Comedy Dynamics sits down with Bill Hicks' brother, Steve, who tells old stories, squashes old rumors and reveals the brother and son behind the late comedian. Told amidst old and rare footage, it’s a must watch for any fan.
Film producer Gene Gutowski (Repulsion, Cul-de-Sac, The Pianist) was fourteen years old when first the Soviets then the Nazis invaded his hometown of Lwow, Poland. With a combination of chutzpah, street smarts and an unflinching will to live, he spent the war flirting with danger as a teenage Jew hiding in plain site. Witnessing first-hand the unspeakable horrors of the Nazi occupation, frequently cheating death himself and losing his entire family in the process, Gutowski's story is ultimately one of hope. As recounted with humor and pathos to his son, filmmaker Adam Bardach, his remarkable survival tale represents a thumb of the nose at darkness and totalitarianism.
The Pilchuck Glass School outside Seattle has been going for 43 years. Started by Dale Chihuly, when glass in America was at its infancy. This school is responsible for making the US Studio Glass movement what it is today. It's an international institution now, bringing students from all over the world. It started in 1971, during the peace movements, Flower Power and war in Vietnam This documentary tells the story of it's beginnings, and how it's now made the Pacific NW, the largest glass art center in the world.
Within the last half century, our agriculture and food has changed more than it has changed before in several thousand years. New technologies and scientific ingenuity have given rise to genetically modified organisms (GMO) and other novel foods. Some people have raised concerns about the safety of GMOs in our food supply, given their incredible dominance in the majority of our diet. Traditional, organic farmers, have consistently been under attack by large corporate farming interests, who seek to dominate the food industry and run family farms out of business. This film looks at our current food system as well as a variety of smaller, organic options available to consumers who want to support sustainable farming methods.
The Yangtze River Bridge in Nanjing is one of the most famous bridges in China. It is also the most popular place in the world to commit suicide. For the past 11 years Chen Si has been patrolling this bridge, looking to provide aid for those who've gone there to end their lives. Incredibly, he has saved over 300 people since he began - nearly one every two weeks.
After 40 years of protection, Grey wolves were recently de-listed federally from endangered species act and their fate was handed over to state legislatures. What ensued was a 'push to hunt' in wolf country across the United States. Filmmaker Julia Huffman travels to Minnesota and into wolf country to pursue the deep and intrinsic value of brother wolf and our forgotten promise to him.
A diverse group of disabled people from across the U.S. take on leading roles in a magical rip-roaring costume drama Western, filmed on vintage Hollywood locations. This riveting film within a film immerses us in a dynamic, inclusive world of discipline and play, raising questions about why we so rarely see real disabled actors on the big screen?
This film, the first ever to chronicle Lowell George's life, music and career, uses archive footage and interviews of and with Lowell and Little Feat, plus contributions from many of those who knew him best, to visually recount the sometimes ecstatic, other times tragic life and times of this maverick genius.
Hailed as one of the most innovative and intimate documentaries of all time, experience Kurt Cobain like never before in the only ever fully authorized portrait of the famed music icon. Academy Award nominated filmmaker Brett Morgen expertly blends Cobain's personal archive of art, music, never seen before movies, animation and revelatory interviews from his family and closest friends.
This film traces the journey of the late Japanese cinematographer Ryo Murakami to the Firestone Tire and Rubber Plantation in Liberia. Under the cover of night, he trespasses onto the plantation grounds and enters a scarcely seen world, where coercive living conditions and labor practices have changed alarmingly little since the plantation opened in 1926. Journalistic access to the plantation is tightly controlled and monitored by the company, and Ryo’s footage is a rare independent vision of the lives of plantation workers.
Chandler Wild, A New York based filmmaker, travels 6,700 miles to the end of the road in Alaska to honor his deceased father by naming a mountain after him.
On New York's rapidly gentrifying Lower East Side sits the Streit's Matzo factory. When its doors opened in 1925, it sat at the heart of the nation's largest Jewish immigrant community.
Water – a living substance, the most common and least understood. It defies the basic laws of physics, yet holds the keys to life. Known to ancients as a transmitter to and from the higher realms, water retains memory and conveys information to DNA. However, water can die if treated poorly. Influences such as sound, thoughts, intention, as well as toxins such as chlorine, structure water’s molecular arrangement– affecting all it comes in contact with. Prominent scientists help reveal the secret of water, allowing us to use this amazing element to heal ourselves and our planet.
The movie features Nassim Haramein, Patrick Flanagan, Dr. Masaru Emoto, Konstantin Korotkov, Lynne McTaggart, and Larry Dossey.
Latin boogaloo is New York City. It is a product of the melting pot, a colorful expression of 1960s Latino soul, straight from the streets of El Barrio, the South Bronx and Brooklyn. Starring Latin boogaloo legends like Joe Bataan, Johnny Colon and Pete Rodriguez, We Like It Like That explores this lesser-known, but pivotal moment in Latin music history, through original interviews, music recordings, live performances, dancing and rare archival footage and images. From its origins to its recent resurgence in popularity, We Like It Like That tells the story of a sound that redefined a generation and was too funky to keep down.
"Landfill Harmonic" follows the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, a Paraguayan musical group that plays instruments made entirely out of garbage. When their story goes viral, the orchestra is catapulted into the global spotlight. Under the guidance of idealistic music director Favio Chavez, the orchestra must navigate a strange new world of arenas and sold-out concerts. However, when a natural disaster strikes their country, Favio must find a way to keep the orchestra intact and provide a source of hope for their town. The film is a testament to the transformative power of music and the resilience of the human spirit.