Not Just a Name explores and highlights the trials and tribulations of African-Americans with cultural and unique sounding names. It follows the stories of Shiquita Williams, Fulani Bahati, and Naauh'Mocquaii Robinson-Jones as they deal with micro-aggressions and the painful and triumphant origin of their identity as conveyed through their names.
Hollywood titans, Harvey Weinstein & Bill Cosby, have been brought to their knees by the #MeToo movement. The term casting couch has existed for decades in Hollywood, but in 1992, a case against talent agent, Wallace Kaye, was brought to court by 12 unknown actresses, who braved the loss of their careers, privacy & Hollywood dreams. Against all odds, they won, and no one listened, until now.
In the early 1970s, a theatre collective - the Australian Performing Group - based itself in a building called the Pram Factory, now synonymous with the people and events that laid the groundwork for a renaissance in Australian culture. The Pram was a ‘scene’, a 24-hour happening, a radical alternative to the mainstream. Those who lived and worked at the Pram expected the world to come to them - and for a while it did. (The building was eventually demolished to make way for a supermarket.)
Shaquille O'Neal turns up the heat for the second edition of the All Star Comedy Jam, with the legendary D.L. Hughley playing emcee and stand-up sharpshooters Earthquake, Lavell Crawford, Melanie Comarcho and Arnez J. topping the bill. Filmed at the Fillmore Miami Beach as part of the 2009 American Black Film Festival, the no-limits sketch revue taps the Original Kings of Comedy vein and gets the funny on.
On a quest for ancestral music, musician Luis Pérez-Ixoneztli meets the spiritual elder of one of Mexico's most isolated indigenous groups, who believes danger will befall his village if his son does not take his place.
Alexander’s transgender identity means he is obliged to lead a life of secrecy in his home country. Being identified as “female” in his passport means he cannot legally find work, either. Since even a visit to the doctor is a risk for him, he has begun hormone therapy to transition on his own with support from internet forums and the local transgender community. Desperate to escape their hopeless situation and leave the country, Alexander’s wife Mari decides to become a surrogate mother for 12,000 dollars. But their ostensibly pragmatic plan backfires when Alex and Mari gradually develop an emotional bond with the unborn child.
The Man Who Saved Ben-Hur explores the filmmakers relationship with his 89-year old second cousin, Johnny Alarimo, at the end of his life. A charismatic loner, Johnny spent a dazzling career behind the scenes in show business without never forming any lasting relationships. Destine to die that way, the film is a subtle dance between a subject who wants to control his legacy, and a filmmaker/family-member who simply wants to know him.
Documentaries that revisit a group of children every seven years is brought to post-apartheid South Africa. Here, filmmaker Angus Gibson interviews 11 young people of various races and backgrounds as they turn 21. The result is an insightful look at how they've changed and the issues they face such as crime, race relations, education and the AIDS epidemic which has killed three of the original 14 children.
Phong grew up in a small town in the center of Vietnam - the youngest of six children. From the time she was young, Phong felt like she was a girl with a mismatched boy's body. Not until she moved to Hanoi to attend university at age 20 did Phong discover that she was not the only one in the world with this predicament. Her dream to 'find herself' by physically changing sex becomes a reality several years later. The movie follows Phong's struggle during these years, with excerpts from an intimate video journal, along with encounters with family, friends and doctors - all of whom must come to terms with Phong determination to become a "complete girl".
Like all Israeli youth, Atalya is obligated to become a soldier. Unlike most, she questions the practices of her country's military, and becomes determined to challenge this rite of passage. Despite her family's political disagreements and personal concerns, she refuses military duty and is imprisoned for her dissent. Her courage moves those around her to reconsider their own moral positions and personal power. OBJECTOR follows Atalya to prison and beyond, offering a unique window into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the perspective of a young woman who seeks truth and takes a stand for justice.
When a fire destroys Cobb's Comedy Club in San Francisco, defiant owner Tom Sawyer and his crew of comedians rebuild it, hoping to revive the struggling indie comedy scene.
Portraits of three women who live and work in the infamous mines of El Cerro Rico in Bolivia. Work inside the mines has been limited to men, while the women are forced to work outside searching for mineral scraps on the side of the mountain. The film highlights the women's strength, determination and resilience in the face of struggle and hardship.
With white Jewish lesbians for parents and two adopted brothers - one mixed-race and one Korean-Brooklyn teen Avery grew up in a unique and loving household. But when her curiosity about her African-American roots grows, she decides to contact her birth mother. This choice propels Avery into her own complicated exploration of race, identity, and family that threatens to distance her from the parents she's always known. She begins staying away from home, starts skipping school, and risks losing her shot at the college track career she had always dreamed of. But when Avery decides to pick up the pieces of her life and make sense of her identity, the results are inspiring. OFF AND RUNNING follows Avery to the brink of adulthood, exploring the strength of family bonds and the lengths people must go to become themselves.