In the first decades of the 20th century, when life was being transformed by scientific innovations, researchers made a thrilling new claim: they could tell whether someone was lying by using a machine. Popularly known as the “lie detector,” the device transformed police work, seized headlines and was extolled in movies, TV and comics as an infallible crime-fighting tool. Husbands and wives tested each other’s fidelity. Corporations routinely tested employees’ honesty and government workers were tested for loyalty and “morals.” But the promise of the polygraph turned dark, and the lie detector too often became an apparatus of fear and intimidation. Written and directed by Rob Rapley and executive produced by Cameo George, The Lie Detector is a tale of good intentions, twisted morals and unintended consequences.
With the passing of his estranged father, Russell inherits the only asset to his name: a bar. As relationships form and Rusty finds himself right at home, he'll soon learn that his inheritance holds a dark secret.
Despite Blacks making up only 7% of Madison WI's population, they are leading in so many important areas from education to politics, and are launching so many multi-million dollar projects that people describe this period as a "Black Renaissance."
Explore the 500-year history of the city of San Juan, from the move from Caparra to the different invasions during these centuries. It also looks at how different situations and people were key to what is now the capital of Puerto Rico. This documentary presents, through the recreation of key situations, archival material, and accounts of historians and researchers, decisive moments that influenced what is now the capital.
September 2022 marked the 50th anniversary of the Summit Series, the iconic hockey tournament that pitted the best players from Canada against the best from the Soviet Union. This documentary enlarges the canvas to tell the story from the unique perspectives of a diverse group who are rarely, if ever, heard: diplomats, NHL hockey legends, Soviet players, journalists, fans, broadcasters, business leaders and Team Canada’s Chairman – all reveal untold stories about what happened before, during, and after September ‘72.
In the mountains of Madrid, Spain, a railway track on an abandoned bridge and a poem erased from the wall of a ruined building reveal a deliberately silenced story: the system established by Franco's dictatorship after the civil war (1936-39) that allowed hundreds of companies to use thousands of convicted Republicans as slave labor.
1757
Three years into the French and Indian War, Fort William Henry was under siege. The French army, along with 1,800 Indian allies, bombarded the fort over six long days. The British subjects in the fort held out for as long as they could…and would ultimately suffer a fate worse than surrender. Using historic journals from men on both sides of the conflict, this documentary recounts the events. Through filmed reenactments and animations, the story of the siege and surrounding events come to life.
A modern and fast-paced cinematic documentary that aims to trace, understand and demonstrate the historical and unwavering links between the United States, Bordeaux and its wines. An investigation like no other, Eastbound Westbound lets the viewer understand how this Franco-American friendship around Bordeaux wines had its starting point in the 18th century around the greatest connoisseur of fine wines and lover of Bordeaux, the American Thomas Jefferson, US Ambassador to Paris and third President of the United States. To better demonstrate Thomas Jefferson’s legacy, this intimate relationship between the two winegrowing continents is illustrated through interlinked portraits of wine families, from many and varied backgrounds but all sharing a real passion for wine. Leading players in their field, they produce some of the best wines in the world.
Explore the 1928 collapse of the St. Francis Dam, the second deadliest disaster in California history. A colossal engineering and human failure, the dam was built by William Mulholland, a self-taught engineer who ensured the growth of Los Angeles by bringing the city water via aqueduct. The catastrophe killed more than 400 people and destroyed millions of dollars of property.
Elmore Leonard, author of more than 40 novels, is renowned in the literary community. From his westerns and early novels of crime based in Detroit and South Florida, right through his complex and virtually plotless later work, Elmore Leonard dissected an America whose founding sins have continued to haunt it all the days. Leonard’s depiction of America is as real as Twain’s Hannibal, Faulkner’s Mississippi and Steinbeck’s Monterey. The new documentary ELMORE LEONARD: “But don’t try to write” explores the prolific author’s legacy and his influence on generations of writers. The documentary features exclusive images and previously unseen home movie footage, family photographs, and in-depth interviews with both literary experts and those who knew him well, including colleagues, family, and childhood friends.
China, the “Middle Kingdom,” has long been thought to have developed independently from the West. Mighty mountains and the inhospitable Taklamakan formed insurmountable barriers. But the belief in China’s isolation has been challenged by surprising discoveries. Mummies from the Bronze Age are turning this assumption upside down and recasting the cultural relationship between east and west.
The history books say that the first European to make contact with Native Americans was Christopher Columbus. New evidence tells a different story, that another civilization arrived in the New World centuries earlier. They were the Norse, a seafaring people who originated in the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. They bore the name Viking, an "Old Norse" term for a pirate raid.
Elton John's career has spanned decades, but his legacy is more than just his music. Reginald Dwight's early debut was in the band Bluesology - there he would meet lyricist Bernie Taupin whom he would go on to write over 30 albums with. After parting ways with the band and his birth name, the Rocketman was born.
In the 1960s the cattle mutilation phenomenon became a widespread concern across the American west. Cases erupted around states like Wyoming, South Dakota and Colorado of livestock being preyed upon in ways that puzzled even established scientists. Today, cattle mutilations are thought to go hand in hand with mysterious objects in the skies (commonly referred to as UFOs or UAPs) and that’s what first brought indie documentary crew Small Town Monsters and investigator Shannon LeGro to the Miller Ranch in southern Colorado.
Maidan Massacre is an investigative documentary into the shootings which occurred on February 20th, 2014, when nearly 50 people were gunned down on the streets of Kyiv's Independence square. The massacre was the result of a massive three month long protest against the former Government of Viktor Yanukovich and his decision to reject a trade deal with the EU. Although no thorough investigation had been conducted, the blame was immediately placed on the officers who served under Yanukovich. This program investigates the scene of the crime, interviewing those who were there when the shootings occurred, and seeks to answer the questions as to who really was shooting that day on Kyiv's Independence square - a place known to the people of Ukraine, as Maidan.—John Beck Hofmann