Documentaries
Shatila Stories
Shatila Stories is a documentary film about the lives of Syrian children in one of the world’s oldest refugee camps. The film was directed and edited by Shyam L Jones
Shatila Stories premiered at the Essex Doc Fest 2020 and won the Jury Award 2020.
Here are some comments from the jury:
“This is a committed and thoughtfully structured documentary dealing with an important and timely subject. There is a powerful message here but the film underplays argument in favour of allowing human stories to unfold. While the focus is on war and displacement and the impact on children, the film makes larger statements about the status of refugees, the precarity of existence in Shatila, the life of the imagination, and the struggles of living at a distance from one’s home in the midst of conflict.”
Dr. Elena Dirstaru, Festival Director
Shatila Stories Trailer
This film is currently in distribution with ORF Enterprise.
The Shatila Child Refugee Film Project was featured on Yahoo News on May 17, 2017:
Syrian refugee children in Lebanon act, direct, ‘escape’
Genius, Rebel, Revolutionary – Beethoven in Vienna
Documentary by Judith Weissenböck/Wilfried Wagner
Edit: Shyam L. Jones
Produced by ORF, 2020
DOES MEAT STILL HAVE A FUTURE?
Meat, humans, animals: The dispute about how and whether meat can be eaten at all divides society. For farmers, the change is happening too fast, for vegan activists too slowly. Convinced meat eater or radical meat hater. What is the future of our meat consumption?
Documentary by Barbara Lupac
Edit: Shyam L. Jones
Produced by Ostfilm, 2023
The Fight over the
female body
How self-determined are Austria’s women? The female body is still a combat zone for many actors who want to deny women the decision about their own bodies and others who stand up for women’s right to their own bodies. A seemingly endless conflict.
Documentary by Barbara Lupac
Edit: Shyam L. Jones
Produced by Ostfilm, 2023
An der Schwelle
Most of us ignore the reality of death. But physicians working in intensive care are confronted with mortality every day. The film follows doctors and health workers at the UKH Linz as they fight for their patient’s lives. What can be learned from seeing the process of dying up close?
Directed by Shyam L. Jones and Stefan Tauber
Camera Stefan Tauber
Produced by Illuminati Film Productions, 2019
FACES
FACES is a series of documentary shorts about interesting personalities.
FACES: PICKO & INgwe
A Docu-Poem about Ingwe, a homeless dog, and his companion Picko. Told through a dog’s perspective this film show how the ancient bond between man and dog provides comfort for the rough life on the streets.
Directed, filmed and edited by Shyam L. Jones, 2020
FACES: The Drag Queen Art Historian
Ben is a drag queen and art historian who sheds light on fashion and queer history on his tours through the prestigious Museum of Art History in Vienna.
Produced, directed and edited by Shyam L. Jones, 2019, Camera: Shyam L. Jones and Christopher Rauscher
FACES: Vienna
Juliette
Juliette Khalil, opera singer and actress, performs Pinocchio for the last time at the Vienna Volksoper.
Produced filmed and edited by Shyam L. Jones, 2018
FACES: Berlin
Carl
The Neigh-Kid Horse, an iconic Berlin busker, takes us on a tour of his self-built boat house.
Produced filmed and edited by Shyam L. Jones, 2018
FACES: BERLIN
FANICK
Fanick the street musician, from Benin to Berlin, gives us a taste of his tunes.
Produced filmed and edited by Shyam L. Jones, 2016
FACES: BERLIN
WLAD
The paper-mache street puppeteer from Bella Italia, Wladimiro Amadeo.
Produced filmed and edited by Shyam L. Jones, 2018
FACES: BERLIN
PERIKO
A glimpse into the life of a street knife juggler.
Produced filmed and edited by Shyam L. Jones, 2017
FACES: BERLIN
VLAD&VLAD
Duo Vladimir, two Ukrainian strong-men show off their hand-balancing and knife acrobatics.
Produced filmed and edited by Shyam L. Jones, 2017
The HISTORY OF NUDITY
A humorous take on the history of the nude and nude modelling in art.
17 minutes
Trailer:
THE WILD CAVE PEOPLE OF TENERIFE
We venture into the extraordinary lives of modern-day people who embrace a unique and unconventional lifestyle—living in caves on the breathtaking island of Tenerife! In this wacky and eye-opening documentary, we’ll uncover the surprising stories of these cave-dwelling residents and explore the reasons behind their intriguing choice of habitat.
Ayurveda:
A Back-Breaking
Story
After a spinal injury an alternative medicine sceptic spends a month in an Ayurvedic clinic in Kerala, India, to endure a range of traditional treatments and gets himself into some oily situations.
It is an example of me exploring the possibilities of performative documentaries, flipping the camera onto myself and pushing my personal boundaries in service of a good story.
23 minutes
Portrait of a Nullo
Ever since puberty Norbert struggled with the secret compulsion to get rid of his penis. But the desire to be a “nullo”, thus having no genitals, is not medically recognized in Europe. Ridiculed and abandoned, finally he took matters into his own hands …
What drives someone to cut off his penis? What role do Nullos take in the debate around gender identities? And why does the medical system leave no option besides dangerous self-surgery? In this documentary, we tell Norbert’s story to find the answers to those questions.
2022, 9 minutes
Screenings
- K3 Festival, 16.12.2022 K3 Festival
- Randfilmfestival
Berlin Underground
Berlin Underground is a series of documentary films about underground groups and movements in Berlin 2016-2018
BLEEDING CLOWNS
Glass eaters, sword swallowers, genital weightlifters and nipple staplers. This twisted, dark-humoured documentary explores the Freak Show scene in Berlin’s thriving and bizarre underworld.
2016, 38 minutes
Screenings
- SeeKult Festival, 8.10.2016
- Official Selection: Berlin Boddinale, 14.02.2017
- Official Selection: Berlin Punkfilmfest, 30.03.2017
Hooked:
getting High from pain
Is it OK to hurt yourself?
This documentary explores society’s attitude towards self-harm and focuses on “suspension”, the act of impaling oneself to gain euphoria and spiritual transcendence. 2018, 19 minutes
Here, I further explore the possibilities of performative documentaries, flipping the camera onto myself and pushing my personal boundaries in service of a compelling story.
HOOKED won “Best Documentary” at the Nachtschatten Film Festival, Munich 22.06.2019
SCREENINGS
- Boddinale, Berlin, 13.02.2019
- Hacker Porn Film Festival, 24.04.2019
- Nachtschatten Film Festival, Munich 22.06.2019
Germany’s
Swastika
Revivalists
The Swastika has recently found an unlikely come-back in the birthplace of Nazism, Berlin. A small group of activists are tattooing the Swastika as part of a movement that aims to reclaim the Swastika as a symbol of luck.
2018, 12 minutes
SCREENINGS
- The Lift Off Sessions, 06.02.2019
- Webisode Film Festival, 26.04.2019
- Zeitimpuls, Wien, 18.06.2019
- Official Selection: Zeitimpuls 2019,
Schikaneder Kino Wien, 18.06.2019 - Journey to Tarab, Hungary, 12.07.2019
Trailer: