In 1982, three 11 year-olds in Mississippi set out to remake their favorite film: Raiders of the Lost Ark. It took seven turbulent years that tested the limits of their friendship and nearly burned down their mother's house. By the end, they had completed every scene except one... the explosive airplane scene. 30 years later, they attempt to finally realize their childhood dream by building a replica of the 75 foot "Flying Wing" plane from Raiders in a mud pit in the backwoods of Mississippi... and then blow it up! This is the story behind the making of what is known as "the greatest fan film ever made."
Theory of Obscurity tells the story of the renegade sound and video collective known as The Residents…a story that spans 40 years and is clouded in mystery. Many details surrounding the group are secret, including the identities of its members. They always perform wearing masks and costumes, which is part of their magic. At its heart, this story is about perseverance and chasing your dream. The Residents never caved to convention. They never compromised. They’ve followed their muse for decades and thousands of fans have hung on for the ride. Along the way they’ve also inspired many people to be weird, take chances and find their own voice.
Sailing a Sinking Sea is a feature-length experimental documentary exploring the culture of the Moken people of Burma and Thailand. The Moken are seafaring people and one of the smallest ethnic minority groups in Asia. Wholly reliant upon the sea, their entire belief system, education, and economic and physical development revolve around water. Sailing a Sinking Sea illuminates the Moken lifestyle through recorded traditional music, folklore and conversations with the Moken people. Through intimate and dynamic cinematography and audio recordings, Sailing a Sinking Sea weaves a visual and aural tapestry of Moken mythologies and present-day practices.
Sparked by a public display of sexual harassment in 2012, GTFO pries open the video game world to explore a 20 billion dollar industry riddled with discrimination and misogyny. Every year, the gaming community grows increasingly diverse. This has led to a clash of values and women are receiving the brunt of the consequences every day, with acts of harassment ranging from name calling to death threats. Through interviews with video game creators, journalists, and academics, GTFO paints a complex picture of the video game industry, while revealing the systemic and human motivations behind acts of harassment. GTFO begins the conversation that will shape the future of the video game world.
As seventh-graders, band members of Unlocking The Truth spend their weekends playing metal music in Times Square—often to substantial crowds. After signing with a 70-year-old manager, they are soon on their way to a $1.8 million record deal.
A towboat drifts down the Mississippi River, due for the port of New Orleans. The water, the banks, the bright lights of a port ahead; the lure of a coming paycheck and a home-cooked meal. This is the world of BARGE. A green deckhand following his father into the family business. A former convict working his way upward job by job, in the hopes of being First Mate. A thirty-eight year veteran engineer in no hurry to retire. An ancient waterway pulling a double shift as the backbone of a national economy; a tangle of thick steel cables, tied together just right. As long as the boat’s moving, they’re making money. An intimate portrait of the machinery of American ambitions.
Jewish-American history has been rooted in an ever-changing “Old Country”. Interviews with top scholars in Jewish history, notable Jewish-American writers, and many immigrants themselves detail the varied stories of migration through the last five centuries, with a rarely explored look at the actual journeys to get here.
Jimmy Santiago Baca was a petty thief and a drug dealer when he was sentenced to five years in Arizona State Prison, one of the deadliest prisons in America. Baca began his incarceration violent, angry and illiterate, yet taught himself how to read and write, discovering a passion for poetry that ultimately saved his life.
The story of the short life, and brutal gang rape and murder in Delhi in December 2012 of an exceptional and inspiring young woman. The rape of the 23 year old medical student by 6 men on a moving bus, and her death, sparked unprecedented protests and riots throughout India and led to the first glimmers of a change of mindset. Interwoven into the story line are the lives, values and mindsets of the rapists whom the film makers have had exclusive and unprecedented access to interview before they hang. The film examines the society and values which spawn such violent acts, and makes an optimistic and impassioned plea for change.
The story of the Black Panthers is often told in a scatter of repackaged parts, often depicting tragic, mythic accounts of violence and criminal activity; but this is an essential story, vibrant, human; a living and breathing chronicle of a pivotal movement that birthed a new revolutionary culture in America.
The Burden tells the story of fossil fuel dependence as our greatest long-term national security threat, and why the U.S. military is leading the fight for clean energy.
Jan Karski is a hero of World War II, a member of the Polish Resistance and the author of the first official account of the Holocaust. The film was created jointly by filmmakers from Russia and Poland in the year of the centenary of Jan Karski, on the seventieth anniversary of the victory over fascism.
Today, only 3,200 tigers roam in the wild. At the current rate of poaching, elephants, rhinos and tigers living in the wild will be extinct in our lifetime. Who are the global players in this deadly game of power, greed and profit? Who pulls the strings and who are the customers? And why have ivory and rhino horn become perfect investment opportunities?
Max Ophuls is the legendary director and two of his favorite actors are James Mason and Danielle Darrieux. Mason and Darrieux were each in several Ophuls projects but were never together in an Ophuls movie, although they should have been. What might that movie have been like? It's anybody's guess (but cinephiles can dream, can't they?). Somewhere between a historical essay and a speculative one.
The American craft beer industry is booming like never before. One-and-a-half craft breweries open each day—but far fewer make it to year two. Follow along with in-depth profiles of passionate founders and brewmasters as they struggle to navigate and maintain their place in the industry and in the communities that surround them.