a living from images of oppressive suffering, and UN soldiers protecting foreign gold mining operations. “Experiencing your suffering helps me become a better person,” he suggests to a desperate, bewildered Congolese man. This is a tough film in every way and truly political filmmaking of the highest order-fearless, divisive, controversial, and necessary. Sean Farnel.

(HOT DOCS)

Japan is obsessed with bugs. While people of many other countries fear beetles, millipedes and all other manner of creepy crawlies, the Japanese love and respect them. Insects are glorified there: they’re sold live in vending machines and department stores; they’re the subject of the No. 1 videogame MushiKing; and a single beetle recently sold for $90,000. Insects have been an integral part of the centuries-old traditions of the country, once described as the “Isle of the Dragonflies.” They’ve service both business and pleasure well, been incorporated into literature and art, and are deeply intertwined with spiritualism and religion. In a tiny land where urbanism is swelling, insects were reintroduced into surrounding forests to promote environmental and human unity.

Kids and adults alike will have that same love for insects after seeing BEETLE QUEEN CONQUERS TOKYO. Gorgeous imagery puts insects and society under a microscope, linking people with the strength of beetles, the music of crickets, the magic of fireflies and the endless colors of butterflies. The images tell revealing stories and myths of Japan, people and bugs. Harmony is needed between man and nature. Bugs are integral to that harmony — and we are the lucky ones for that.

(CineVegas)

Fourteen-year-old Nego and fifteen-year-old Cocada meet every day at a petrol station near their favela in Pernambuco where they try to make a little money to support themselves and their families.

Cocada, whose father was assassinated, dreams of becoming a truck driver while he washes the windows of cars, grazes pigs at a waste dump or makes bricks. Nego lives from hand to mouth with his mother and nine siblings, which is why he helps them eke out a living. Besides begging from long-distance buses, he also does temporary work as an errand boy and this doesn’t leave him much time for school.

The world of these two boys, who are old before their time, has little in common with how the people they exchange a few words with now and then at the petrol station would imagine childhood to be. Both of them believe, however, that they will be able to fulfill their dreams. One boy’s dream is a driving license and the cab of a truck while the other wants his own house made from corn husks.

The two directors of this film gently introduce us to the world of both boys, whose everyday lives we seem to observe without being seen.

The captivating camerawork and narration reminiscent of a feature film have helped this picture make its mark at several film festivals worldwide.

(Camden)