Thule, Greenland, also called Qaanaaqis, one of the northernmost towns in the world. As the climate warms and the ice caps begin to melt, the gentle balance of life for the people of this community is in jeopardy. On the other side of the globe, the melting ice caps are raising sea levels around the Polynesian island nation of Tuvalu, threatening to wipe the island right off the map. Though a world apart, these two communities are intricately connected as environmental balance begins to tip and traditional ways of life are threatened. 'ThuleTuvalu' is a stunning documentary addressing the high price of a hundred years of development and how two very different communities are now bound together in facing an uncertain future.
HOW TO START A REVOLUTION is the remarkable untold story of Nobel Peace Prize nominee Gene Sharp, the world's leading expert on non-violent revolution. This new film (from first time director Ruaridh Arrow) reveals how Gene's work has given a new generation of revolutionary leaders the weapons needed to overthrow dictators. It shows how his 198 steps to non-violent regime change have inspired uprisings from Serbia to Ukraine and from Egypt to Syria and how his work has spread across the globe in an unstoppable wave of profound democratic change. How To Start A Revolution is the story of the power of people to change their world, the modern revolution and the man behind it all.
The forest is like an organism, ancient and full of mechanisms. Its plants need water and are temperature-dependent. Nevertheless, it survives in a wide variety of locations around the world. How does it manage to adapt to even the most adverse conditions?
In the 1970s, Dr. Alexander “Sasha” Shulgin significantly contributed to the development and psychopharmaceutical use of MDMA: a catalyst to personal doors entombed or unknown. His widow, co-author, and research partner, Ann—alongside friends, family, and colleagues—gives a guided tour of their life and laboratory, reflecting on how risks and revelations opened a world of compound enlightenment. Stippled with spirituality, sadness, and skepticism, the Shulgins’ chemical love story examines the power of psychedelic psychotherapy, sacred alchemy, and challenging the path of misunderstood resistance.
In 1968, Elsa and Richard Marley founded an alternative-living community, named Black Bear, in the remote Northern California wilderness with the motto "Free Land for Free People." This film tells the story of that intended utopia. Through archival footage and interviews with former residents, director Jonathan Berman explores the problems and realities of communal living and the evolution of a community that endured FBI harassment, cult leadership and more.
Splitboarding is a fast-growing sport for snowboarders who want to venture out of the resorts and into the backcountry. A splitboard is a snowboard that splits in half and allows the snowboarder to cross-country ski into the mountains. You then put the board back together and ride down. Snowboarding in the backcountry is an entirely different sport than snowboarding at a resort. A rider gets only a fraction of the runs because they have to earn every foot of ascent. But when taking on these extra challenges ones could be rewarded with the best deep-powder snowboarding that nature has to offer; you won't find these conditions at a ski resort. Alex Maier has been snowboarding his whole life, but that was in the midwest. When he moves to Montana he has to start from scratch, this series shows what it takes to get into the backcountry safely and effectively.
As reports of fatal police violence continue to flood the headlines, this film shines a light on not only the circumstances of these cases but how to improve the system as a whole and heal the communities they impact.
Capturing political theater at its most basic level, this documentary recounts the Democratic Party's stunning takeover of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2006 elections, inspired by the aggressive tactics of strategist Rahm Emmanuel.
“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.
New Yorker Kathryn has the deadly disease ALS and is completely paralyzed. She can only communicate by pointing out letters with her eyes on a special keyboard and she needs 24-hour care. It’s a horrific situation that Kathryn puts into words incisively and pragmatically. The only reason she hasn’t asked to be taken off life support yet, she says, is that she isn’t ready to say goodbye to her children. She wants at least to experience her daughter Minou’s wedding day.
Dr. Roger Payne explores the unique relationship between humans and whales, weaving together natural history and biography. A pioneer in whale song research, Payne has passionately promoted the protection of these majestic sea creatures for four decades and continues to do so by studying ocean pollution.
Sir David Attenborough unveils the two stunning underwater realms of Saudi Arabia - the flamboyant Red Sea and the contrasting hot muddy Gulf, capturing for the first time the rare event of Palolo worms spawning at night.
By 14 he had written five novels and penned a diary about the Nazi occupation of Prague. By 16 he had produced more than 170 drawings and paintings, edited an underground magazine in the Theresienstadt Ghetto, written numerous short stories and had walked to the gas chamber at Auschwitz. But this is a story of celebration as well as tragedy, a testament to how a boy’s wonder and creative expression represent the best of what makes us human.
The Banjo Project is a cross-media cultural odyssey: a major television documentary, a live stage/multi-media performance, and a website that chronicle the journey of America’s quintessential instrument—the banjo—from its African roots to the 21st century. It’s a collaboration between Emmy-winning writer-producer Marc Fields and banjo virtuoso Tony Trischka (the Project’s Music Director), one of the most acclaimed acoustic musicians of his generation.
From the masters who create the mind-bending diversions to the tense competition at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, Patrick Creadon's documentary reveals a fascinating look at a decidedly addictive pastime. Creadon captures New York Times editor Will Shortz at work, talks to celebrity solvers -- including Bill Clinton and Ken Burns -- and presents an intimate look at the national tournament and its competitors.
A chronicle of lives lost in a school shooting. In the wake of another tragedy, we get a glimpse of each victim and see who they were, who they loved, who they hurt, and who they wanted to be.
Alanis Obomsawin’s documentary The People of the Kattawapiskak River exposes the housing crisis faced by 1,700 Cree in Northern Ontario, a situation that led Attawapiskat’s band chief, Theresa Spence, to ask the Canadian Red Cross for help. With the Idle No More movement making front page headlines, this film provides background and context for one aspect of the growing crisis.