This haunted reverie drops us inside an Istanbul retirement home, where the battle-scarred residents revel in the camera’s attention. A creaky-voiced woman shares her personal account of the Armenian genocide, a sweetly deluded pianist performs a composition before confessing his love and a blind photographer fiddles with his flash as he points his own camera back at us. All the while, however, the ominous transformation of the land is taking place at the hands of construction machinery.
An exploration of the unique and wholly improvisational creative process of the revolutionary “avant-groove” band Medeski, Martin & Wood, as they endeavor to record a new album at the famed Allaire Studio, twenty-five years after their formation.
A group of Indigenous Achuar children that moves self-determined through the endless green. Along the course of the Pastaza river, on the border between Ecuador and Peru, they catch fish, hunt and cook, play with lianas and watch videos on their smartphones. Director Inês T. Alves respectfully follows the everyday life of this young collective living in deep connection with one another and with the environment.
One of the most successful teams in New York sports history, Gotham Girls Roller Derby is a feminist powerhouse of elite athletes, misfits, and renegades. QUEENS OF PAIN follows three skaters — Suzy Hotrod, Evilicious, and Captain Smack Sparrow — as they battle the constraints of being a woman in America while fighting for the coveted Golden Skate.
Jim Geiger, a retired forest ranger and amateur mountaineer, attempts to become the oldest American and first great grandfather to summit Mt. Everest, aged 68. His transformation from a weekend hiker to attempting one of the most extreme and physically demanding feats known to man is driven by a desire to prove that age is just a number. What ensued, however, forever changed Jim's life.
50 Liters Life is a feature length documentary about the severe drought in South Africa between 2015 and 2018. Since 2015 more and more irregular rainfalls have dried up dams’ level, forcing the Local Government to ask citizens to reduce drastically water consumption. Each citizen should not use more than 50 liters of water per person per day. Whilst strategies carried out by the most ingenious citizens in order to save water have led to good results, on the other side the destiny of agriculture and of the poorest fringe of the population are still unknown. Is it possible to live a 50 liters life?
In Africa, poachers brutally maim and kill elephants for their ivory, much of which is exported to China or smuggled into the United States. The profits help fund terrorist organisations, and are used to buy guns and artillery. WILD DAZE takes an unflinching look at these problems from various perspectives, and shows how the slaughter has decimated the elephant population, left survivors traumatised, and seriously harmed the forests of Eastern and Southern Africa.
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."
Thomas Keating: A Rising Tide of Silence is a reflective portrait of Father Thomas Keating, one of today's most influential spiritual leaders. Interweaving historical footage, interviews, and extensive conversations with Father Thomas, the film traces his spiritual journey from an affluent, well-connected New York City childhood, to an austere Trappist monastic life, to his rise through the Order, and his election as Abbot of St. Joseph’s Abby in 1961. In the early 1970’s Father Thomas introduced Eastern religious practices to the monks and became one of the originators of Centering Prayer. A renowned theologian and author of more than 30 books, Father Thomas Keating is widely recognized for his ecumenical approach to spirituality. For those who encounter him, his example is a moving modern journey of faith.
The Beach Boys are America's most successful band. With 56 U.S. Top 100 hits, 36 Top Ten Hits, and 4 Number One singles, their impression on American pop culture is rivaled only by the band that considered them to be their sole competition, The Beatles. To mark the group’s 50th anniversary, Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston, and David Marks gathered in 2012 for an emotional reunion to record their first album of new material in 20 years, to kick off a worldwide tour, and to reflect on their remarkable history.
The revolutions that swept Latin America in the second half of the 20th century owe much to the participation of millions of Christians who engaged in political struggles in the name of their faith, paying a heavy toll for undermining the traditional relationship between the Church and power. Driven by Liberation theology, they challenged military regimes and oligarchies, risking their lives. Far from Marx's idea of religion as 'opium of the people', here the people fought for the advent of the Kingdom of God on Earth, rather than in Heaven.
May 20, 2013––an EF5 tornado ripped through Moore, OK. The magnitude of devastation measured over eight times greater than the atomic bomb that leveled Hiroshima. As the world watched, one question continued to surface—Where Was God? This story follows several families and individuals who recount the timeline of destruction and share their experiences of the devastating and miraculous events that changed their lives forever.
Filmmaker Christina Zorich follows abolitionists throughout Southeast Asia that have dedicated their lives to rescuing, rehabilitating, preventing and prosecuting those involved in human sex trafficking.
The film follows the story of a community of artists in a changing San Francisco. Countering gentrification with their words and images, they try to makes sense of what it means to live as artists in a modern city.
A discussion of infidelity told through confessional interviews of sex, marriage, and adultery. The film explores our hunger to find fulfillment through acts of committing to—and straying from—our partners and how the secrets we keep--and the lies we tell--in our search for love and desire reveal who we are. It is also the story of the director’s unexpected transformation, as she discovers her future partner through the process of making the film.
Betty White travels around the world to national parks, zoos and aquariums; along the way, she shares personal stories of her own pets and gives viewers a look at the organizations that support animals.
As a manatee, one has to be extremely unlucky to be given a name. The young Hamilton is a living example of this. 600 kilos of pure friendliness – a sea cow, or manatee, is not exactly a paragon of beauty. However, they are without doubt the friendliest giants that inhabit the crystal waters of Florida’s rivers and shores. For the first time, a team of filmmakers has managed to observe a manatee for three years. As a result, the footage astounded even the experienced researchers of the Sirenia Projects. Besides, the gorgeous images of sea birds, alligators and dolphins depict the astonishing eco-system of the Gulf Coast and Florida’s crystal clear rivers.
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.