As a visual narrative it is reminiscent of a pile of postcards from a journey, which indeed is what the film is. It consists of a series of lengthy shots of a tableau nature, each appearing to be a more or less random cross section of American reality, but which in total invoke a highly emblematic picture of the USA.
Wind power... It's green... It's good... It reduces our dependency on foreign oil... That's what the people of Meredith, in upstate New York first thought when a wind developer looked to supplement this farm town's failing economy with a farm of their own — that of 40 industrial wind turbines. Attracted at first to the financial incentives, residents grow increasingly alarmed as they discover side effects they never dreamed of, as well as the potential for disturbing financial scams. With wind development growing rapidly at 39% annually in the US, WINDFALL is an eye-opener for anyone concerned about the future of renewable energy.
Documentary about the current hustler scene in Berlin. Based on interviews with former and active prostitutes, the realities of male prostitutes in Berlin are treated. The film is objective, and records the hustler scene as a social Submilieu, which is characterized by both tragic fates, as well as everyday things and routines. Not only the direct sale of sexual services is discussed, but also other aspects associated with male prostitution: poverty, drug addiction, AIDS, crime, migration, love and partnership.
Explores the incredibly complex backstory of Ted Kaczynski, the infamous Unabomber. This exquisitely crafted inquiry into the rationale of this mythic figure situates him within a late 20th century web of technology—a system that he grew to oppose. A marvelously subversive approach to the history of the Internet, this insightful documentary combines speculative travelogue and investigative journalism to trace contrasting countercultural responses to the cybernetic revolution.
The Khmer Rouge slaughtered nearly two million people in the late 1970s. Yet the Killing Fields of Cambodia remain unexplained. Until now. Enter Thet Sambath, an unassuming, yet cunning, investigative journalist who spends a decade of his life gaining the trust of the men and women who perpetrated the massacres. From the foot soldiers who slit throats to Pol Pot's right-hand man, the notorious Brother Number Two, Sambath records shocking testimony never before seen or heard. Having neglected his own family for years, Sambath's work comes at a price. But his is a personal mission. He lost his parents and his siblings in the Killing Fields. Amidst his journey to discover why his family died, we come to understand for the first time the real story of Cambodia's tragedy.
A journey that takes the viewers across the icy mid-winter snows of Alaska to meet her school friends, family, and Republican colleagues, to try and discover the real Sarah Palin.
Although Wikipedia is the 8th most popular website on the Internet today, and it is already the 3rd most widely read 'publication' in human history, attracting 100 million unique visitors a month, this great social and academic experiment of our age is riddled with vandals and challenged by skeptics, posing compelling questions about whether Wikipedia's model can truly achieve its goal. The film intersperses founder Jimmy Wales' unusual rise to Internet super-stardom among the global implications of Wikipedia. Are entries factually accurate? Biased? Accountable? Does 'Jimbo' Wales posses the wisdom to ensure that Wikipedians aggregate knowledge correctly?
In August 1970, 600,000 fans flocked to the Isle of Wight to witness the third and final festival to be held on the island. Besides the music, they also got a look at the greed, cynicism and corruption that would plague the music industry for years to come. They also witnessed the final, drugged out performance of Jimi Hendrix in England just two weeks before he would meet a tragic death. When it all was over, the fans view of rock and roll was never the same.
At 165 pounds, and allegedly made from the skins of 160 donkeys, the Codex Gigas is the world's largest and most mysterious medieval manuscript. Filled with satanic images and demonic spells, according to legend, the cursed text sprang from a doomed monk's pact with the Devil. Now, Nat Geo follows a team of scientists as they embark on an unprecedented quest to unravel the secrets behind the book's darkened pages. Using ultra-violet fluorescence imaging, handwriting analysis and a re-creation of the text, forensic document experts attempt to uncover the cryptic truth behind this ancient Devil's Bible.
A personal exploration into the life of America's controversial former CIA Director told through the eyes of his wife and filmmaker son, Carl. Through extraordinary events in twentieth century history, this consummate soldier/spy stood at the center of the Agency's most clandestine activities and operations. The film reveals the 'cover life' of this CIA operative, who followed orders and took on the dirtiest assignments until the Nixon Administration ordered him to 'stonewall' Congress about the CIA's past abuses, but he refused. This film reveals why, for the first time, he could not obey.
When Idaho Legislator Curtis Bowers wrote a "letter to the editor" about the drastic changes in America's culture, it became the feature story on the evening news, people protested at the Capitol, and for weeks the local newspapers were filled with responses. He realized then... he'd hit on something. Ask almost anyone and you'll hear, "Communism is dead! The Berlin Wall came down." Thought the word communism isn't used anymore, this film will show the ideas behind it are alive and well. Join Bowers for a fascinating look at the people and groups that have successfully targeted America's morality and freedom in their effort to grind America down. It's a well documented AGENDA.
A documentary of Steve-O’s downward spiral to when he ultimately hits rock bottom and is saved by the intervention of friends and his own will to do whatever it takes to get – and stay – sober.
Téléphone is a great success story in French rock: 300,000 albums sold in 1979. The group was born on December 16, 1976, at a surprise concert at the American Center in Paris. Four instrumentalists, four self-taught, four musicians untroubled by the successive waves of fashions from across the Atlantic and the Channel: Jean-Louis Aubert, singer and songwriter; Louis Bertignac, guitarist; Richard Kolinka, drummer; Corinne Marienneau, bassist. From titles: “Métro c'est trop”, “La bombe humaine”, “Crache ton venin”... Portraits and interviews, trances and crowd-pleasers at the Palais des Sports and the Fete de l'Humanité, a look behind the scenes. Jean-Marie Périer, with seven cameras in hand, now captures the phenomenon in a feature-length film. Camera movements, editing on a giant triple screen and Dolby Stereo sound all serve to highlight the quartet's harmony and vitality.
A chronicle of the eight shows held by the British singer David Bowie at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, Australia, in November 1987, during the Glass Spider Tour, in promotion of his album Never Let Me Down.
In the 1970s, "festivals" were incredibly popular in Brazil, as they were recorded before a live studio audience, and usually featured a number of elimination rounds. They also formed the springboard for the career of many a big-name stars, such as Chico Buarque, Caetano Veloso, Roberto Carlos and Gilberto Gil. Appearing on such a program was no cakewalk, however: audiences could be as wild in their condemnation as in their appreciation of an artist. Extensive archive footage (including performances and behind-the-scenes interviews) from the turbulent final evening of the Festival of Brazilian Popular Music 1967 paints a fascinating picture, not only of the transformation of Brazilian music into real "festival" music, but also of a society starting to buck against the yoke of military rule.
The film Morning Sun attempts in the space of a two-hour documentary film to create an inner history of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (c.1964-1976). It provides a multi-perspective view of a tumultuous period as seen through the eyes—and reflected in the hearts and minds—of members of the high-school generation that was born around the time of the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, and that came of age in the 1960s. Others join them in creating in the film’s conversation about the period and the psycho-emotional topography of high-Maoist China, as well as the enduring legacy of that period.