Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir broke records and barriers on her way to become the first Division I athlete to play basketball while wearing hijab. When a controversial ruling ends her chances at playing professionally, she re-examines her faith and identity as a Muslim American.
In a fading Georgia town, a community recalls its dark past and faces a grim present. An undocumented immigrant, caught in legal limbo and facing deportation, contemplates his future. In the midst of it all, a massive, private immigration prison generates millions in profits. Where these stories meet, the hidden epicenter of America's immigration crackdown is revealed-a place called Lumpkin, GA.
The murder of French au-pair Sophie Lionnet by her employers made headlines all over the world. From the horrible circumstances of her death, to the obsession of her killer with a pop-star ex-boyfriend and their crazy delusions of celebrity paedophile rings, it was a case that seemed too unbelievable to be true.
1.5 Stay Alive is part music video and part factual. In it, popular Caribbean musicians express their experiences with hurricanes, tropical storms and rising seas by composing and performing songs about climate change. Intertwined are insights by experts about effects of a 1.5 degree temperature increase . The film visits Belize, Costa Rica, Trinidad Tobago, Haiti, Honduras, Miami and Louisiana
The greatest athletes in the world today are neither the Olympic champions nor the stars of professional sports, but the "Marathon Monks" of Japan's sacred Mount Hiei. Over a seven year training period, these "running Buddha" figuratively circle the globe on foot. During one incredible 100-day stretch, they cover 52.5 miles daily - twice the length of an Olympic marathon. The prize they seek is not a pot of gold, but enlightenment in the here and now. This documentary program is about one of these amazing men - Tanno Kakudo and the magic mountain where he trains. It is the philosophy of Tendai Buddhism, which inspires him in his quest for the supreme. The viewer will learn about the monk's death-defying fast, his vegetarian training diet, his handmade straw running shoes, and other feats of endurance such as the mummifying fire ceremony. Based on the book "Marathon Monks of Mount Hiei" by John Stevens, published by Shambala Press.
This personal documentary reveals the complexities of a single woman living in a beauty-obsessed world with her original yet imperfect nose. It's a tale that anyone who has ever obsessed over their own "imperfection" will easily relate to MY NOSE explores filmmaker Gayle Kirschenbaum's mother's preoccupation with her nose, the intricacies of the mother/daughter relationship, and asks what drives people into the plastic surgeon's office. Will she live happily ever after with the nose I was born with? Will she end up having a nose job? And how will her decision affect their relationship? Official Selection at dozens of festivals including the Miami Jewish Film Festival and the UK Jewish Film Festival.
A stately film about the history of St Paul’s Cathedral in London, with a focus on the architecture and individuals buried there, and the impact of the Blitz.
"No Room in Paradise" is an intimate and raw look at the struggles Hawaii's homeless face -- and the solutions needed to address the crisis. Hawaii has the highest per capita homeless population in the nation, and more than half of Hawaii's homeless are unsheltered. Filmmakers Anthony Aalto and Mike Hinchey of Green Island Films say it's no secret what's driving Hawaii's growing homeless population: A lack of affordable housing and services. The question they set out to answer is why more affordable housing isn't being made available.
Four Feet Up is an intimate portrayal of child poverty in Canada by award-winning photographer and documentary filmmaker Nance Ackerman. Twenty years after the promise of the House of Commons 'to eliminate poverty among Canadian children,' 8-year-old Isaiah contemplates what 'less fortunate' means as he finds his voice through his own magical drawings and photographs. Four Feet Up invites us into the lives of this determined family, revealing an intimate and touching experience of child poverty in one of the world's richest nations.
This extraordinary film interweaves the stories of three close lesbian friends: Joyce Fulton, who died over the course of two years from a brain tumor; Mary Bell Wilson, who, with indefatigable courage, faces up to her own losing battle with lymphoma; and Nan Golub, a black-leather-jacketed, platinum-dyed New York city artist, very much alive. Liberty demystifies death, dispels misinformation about age and sexual orientation and reminds us that life is worth living, even worth celebrating.
At 70 years old, Martin "Coach Jake" Jacobson is the most winning high school coach in New York City history. Both on the soccer field and off, this season may be his toughest yet. With a rapidly advancing liver disease and age taking its toll, his legacy as a winner is on the line as the clock on his life and career begin to wind down. A documentary by Ian Phillips.
A video essay set in the Mexican-U.S. border town of Ciudad Juarez, where U.S. multinational corporations assemble electronic and digital equipment just across from El Paso, Texas. This imaginative, experimental work investigates the growing feminization of the global economy and its impact on Mexican women living and working in the area. Looking at the border as both a discursive and material space, the video explores the sexualization of the border region through labor division, prostitution, the expression of female desires in the entertainment industry, and sexual violence in the public sphere.
Belarus, Winter 2015. The omnipotent president Loukachenko is starting his campaign looking for a 5th mandate. As Kostia celebrates his18th birthday and gets ready to vote for the first time, he takes us around in his village and among his relatives as they all try to understand and conceive their country and their future.
In the Southern Andes, a living being survives since 200 million years: the "Araucaria Araucana" with its incredible history, little known and forever linked to an Amerindian people of Chile: Pehuenches. This isolated community survived during centuries thanks to the Araucarias. A perfect harmony between man and nature, forever upset by the invasion of the Spanish colonists, the conflicts of territories and the increase of logging. Protected today, this sacred forests are the refuge of a unique and wild nature; but fires threaten this balance. What remain of these people and the link with this tree? What can they teach us about our environmental problems?