Caustic wit, man about town, James McNeill Whistler was the original art star. Famous for his patent leather shoes, monocle, and uptown swagger, Whistler's theatrics attracted the curiosity of buyers and the attention of the critics. But beneath the high gloss and mannered style, the struggle of this pioneering genius to find his own voice resulted in a breakaway style that moved painting towards abstraction and would revolutionize the art world in his time-and beyond. Best known for the groundbreaking portrait of his mother, Whistler had become one of the most recognized artists in Europe by the time of his death. He is now placed in the first rank of modern painters, his work compared to that of Velazquez and Rembrandt. Dramatic re-creations, art, graphics, and interviews combine to profile this fascinating character.
'Free' is an extraordinary journey through New York City as seen through the eyes of Konstantin Bokov - who uses for over 35 years the city's trash and refuse as raw materials for his art. Improvised open-air galleries in public places are his preferred means of displaying his so-called 'recycling art'. He welcomes admirers of his work to take possession of them for free, and some people become avid collectors.
‘When it comes to climate change, why do we do so little when we know so much?’ Through a relentless investigation to find the answer, Disruption takes an unflinching look at the devastating consequences of our inaction. The exploration lays bare the terrifying science, the shattered political process, the unrelenting industry special interests and the civic stasis that have brought us to this social, moral and ecological crossroads.The film also takes us behind-the-scenes of the efforts to organize the largest climate rally in the history of the planet during the UN world climate summit.
Mobilize is an explosive investigative documentary that explores the potential long-term health effects from cell phone radiation, including brain cancer and infertility. This thought-provoking film examines the most recent scientific research and the harsh challenges politicians face trying to pass precautionary legislation. Featuring interviews with expert researchers, major mobile phone associates and prominent politicians, Mobilize illuminates how the power of money can compromise public health.
Evil entities reaching out from beyond the grave, murder victims reliving their grisly demise and lost souls searching for a way home - Canada has no shortage of paranormal tales. Could these events stem from the dying curse of an innocent woman burnt as a witch?
This is a story about an 84 year-old-woman trying to take down the third largest industry in the world. Jean Hill, a self-proclaimed warrior, leads historic Concord, Massachusetts on America's first environmental crusade to ban the sale of bottled water.
Robert Mann has been a vital force in the world of music for more than seventy years. As founder and first violinist of the Julliard String Quartet, and as a soloist, composer, teacher, and conductor, Mann has brought a refreshing sense of adventure and discovery to chamber music performance, master classes, and orchestral performances worldwide. In Speak the Music, the 93-year-old Mann shares personal anecdotes from his childhood and musical training. Director Allan Miller combines archival performance footage, candid interviews, and glimpses into Mann's private lessons with today's most promising violinists to honor one of classical music's greatest living artists. (C) First Run
When Ines died, she left a very particular legacy, 10 books that read 'For my children'; it was the story of her life. Marked by a youth idyllic love, Ines was forced to marry a violent and womanizer man with whom she had 20 children. In the 50s, she managed to get divorce and 20 years after her death, Luisa, great-granddaughter of INES, reads, rescues and makes visible her history.
This documentary tells the story of César, the oldest Mexican prisoner on death row in the United States. César has waited for his execution date for more than 30 years, always insisting that he is innocent. Los años de Fierro is a reflection on justice, imprisonment, punishment, guilt and brotherly love, through the eyes of César and his bother, Sergio.
In 1968 Arthur Blessitt picked up a cross. Today, forty years later, Arthur has been on every continent and island nation with his twelve-foot cross, encountering people from diverse backgrounds, sharing a message of hope and destiny - the message of the cross. This is the story of his Guinness World Record setting 38,102 mile walk across the globe.
In 1995 three Puerto Rican teenagers enter an apartment where they are shot many times by plain clothes NYPD officers. Two of the teenagers die and one is wounded. The officers claim the men had come to rob the tenants of the apartment but one of the boy's mothers investigates the shooting after the Grand Jury find everything was fine. The Civilian Compliant Review Board CCRB also pick up her complaint and find proof of a shoddy investigation, over-looked facts and an attempt to cover up anything that would make the NYPD look bad that goes the whole way to Mayor Giuliani himself.
You may not have heard the name, but after seeing this absorbing documentary, you will never forget her. Artist Altina Schinasi (1907—1999) led a fascinating life that intersected with key movements in 20th century American history. This absorbing documentary follows Altina from her birth to a wealthy Jewish family from Turkey, through her school days, her development as a sexually liberated artist, her political activism, her many marriages and her countless artistic achievements. A wonderful testament to an outstanding woman ahead of her time.
Public schools don’t have to be a minefield of metal detectors, minimal expectations, and mind-numbing routine. An alternative exists right here in Chicago, at the Dixon Elementary Public School in the Chatham neighborhood, where former principal Joan Crisler and her successor Sharon Dale have implemented the idea that art should be an integral part of the learning environment, with museum-quality works openly adorning the halls. The results, in terms of student performance and morale, have been spectacular, but, as this inspiring but pragmatic documentary demonstrates, there are no miracle solutions: Crisler’s protégé Carol Briggs has an uphill battle applying the same approach at another school, and recent budget cuts have left even the most successful programs vulnerable to the axe.
In the hedonistic, rapidly shifting Barcelona of the 2000s, three foreign women turn the rules of power, sex, and money on their heads. Through their eyes, this documentary by Lise Reiner unravels the illusions of control, the price of autonomy, and the paradox of independence in a world of men that commodifies desire, challenging who truly holds power in the exchange.
Take a journey 6000 years back in time to the late Neolithic and early Bronze ages, which is when the first over-water settlements on stilts, which are described here, were built.
A British amateur cycling team competes in the hardest bicycle race on the planet. To win they must battle extreme fatigue and injury and also the most punishing of American terrains.
The relationship between art and science has always been multifarious and today, in the age of technoscience, has become decidedly ambiguous. Between the mechanisation of living things in biological science and the 'bringing to life' of machines within the exploration of artificial life, the protagonists of transgenic art and artificial life art have dared to adopt the methods and procedures of life sciences, creating new art forms in the process.
David Malone asks if we are right to see the heart as merely a brilliant pump or whether it should be allowed to reclaim something of its old place at the centre of our humanity. The heart is the most symbolic organ of the human body.