An intimate look at the very public and passionate fight waged by residents and business owners of Brooklyn’s historic Prospect Heights neighborhood facing condemnation of their property to make way for the polarizing Atlantic Yards project, a massive plan to build 16 skyscrapers and a basketball arena for the New Jersey Nets.
In full-on investigative mode, reporters from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Hollywood Reporter doggedly pursue the story of US $3.5 billion missing from a Malaysian wealth fund. They trace the dirty money, via real estate deals and movie financing, back to the top tiers of the Malaysian government. Incredibly (but oh, how fitting!), the audacious swindlers chose to back the 2014 blockbuster The Wolf of Wall Street. Hollywood A-listers, including Leonardo DiCaprio, attended lavish parties hosted to launch the film. The embezzlement was orchestrated by a flamboyant fancier, Jho Low, and Riza Aziz, the stepson of the then-Malaysian Prime Minister. As the truth finally comes to light, assets are frozen and the fall-out begins.
At the U.N. Climate talks in Paris, two weeks after terrorists attacks created a state of emergency that outlawed all "unofficial" political gatherings, follow seven global grassroots activists as they attempt to unleash the only force that can prevent catastrophic climate change: the will of the people. Not Without Us documents a crucial moment in history, framing the root causes of the global climate crisis and the greatest inequality in the history of mankind, as one and the same. Seen from the perspective of frontline communities, the film interweaves the personal stories and motivations of the activists portrayed, conveying to a broader audience why the call for deeper and far reaching change is not only necessary, but also humane.
We met Nastya, the main character, in 2003, when she was serving her time in the correctional colony for under-age girls. Obviously, she felt guilty and had a dream about freedom. She believed in a chance of new happy life. Every girl in colony had the same feelings and was sure in those beliefs. Ten years have passed since then. Unfortunately, Nastya’s hopes were shattered. Life outside prison was even more difficult. The young girl has to deal with a huge count of troubles and tragedies by herself. Anyone could break down, but Nastya. She goes on finding inspiration and efforts to pursuit of happiness. Especially trying for the happiness of her small daughter. Nastya is an amazingly strong person. She ought to be happy.
The Interpreters follows the lives of Iraqi and Afghan interpreters, and the American veterans they worked with. In many cases, interpreters face danger in their countries because of their affiliation with the US war effort. This is the story of how they are rebuilding their lives.
The Professor: Tai Chi's Journey West is the first major feature documentary about Tai Chi and one of its greatest masters, Cheng Man-Ching, a man who brought Tai Chi and Chinese culture to the West during the swinging, turbulent 60’s. Though Cheng is an important transformational figure, his teachings have been overlooked. This documentary film tells the story of his remarkable life and features Tai Chi as a martial art and a spiritual practice. Over the past decade, we have shot approximately fifty hours of footage in New York, North Carolina, and California.
Questions of race, identity and heritage are explored through the lives of young American women growing up as adoptees from China. These four distinct individuals reflect on their experiences as members of transracial families.
David Malone asks if we are right to see the heart as merely a brilliant pump or whether it should be allowed to reclaim something of its old place at the centre of our humanity. The heart is the most symbolic organ of the human body.
Big Boys Don't Cry' follows Joe Marler as he discusses his own struggles and learns new methods of managing mental wellbeing. The England and Harlequins player has opened up about his battles with mental health during his private life and his time playing rugby on the international stage. The documentary follows Marler as he travels around the UK to open up the conversation around mental health challenges and to learn about how people manage with their mental wellbeing - from taking the plunge in cold water swimming and getting involved in singing in a choir along the way.
In the fall of 1973 we had an opportunity to visit Jean Dubuffet in his studio while he was at work on a detail for his musical theater piece Coucou Bazar. The production, which Dubuffet saw as an animated painting, featured performers in costumes resembling figures in his paintings and sculptures. The piece had a successful premiere at New York's Guggenheim earlier that year, alongside a retrospective of Dubuffet's previous works, and later would open at the Grand Palais under the auspices of the annual Festival d'Automne. Though Dubuffet once suffered a period of doubt surrounding his art, he returned to the practice with an impersonal and primitive touch, becoming more and more influenced by works that had no connection to mainstream art, for which he coined the term ART BRUT.
