Founding father of Anthropology, Bronislaw Malinowski's work raises powerful and disturbing questions today. This is a look at his legacy and the imprints it has made on the generations that followed.
Latin boogaloo is New York City. It is a product of the melting pot, a colorful expression of 1960s Latino soul, straight from the streets of El Barrio, the South Bronx and Brooklyn. Starring Latin boogaloo legends like Joe Bataan, Johnny Colon and Pete Rodriguez, We Like It Like That explores this lesser-known, but pivotal moment in Latin music history, through original interviews, music recordings, live performances, dancing and rare archival footage and images. From its origins to its recent resurgence in popularity, We Like It Like That tells the story of a sound that redefined a generation and was too funky to keep down.
Red Dot on the Ocean is the story of Matt Rutherford, a severely troubled youth, who became a sailing legend. Departing Annapolis, MD in a scrappy old 27-foot fiberglass sloop without fanfare, 30-year-old Rutherford braved the icebergs of the arctic and mountainous waves of Cape Horn to become the only person to ever sail single-handed, non-stop around the Americas; a 27,000 mile journey many professional sailors declared "a suicide mission."
Through interviews, archival footage, photos and classic tunes, learn about the remarkable career and troubled life of legendary jazz cornetist Bix Beiderbecke, who influenced countless musicians before alcoholism lead to his premature death. Close friends and associates such as Hoagy Carmichael, Charlie David and Louis Armstrong share their memories of Bix's abilities, playing style and personality.
Media artists and social activists Jodi Darby, Julie Perini, and Erin Yanke’s film speaks to the history of police violence in our society, providing a framework for understanding the systems of social control in Portland and its history of exclusion laws, racial profiling, redlining, and gentrification practices. Through conversations with community leaders that include Walidah Imarisha, author of the “Oregon Black History Timeline,” JoAnn Hardesty, and Rev. LeRoy Haynes of the Albina Ministerial Alliance Coalition for Justice & Police Reform, Dan Handelman of Portland Copwatch, and Kent Ford, founder of the Portland Chapter of the Black Panther Party, the filmmakers explore alternatives to current policing practices and consider strategies for community safety that do not employ constant surveillance and unneeded violence.
Derek and Giorgia, a young couple of biologists, settles in the hostile Tierra del Fuego to study and combat the devastating beaver plague that destructs the area. This violent mission is a unique scenario for their love story.
Can a mission to save a mob of brumbies in an inaccessible wilderness bring fiercely independent horseman and feral control National Parks Ranger to see the world through each other's eyes?
Miss Hill: Making Dance Matter tells the inspiring and largely unknown story of a woman whose life was defined by her love for dance. Martha Hill emerges as dance's secret weapon, someone who fought against great odds to establish dance as a legitimate art form in America. Through archival footage, lively interviews with friends and intimates, and rare footage of the spirited subject, the film explores Hills's arduous path from a Bible Belt childhood in Ohio to the halls of academe at NYU and Bennington College to a position of power and influence as Juilliard's founding director of dance (1952-1985). Peppered with anecdotal material delivered by dance notables who knew her, this revelatory story depicts her struggles and successes, including the battle royal that accompanied her move to the Lincoln Center campus.
Civil rights attorney Thurgood Marshall's triumph in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision to desegregate America's public schools completed the final leg of a journey of over 20 years laying the groundwork to end legal segregation. He won more Supreme Court cases than any lawyer in American history, making the work of civil rights pioneers like the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks possible.
To Olmsted, a park was both a work of art and a necessity for urban life. Olmsted’s efforts to preserve nature created an “environmental ethic” decades before the environmental movement became a force in American politics. With gorgeous cinematography, and compelling commentary this film presents the biography of a man whose parks and preservation are an essential part of American life.
D-Day: American medics Robert Wright and Kenneth Moore from the 101st Airborne (Screaming Eagles) set up an aid station inside a small 12th-Century church in Normandy, France. Over 36 hours, Wright and Moore help anyone brought into the church, even German soldiers. Seven decades later, the blood of the injured remains on the pews as a reminder of the compassion, courage and humanity shown there.
Does sentencing a teenager to life without parole serve our society well? The United States is the only country in the world that routinely condemns children to die in prison. This is the story of one of those children, now a young man, seeking a second chance in Florida. At age 15, Kenneth Young received four consecutive life sentences for a series of armed robberies. Imprisoned for more than a decade, he believed he would die behind bars. Now a U.S. Supreme Court decision could set him free. 15 to Life: Kenneth's Story follows Young's struggle for redemption, revealing a justice system with thousands of young people serving sentences intended for society's most dangerous criminals.
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.
The first major documentary film on James Thurber's life and work includes a look at the humorist's accomplishments as a journalist, playwright, cartoonist and social critic.
Dwarves Kingdom is a documentary film about a theme park featuring performances by little people with dwarfism who live in a fantasy recreation of a magical empire. Built by a wealthy Chinese businessman, this other-worldly kingdom, officially called World Ecological Garden of Butterfly and Little People Kingdom, is located in the mountains surrounding the city of Kunming in Western China.