Loving documentary about the invisible hand that brings light in the cinema: the projectionist. Momentarily, his booth is at the centre of this film, which primarily looks back on the time when you could still touch film images. "Do pay attention to that man behind the curtain!"
Charles Lewis founded TapouT in 1997, prompting a whirlwind life that intersected the birth of a sport. Selling TapouT apparel out of the trunk of his car during road trips throughout California, a hot bed of mixed martial arts in the late 1990s, Lewis took on the superhero persona of “Mask" as he donned war paint on his face and wore outlandish comic book outfits. Mask's vision quickly came to represent hardcore aspects of MMA fandom at a time when the sport floundered under political pressure. The history of MMA cannot be told without mentioning Charles “Mask” Lewis, or the era in which he emerged. On March 11, 2009, Lewis was killed by a drunk driver in Newport Beach, Calif. To honor his contributions, the sport's dominant promoter, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), posthumously inducted "Mask" as the first and only non-fighter into the UFC Hall of Fame.
Witness the rise of ISIS in Afghanistan and how they're training the next generation of jihadists. With rare access to ISIS, correspondent Najibullah Quraishi sees first-hand their spreading power. Also, Pakistan's police fight against the Taliban.
Women weavers play an important role in the highland communities of Bolivia. Through their mastery of ancient textile traditions, often practiced while child-rearing, managing farms, and herding, these artisans tell stories, document daily life, and sustain their families. This is a story of women’s creativity told through conversations with twenty-two weavers who share their experiences, artistry, and lives.
Desperate to save his failing business, a Manhattan restaurateur ruffles more than a few feathers when he makes the controversial decision to put up the iconic zebra wallpaper made world famous by the now shuttered Upper East Side institution Gino's.
This independant documentary linking poetry, artistic testimonies and performances offers a positive, innovating outlook on our creativity. It exposes the obstacles that may hinder it as well as the powerful assets creativity provides throughout our lives and in many different fields. Catherine Vidal, neurobiologist and director of the Pastor Institute, Albert Jacquard, geneticist and humanist, Jacques Salomé, social psychologist, Cédric Chapuis, director of performing Arts share their convictions regarding this topic essential to individual and collective development. The film offers a constructive vision inviting viewers to explore their own creativity and emphasizes the importance of placing it at the heart of children’s development through an education based on happiness.
“La Sape” is a unique movement based in Congo that unites fashion-conscious men who are ready to splurge money they don’t really have on designer clothes. Dressing in stark contrast with their surroundings, these elegant ambiance-makers become true local celebrities… but this fame comes at a price.
300 Spartans-The Real Story. Putting aside the myths and legends, this documentary takes a detailed look at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC Greece leading to the last stand of the 300 Spartans and Spartan King Leonidas. On the 3rd day of the battle, when Leonidas was being surrounded, he sent most of his troops away and covered their retreat with a last stand because Spartans never retreated.
Before the creation of the secret cities of Los Alamos, Oak Ridge and Hanford, the Manhattan Project hired the Mallinckrodt Chemical Works of St. Louis to refine the first uranium used in the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. For the next two decades, Mallinckrodt continued its classified work for the Atomic Energy Commission during the Cold War. The resulting radioactive waste contaminated numerous locations in the St. Louis area some of which have not been cleaned up 70 years after the end of World War II. Told through the eyes of an overexposed worker, the story expands through a series of interviews that careen down a toxic pathway leading to a fiery terminus at a smoldering, radioactively-contaminated landfill. The First Secret City reveals a forgotten history and its continuing impact on the community in the 21st Century, uncovering past wrongdoing and documenting the renewed struggles to confront the issue.
In the winter of 2012, Certified Master Chef Rich Rosendale and Corey Siegel earned the opportunity to represent the United States in the prestigious cooking competition known as the Bocuse d'Or. Held every two years in Lyon, France, the Bocuse d'Or represents the pinnacle of competition cooking. With the United States determined to make the podium for the first time ever, Rich and Corey embark on an intense one-year training regimen that includes the construction of a secret test kitchen inside of a decommissioned cold war bunker. Together with some of America's greatest chefs, they will vie for culinary glory at the Bocuse d'Or in Lyon, France.
MAJOR! follows the life and campaigns of Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a 73-year-old Black transgender woman who has been fighting for the rights of trans women of color for over 40 years.
In this fast-paced hour long biopic documentary, Director Jon Brewer unearths the fascinating story that is the undercurrent of film icon Steve McQueen's favourite past time as a desert motorbike racer and hidden talents that are generally unknown. More specifically, his obsession with motorbikes and the invention of the racing bike which was the by-product of his relationship with Stunt Double Bud Ekins and the film they were in together, 'The Great Escape'. As the two men shared their enthusiasm for motorbikes, it was a natural progression for them to work together in Bud's motorbike shop in California, fixing , tinkering and riding, and working to improve performance. This brought about their concept of combining a Metisse frame and a Triumph engine for a new track racing bike. McQueen decided to take this model to England where he met up with the Rickman brothers of Metisse motorbikes, and the 'Desert Racer' was soon born.
Chinatown Fair opened as a penny arcade on Mott Street in 1944. Over the decades, the dimly lit gathering place, known for its tic-tac-toe playing chicken, became an institution, surviving turf wars between rival gangs, changing tastes and the explosive growth of home gaming systems like Xbox and Playstation that shuttered most other arcades in the city. But as the neighborhood gentrified, this haven for a diverse, unlikely community faced its strongest challenge, inspiring its biggest devotees to next-level greatness.
Until the late 1970s, the Pakistani city of Lahore was world-renowned for its music. Following the Islamization of Pakistan, many artists struggled to continue their life's work. Song of Lahore turns the spotlight on a group of stalwart musicians that kept playing and ultimately attracted listeners from around the world.