The subversive masterpieces of Russian-Ukrainian writer Isaac Babel challenged the reality of life under rising totalitarianism, and led to his arrest and execution in 1940. In Finding Babel, Andrei Malaev-Babel confronts complex traces of a turbulent history that echo in his grandfather's writing and in the conflicts of today's Ukraine and Russia. Babel's fiction is woven into Andrei's search with ethereal animation that puts the viewer, like Babel's readers, between fantasy and reality.
The story of Ishi, who became known as the "last wild Indian" when, at about 50 years of age, he wandered out of the woods in Oroville, Cal., in 1911. He died five years later; and his brain was sent to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.. Eighty years later, however, his descendants successfully fought to have his remains repatriated to his ancestral home.
Andris and Gabriel are two young people from San Basilio de Palenque who travel to Senegal to fulfill their dream of stepping into the land of their ancestors and finding themselves face to face with the historical and cultural origins of their African religion.
Bruce Lee expert John Little tracks down the actual locations of some of Bruce Lee's most iconic action scenes. Many of these sites remain largely unchanged nearly half a century later. At monasteries, ice factories, and on urban streets, Little explores the real life settings of Lee's legendary career. This film builds on Little's earlier film, Pursuit of the Dragon, to present a comprehensive view of Lee's work that will change the way you see the films.
The Clark Little Story is a genre defining action/adventure nature documentary film highlighting a whole new generation of action wave photography. Dive into the life of renowned water photographer, Clark Little, as he takes on the world’s most dangerous shorebreak around the island of Oahu. When he’s not in the water, Clark shares the insider tips and techniques that have taken his photos from his living room wall to inside the Smithsonian. Filmed and edited by surf personality, Peter King, Shorebreak is one hour of non-stop action that will have you inspired and prepared to start capturing your own shorebreak moments.
What makes me a Sikh? That question posed by nine-year-old Zara Garcha starts a family’s journey to learn about their religion. The Garcha family explores Sikhism by visiting diverse Sikh communities around the world: meeting with a Maharaja, cheesemakers, fashionistas, farmers, and scholars to glean a better understanding of the world’s fifth largest religion. Their journey begins in Parma where they meet Sikhs who have a hand in creating Italy’s iconic Parmesan cheese. From there, the Garcha’s head east traveling to India to visit The Golden Temple, and learn about the historical foundations of the religion. As their travels continue their lived experience blends with academic insight and we see how the religion and culture has manifested itself throughout the world.
On May 8, 1989, Sports Illustrated ran an article about Ultimate frisbee… about a team with no name hailing from New York City that was about to change the sport forever. From its 1968 New Jersey birth to its unanimous 2015 recognition by the International Olympic Committee, FLATBALL circles the globe to showcase four decades of world-class Ultimate and goes even further: to a set of fields in the Middle East to understand and demystify the unique spirit of the game.
On a NASA research base in Silicon Valley, there's an organization that's changing the world ... Singularity University (SU). Created by renowned futurist Ray Kurzweil and entrepreneur Peter Diamandis, with support from NASA, Google, and others, the university brings in some of the smartest students from around the world, and gives them a crash course in the most powerful exponential technologies on the planet. The students are then given a challenge: create companies that will impact a billion people within ten years. The film follows the students and their companies over five years, as they use the support of scientists, astronauts and billionaires in their attempt to make a dent in the universe.
Filmmaker Kimi Takesue captures the cadence of daily life for Grandpa Tom, a retired postal worker born to Japanese immigrants to Hawai’i in the 1910s. Amidst the solitude of his home routines — coupon clipping, rigging an improvised barbecue, lighting firecrackers on the New Year — we glimpse an unexpectedly rich inner life.
Journey from the depths of the Pacific Ocean into the far reaches of space on a quest to find something that changes everything...signs of life, somewhere else in the universe. With cutting-edge imagery from the world's most powerful telescopes, The Search for Life in Space takes audiences from the surface of Mars and the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn, to the extreme lava fields of Hawaii and thermal vents deep beneath the sea. In these harsh environments, astrobiologists look for clues to how life takes hold. As this immersive adventure into the universe reveals the possibility of planets like ours, The Search for Life in Space will make you re-examine such fundamental questions as: "Where did we come from?", "How did we get here?" and "Are we alone?"
Right-wing populism is spreading through Western Europe like wildfire. It is most popular in quiet, white neighbourhoods where people are shielded from different cultures and lifestyles. In this unscripted documentary, Sam Peeters portrays an ironic caricature of life in the Flemish suburbs, which reflects the current European zeitgeist.
In late 2016, state lawmakers formally petitioned the DEA to loosen federal restrictions on cannabis for medical use. Without deliberating, the DEA rejected the petition, maintaining a decades-old prohibition alongside heroin and PCP. Enter THE GREEN STANDARD: a people's account of pot, prejudice, and the fight to end prohibition. Filmed for over a year throughout the US, the film looks at the men, women, and children on all sides of the issue and takes you inside their world of surprising highs and uncomfortable lows. From the refugee families of Colorado seeking treatment for their afflicted children to anti-legalization activists decrying the movement as greed-fueled hype, the film offers an unflinching view on our evolving perceptions of marijuana use, the untold costs of prohibition, and how legalization might (or might not) bring about relief. Moving, informative, and enlightening, THE GREEN STANDARD explores one of the most talked-about yet misunderstood issues in America today.
The link between heart disease and blood cholesterol is a medical dogma that has existed for the past fifty years and has led to the development of a billion-dollar, low-fat, food industry, as well as to statins, a drug that lower “bad cholesterol” levels, so it has became one of the most prescribed medicines in the world. But more and more researchers are openly questioning the mainstream opinions on cholesterol…
St. Joseph of Cupertino was known as the flying monk, and Saint Denis walked and talked holding his own severed head. History also tells us of Saints who were murdered coming back to life, walking on water and much more. Welcome to the world of the Super Humans we call Saints. Voiceover clearly has issues with Catholic dogma and doctrine, sarcasm is used frequently and St Christopher is discussed while an image of St Anthony is displayed, gave up watching after half an hour.
Through a colorful mosaic of stories, this documentary film aims to demystify the world-famous French winemaking region and offers a rare insider glimpse into the lives of the passionate people working in Burgundy's wine industry.
Since his election to the papacy, Pope Francis has inspired millions by urging us to embrace Mercy, ultimately revealed in the face of Christ. Now comes an extraordinary new film on this powerful message that brings hope, healing and forgiveness to a broken world. Narrated by Jim Caviezel, The Face of Mercy explores the history and relevance of Divine Mercy in our turbulent times. (Released 2016)
This is a documentary made after the Fukushima nuclear accident by movie sound engineer Gilles Laurent, who died in a terrorist attack in Belgium on March 22, 2016. It tells the story of parents that stayed behind in the evacuated Tomioka town, and a couple that temporarily returned to the restricted residential area (at the time) in Minami Soma, from the temporary housing where they were staying. This film, which was completed by his Japanese wife and friends, carrying on the desires of the director, and was officially invited to the Marseille International Documentary Film Festival.