Hanna Ranch is a feature documentary about visionary cattleman Kirk Hanna and his personal struggle to protect a once prominent way of life in Colorado. Born into a life on the family ranch, Hanna became a leader in the environmental ranching movement that set out to protect the West from the relentless encroachment of development and misuse. Featured in the book Fast Food Nation and dubbed the “eco-cowboy,” he was an early adopter of Holistic Resource Management practices, sat on numerous environmental boards and was president of the Colorado Cattleman’s Association. Hanna’s opinion was so widely sought and respected, many even saw him as a future governor of Colorado. But when his dream of harmony and sustainability ran up against the reality of family conflict and mounting threats to the land, Hanna lost hope. Kirk’s legacy and fight live on as his family and friends continue to protect the West by saving Hanna Ranch.
Documentary about Joe Cavaleri, known as the Ooh Aah Man at the University of Arizona from 1979 - 2013, whose career as a cheerleader was ended by Parkinson's.
The latest in British documentary filmmaker Phil Grabsky's In Search Of series, looking at the life of Polish pianist and composer: Frédéric François Chopin, whose grave in Paris remains a place of pilgrimage and whose music continues to sell out concert halls worldwide.
From PBS - The fascinating story of beavers in North America - their history, their near extinction, and their current comeback, as a growing number of scientists, conservationists and grass-roots environmentalists have come to regard beavers as overlooked tools when it comes to reversing the disastrous effects of global warming and world-wide water shortages. Once valued for their fur or hunted as pests, these industrious rodents are seen in a new light through the eyes of this novel assembly of beaver enthusiasts and "employers" who reveal the ways in which the presence of beavers can transform and revive landscapes. Using their skills as natural builders and brilliant hydro-engineers, beavers are being recruited to accomplish everything from re-establishing water sources in bone-dry deserts to supporting whole communities of wildlife drawn to the revitalizing aquatic ecosystems their ponds provide.
They said women didn't belong in the cockpit. But Margaret "Maggie" Ringenberg aimed for the sky anyway becoming a U.S. Army Air Force WASP and an accomplished long-distance aviation racer. A story so inspiring, Tom Brokaw dedicated an entire chapter in The Greatest Generation to her.
Heaven Adores You is an intimate, meditative inquiry into the life and music of Elliott Smith. By threading the music of Elliott Smith through the dense, yet often isolating landscapes of the three major cities he lived in -- Portland, New York City, Los Angeles -- Heaven Adores You presents a visual journey and an earnest review of the singer's prolific songwriting and the impact it continues to have on fans, friends, and fellow musicians.
There was a time, as recently as the 1980s, when storefronts, murals, banners, barn signs, billboards and even street signs were all hand-lettered with brush and paint. Today, the proliferation of computer-designed, die-cut vinyl lettering and inkjet printers has ushered a creeping sameness into our landscape. Fortunately, there is a growing trend to seek out traditional sign painters and a renaissance in the trade. SIGN PAINTERS is a history of the craft and features the stories of more than two dozen sign painters working in cities throughout the United States.
Having personally witnessed Sir Elton John's failed attempt to adopt a child, a young couple questions themselves if they are ready for kids and whether everyone should match a certain criteria to be either biological or adoptive parents. The search for the answer pushes them into an entire journey through Nepal, Ukraine, China, the United Kingdom and the USA where they face corruption of the adoption system and have to stand against billions of dollars behind it... They meeting people who managed to adopt and those who failed because of their skin color, weight, or habits... In the middle of their investigation, they reveal that the right to have kids can be easily taken away from people even in most civilized countries... no votes needed, the regulations are already in action! Should we just accept these regulations or should fight against them?
From PBS - The secret Nazi death camp at Sobibor was created solely for the mass extermination of Jews. But on the 14th of October 1943, the inmates fought back, in the biggest and most successful prison outbreak of the Second World War. Told through the firsthand accounts of four survivors--Toivi Blatt, Phillip Bialowitz, Selma Engel-Wijnberg, and former Russian POW Semjon Rozenfeld--and using dramatic reenactments, Escape From a Nazi Death Camp recounts the true horror of life at Sobibor, and the desperation, determination, and courage of its prisoners. Of the 600 inmates present on the day of the escape, 300 escaped into the forest surrounding Sobibor. Of that 300, many were shot, turned in, murdered, or captured by Nazis. Around 50 survived the war and of that 50, only a handful are still alive. Now in their 80s and 90s, this is their last chance to reveal, in their own words, the true story of the day they escaped certain death to freedom.
Still I Strive is a story of transcendence through compassion, unity and hope. At one orphanage in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, the performing arts are the path to healing and transformation. Guided by their matriarch Peng Phan, a renowned actress in her own right, the children aspire to achieve one of the highest honors in Cambodian society, to perform in front of Princess Bopha Devi as a symbol of their culture and heritage. Interspersed throughout the documentary are narrative film sequences featuring the children as actors.
Armed only with their cameras, Peabody and Emmy Award-winning conflict Journalist Mike Boettcher, and his son, Carlos, provide unprecedented access into the longest war in U.S. history.
Advanced Style examines the lives of seven unique New Yorkers whose eclectic personal style and vital spirit have guided their approach to aging. Based on Ari Seth Cohen’s famed blog of the same name, this film paints intimate and colorful portraits of independent, stylish women aged 62 to 95 who are challenging conventional ideas about beauty, aging, and Western’s culture’s increasing obsession with youth.
Fed Up blows the lid off everything we thought we knew about food and weight loss, revealing a 30-year campaign by the food industry, aided by the U.S. government, to mislead and confuse the American public, resulting in one of the largest health epidemics in history.
It is the world’s most mysterious manuscript. A book, written by an unknown author, illustrated with pictures that are as bizarre as they are puzzling — and written in a language that even the best cryptographers have been unable to decode. No wonder that this script even has a part in Dan Brown’s latest bestseller “The Lost Symbol”.
Above and Beyond highlights one of the most compelling escape and survival stories from World War II. On December 1, 1943, Bruce Sundlun's bomber drew fire from German fighter planes and crashed in Nazi-occupied Belgium. With help from an underground network, Bruce fled to occupied France, where he joined the Resistance. He would go on to spy for the OSS, the precursor to the CIA.
THE AMERICAN NURSE is a heart-warming film that explores some of the biggest issues facing America - aging, war, poverty, prisons - through the work and lives of nurses. It is an examination of real people that will change how we think about nurses and how we wrestle with the challenges of healing America. THE AMERICAN NURSE is an important contribution to America's ongoing conversation about what it means to care. The film follows the paths of five nurses in various practice specialties including Jason Short as he drives up a rugged creek to reach a home-bound cancer patient in Appalachia. Tonia Faust, who runs a prison hospice program where inmates serving life sentences care for their fellow inmates as they're dying. Naomi Cross, as she coaches an ovarian cancer survivor through the Caesarean delivery of her son. Sister Stephen, a nun who runs a nursing home filled with goats, sheep, llamas and chickens, where the entire nursing staff comes together to sing for a dying resident.