From the midst of 9/11, one of the darkest moments in American history, comes this inspiring and relatively unknown story. When the twin towers fell, hundreds of thousands of people ran to the water's edge. They soon realized that Manhattan is, indeed, an island. And that they were trapped. Within moments, an armada of every vessel that could get to the city's seawall spontaneously organized. Dashing into the teeth of danger, hundreds of boats pulled together and, without any formal planning, military or otherwise, they pulled off an ad-hoc sea evacuation that became the largest in history. Their story of courage and resolve reminds us of the powerful spirit that rose among us, on that fateful day. Narrated by Tom Hanks. Directed by Eddie Rosenstein.
In rural Nicaragua, Dulce Maria and her brother Francisco are Deaf adults who know no language at all--spoken, written or signed--until Tomasa, a Deaf sign-language teacher, arrives determined to teach them their first words.
It would be hard to name anyone who has had more of an impact in the realm of animal research and wildlife conservation than Jane Goodall, whose 45 year study of wild chimpanzees in Africa is legendary. In Jane's Journey, we travel with her across several continents, from her childhood home in England, to the Gombe National Park in Tanzania where she began her groundbreaking research and where she still returns every year to enjoy the company of the chimpanzees that made her famous. Featuring a wide range of interviews and spectacular footage from her own private collection, Jane's Journey is an inspiring portrait of the private person behind the world-famous icon.
Distressed over his teenaged son's addiction to the Internet and fearful that the developing boy has grown detached from the real world, documentary filmmaker Ross McElwee takes a journey back into his own adolescence by returning to St. Quay-Portrieux in Brittany, France, which he visited as a teen, and attempting to track down the photographer who gave him his first job, and the girl who once stole his heart.
On December 10th, 2006, General Pinochet dies unexpectedly at Santiago's Military Hospital. His decease triggers a 24 hours revival of political divisions that marked with violence and death Chilean recent history. With high quality original footage and testimonies of four characters that deeply experienced a journey of strong contrasts and surrealistic nuances, the film narrates in an innovative, exciting way the ending of a key chapter in Chilean history.
An average guy makes a resolution to stop using plastic bags at the grocery store. Little does he know that this simple decision will change his life completely. He comes to the conclusion that our consumptive use of plastic has finally caught up to us, and looks at what we can do about it. Today. Right now.
Filmed over the ensuing years after the attack on New York's World Trade Center, this documentary takes a look a the physical and emotional healing process involved in the aftermath of such a tragedy.
In 1987, Eddie Lee Sausage and Mitch Deprey recorded the nightly squabbles of their over-the-top neighbors, homophobic Raymond Huffman and proudly gay Peter Haskett, and the chronicle of the pair's bizarre existence soon took on a life of its own. This darkly funny documentary checks in with former punks Eddie and Mitch, who detail their late-'80s Lower Haight surroundings, and surveys the tapes' influence on an array of underground artists.
A verité film intimately shot over four years, To Be Heard is the story of three teens from the South Bronx whose struggle to change their lives begins with writing poetry. As writing and reciting become vehicles for their expressions of love, friendship, frustration, and hope, these three youngsters emerge as accomplished self-aware artists, who use their creativity to alter their circumstances.
The Witches Of Gambaga is the extraordinary story of a community of women condemned to live as witches in Northern Ghana. Every year in this part of Ghana, hundreds of women endure communal and domestic violence as a result of traditional religious beliefs that demonize women. These beliefs, combined with decades of poor health and educational standards, mean women inhabit a world where it is believed that nothing – not even illness or death – happens by chance. For over a century, women from all over the northern region have found refuge in a camp in the town of Gambaga, where they live under the protection of the chief, Gambarrana, the custodian of one of four places of sanctuary for women condemned of witchcraft. Made over the course of 5 years, this disturbing expose is the product of a collaboration between members of the 100-strong community of 'witches' and women’s movement activists determined to end abusive practices and improve women’s lives in Africa.
In this fascinating documentary, historian Bettany Hughes travels to the seven wonders of the Buddhist world.Her journey begins at the Mahabodhi Temple in India, where Buddhism was born; here Hughes examines the foundations of the belief system - the three jewels.At Nepal's Boudhanath Stupa, she looks deeper into the concept of dharma - the teaching of Buddha, and at the Temple of the Tooth in Sri Lanka, Bettany explores karma, the idea that our intentional acts will be mirrored in the future.At Wat Pho Temple in Thailand, Hughes explores samsara, the endless cycle of birth and death that Buddhists seek to end by achieving enlightenment, before travelling to Angkor Wat in Cambodia to learn more about the practice of meditation.In Hong Kong, Hughes visits the Giant Buddha and looks more closely at Zen, before arriving at the final wonder, the Hsi Lai temple in Los Angeles, to discover more about the ultimate goal for all Buddhists - nirvana.
A freewheeling portrait of Ken Kesey and the Merry Prankster’s fabled road trip across America in the legendary Magic Bus. In 1964, Ken Kesey, the famed author of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” set off on a legendary, LSD-fuelled cross-country road trip to the New York World’s Fair. He was joined by “The Merry Band of Pranksters,” a renegade group of counterculture truth-seekers, including Neal Cassady, the American icon immortalized in Kerouac’s “On the Road,” and the driver and painter of the psychedelic Magic Bus.
This experimental short film is about a little girl who lost her home to urban renewal, and asks her wealthy neighbor, "why?" The film is a prequel to Andrade-Watkins' documentary trilogy about the Cape Verdean community in Fox Point. "Hi, Neighbor" had its world premiere at the 2011 Cape Verdean International Film Festival and was awarded Jury Selection (first prize), in the 2012 Black Maria Film Festival.
Naturalist Jim Hutto's remarkable experience of being imprinted on by group of wild turkey hatchlings, and raising them to adulthood and beyond, in the remote wilderness of northern Florida.
The Interrupters tells the moving and surprising stories of three Violence Interrupters — former gang members who try to protect their Chicago communities from the violence they once caused.
Experimental filmmaker Pip Chodorov traces the course of experimental film in America, taking the very personal point of view of someone who grew up as part of the experimental film community.
The world of environmental direct action has been a secretive one, until now. With unprecedented access, Emily James spent over a year embedded in activist groups such as Climate Camp and Plane Stupid, documenting their clandestine activities. Torpedoing the tired cliches of the environmental movement, Just Do It introduces you to a powerful cast of mischievous and inspiring characters who put their bodies in the way. They super-glue themselves to bank trading floors, blockade factories and attack coal power stations en-masse all despite the very real threat of arrest. Their adventures will entertain, illuminate and inspire.
Can justice truly be served in the occupied territories given the current system of law administered by Israel for Palestinians? This documentary explores the history of Israel's military legal system in the Occupied Palestinian Territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The flat on the third floor of a Bauhaus building in Tel Aviv was where my grandparents lived since they immigrated to Palestine in the 1930s. Were it not for the view from the windows, one might have thought that the flat was in Berlin. When my grandmother passed away at the age of 98 we were called to the flat to clear out what was left. Objects, pictures, letters and documents awaited us, revealing traces of a troubled and unknown past. The film begins with the emptying out of a flat and develops into a riveting adventure, involving unexpected national interests, a friendship that crosses enemy lines, and deeply repressed family emotions. And even reveals some secrets that should have probably remained untold...