Cobby's Hobbies was a 1960's children's TV program featuring a chimpanzee getting hmself into all sorts of mischief. For filmmaker Donna McRae, the show was a crucial part of getting through a lonely childhood. McRae seeks people that made the show, Cobby's zoo friends, zoo keepers and the animal rights activists that help her piece together the story of an animal stolen from his natural habitat to work on TV before, being retired into the San Francisco Zoo at age 7. Most primates chimps in entertainment suffered horrifically, becoming research animals or caged in roadside zoos. This documentary examines how we perceive animals in entertainment and how we address their plight now.
An artist faces public outrage as she struggles to mount a large-scale exhibition of paintings based on a police poster of missing women, 26 of whom are found murdered on a serial killer's farm.
If Proposition 187 makes it through the courts, will hall duty become border patrol in California public schools? Fourth-grade-teacher-turned-filmmaker Laura Simon puts human faces on the issue as she takes us inside her classroom and into the faculty lounge at Hoover Elementary in Los Angeles. Law and learning converge as students, teachers and parents grapple candidly with the impact of policies that would deny public services to undocumented immigrants and their children.
What I Want You To Know is a gripping, intimate documentary film about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. With searing candor, veterans share personal stories from their deployments and explore the epic tragedy of their wars. A courageous and unblinking look at the cost and consequences of war, and the moral tragedy of sending America’s young men and women to fight wars their country has no need to fight.
The History of the VW Campervan traces the evolution of the Camper and features campers from every generation and notable variant. This brand-new programme is filmed in stunning HD and uses never seen before archive footage from Volkswagen s own museum, including the original sketched design and rare TV commercials from the VW Campervans illustrious past.
A large still-life painting hung on the wall above Lilka Elbaum's childhood bed in Lodz, Poland. It was the first thing she saw when she woke up, and the last thing she saw before she fell asleep.
A documentary based on the life of Branimir Vugdelija, frontman of the gothic metal band Embrio. Branimir was an ambitious musician, biker and martial artist. Sadly, in the summer of 2007 Branimir died in motorcycle accident.
A uniquely Kiwi story capturing the incredible highs and heartbreaking lows of making world-class wine in New Zealand. Stu, Nick, Ollie and Jess take you on a journey of the all-consuming harvest period known as vintage and the passion and hard-graft that goes into every bottle.
Here are parrots that totally break the stereotypes! The keas in New Zealand just love the snow and the cold, harsh mountain climate. To survive here, these mountain parrots have developed exceptional intelligence and resourcefulness. Watch these incredibly unique birds in action!
The rise and legacy of Canada’s most decorated Caribbean Carnival Queen, Joella Crichton, as she aims to win a historic tenth title in her last ever competition. This immersive arts and cultural documentary explores expressions of cultural identity, Caribbean artistry and a community’s struggle against a lack of understanding of Carnival in the larger society.
In the early 90s, a mysterious muscular disease with symptoms that included severe muscle and joint pain began to surface among multiple patients in France. In 1993, a team of doctors in Paris discovered that these patients had developed a new disease called Macrophagic Myofascitis, or MMF, which occurs when the aluminum hydroxide adjuvant from a vaccine remains embedded in the muscle tissue and causes an immune reaction. Featuring interviews with patients, doctors, scientists, and influential politicians, Injecting Aluminum calls in to question the public health policies around aluminum in vaccines and examines aluminum's devastating effects on the human body.
A documentary chronicling the events surrounding three Americans arrested and held as political hostages in Iran and their families’ campaign to free them.
When two women discover heartbreaking diary footage of their late friend, they journey to Ireland with her ashes, embarking on an odyssey through grief.
The inspiring true story of an accomplished open water swimmer's attempt to become the first woman to swim 30 miles through a stretch of cold, rough and shark-inhabited waters off of the San Francisco coast.
In America, nearly 30% of those exonerated by DNA tests had previously confessed. For more than half a century, the Reid technique was the favored method of extracting confessions out of suspects. This method of slowly building pressure often made it seem that admitting guilt was the easiest way out. But now, a number of police forces are abandoning the Reid technique because of the risk of generating false confessions. We hear from the men and women who have spent more than 20 years in prison for crimes they did not commit. They tell us about that moment when, in the darkness of the interrogation room, cut off from the world and terrified by police officers, they finally said what the interrogators wanted to hear…the moment their lives changed forever.
Africa's wildest river is home to the most spectacular wildlife. Hippos fight for territory while herds of elephant, water buffalo and zebra depend on it for life. In the wet season the rains burst the riverbanks and everyone, including people, must move whilst fish swim through the villages. In the dry season the creatures fight over the few pools of water while predators prowl. At its heart it plunges over Victoria Falls and into wild ravines before draining into the Indian Ocean, where storm clouds cycle the water back into the heart of Africa.