Dawn Mikkelson’s Risking Light is a meditation on forgiveness, layered with a theme that is rarely seen on the screen—forgiving the unforgivable. Five years prior to making the film, Mikkelson met Mary Johnson and O’Shea Israel, a meeting she describes as a life-changing event that would lead to the development of Risking Light. It was then she learned that Johnson had chosen to forgive Israel for the murder of her son, which motivates the tone of humanistic mission in the film.
Director Sam Hampton brings heart to this transgender-transition film with a story of celebration, health, and unconditional love. A much-needed portrayal of biracial trans and gender-nonconforming lives in America, this documentary chronicles the transition of Zo Thorpe and the sympathetic response of his family. But CHANGE IN THE FAMILY is about so much more than the transition experience; it speaks to the complexity of young adulthood, being a person of color, having a biracial identity, and coming out as trans and gender-nonconforming. Zo’s story provides hope for a time when portraying this type of experience is no longer so unusual.
When Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered in Memphis, TN on April 4, 1968, he left a legacy of profound change, yet there was still much unfinished work. This one-hour documentary explores the key battles in the Civil Rights Movement that transformed American society--from the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955 to the Chicago Campaign which led to the Fair Housing Act of 1968. The special will uncover what it took to translate protest into real legislative change.
The sculptor Elizabeth King mines the spaces in between classical sculpture and automata; life and the life- like. Double Take: The Art of Elizabeth King explores the motives and creations of this quiet iconoclast at a pivotal moment in her career.
A compilation that highlights works from the Three Stooges. It includes the shorts Brideless Groom, Sing a Song of Six Pants, and Malice in the Palace, also Ed Wynn's live TV Camel Comedy Caravan starring Shemp, Larry, and Moe.
150 underprivileged and orphaned students in the remote jungle of Thailand attending the country's first democratic school prepare a special celebration to honor their remarkable adoptive mother on Mother's Day.
Gurwinder comes from Punjab, he’s been working for years as a farm hand in Agro Pontino, not far from Rome. Since he first came in Italy, he’s been living with the rest of the Sikh community in Latina province. Hardeep is also Indian, but her stress is Roman, and she works as a cultural mediator. She, born and raised in Italy, is trying to free herself from the memories of a family that emigrated in another age, while he is forced, against his faith, to take methamphetamine and doping to bear the heavy work pace, to be able to send money in India.
UK cage fighter and mixed martial artist Rob ‘C4’ Sinclair, battles to overcome a career-threatening injury in order to fulfill his dream of fighting in the USA.
This film takes us inside the world of cricket and the daily life of Montreal's Parc Extension - one of Canada's poorest yet most vibrant immigrant neighbourhoods.
Obsession, love, money, and postage. Freaks and Errors: A Rare Collection, is the first, independent documentary film that reveals the rarely seen, expectedly eccentric and surprisingly large world of stamp collecting.
In Rod El Farag, one of the poorest residential areas in Cairo, obtaining meat, fruit and daily bread is a constant struggle. But the sense of community shared by the inhabitants there helps them to some extent overcome their hardships through a social practice known as ‘al Gami’ya’, or ‘the assembly’.
For Berliners, the Baltic island of Usedom was once the most luxurious destination for excursions within striking distance of the city. This is where imperial Germany’s grand health resorts of Bansin, Heringsdorf and Ahlbeck were built. Heinz Brinkmann, who was born in Heringsdorf, traces the eventful history of his island.
Robert Rooy's documentary follows DJ Savarese ("Deej"), a nonspeaking autistic writer and poet. The film explores his difficult early life, his quest for an education, and his advocacy for other nonspeaking autistics.
On a Knife Edge is a father-son story about Guy and George Dull Knife that unfolds over the course of George’s coming-of-age journey. Under his father’s guidance, George becomes an activist and organizer, and begins identifying with the role of traditional Lakota warrior, which he views as his family legacy. He commits himself to the fight for social justice, but struggles with adapting the old ways and his father’s expectations to the modern-day realities of growing up on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Told largely through George’s eyes, the film offers a privileged glimpse into the youngest generation of the American Indian Movement, as well as George’s own evolving notions of Native identity, manhood, and duty. His story is interwoven with animated sequences that depict five generations of family history, narrated by his father and based on paintings he has created to explore the continuum of their fight through the generations.
A cinematic sleigh ride deep into the strange but true world of the Fraternal Order of Real Bearded Santas, the most exclusive and elite collection of Santas in the world. Anyone can don a red suit and fake beard to play Santa for a day. These men are Santa - all year, every day, and especially on Christmas. Young or old, naughty or nice, this documentary will make you believe all over again!
Explores the history and mystery of Migraine, and its remarkable place in the human condition. Migraine is a devastating but fascinating neurological condition with a compelling story to tell. Alice in Wonderland, Thomas Jefferson, Sigmund Freud, and Joan Didion all figure into its colorful history.
A film exploring the innovative world of Acoustic FingerStyle guitar featuring interviews with many leading players including Andy McKee, Kaki King, Newton Faulkner and Tommy Emmanuel. Acoustic Uprising looks at the rich history of FingerStyle and the fusion of musical ideas the style has become known for.