Raphael: The Young Prodigy tells the story of the artist from Urbino, beginning with his extraordinary early portraits of women - the Mother, the Friend, the Secret Lover and the Client. Delve into Raphael’s uncanny ability to capture celestial beauty, and to focus his gaze beyond the physicality and into the psychology of his subjects (some real, some imaginary) so that their personalities explosively emerge from his canvas. With fascinating contributions from internationally renowned experts, this documentary will uncover the most significant people and places and inspirations in the life and times of Raphael – a Renaissance leader and one of the most spectacular painters in history.
This documentary casts a penetrating look at the consequences of the death penalty through three powerful stories - the rare perspective of a former state executioner who comes within days of executing an innocent person; a Boston Marathon bombing victim who struggles to decide what justice really means; and the parents of a murder victim who choose to fight for the life of their daughter’s killer. As the battle to overturn capital punishment comes to a head in the U.S., this provocative film challenges viewers to question their deepest beliefs about justice.
In 2003, Dutch artist Iepe Rubingh became the first World Champion of Chessboxing. This brain-busting combination of alternating rounds of chess and boxing was in fact an art performance calling for more balance in a world of extremes, and the audience reaction was so electric that it inspired Rubingh to push it as a real sport. Rubingh’s methodical ability to achieve balance in the ring is put to the test outside of it when impulsive British TV Producer Tim Woolgar takes up the sport and his opposing vision for success creates a rift between them, endangering chessboxing’s future.
Three professions ushered Black former slaves from poverty to the American dream: preacher, teacher, and undertaker. Today, renowned embalmer James Bryant puts his faith in a new generation to continue this vanishing legacy. However, his young intern, Clarence Pierre, meets him with resistance, conflicted about his commitment to carrying on embalming traditions and the judgment he feels from the Black community as a queer, Christian man. Taking place in the oldest Black funeral home in San Antonio, this poetic documentary examines the waning tradition of African American funeral homes.
Rooted in Peace challenges viewers to examine their values as Americans and human beings. Today we are at war within ourselves, with our environment, and with the world. Director and award-winning filmmaker Greg Reitman invites viewers on a film journey to take notice of the world we live in, proactively seek ways to find personal and ecological peace, and stop the cycle of violence.
A unique historical portrait of the Palestinian people's struggle to produce their own image. Using material long hidden in archives across the globe, the film reaches back through the modern history of Palestine and reverses decades of colonial dominance with a mosaic of struggle from the perspective of the colonized.
Carole Laganière dives deeply into personal territory in this beautifully crafted exploration of absence and loss and its painful effect on daily lives. Inspired by her mother’s steadily advancing Alzheimer’s and the inevitability of her estrangement, Laganière weaves their story with the stories of others wrestling with loss: Ines, an immigrant who returns to her birth country of Croatia to find the mother who abandoned her during the war; Deni, an American author who’s finally able to search for his Quebec roots; and Nathalie, who’s desperately looking for her missing sister. Through their experiences the film ponders how absence is often the catalyst for a quest—a quest for information, understanding and often acceptance. Through its many voices, Absences speaks to us of the immense fragility and resiliency of human emotions.
Whether they’re performing at an animal rescue center benefit, a church fundraiser, or a shrimp parade, the Calendar Girls give it all they’ve got. And they have a lot to give — impressive makeup; handmade costumes; elaborate dance routines; and, most notably, their unparalleled enthusiasm and sparkling personalities. They are a group of hardworking senior volunteer dancers in Florida, determined to prove that age is just a number.
Four twenty-year-olds travel from Chicago to New York on skateboards. Fueled by youthful ignorance, the four navigate America's landscape through a maze of wrong turns and unfortunate circumstances.
A closer look at those who tried to rid the world of Hitler, including many within his organization. The story of the German Resistance is one that is rarely heard, but the bravery of the conspirators, despite their lack of success in stopping Hitler in his tracks, is nothing short of heroic. In 1944, Operation Valkyrie and Colonel Count Claus von Stauffenberg got within striking distance of assassinating the Fuhrer..
Oscar winning postwar propaganda film in support of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. Strident but poignant, focusing on children. The film surveys the Nazi/Japanese atrocities, post-war devastation and the early relief efforts. This film was responsible for raising over $200,000,000, making it a top moneymaking film. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2005.
The story of the battle to free Debbie Peagler, an incarcerated survivor of brutal domestic violence. Over 26 years in prison cannot crush the spirit of this determined African-American woman, despite the injustices she has experienced, first at the hands of a duplicitous boyfriend who beat her and forced her into prostitution, and later by prosecutors who cornered her into a life behind bars for her connection to the murder of her abuser. Her story takes an unexpected turn two decades later when a pair of rookie land-use attorneys cut their teeth on her case -- and attract global attention to the troubled intersection of domestic violence and criminal justice.
Jesselyn Silva is a 15-year-old 3x national boxing champion. However, when she is on the cusp of making the Olympic team, she is forced to face her toughest battle yet, a cancer diagnosis.
In the 1990s, rumors of recovered crashed flying saucers emerged from a phantom, top secret air base in a remote corner of Nevada's atomic test range, and the terms 'Area 51,' 'Dreamland' and 'Groom Lake' inspired hordes of UFO believers and researchers to descend on a tiny town on the border of Area 51 to trade stories, whisper secrets and watch the skies. Filmed over several years of two UFO buffs on their own personal search for the truth, 'Alien Highway' is about the people whose passionate obsession created a unique cultural phenomenon that flourished for a time in an obscure little community that happens to exist on the border of America's Twilight Zone.
Director Mat de Koning captures the rollercoaster journey of a young Perth band, the Screwtop Detonators, their manager Dave Kavanagh (an ex-mentor to The Libertines) and their one-time roadie, Will Stoker, as they grapple with the music industry's long road to the top. Initially ambitious and eager for fame and fortune, their aspirations change over time as they individually discover what truly matters in life.
Narrated by Rebecca St. James (Grammy Award Winning Artist), Mother India is a compelling documentary capturing the stories of abandoned and orphaned kids living in India. For one week, David and Shawn stepped into the lives of 25 boys and girls living alongside the railway station in the southern town of Tenali (Andhra Pradesh). With over 31 million orphans in India, the stories that emerge reflect the complexity of the issues and the challenge of rescuing kids from a life of begging and addiction. Find out what happens when these two friends eat, sleep, and play among this 'family' of street kids in an effort to experience life through their eyes. You'll never be the same.
This acclaimed documentary – made by one of the fashion world's most sought after casting directors – picks up where "Paris Is Burning" left off, focusing on a group of six NYC lesbians who dress and identify as men, blurring the lines between butch dyke and trans-male identities.
At forty years old, Devin Dearth is a successful businessman, a loving husband, father of three, a devout Christian and champion bodybuilder. He and his family reside in the small community of Central City, Kentucky where they live the ideal "American Dream." That is, until Devin suffers a devastating stroke. Caused by a bleed in the brain stem, the stroke leaves him paralyzed on his right side and unable to walk, with difficulty speaking, double vision and inability to care for himself or his family. He has met his ultimate adversary: The limits of his own mortality. We follow Devin on this unconventional journey, during which his courage, faith, patience and desire to overcome are tested on a daily basis. The trials he and his family endure along the way remind us that the human spirit can transcend any boundaries while exploring a universal community of healing and transformation. Written by Bigfoot Entertainment, Inc.