Life in a Turkish old folks home is ostensibly the subject of Shevaun Mizrahi’s film, but that is only the entry point into this beautifully layered observational documentary. The residents spend their days taking elevator rides to nowhere, and remembering better, more interesting days. One elderly man recounts the Parisian sex parties of his youth, while another talks about his glory days as a photographer. Meanwhile, just outside the windows of the facility, progress gallops along, fed by the relentless pace and appetite for development.

In the late 1960s, record store owner-turned-music producer Amha Eshete noticed something strange—there was no Ethiopian music being produced and sold in his country. Herein began the birth of recorded Ethiopian music, imbued with the flavours of funk, soul and jazz.

At almost age 30, Hélène Nicolas can’t speak or hold a pen, and she never learned to read or write. It wasn’t until she was 20 years old that her mother Véronique discovered Hélène was able to communicate by arranging laminated letters on a board. Taking the pen name Babouillec Sp, this severely autistic young woman began producing poetry and novels, and is now collaborating with a theatre director to adapt her work for the stage.