Life is certainly stranger than fiction. Even if he’d tried, filmmaker Sheldon Cohen couldn’t have made up the events that led to his being rushed to an Emergency room one sunny summer afternoon. This is the true story of “a nice Jewish boy with Buddhist inclinations” who should have been the last person in the world to need cardiac surgery.
To the Land of Bliss is an intimate portrayal of the Chinese Pure Land Buddhist way of dying and living. In 1998, the filmmaker/anthropologist Wen-jie Qin returned to her home region in Sichuan Province in southwest China to research the post-Mao revival of Buddhism. During her fieldwork on the sacred mountain Emei, an eminent monk named Jue Chang passed away. People in the community laughed and cried at the departure of their beloved teacher. They gathered to escort his body through a rite of fire and to observe his consciousness rise to a paradise known as the Land of Bliss of Amita Buddha. The filmmaker captured some of the wonders and mystery from her search with these Chinese Pure Land Buddhists for the door to Amita Buddha, the Buddha of Infinite Light and Infinite Life.
At a moment in time, when humanity is obsessed with food - photographing every dish, worshipping cooks and flaunting trophy meals on social media, this documentary goes under the surface and offers an in-depth, honest and relevant view into the world and every day of Michelin chefs and restaurants. Telling tales from a grand menu of culinary temples as well as digging into the greatness and flaws of Guide Michelin in this golden age of gastronomy. Because we share a great love for the industry that also includes a realistic understanding of things behind the picturesque scenes of the--perhaps--greatest, most creative and dynamic industry in the world.
What might be revealed in the process of inviting strangers to act out and respond to 1970s feminism forty years later? Between 2015 and 2017, hundreds of strangers in communities all over the US were invited to read aloud and respond to letters from the 70s sent to the editor of Ms. Magazine–the first mainstream feminist magazine in the US. The intimate, provocative, and sometimes heartbreaking conversations that emerge from these spontaneous performances make us think critically about the past, present, and future of feminism.
A documentary that looks at the problems for young modern Israelis returning to the Germanic countries of central Europe, and in particular how this impacts upon older generations of their families, who had to leave countries like Austria and Germany.
On a Knife Edge is a father-son story about Guy and George Dull Knife that unfolds over the course of George’s coming-of-age journey. Under his father’s guidance, George becomes an activist and organizer, and begins identifying with the role of traditional Lakota warrior, which he views as his family legacy. He commits himself to the fight for social justice, but struggles with adapting the old ways and his father’s expectations to the modern-day realities of growing up on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Told largely through George’s eyes, the film offers a privileged glimpse into the youngest generation of the American Indian Movement, as well as George’s own evolving notions of Native identity, manhood, and duty. His story is interwoven with animated sequences that depict five generations of family history, narrated by his father and based on paintings he has created to explore the continuum of their fight through the generations.
In Aparecida, 50 Km from o’Porto, the atmosphere surrounding this years preparation of the yearly festivities is tense: the new priest aims to discouraje the "Promise payers" from doing it having themselves carried in open coffins through the village untill th chappel of the Appeared Lady.
Superstition against Theological Argument, fidelity to the vows or reinterpretation… The conflict becomes unavoidable. It’s the local identity and its inhabitants identity that’s in stake.
If this type of processions were common in the last century on the north of the Iberian Peninsula, this one, will probably be the last in Portugal.
At the village of Senhora Aparecida the festivities of August are set.
The main wooden bier that will carry the Saint may be 15 metres high. It is now being assembled and decorated.
Those who escaped death now celebrate life.
The Lady redistributes the power she's been given.
Alzheimer's: Every Minute Counts is an urgent wake-up call about the national threat posed by Alzheimer's disease. Many know the unique tragedy of this disease, but few know that Alzheimer's is one of the most critical public health crises facing America. Because of the growing number of aging baby boomers, and the fact that the onset of Alzheimer's is primarily age-related, the number of Alzheimer's case is predicted to skyrocket in the United States. This will not only be a profound human tragedy, but an overwhelming economic one as well. Due to the length of time people live with the illness and need care, it's the most expensive medical condition in the U.S. Future costs for Alzheimer's threaten to bankrupt Medicare, Medicaid, and the life savings of millions of Americans.
MARY JANES: THE WOMEN OF WEED follows female 'ganjapreneurs', who we call Puffragettes (as in Pot + Suffragette), as they navigate the highs and lows of the legal US cannabis industry.
The hopes, fears, and aspirations of adolescence are expressed in the close friendship of two Afghan boys. As their acceptance of the filmmakers leads them to express their feelings more and more openly, the film grows rich in fact and themes of universal concern. Filmed in the Balkh Province, an area inhabited by Tajik and other Central Asian peoples. The town of Aq Kupruk is approximately 320 miles northwest of Kabul.
The film explores what transformations in power and politics do to art, how much opportunism can be found in “pure” art and whether fascist symbols can ever regain their aesthetic innocence. The questions it addresses about the relationship between ethics and aesthetics make a valuable contribution to any discussion about art and power.
“Microbirth” is a 60 minute documentary looking at the latest scientific research about the microscopic events happening during childbirth.
“Microbirth” reveals the latest scientific thinking on how best to “seed” a baby’s microbiome in order to build the strongest possible immune system. This cutting-edge science has the potential to not only improve the health of our children across a lifetime, but also across generations still to come.
Seventy years after his controversial murder trial and subsequent disappearance, an Australian Aboriginal's descendants seek to restore what was denied him: his honor.
In the ’70s and ’80s, photographer William Yang captured Sydney’s emerging artistic, literary, theatrical and queer circles; as well as his friendships with artists, writers and fashion designers such as Brett Whiteley, Patrick White, Linda Jackson and Jenny Kee. With myriad images and his trademark candid narration, Yang leads us though this beguilingly decadent and creative era.
Creating a Monster is about reality television and sub-textually confronts a bigger ethical question about the psychological impact on the contestants; is the fault placed on reality television producers or the audience who consume it?
On LA’s Skid Row, a criminal court judge organizes a running club comprised of homeless, recovering and paroled men and women who seek to rediscover their sense of self-worth and dignity.
In Drew Xanthopoulos’ intimate and cinematic documentary, we meet Joe, a patriarch whose affliction is so all-encompassing that he’s indifferent to his long-suffering wife; and twin brothers Sam and Nathan, musicians who are no longer able to breathe outside of their real-life sterile “plastic bubble,” and whose mother, Karen, developed her illness when she was only 17. These characters all suffer from debilitating sensitivities to their environment. Whether from ambient chemicals, genetics, electricity, or even psychogenic reasons, the cause is not clear, but the reality of the effects on these individuals is undeniable. Fortunately, Susie Molloy, a quiet firebrand who is chemically sensitive herself, seeks to help. In her, those afflicted by this modern malady have found an advocate whose mission is to de-stigmatize this community, and in telling their stories, Xanthopoulos has crafted a film itself as deeply sensitive as its title suggests. Cara Cusumano
Just One Drop takes a no-holds-barred look at the most controversial form of medicine ever invented. Homeopathy treats the entire person, not just the disease. It’s a specific form of medicine that uses minute doses of a highly diluted substance that stimulates the body to cure itself. It is these tiny doses that causes the most controversy. Researchers believe there is a release of energy in water that becomes mysteriously dynamic. Others think it’s purely psychological or worse, a form of deception or quackery. Yet millions claim homeopathy cures even though there is not yet a satisfying scientific explanation. It remains a mystery.