On August 3rd, 1979, a Vietnamese refugee shoots and kills a white crab fisherman at the town docks in Seadrift, TX. What began as a fishing dispute erupts in violence and ignites a resurgence of the KKK and open hostilities against the Vietnamese along the Gulf Coast. Set during the early days of Vietnamese refugee arrival, “Seadrift” examines the circumstances that led up to the shooting, its tumultuous aftermath, and the unexpected consequences that continue to reverberate today.
Rain on a window pane, a fire truck, a tomcat with innumerable offspring: it is an intentionally unintentional gaze that allows for chance encounters, for stories and memories - leads that Ruth Beckermann follows across Europe and the Mediterranean. Nigerian asylum seekers in Sicily, an Arab musician in Galilee, nationalists drunk on beer in Vienna, the Capitoline Wolf, and three veiled young women trying for minutes to cross a busy road in Alexandria. Threads, cloth and textiles pop up like book marks in a fabric of movement, of traveling or seeking refuge.
The documentary follows Lucy Hall, the founder of one of the nation's most successful women's treatment facilities, as she shares her story of generational addiction to help Georgia families.
France makes the most desired, revered and expensive wines in the world. They’ve had centuries to hone their craft. If you make fine wine, France is the benchmark. Or are they? One country famous for punching above its weight is taking on the aristocracy. This is a story featuring the World's most renowned winemakers, critics, writers and fine wine merchants. Travelling from the Old World to the New World we explore the history, culture and tension in the changing world of fine wine, answering that one question - has New Zealand earned a seat at the table?
A joyful, cinematic celebration of this singular musical artist, who remains as vital and relevant today as when he exploded on the scene with his group, Brasil '66. With a rich, multi-layered approach to storytelling, the film digs deep to reveal the forces that shaped his incredible journey.
"Stolen Education" documents the untold story of Mexican-American school children who challenged discrimination in Texas schools in the 1950s and changed the face of education in the Southwest.
Writer and comedian Dan Schreiber meets the people behind modern-day alien conspiracy theories, from Jesus being an alien to humanity being ruled by an evil reptilian overlord.
Artistic endeavour isn’t about competing; even so, applicants still have to be placed in order of merit at the academy’s entrance exams. But how do you assess artistic talent? And what role can art play in today’s world? A layered, observational documentary which presents a portrait of an institution and a light generational statement in one.
As the largest living terrestrial mammals, elephants are usually considered as survivors under even the most dire climatic conditions. But all too often, these majestic giants are killed illegally for their ivory tusks. So, every dead full-grown elephant, whose carcass or skeleton is found with the tusks still in it, is a symbol of paradise – an elephant allowed to die of natural causes instead of bullets, snares or poison.
“The Zulus are coming,” Dark Sevier, a local DJ for public radio in Butte, Montana, announces to listeners one evening in May, 2017. By this point, everyone in the small town had been eagerly following the strange and curious series of events that would eventually bring a Zulu prince from Nongoma, South Africa, to their town of 30,000-some-odd people.
JOHNNY STRANGE: BORN TO FLY tells the extraordinary story of a 23 year old American adventurer, through candid interviews with his family, friends and Johnny himself, along with 100's of hours from Johnny's private video archive. The film asks the question what does it truly mean to be alive, and to what extent a young man's passion to seek the ultimate thrill was actually the most lethal form of addiction.
Birthed with a bootlegger's dough, The New York Americans played in Madison Square Garden before the New York Rangers were even dreamed of. They were lovable losers, capturing the spirit of the roaring 20s. Soon enough the good times came to an end for Big Bill Dwyer - their bootlegger owner and the team. Red Dutton the fiery red head from the Canadian wheat belt moved the team in name and spirit to Brooklyn in a heroic quest to save the Amerks!
Alexis Bloom charts the rise and fall of the late Republican Party booster and controversial Fox News mogul who went down in flames amid multiple sexual harassment allegations.
In the West, we are often bombarded with dramatic and horrifying images of a violent and war-torn Iraq. This makes it easy to forget that people there do "regular" things... like play basketball. Salaam Dunk follows the American University of Iraq women's basketball team as they discover what it means to be students, athletes and friends. This is a story of triumph in the face of chaos and a testament to the perseverance of a handful of young Iraqi women. It shows us how sports can help build bridges of shared values, and potentially lead us toward a future of understanding within Iraq as well as abroad. Above all, Salaam Dunk is a film about basketball, friendship and the pain of losing those we love. From the joy of the team's first win to the pain of losing their coach forever, the film gives us an intimate glimpse into an Iraq we don't see on the news.
Hard Problems is about the extraordinary gifted students who represented the United States in 2006 at the world's toughest math competition: The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO). It is the story of six American high school students who competed with 500 others from 90 countries in Ljublijana, Slovenia. The film shows the dedication and perseverance of these remarkably talented students, the rigorous preparation they undertake, and the joy they get out of solving challenging math problems. It captures the spirit that infuses the mathematical quest at the highest level.
If popping a pill could make you smarter and increase your memory would you take it? In this cinematic POV documentary Nik Badminton travels to Silicon Valley and immerses himself in the real world of bio-hacking and smart drugs as depicted by Hollywood films like Lucy and Limitless. As Nik tries drugs and treatments recommended by people in the business of self-optimization, he begins to question the bio-hacking movement and asks: are we losing sight of what makes us human?
The Maralinga people survive aggressive colonisation, including dispossession to enable atomic testing, and through their tenacious spirit and cultural strength fight to retain their country.
"Explores the 400-year era of the transatlantic slave trade, when millions of Africans were kidnapped and shipped to the Americas. Features interviews with scholars, oral histories and a dramatic recreation of the Middle Passage" (The History Channel).