When an ex-hippie-turned-businessman hears about a miracle-making saint, he goes to India to find him to keep from living an empty life. A world music soundtrack by Grammy nominee Jai Uttal, exclusive interviews with Ram Dass and Krishna Das, rare footage of Neem Karoli Baba, and a new perspective on Eastern philosophy make this documentary unique.
Richard Pryor's impact on the craft of comedy and today's top comics is legendary and unrivaled. This program surveys the profound and enduring influence of one of the greatest American comics of all time.
Saving Mes Aynak follows Afghan archaeologist Qadir Temori as he races against time to save a 5,000-year-old archaeological site in Afghanistan from imminent demolition. A Chinese state-owned mining company is closing in on the ancient site, eager to harvest $100 billion dollars worth of copper buried directly beneath the archaeological ruins. Only 10% of Mes Aynak has been excavated, though, and some believe future discoveries at the site have the potential to redefine the history of Afghanistan and the history of Buddhism itself. Qadir Temori and his fellow Afghan archaeologists face what seems an impossible battle against the Chinese, the Taliban and local politics to save their cultural heritage from likely erasure.
Lacey Schwartz grew up in a typical upper-middle-class Jewish household in Woodstock, NY, with loving parents and a strong sense of her Jewish identity - despite the open questions from those around her about how a white girl could have such dark skin. She believes her family's explanation that her looks were inherited from her dark-skinned Sicilian grandfather. But when her parents abruptly split, her gut starts to tell her something different. At age of 18, she finally confronts her mother and learns the truth: her biological father was not the man who raised her, but a black man named Rodney with whom her mother had had an affair.
Miss Hill: Making Dance Matter tells the inspiring and largely unknown story of a woman whose life was defined by her love for dance. Martha Hill emerges as dance's secret weapon, someone who fought against great odds to establish dance as a legitimate art form in America. Through archival footage, lively interviews with friends and intimates, and rare footage of the spirited subject, the film explores Hills's arduous path from a Bible Belt childhood in Ohio to the halls of academe at NYU and Bennington College to a position of power and influence as Juilliard's founding director of dance (1952-1985). Peppered with anecdotal material delivered by dance notables who knew her, this revelatory story depicts her struggles and successes, including the battle royal that accompanied her move to the Lincoln Center campus.
"Take my love" is a documentary film about "Las Patronas", a group of women who daily cook, pack and throw food to the migrants riding the "Beast" train.
As the ice shrinks in the Arctic, polar bears are struggling to survive in a fast melting world. Although classified a marine mammal, the polar bear is not adapted to hunting in the water. And it is certainly no match for the world's greatest aquatic hunter -- the killer whale. In the last few years, scientists have noted an ever-growing number of killer whales in Arctic waters in the summer months. More and more have been attracted to these hunting grounds by the growing expanse of open water. They attack the same prey as the polar bears: seals, narwhal, belugas and bowhead whales.
BROTHERS OF THE BLACK LIST tells the story behind the longest litigated civil rights case in American history. It all began in September 1992, when an elderly woman in Oneonta, New York reported that she had been attacked in an attempted rape by a young Black male who cut his hand during the altercation. This led to a college administrator at nearby SUNY Oneonta giving the police a list of the names and residences of the 125 Black men who attended the school. Police used this list to track down every Black male in town, questioning them and demanding to see their hands.
The Xbox Originals documentary that chronicles the fall of the Atari Corporation through the lens of one of the biggest mysteries of all time, dubbed “The Great Video Game Burial of 1983.” Rumor claims that millions of returned and unsold E.T. cartridges were buried in the desert, but what really happened there?
The story of one hot night in Alabama as an Independent Pro Wrestling Show rolls into town with its cast of high flying characters in faded tights. This film features former WWF World Champion Iron Sheik, Grits and Gravy crowd favorite Bullet Bob Armstrong, female wrestlers Bambi and Peggy Lee, The Masked Flame and other rising or falling stars. The LA WEEKLY made this riveting documentary their "Pick of the Week" calling it "Fascinating...Unforgettable."
On October 1, 2013, the elusive street artist Banksy launched a month-long residency in New York, an art show he called Better Out Than In. As one new work of art was presented each day in a secret location, a group of fans, called “Banksy Hunters,” took to the streets and blew up social media.
With over 300 million firearms, the U.S. holds the highest rate of gun ownership per capita in the world. Meanwhile, with each gun-related tragedy, the question remains whether to regulate or to arm. Increasing demand, illegal distribution and emerging 3D technologies threaten to upend the traditional debate of gun control. As discussed in interviews from Austin to Grand Rapids, Denver to New York City, NO CONTROL seeks to address the efficacy of gun laws and the ongoing debate between personal freedom and public safety in a candid discussion of one of the most complex, contentious issues in American history.
She Makes Comics traces the fascinating history of women in the comics industry. Despite popular assumptions about the comics world, women have been writing, drawing, and reading comics since the medium’s beginnings in the late 19th century. And today, there are scores of women involved in comics and its vibrant fan culture. Featuring dozens of interviews with such vital figures as Ramona Fradon, Trina Robbins, Joyce Farmer, Karen Berger, Kelly Sue DeConnick, and Becky Cloonan, She Makes Comics is the first film to bring together the most influential women of the comics world.
SEX AND BROADCASTING is a feature length documentary about New Jersey's WFMU, the world's strangest and most unique radio station, and one man's attempt to keep it alive in the face of recession, the persistent threat of commercial media, and the challenges that come with keeping a rebellious group of outsiders together.