Race. Class. Poverty. Faith. Hope. Soccer. Welcome to Alex––the largest and most notorious township in South Africa where soccer is lived, not played. With the first ever FIFA World Cup in Africa as a backdrop, witness the cultural importance of soccer in township South Africa through the lives of five individuals born and raised in the oldest and toughest of South Africa’s townships, Alexandra, locally known as ‘Alex.’ Seventeen-year-old dribbling sensation Nancy ‘Maradona’ Majola, former national team player Isaac ‘Shakes’ Kungwane, current professional Patrick ‘Raiden’ Phungwayo, 69-year-old Jacob ‘Babes’ Bopape one of the first professional soccer players in South Africa, and scholarship-winner Ricardo ‘Rico’ Kutumela will all take you into a culture dominated by soccer and into a storied township still largely unknown and misunderstood even among South Africans.
How can emotion come to light on the opera set? Does it come from singing, acting or music? How can someone become the incarnation of Verdi's masterpiece? Following world famous French soprano Natalie Dessay from the first repetitions until the premiere under the direction of Jean-François Sivadier, we meet a very special woman, a piece of art, a myth: LA TRAVIATA.
An intimate glimpse into the experiences of a young Tibetan family struggling to reconcile their traditional way of life with a rapidly modernizing world.
While filming a documentary in Mississippi in 1965, Frank De Felitta forever changed the life of an African-American waiter and his family. In 2011, Frank's son returns to the Delta to examine the repercussions of that fateful encounter.
A riveting portrait of the great writer whose stories became the basis of the Broadway musical Fiddler on the Roof. Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness tells the tale of the rebellious genius who created an entirely new literature. Plumbing the depths of a Jewish world locked in crisis and on the cusp of profound change, he captured that world with brilliant humor. Sholem Aleichem was not just a witness to the creation of a new modern Jewish identity, but one of the very men who forged it.
CRAZY WISDOM explores the arrival of Tibetan Buddhism in America through the story of Chögyam Trungpa, who landed in the U.S. in 1970. Trungpa became renowned for translating ancient Buddhist concepts into language and ideas that Westerners could understand and shattered preconceived notions about how an enlightened teacher should behave. Initially rejected, his teachings are now recognized by western philosophers and spiritual leaders as authentic and profound.
From a basketball academy in Senegal, to the high-pressure world of American prep schools, the film documents the extraordinary personal journeys of four particularly tall West African Muslim teenage boys with NBA dreams.
In the valleys of Appalachia, a battle is being fought over a mountain, the consequences of which affect every American; it's a battle that has taken innocent lives and threatens to take more. It is a battle over protecting our health and environment from the destructive power of Big Coal. Mining and burning coal is at the epicenter of America's struggle to balance its energy needs with environmental and health concerns. Nowhere is that concern greater than in Coal River Valley, West Virginia, where a small but passionate group of ordinary citizens are trying to stop Big Coal corporations, like Massey Energy, from continuing the devastating practice of Mountain Top Removal.
“an experimental documentary shot in Lebanon from 2019 to 2021 dealing with issues of dislocation, points of view and memory. Through the position of ‘peripheral vision’, which I practice as an observer, Detours builds a narrative of sensory impressions, orientations, alienated images, images that remain outside of the frame. The work is not a documentation or analysis of current policies and turbulent events but an experience of disorientations within them. The film was shot using Super 8, still analog cameras, digital cameras and various lenses.” - Vida Guzmić.
This documentary captures the sounds and images of a nearly forgotten era in film history when African American filmmakers and studios created “race movies” exclusively for black audiences. The best of these films attempted to counter the demeaning stereotypes of black Americans prevalent in the popular culture of the day. About 500 films were produced, yet only about 100 still exist. Filmmaking pioneers like Oscar Micheaux, the Noble brothers, and Spencer Williams, Jr. left a lasting influence on black filmmakers, and inspired generations of audiences who finally saw their own lives reflected on the silver screen.
On the triple frontier between Brazil, Colombia and Peru, the twin towns of Letícia and Tabatinga form an urban island surrounded by the Amazon rain-forest. Following the ordinary events and the constant come and go of people along the border, Terras portrays the presence and the influence of the frontier on the lives of its inhabitants.
President John F. Kennedy's 1963 assassination in Dallas has sparked decades of questions and controversy. The "lost" JFK recordings made available for this documentary -- including local TV and radio reports -- shed new light on the tragedy. The rarely seen material has been organized to capture the drama as it unfolded, including the shocked reactions of Dallas citizens, many of whom were caught up directly in the sweep of events.
Chandani wants to become a Mahout as her father. Her father decides to give her a chance and gives her responsibility for an elephant calf. Chandani is a girl in a male profession. Everyone doubts her abilities. The ranger Mohammed becomes her only supporter and shows her the world of elephants in the jungle. Here they save an elephant baby from its death. Strengthened by this, she makes progress in the work with her little elephant Kandula. But when Kandula is taken away from her, also her path changes.
July, 1944. As WWII raged on, a group of conspirators, led by Claus von Stauffenberg, plotted to assassinate Hitler and end his reign of terror. Using rare color footage, painstakingly recreated dramatizations, detailed CG reconstructions and exclusive interviews with leading historians, this thrilling documentary presents the definitive record of what happened before, during and after these pivotal events.
A show commemorating the 30th anniversary of the former Beatle's death. His contemporaries and current commentators reflect on the role of John Lennon, the artist and radical thinker.