It's 1945, World War II. The Place, Okinawa. The Scene, an impregnable 400-foot high cliff-AKA Hacksaw Ridge. The Engagement, a battle so fierce the odds of survival were 1 in 10. The Act, Medic Pfc. Desmond T. Doss braved intense enemy fire to rescue 75 wounded GI's over the precipice. The Story, Infantrymen who once ridiculed and scoffed at Desmond's simple faith and refusal to carry a weapon-now owed their lives to him. Director Terry Benedict tells Desmond's incredible story through the eyes of the men who witnessed this humble man's heroic acts. Winning the respect of his fellow soldiers, they recommended him for the highest honor America can bestow on one of her sons-The Medal of Honor.
For his five Cremaster films Matthew Barney's created a multitude of sculptural forms and structures. Recently both the sculptures and the films traveled to museums in Cologne, Paris and New York's Guggenheim. In THE CREMASTER CYCLE: A Conversation with Matthew Barney, the artist guides the camera through this remarkable creation at the Guggenheim Museum while being questioned by Michael Kimmelman, chief art critic of the New York Times.
In 1910, the Pennsylvania Railroad successfully accomplished the enormous engineering feat of building tunnels under New York City's Hudson and East Rivers, connecting the railroad to New York and New England, knitting together the entire eastern half of the United States. The tunnels terminated in what was one of the greatest architectural achievements of its time, Pennsylvania Station. Penn Station covered nearly eight acres, extended two city blocks, and housed one of the largest public spaces in the world. But just 53 years after the station’s opening, the monumental building that was supposed to last forever, to herald and represent the American Empire, was slated to be destroyed.
Helga Reidemeister portrays four women from Afghanistan-Jamila Mujahed, India-Arundhati Roy, Serbia-Stasa Zajovic and the USA-Sissy Farenthold, who demonstrate their opposition to nationalism and war.
This documentary exploration of Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code, answers questions: What exactly was Leonardo da Vinci trying to tell us in his coded paintings? Was Jesus married to Mary Magdalene? Who were the Knights Templar? What is the secret of the mysterious church at Rennes-le-Château? What is the Priory of Sion? What secret did the real life Saunière know that threatened the Church? What are the Gnostic Gospels? Did Roman emperors rewrite the New Testament to control the population?
An Orthodox Jewish father tries to alert his adult sons to the dangers of creating impenetrable barriers between themselves and those outside their faith. He takes them on an emotional journey to Poland to track down the family who risked their lives to hide their grandfather for more than two years during World War II. Like many children of survivors, the sons feel that Poland is a country that is incurably anti-Semitic, but it is precisely here that they meet people who personify the highest levels of compassion
BRAVE NEW YORK is a free-form documentary that loosely chronicles the last twelve years of intense change in the East Village "hood." From the reopening of a newly curfewed Tompkins Square Park and Wigstock in '92 to the destruction of the cherished Loisaida Community Gardens, beyond the yuppie invasions of the "dot com" years to the present era, indelibly stamped with post 9/11 grief, this durable, lusty neighborhood survives in spite of a real estate gold rush that has excluded all but the well-to-do. The movie's main voices are those of the artists and street people whose wisdom and commentaries upon the dominant culture give us pause amidst the speedy approach of a "Brave New World." This Overview was taken from Fandor, where this film is available. 2004.
Molly & Mobarak is a 2003 Australian documentary directed by Tom Zubrycki. It follows a Hazara asylum seeker, 22-year-old Mobarak Tahiri, as he falls in love with 25-year-old Molly Rule, and faces possible deportation as his temporary visa nears expiration.
Marco Polo became a legend after his epic, 24 year trek across Asia. Was he the world's greatest overland explorer? Or the biggest liar? National Geographic's own legend, Michael Yamashita, used Polo's book as a guide to find the truth.
Morgan Spurlock subjects himself to a diet based only on McDonald's fast food three times a day for thirty days without exercising to try to prove why so many Americans are fat or obese. He submits himself to a complete check-up by three doctors, comparing his weight along the way, resulting in a scary conclusion.
A chronicle which provides a rare window into the international perception of the Iraq War, courtesy of Al Jazeera, the Arab world's most popular news outlet. Roundly criticized by Cabinet members and Pentagon officials for reporting with a pro-Iraqi bias, and strongly condemned for frequently airing civilian causalities as well as footage of American POWs, the station has revealed (and continues to show the world) everything about the Iraq War that the Bush administration did not want it to see.
In 1968, Shirley Chisholm becomes the first black woman elected to Congress. In 1972, she becomes the first black woman to run for president. Shunned by the political establishment, she's supported by a motley crew of blacks, feminists, and young voters. Their campaign-trail adventures are frenzied, fierce and fundamentally right on!
The documentary investigates the phenomenon of Qaddafi's elite female bodyguard corps and the tensions these women embody: tensions between Islam, modernisation in a nomadic society, a militarist feminism and an urban dictatorship.
With God on Our Side… is an excessive title about Christian church fundamentalism and how, like the Taliban, religious groups feel a God given right to institute a society of specific religious beliefs that not everyone shares.
The Kumbh Mela is a great roving Hindu spiritual festival that has moved around India for more than four thousand years, erecting temporary cities along the Ganges River.
Lions rarely hunt baboons because they are hard to catch and usually not worth the risk or effort. But there is one place in Africa's Great Rift Valley where baboons are plentiful and lions have learned to catch them.
An exploration of the ghostly tales and history of the Battle of Gettysburg with the acclaimed author of the Ghosts of Gettysburg, series of books, Mark Nesbitt.
A class of 9-year-old children is making an animated movie, whose chosen theme is the “War on Iraq”. Their protagonists are the same we see on TV: George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Saddam, and Bin Laden. But the story is quite more imaginative… Children talk with no interference from adults, and the final result is the product of their free expression. While they discuss war matters and fiction strategy, camera captures their dialogs with intimacy, and shows us their unexpected sense of humour. Nevertheless, they commit to the story with total dedication and faithfulness, as in a real labour. The way they make decisions, and talk and listen to each other, is a vivid lesson of democracy (in every place of the world).