Mirjam Strugalla

Most of us think of death as something clear-cut, and that medical science has it neatly figured out. This feature documentary explodes such assumptions through its exploration of a phenomenon that blurs life and death to an unprecedented degree. In what Tibetan Buddhists call tukdam, advanced meditators die in a consciously controlled manner. Though dead according to our biomedical standards, they often stay sitting upright in meditation; remarkably, their bodies remain fresh and lifelike, without signs of decay for days, sometimes weeks after clinical death. Following ground-breaking scientific research into tukdam and taking us into intimate death stories of Tibetan meditators, the film juxtaposes scientific and Tibetan perspectives as it tries to unravel the mystery of tukdam.

The Alexander Complex unravels a bizarre tale of intrigue, politics and money as an international group of ‘gentlemanly explorers’, all with pseudonyms to protect their identities, come together in a quest to solve the mystery of the missing tomb of Alexander the Great, one of the most significant figures in human history. An Algerian ex-soldier, code-named The Inventor, who practices amateur archaeology, claims to have found Alexander’s tomb in Jordan, and claims that it is filled with thousands of tons of gold and precious jewels.

For decades, Catholic Ireland locked its children into institutions if they were conceived out of wedlock - punishment for the sinning mothers. Revealing the children's perspectives, and including powerful archive, this documentary offers a painful yet cathartic insight into the cruel business of Mother and Baby Homes.

Having already lost their older son Archie to Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Paula and Padraig Naughton fight to fulfil the promise made to him on his deathbed: never to stop looking for a cure for his younger brothers Isaac and George. With humour, desperation, and determination dosed with realism, this family takes on the world and attempts to achieve the impossible.