Filmmakers expose the horrifying mass executions of accused communists in Indonesia and those who are celebrated in their country for perpetrating the crime.
Pablo needs to stop smoking. Why? Because his wife, family and doctor say he should. But Pablo is a stubborn man. He has worked in the mercury mines of Almadén, Spain, risking his life daily. He has had five severe heart attacks and smoked 20 Winston's a day since he was 12. Now in his seventies, Pablo spends most of his day in front of the TV, surrounded by a cloud of smoke, with his back turned firmly towards a village that has lived through better times. Pablo represents the last generation of Almadén mercury miners, an age-old profession with over 2,000 years of history. Through a straightforward depiction of life's everyday moments, Pablo's Winter explores the decay of the local mining culture, but above all, pays homage to its real protagonists: the miners and their families.
By 14 he had written five novels and penned a diary about the Nazi occupation of Prague. By 16 he had produced more than 170 drawings and paintings, edited an underground magazine in the Theresienstadt Ghetto, written numerous short stories and had walked to the gas chamber at Auschwitz. But this is a story of celebration as well as tragedy, a testament to how a boy’s wonder and creative expression represent the best of what makes us human.
Racing the Rez reveals the transformative potential of cross-country running at the team level. The story follows two rival high school teams focusing on five teens growing up on the Navajo and Hopi reservations — two distinct cultures but both richly steeped in the legacy of running as a powerful cultural tradition and a sport. Unfolding over two years of careful, patient observation, this documentary offers a rare view into the surprising complexity and diversity of contemporary reservation life, from the point of view of the young runners.
An original documentary which follows three families in a small seaside town in Massachusetts as they prepare for their annual home made haunted houses. This story highlights their long journey from planning to opening day and cleanup until next year and the obstacles which face them during the process.
The suspenseful chronicle of how the prodigious Polish violinist Bronislaw Huberman helped save Europe’s premiere Jewish musicians from obliteration by the Nazis during World War II. In three years, he transformed from a world renowned violinist to a humanitarian racing against time.
A subjective documentary that explores various theories about hidden meanings in Stanley Kubrick's classic film The Shining. Five very different points of view are illuminated through voice over, film clips, animation and dramatic reenactments.
How can emotion come to light on the opera set? Does it come from singing, acting or music? How can someone become the incarnation of Verdi's masterpiece? Following world famous French soprano Natalie Dessay from the first repetitions until the premiere under the direction of Jean-François Sivadier, we meet a very special woman, a piece of art, a myth: LA TRAVIATA.
A concert video that captures legendary rock 'n' roll band The Doors at the height of the group's powers. Filmed live at the Hollywood Bowl in the summer of 1968, Jim Morrison and the band perform an extended version of "Light My Fire," plus ten of their other most loved songs, taking a standing room only audience on an aural journey of mystical worlds and psychedelic experiences.
WHEN THE IRON BIRD FLIES takes us on an up-close and personal journey, exploring the complex interactions between contemporary Tibetan Buddhism and western culture. The film goes in-depth to portray the experiences and insights of both teachers and practitioners in the US and around the world. Along the way, it illuminates the wide ranging dialogs taking place between Buddhist teachings and science, psychology, gender theory and the arts. The film creates a vivid and entertaining portrait of the world of Tibetan Buddhism, as it is manifesting in the West and asks the vital question - 'In these increasingly chaotic modern times, can these age old teachings help us to find genuine happiness and create a saner, more compassionate 21st century world?'
Conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton were once the cream of the sideshow crop. Taught to sing and dance at an early age, the winsome duo ascended through the early 20th-century vaudeville circuit as a side attraction (working alongside Bob Hope and Charlie Chaplin as well as a memorable turn in the Tod Browning classic "Freaks") before a cascade of unscrupulous management and harsh mistreatment brought their careers (and lives) tumbling down. This engrossing glimpse into a bygone era is filled with fascinating interviews and rare archival footage.
Doc Pomus’ dramatic life is one of American music’s great untold stories. Paralyzed with polio as a child, Brooklyn-born Jerome Felder reinvented himself as a blues singer, renaming himself Doc Pomus, then emerged as one of the most brilliant songwriters of the early rock and roll era, writing “Save the Last Dance for Me,” “This Magic Moment,” “A Teenager in Love,” “Viva Las Vegas,” and dozens of other hits. Spearheaded and co-produced by his daughter, Sharyn Felder, and packed with incomparable music and rare archival imagery, this documentary features interviews with collaborators and friends including Dr. John, Ben E. King, Joan Osborne, Shawn Colvin, Dion, Leiber and Stoller, and B.B. King, as well as passages from Doc’s private journals read by his close friend Lou Reed.
Brooklyn Castle is a documentary about I.S. 318 – an inner-city school where more than 65 percent of students are from homes with incomes below the federal poverty level – that also happens to have the best, most winning junior high school chess team in the country. (If Albert Einstein, who was rated 1800, were to join the team, he’d only rank fifth best.) Chess has transformed the school from one cited in 2003 as a “school in need of improvement” to one of New York City’s best. But a series of recession-driven public school budget cuts now threaten to undermine those hard-won successes.
A popular sensation in medieval Europe, bestiaries were catalogs of beasts featuring exotic animal illustrations, zoological wisdom, and ancient legends. The documentary unfolds like a filmic picture book where both humans and animals are on display. As we observe them, they also observe us and one another, invoking the Hindu idea of “darshan”: a mutual beholding that initiates a shift in consciousness.
Yoga was brought to the west from India by a lineage of male teachers. Now there's a generation of women who are leading the way and they're radically changing people's lives. From the busy streets of Manhattan to the dusty slums of Kenya, from the golden beaches of Australia YOGAWOMAN uncovers a global phenomenon that has changed the face of yoga forever.
Narrator Damian Lewis tells the story of the building and dedication of the Richard D. Winters Leadership monument in Normandy, France in June of 2012. The film focuses on the leader of World War II's "Band of Brothers" and the leadership skills he possessed. A never before seen interview with the late Major Winters is utilized, as well as interviews with the "Band of Brothers" who are still alive.
As artists and visual architects, husband and wife Massimo and Lella Vignelli have been producing unique and groundbreaking work as brand designers. This up-close documentary reveals their major influence in reshaping our visual environment.
Smithsonian Magazine once asked the rhetorical question, 'Can a weekly paper in rural New Mexico raise enough hell to keep its readers hungry for more, week after week?' The Rio Grande Sun, published in Espanola, New Mexico is considered one of the best weekly newspapers in the country. The Sun is known for its investigative reporting. It broke the story that its own rural community had the highest per capita heroin overdose rate in the country. It has led the fight for open records and open meetings in a county where political shenanigans are the rule. The film follows the Sun's reporters and editors as they write about the news, the sports, the art and culture of a large rural county. John Burnett, an NPR correspondent, reports on the Sun's Police Blotter--'the best in the country.' Tony Hillerman, the celebrated author and newspaper editor, speaks eloquently about the value of community newspapers. The Sun Never Sets is narrated by Bob Edwards, Peabody Award winning news anchor.
Alanis Obomsawin’s documentary The People of the Kattawapiskak River exposes the housing crisis faced by 1,700 Cree in Northern Ontario, a situation that led Attawapiskat’s band chief, Theresa Spence, to ask the Canadian Red Cross for help. With the Idle No More movement making front page headlines, this film provides background and context for one aspect of the growing crisis.