A Hollywood casting director leaves her lucrative career behind in order to teach filmmaking to youth in an impoverished community in South Africa. In an environment resistant towards art and film, the students learn the true power and impact of storytelling.
Todd “Speech” Thomas, a member of the iconic hip-hop group Arrested Development, spends 10 days working as part of a unique rehabilitation program in Richmond, VA, working to allow prisoners to write and record their own songs.
Mauro ffortissimo, an artist and musician, drags an old grand piano onto the bluffs near his home by the sea. The county tells him to stop, and so he burns it. Twelve Pianos is the story of art and culture struggling to survive in a modern world.
"City of Joel" is documentary - with unprecedented access - to a 1.1 square mile shtetl in the suburbs that is home to 22,000 members of an one of the most insular and orthodox Hasidic sects. We follow the battles they are waging to survive. Just 50 miles north of New York City, the Satmar sect has built Kiryas Joel as a religious haven where they can be fruitful, multiply and follow the 613 rules of the Talmud. But with some of the highest rates of marriage, birth and religious observance in the country, they have been almost too successful. Developers have come up with a plan to double the size of the village to keep up with this growth, but their neighbors fight back because they believe it will harm the environment and tilt the balance of political power.
VIF is a one-of-a-kind cinematic documentary, taking us through the introspective life journey of fashion designer Christian Audigier. He created the brand 'Ed Hardy', based on the designs of famous American tattoo artist Don Ed Hardy. After being diagnosed with MDS, an aggressive type of blood cancer, Christian is forced to accept what lies ahead of him.
50 billion dollars worth of food is wasted each year, half of all the food produced on Earth thrown away while millions die hungry. Consumerism is killing the earth slowly as we succumb to a conspiracy created to maintain power within the ruling elite.
For the past 35 years, Jeff Voth has led his sons and other groups of men on an annual backpacking trip into the Colorado Rocky Mountains. This trip has become a legendary, masculine benchmark. Learning life-skills, trout fishing, extreme physical fatigue and the sharing of deep heart-felt secrets in sometimes beautiful, sometimes terrifying alpine backdrop has etched this event indelibly into these men's lives. They would each tell you that they have been forever changed... that have been forged into a deeper and healthier masculine place... that they have become better men because of the trip.
In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, two national motorcycle festivals are held over the weeks around the Memorial Day Holiday. One festival is primarily white, the other is predominantly black. While bikers of both colors enjoy both festivals; the city, community and state view these two festivals vastly different creating a divide among the participants, business owners and residents. Against the backdrop of the historical relevance of the area's segregated past, this documentary explores the opposing viewpoints on segregation and integration, mutual love of motorcycle culture, and racial tensions that reach a boiling point every spring in this southern beach mecca.
Greetings from Tromaville follows the history of Lloyd Kaufman and Troma Entertainment. Lloyd, along with his partner Michael Herz, founded Troma in 1974. Troma is an independent film company that has produced edgy, bold, humorous, and sometimes "over the top" films for more than 40 years.
In 1965, Robert Kennedy was the first man to summit Mount Kennedy in the Yukon Territory, named in honor of his late brother. Leading that expedition was Jim Whitaker, the first American to summit Everest and original fulltime employee of REI. 50 years later, Jim’s sons Bob and Leif, along with Christopher Kennedy, decide to climb the mountain again in honor of their fathers’ joint accomplishment and unique friendship. Seattle-based filmmaker Eric Becker’s touching documentary combines archival footage—including several Kennedy home movies—with interviews from Jim himself and those who them best as we follow three sons and the journey literally in their fathers’ footsteps. Eddie Vedder, a personal friend of Bob’s, writes original music for film that tailor shots of the expansive mountain ranges together in this wholesome story.
The documentary captures Cassidy’s rising celebrity as a pop idol throughout the 1970s to his final months as he struggled with what was believed to be onset dementia. The film also follows Cassidy into the studio where he works to record one final album dedicated to his late entertainer father, Jack Cassidy.
Kerry, Kathleen and Robert Kennedy, Jr. share personal recollections of their father on the 50th anniversary of his death. Robert F. Kennedy's battles over civil rights, poverty, and the war in Vietnam are explored, as are his personal struggles after the death of his brother.
A look beyond the headlines into the heart of our country to ask the question, is America safe? Follow former FBI Special Agent Dennis Franks as he tracks down enemy “sleepers” who have been strategically placed throughout America, and builds a case to expose them.
An ultra-Orthodox Jew, a couch surfing custodian, and a personal injury lawyer - risk everything to find their voices on the cutthroat New York comedy scene.
Fabrizio Copano set out on a journey from his hometown in Chile and became the youngest comedian ever to conquer the "Monstruo" and win the Grand Prize at the Viña del Mar Festival.
Parents, educators, students and college admissions professionals all intimately understand the financial, emotional and intellectual burden of the SAT/ACT—tests that are not only an integral part of the college admissions process for most American students, but also can be a rite of passage for teenagers in the United States. Even as adults, few of us forget our score, or how we felt about what it took to earn it. The Test & the Art of Thinking traces the history and evolution of the SAT/ACT as a major player on the pathway to higher education in America, and it documents its current power in our culture. In so doing, it strives to support individuals who are embarking on the road to college, by examining what the SAT/ACT measures and means, and asking a range of educational leaders, admissions professionals and stakeholders in the test—from tutors to parents to test designers—to grapple with the test’s use, ramifications and future.
TAKE LIGHT is a look at the tangled wires of Nigeria's electricity crisis, told through the everyday trials and tribulations of a charismatic electrician.
In Sydney, Australia, Jason King, a security guard and a part-time ghost hunter, has spent decades searching for his absent father. When this personal endeavor crosses paths with a police investigation, an unspeakable family secret comes to light.
Explores the history and mystery of Migraine, and its remarkable place in the human condition. Migraine is a devastating but fascinating neurological condition with a compelling story to tell. Alice in Wonderland, Thomas Jefferson, Sigmund Freud, and Joan Didion all figure into its colorful history.