Former East Germany, punk music, the wall, betrayal, jail, exit for the West: a film confronting these things on the offensive – and seeing its view of them as a balancing act.
Beneath the Helmet: From High School to the Home Front is a coming of age story that highlights five young Israeli high school graduates, who are drafted into the army to defend their country. At the age of 18, away from their houses, family, and friends these young individuals undergo a demanding journey, revealing the core of who they are and who they want to be. From the creators of the PBS-featured documentary film Israel Inside: How a Small Nation Makes a Big Difference, the film Beneath the Helmet illustrates how these young men and women are protecting not only their homes, but the shared values of peace, equality, opportunity, democracy, religious tolerance and women's rights. The lessons they learn along the way, are lessons that can be adapted, understood and appreciated by everyone.
In The Fortune Wild, a new Sitka Films production directed by Ben Gulliver with support from Pacific Wild, a small group of surfers set out to seek their own kind of riches on some of the most remote beaches of the Canadian coast.
In its first 25 years only 10 people have finished The Barkley Marathons. Based on a historic prison escape, this cult like race tempts people from around the world to test their limits of physical and mental endurance in this documentary that contemplates the value of pain.
The band Morphine blazed like a comet across the global music scene in the 1990s with its innovative “Low Rock” sound. Fronted by two-string bassist/vocalist/songwriter Mark Sandman, the trio rose from local Boston clubs to indie and major label record deals, international touring, and wide critical acclaim until their tragic and untimely demise in 1999. In “Morphine: Journey of Dreams,” the group’s surviving members and associates tell their story intercut with passages from saxophonist Dana Colley’s vivid tour journals. Rare live performances from throughout their career woven into the story display why their unique and mesmeric sound continues to resonate with music lovers today. This artfully- delivered documentary doesn’t just get behind but rather inside the music and the soul of the group to honor Morphine’s notable artistic achievements and the creative bond the musicians shared. (LVFF)
Just in time for her latest album and tour, delve deep into the pop phenomenon that is Katy Perry. From her cherry chap-stick beginnings, transformation after her marriage and now to her newest release, this diva is just hitting her stride as her fourth album just dropped.
Legendary as one of America's greatest horse tribes, the 21st century Nez Perce decided to bring horses back to their land and lives with the unlikely help of a charismatic Navajo horseman, Rudy Shebala. His mentorship guides at-risk teenagers toward the strong medicine of horses, and his equine skills bring historic Nez Perce horse culture to modern renown. But his personal demons imperil both accomplishments.
Red Dot on the Ocean is the story of Matt Rutherford, a severely troubled youth, who became a sailing legend. Departing Annapolis, MD in a scrappy old 27-foot fiberglass sloop without fanfare, 30-year-old Rutherford braved the icebergs of the arctic and mountainous waves of Cape Horn to become the only person to ever sail single-handed, non-stop around the Americas; a 27,000 mile journey many professional sailors declared "a suicide mission."
January 2011 in Egypt was marked by anti-government demonstrations. While tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Cairo, poor villagers in the country's south followed the tense situation on Tahrir Square on their TV screens and in the daily newspapers. It is from their perspective that this documentary captures the political changes in Egypt, from the toppling of President Mubarak to the election of Mohamed Morsi.
Le Mans the biggest motorsport event in the world, is truly a spectacle like no other. The twenty-four hour race is considered the most physically and mentally demanding race on earth. Man and machine push themselves to the limits of endurance, many never make it past the finish line, and some never make it home.
An account of the life and work of Swiss painter, sculptor, architect and designer H. R. Giger (1940-2014), tormented father of creatures as fearsome as they are fascinating, inhabitants of nightmarish biomechanical worlds.
Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke returns to the shooting locations of his films, along with his actors, friends and close collaborators. Jia recalls the inspiration sources for his movies, such as Platform, Still Life and A Touch of Sin. The film is the memory of a filmmaker and of a country in convulsion, China, which reveals itself little by little.
A seven year project involving filming on NYC subway. Camera observes people and events unaware they are being filmed. Emotional, intimate and deeply human. All done by director Tom DiCillo. He shot, edited and mixed the film by himself with the aim of making a film without any financial or marketing restrictions.
American Indians of African descent, or Freedmen, battle their own tribes and the federal government to regain their tribal citizenship. Witness how indigenous American Indian tribes, their minority members, and surrounding communities are confronting racism and intolerance.
This classic surf experience sees Western Australia's best surfers tackle the state's most exciting waves.. It offers non-surfers a sneak peek in to the surf culture and is guaranteed to get surfers of all ages pumped for their next session.
In 1971, hundreds of young people claimed the 85 acres of an abandoned 17th century military base in Copenhagen and set up a community. Over the next 40 years, they build a self-governed community with the hope of becoming legitimate. Finding it politically unpopular to evict the settlers, the Danish government declared Christiania a "short-term social experiment". Following 40 years of tense relations with the government, much of it focusing on the open hashish trade, Christiania is on its way to becoming a legitimate community. Christiania was born in 1971 when youthful idealism and a severe housing shortage incited hundreds of young people to occupy 85 acres of deserted brick buildings, woods, ramparts and canals as their home.