Stories of work and play, of love and loss...and bread. Bread has been at the center of human life and creativity for at least the last ten thousand years - it is in our bones and a witness to history. This essay documentary brings bread to the front of the line and explores its relation to politics, poetry and pleasure. The loaf of bread is the vehicle through which we explore stories of sex and death, immigration and refugees, social justice and the counter-culture, and of art, work and pleasure.
Idriss Gabel and Marie Calvas are the grandson and granddaughter of Rudolf Hess's last chaplain in Berlin-Spandau prison. Hess (1894-1987), a fanatical anti-Semite, was Adolf Hitler's deputy in Nazi Germany and personally participated in the formulation of the Nuremberg Race Laws. As a French military chaplain, Charles Gabel was the only person authorized to speak with Hess in private for almost ten years. In this documentary, his grandchildren ask: What kind of relationship did their grandfather have with this member of the Nazi leadership? Hess was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1946 as part of the Nuremberg Trials of major war criminals. He served his sentence throughout the Cold War as the sole inmate of the huge Spandau Prison. In 1987, at the age of 93, he took his own life.
Furry is a subculture that unites people interested in anthropomorphic animals in the visual arts, animation, literature, and cinema. Participants strive to embody their chosen animal in creative or literal ways.
In this documentary about friendship and perseverance, three young transgender women from El Salvador and Honduras go on a 2,400-mile journey with the high-profile migrant caravan. These women, strangers at the outset and fleeing extortion, discrimination, and abusive relationships, endure hardship as they slowly make their way to the US, teaming up with other trans girls along the route and integrating with the caravan’s LGBTQ community.
In 1976, Aulcie Perry was playing basketball in Harlem when scouts from Maccabi Tel Aviv spotted and signed him. A year later, he led the team to their first European Championship, converted to Judaism, and become an Israeli citizen. His rise to fame was precipitous, and his relationship with supermodel Tami Ben Ami became the subject of relentless media attention, solidifying his status as one of Israel’s biggest stars. But behind the scenes, he had a growing drug addiction that culminated in his arrest and imprisonment, and since his release he has committed himself to uplifting those suffering from drug abuse and addiction. Dani Menken’s documentary tells the story of this legendary athlete.
Pipe Dreams follows five organists as they compete in Canada's International Organ Competition (CIOC). Who will master the 'king of instruments' and come out victorious in Montreal?
Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica: More than 23.000 books in the fields of: Alchemy, Hermetica, Cabala, Magic, Rosicrucianism, Mystic, Theosophy, Freemasonry, Pansophy and much more.
"No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear." CS Lewis - A Grief Observed Loss comes in many forms: The grief over the death of a loved one, the devastation of a physical or mental impairment, the pain of divorce or separation, or the distress of job loss and foreclosure.
Most often portrayed as an eccentric African pop idol of the ghetto, Fela is rarely presented as the strong political leader he was. Through the eyes his close friend and official biographer, the African-Cuban intellectual Carlos Moore, this documentary is devoted to unravel the complexity of Fela’s life. As the story unfolds, it reveals the glories and tragedies that shaped the lives of the pan-African generation as well as Fela's.
Todd “Speech” Thomas, a member of the iconic hip-hop group Arrested Development, spends 10 days working as part of a unique rehabilitation program in Richmond, VA, working to allow prisoners to write and record their own songs.
Gabi, Stefan and Henry used to work as street-sweepers for the city of Leipzig. A ruin is all that is left of the Municipal Street Cleaning Base of that time and the city Leipzig is moving after the reunion. The noise of air hammers are everywhere. Nowadays their daily routine has become fragile between social welfare office, pub, and their homes. There is always a remainder, something that doesn´t work out even.
New Zealand is a place of great natural beauty and resources, of pioneering immigrants from the Maori to the more recent settlers. They’re fierce, hardy, and strong, able to withstand challenges like the massive economic challenge they faced in the mid 1980’s. With their economy unraveling, they made huge, controversial changes, including doing away with farm subsidies and protectionist import controls. At first, it hurt. A lot. But now, the farmers and the fishers, the people and the economy, are prospering. And they wouldn’t go back to subsidies, special interests, or support for manufacturers. Travel to New Zealand with scholar Johan Norberg to meet some amazing Kiwis and see how they blazed a trail to economic prosperity.
If you happen to be transgender and you want to go swimming, which changing room do you go into? In this short documentary we meet a group of trans activists who have taken matters into their own hands and set up a safe space swimming club. It is a film about the healing effects of community and the relief that comes after taking the bravest plunge of all - to just be yourself. It is also an ode to universal joys of swimming.
Techno culture and anarchism are two alternative social forms that have much in common in their radical re-evaluation of all social relations. An overlooked but obvious thought that ‘Rage’ takes to the extreme in a philosophical rave party
The story of Nicholas Sand and Tim Scully, the unlikely duo at the heart of 1960s American drug counter-culture. United in a utopian mission to save the planet through the consciousness-raising power of LSD, these underground chemists manufactured a massive amount of acid, including the gold standard for quality LSD, 'Orange Sunshine,' all while staying one step ahead of the Feds.
A Japanese salaryman in Tokyo, a sub-Saharan community trying to cross the borders into Europe, a family evicted from their own home in Spain. Three stories intertwined on three different continents. This film is a reflection on the path that the human race is taking, on its habits and its relationship with the world. It is a proposal for change, from the particular to the general. We will take this journey with the words of José Mujica, former President of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay.
Francois the Tree Man is far from his wife and three small children in Quebec, selling Christmas trees and living in a van on the streets of New York City. He does it for them. But this is home, too. Like the hundreds of Christmas tree sellers who descend upon the city from Canada, New England and even Europe, Francois delivers the magic of the season over a grueling month in his adopted neighborhood. He's a star, a storyteller, a Santa Claus in a sap-stained coat, a confidant, a friend, and a father figure to the local characters who are his New York family. They also need him. TREE MAN is the story of Francois's journey, how he arrived here, what holds him, and the conflict that will cause him to leave. As one of Francois' long-time customers says: "This has nothing to do with the trees anymore."
Habiba and Shah who, because of the wars fought in Afghanistan over the past 25 years, have experienced immense suffering, but who have survived to show how it is possible to be brave and moral in this world of sanctioned violence and lies. Shah, a former Mujaheddin soldier and land mine victim, works as a cobbler on the pavements of the ruined city of Kabul. One day, he noticed a pretty Tajik girl who had only one leg, and he began to court her. Amidst the chaos and violence, and despite all the obstacles of tradition and religion, Shah and Habiba were able to marry.
In Isla Verde, Puerto Rico, a group of environmentalists have occupied Camp Pa'l Pueblo Beaches for over six years to prevent the expansion of a hotel chain from limiting public access to the beach and impacting the region's natural resources.