THE STORE is a film about the main Neiman-Marcus store and corporate headquarters in Dallas. The sequences in the film include the selection, presentation, marketing, pricing, advertising and selling of a vast array of consumer products including designer clothes and furs, jewelry, perfumes, shoes, electronic products, sportswear, china and porcelain and many other goods. The internal management and organizational aspects of a large corporation are shown, i.e., sales meetings, development of marketing and advertising strategies, training, personnel practices and sales techniques.
At age 10, aspiring pianist Norman Malone is paralyzed on his right side after being attacked by his father. Over the next several decades he masters the left-hand repertoire in secret, before a chance discovery of his talent leads him towards making his concert debut. Aged 78, he will perform the greatest work in the canon: Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand.
Between 1944–1953, courageous resistance movement took place in the Baltic region of Europe, uniting the partisan troops for struggle against the Soviet Union. “The Invisible Front” was a coded name used by the Soviet Interior forces to describe the resistance movement in Lithuania. Film depicts the story of the fighters through the words and experience of the partisan leader, Juozas Luksa, and interviews with eyewitnesses of those events - both the partisans and the Soviet fighters. Tales of horror, torture and courage are told in the rare archival footage that has never been screened before, and interviews with the surviving members of the resistance movement.
In 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin passed a bill forbidding the “promotion of nontraditional sexual relations to minors.” LGBT youth, now defenseless against insults and intimidation under this “gay propaganda” law, are considered sick, sinful and abnormal. Psychologists, teachers and even parents can be fined or imprisoned for supporting them. Forty-five Russian teens and tweens share their stories through anonymous interviews and video diaries. They detail their humiliations and discriminations, as well as their courageous stands against bullies. Their testimonies are collected online as the Children 404 project, named after the common “error 404 - page not found” web message. The support group’s founder struggles within the system to bring public attention and empathy to the victims of this government-endorsed hate, while activist Pasha decides he must leave his homeland altogether if he hopes to find a boyfriend and lead a normal life. Has a new Stone Age arrived
Young-Chan comes from planet of snail where deaf blind people live slow and quiet lives. When Young-Chan came to Earth, nobody understood his language and he was desperate. Then an angel walked into his life. Soon-Ho knows how it is to be lonely and soon becomes an inseparable part of his life. Young-Chan also discovers an amazing world under his fingers as he learned to read books with braille. Hopes began to grow and he dreams of writing a book. However, Soon-Ho cannot always be there for him because of her own problem of spine disability. The couple now should learn to survive alone. While Soon-Ho uneasily spends her first day waiting for his return, Young-Chan goes out for the biggest adventure of his life.
Perry Como's last great concert special, filmed in Ireland and screened in 1994. Como appears before an audience of 4,500 in Ireland's celebrated Point Theater, with Irish President Mary Robinson and actress Maureen O'Hara in attendance.
Many people know of the death of Rudyard Kipling's son John - but few know of the earlier death of his much loved daughter Josephine. This film reveals the true story behind both of these deaths, creating an evocation of a man who had remarkable gifts - and had to bear great personal tragedy. Combining touching dramatizations of three of Kipling's most important works with distinguished contributions from his leading biographers, this is a truly remarkable portrait of one of the world's greatest writers. In Kipling's bedroom at his house Bateman's to this day are his son's cricket bat and his daughter's portrait.
Heather Booth is the most influential person you have heard of. The newest film by critically acclaimed filmmaker Lilly Rivlin, HEATHER BOOTH: CHANGING THE WORLD is an urgent response to the recent election of Trump and all that has ensued. At a time when many are wondering how to make their voices heard, when civil and women’s rights are under attack, this empowering documentary is an inspiring look at how social change happens. Heather Booth, a renowned organizer and activist, began her remarkable career at the height of the Civil Rights movement. Through her life and work this inspiring film explores many of the most pivotal moments in progressive movements that altered our history over the last fifty years: from her involvement with Fannie Lou Hamer and the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project, to her founding of the JANE Underground in 1964, to her collaborations with respected leaders such as Julian Bond and Senator Elizabeth Warren.