This film examines the Egyptian rural craft of making a sieve called ghurbal (from the Arabic ghurbal meaning “to winnow” which is used to both “winnow” babies on their seventh day of life and to winnow grains for making ceremonial dishes, particularly kouskousi. Embedded in this material culture artifact are layered meanings of creative regeneration of the cosmic and human worlds. We visually follow the material process from tree log cutting to making the tara (ghurbal frame), to ghurbal crafting, through the voice and image of two key persons: Na’ima, the craftswoman and owner of the frame shop, and Hoksha, the rural ghurbal craftsman. The ethnographer/filmmaker engages them to speak and we are drawn into their lives by their stories as we view self-confident mastery of their craft. While Hoksha relates how he has kept this child from his father, we see his son next to him making a modern flour sieve, having never learned the family tradition.
Ed Ruscha made his very first art in his native Oklahoma, but soon became attracted to Los Angeles . Curator Margit Rowell has examined his extensive body of work and created a brilliant exhibition of his seldom seen drawings. Rowell visits Ruscha in his studio, looking at new paintings with the artist, discussing his progress over the decades and asking him to comment on the many milestones in his large retrospective exhibition at MoCA in Los Angeles.
What is culture? Does the culture of its roots in ancient traditions? What role do geographical features of a country play in the history of its culture?
What characterizes the spaces, differentiating the fields of the cities, the suburbs of the centers is, in large part, the speed of their modification. The circulation experience will have allowed us to compare the looks of foreign artists with the looks of local children, to measure resistance and change capacities.
This film follows four artists living on the margins of society whose passionate discussions belie their stark and impoverished living conditions. The subjects are performance artist Li Wake, painters Wang Yongping and Ding Defu, and poet Motou Beibei, who is hailed online as a genius despite working as a security guard. Overcome by ennui, and lost in the uncertainties of their everyday lives and their artistic identities, the artists express certain hopelessness.
Ralph Ellison was an African-American writer and essayist, who's only novel Invisible Man (1953) gained a wide critical success. Ellison's ambitious journey from a childhood of hardship and poverty to celebrated African American writer is chronicled in this inspiring program through exclusive interviews and personal recollection.
Documentary - CASTING ABOUT is a lyrical, feature documentary that explores the captivating experience of casting actors. From the point of view of a filmmaker, we see and hear many of the 350 actresses who audition for three roles in a dramatic film. CASTING ABOUT includes footage from audition sessions held in Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, and Los Angeles - weaving together actor interviews, monologues, and scene work to create an impressionistic collage of the casting experience. - Wendy Elizabeth Abraham, Mädchen Amick, Jeannette Arndt
In the last thirty years global demand for food has doubled. In a race to feed the planet, scientists have discovered how to manipulate DNA, the blueprint of life, and produce what they claim are stronger, more disease-resistant crops. However, fears that genetically modified food many not be safe for humans or the environment has sparked violent protest.
Documentary - Oktoberfest and chic set; high tech museums and lederhosen. The Capital of Bavaria is both modern and old fashioned, busy and relaxed. A true local shows you the musts. Take 45 minutes time for 11 strolls. Next time you visit Munich you might want to follow one or the other of them on your own.
Documentary - Was God called upon on 9/11, and did He answer? This documentary, a Christian look at the tragedy's survivors and heroes, contends that He did. - TJ Myers, Patrick Williams, Brenda Epperson
At home at her Virginia farm, photographer Sally Mann reflects on the controversy surrounding her earlier collections while forging ahead with new work in this intimate portrait of an artist. Also offering insights into the photographer's career are Mann's husband and her now-grown offspring.
On the northern bank of the Sand River in the Mala-Mala Game Reserve in South Africa, seven magnificent creatures reside in an area the size of Manhattan Island. Tracking them for 24 hours reveals a never-ending daily drama.
Waiting to Inhale examines the heated debate over marijuana and its use as medicine in the United States. Twelve states have passed legislation to protect patients who use medical marijuana. Yet opponents claim the medical argument is just a smokescreen for a different agenda-- to legalize marijuana for recreation and profit. What claims are being made, and what are the stakes? Waiting to Inhale takes viewers inside the lives of patients who have been forever changed by illness-and parents who lost their children to addiction. Is marijuana really a gateway drug? What evidence is there to support the claim that marijuana can alleviate some of the devastating symptoms of AIDS, cancer and multiple sclerosis? Waiting to Inhale sheds new light on this controversy and presents shocking new evidence that marijuana could hold a big stake in the future of medicine.
BURNING MAN: BEYOND BLACK ROCK goes behind the scenes of a social revolution to explore the philosophy that fuels it, the social contract that drives it, and the transcendent experience that makes it a worldwide cultural force. Granted unprecedented access to the inner workings of the Burning Man organization, the filmmakers spent 18 months with the founders, organizers, artists and participants to document the full complexity and diversity of the Burning Man community. But, true to its title, the film goes beyond the city they raise in the desert - revealing the Burning Man's plans to bring its unique culture to the rest of the world. BEYOND BLACK ROCK tells, for the first time ever, the real story of Burning Man - from the inside out.
An Army Ranger quick reaction force attempts to rescue a patrol pinned down on a mountaintop in southeast Afghanistan. They have no idea that within twelve hours five of them will lie dead in the mountain snow after an intense and deadly battle.
Documentary depicting the lives of child prostitutes in the red light district of Songachi, Calcutta. Director Zana Briski went to photograph the prostitutes when she met and became friends with their children. Briski began giving photography lessons to the children and became aware that their photography might be a way for them to lead better lives.