The film documents the Hard Working Americans' (Todd Snider, Dave Schools, Neal Casal, Duane Trucks, Chad Staehly, Jesse Aycock) beginnings... behind the scenes in the studio as the band collaborates on their self-titled debut album and on the road following the band close-up throughout their national tour
'HeartChild' is a documentary film about the 28 year Crys Worley, who is the mother of a nine year old autistic child, Sasha. It is a remarkable story about a mother's struggles, not only with her own health, but the well being of her son. Committing to Sasha that she will never give up on him and inspired by the challenges parents of autistic children face, she started a non-profit organization, called A.Skate - Autism. Skating with Kids through Acceptance, Therapy, and Education. This film documents her extraordinary story.
'Forced Perspective' is an intimate portrait of iconic Cleveland artist Derek Hess by filmmaker Nick Cavalier. The film is a journey through Derek's struggle with alcoholism and bipolar and how these demons effect the artwork, presenting a voyeur into Derek's personal life, revealing his process and philosophy. This film showcases the evolution of a celebrated artist, his effect on music and culture while highlighting the link between creativity and mental illness.
Film producer Gene Gutowski (Repulsion, Cul-de-Sac, The Pianist) was fourteen years old when first the Soviets then the Nazis invaded his hometown of Lwow, Poland. With a combination of chutzpah, street smarts and an unflinching will to live, he spent the war flirting with danger as a teenage Jew hiding in plain site. Witnessing first-hand the unspeakable horrors of the Nazi occupation, frequently cheating death himself and losing his entire family in the process, Gutowski's story is ultimately one of hope. As recounted with humor and pathos to his son, filmmaker Adam Bardach, his remarkable survival tale represents a thumb of the nose at darkness and totalitarianism.
Carpe Diem: A Fish Tale looks at an ecologic bombshell, just waiting to explode. Asian Carp are on the door step of the Great Lakes. The only thing holding them back is an electric barrier just south of Chicago. Scientists are working hard to develop new technologies to keep them out. Down south, where all hope is lost, they are going medieval on this slimy foe. Can they be stopped?
When the eccentric cast of a mid-90s Public Access show in Detroit reunite after 20 years to make a new episode, they are forced to take a hard look at their lives and reconcile their teenage dreams with the realities of adulthood.
On New York's rapidly gentrifying Lower East Side sits the Streit's Matzo factory. When its doors opened in 1925, it sat at the heart of the nation's largest Jewish immigrant community.
This film is a journey inside the tradition of bespoke tailoring in the city of Naples. It's a story that wants to celebrates the people and their craft. There are some key words to this documentary: excellence, dignity, beauty, work, elegance, passion. Shots of Naples for connoisseurs.
A Second Chance is the story of Janelle Morrison, a professional long distance triathlete who suffered a near-fatal car crash, and her battle to race again. Nearly every major bone in Janelle's body was broken and her organs pushed into her chest, forcing doctors to place her in a medically induced coma. As Morrison slept, doctors worked hard to reassemble her broken body, questioning whether she would ever walk again. Janelle's recovery was nothing short of miraculous, astonishing doctors every step of the way.
Jimmy Santiago Baca was a petty thief and a drug dealer when he was sentenced to five years in Arizona State Prison, one of the deadliest prisons in America. Baca began his incarceration violent, angry and illiterate, yet taught himself how to read and write, discovering a passion for poetry that ultimately saved his life.
Set in the Golden Age of Aviation, Andrew Lancaster follows the life and times of his great uncle, Captain Bill Lancaster. Against his family's wishes, he uncovers a fascinating tale of high adventures, obsession, a love triangle and a sensational murder trial.
They're Jewish, they're grandmothers, and they're lesbians. But they're also so much more, as you'll find out in Deborah Dickson's powerful and intimate documentary. Ruth Berman and Connie Kurtz first met in Brooklyn in 1959, both young married women raising their young children. Becoming fast friends, they soon both moved with their families near Coney Island, where they became active community leaders. Then, in 1974, something incredible happened - they fell in love.
Who is the new Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, or Gogol waiting to be discovered by the English-speaking world? Hosted by actor, author, and activist Stephen Fry, focuses on six authors whose vibrant, idiosyncratic work continues to gain traction with a global audience: Dmitry Bykov, Mariam Petrosyan, Zakhar Prilepin, Anna Starobinets, Vladimir Sorokin, and Lyudmila Ultiskaya. With contributions from their literary critics, publishers, and peers, the film features extensive interviews with each author.
With the atmospheric and sometimes haunting melodies of traditional Irish music compiled and performed by Wylde Green, one of the most popular contemporary Irish bands of the 21st Century, this program imparts the true flavor of Ireland and the myths and legends so beloved of this wonderful nation of storytellers. When it comes to a good story the Irish certainly know how to tell a fine tale and with their rich heritage of myths and legends, that are so much a part of Irelandʼs colorful history, any visitor to the Emerald Isle will be certain to enjoy a great wealth of tradition and culture. "Irish Myths and Legends" brings together a selection of the best-loved stories of Ireland, travelling to the amazing, legendary places that have both inspired and thrilled in equal measure.
In 1939, Walter Otto Wyss emigrated to the USA after a tragic car accident. There he developed a revolutionary hybrid automobile that was never produced. After a love affair with an African-American dancer in Los Angeles he lived in Tokyo at the end of the 1950s as a recluse and learned Japanese. He spent the last 30 years of his life alone on Hawaii. Despite many opportunities to fulfil his dreams of freedom, success and security, he can never quite set himself free from Switzerland, his mother and his self-reproach and misses the chance to find happiness. Walter's nephew, director Tobias Wyss, tells the story of his uncle in a personal manner, making use of moving photographs and videos from the family archive. The Zurich director reconstructs the contradictory biography of his uncle in seven episodes.
Amsterdam's world-famous red-light district is the fascinating backdrop to the story of plucky prostitute Lina as she searches for Mr Right. Lina thinks she has found true love with American punter Sean, but she may be treading a fine line between fantasy and reality. Could Sean be her Prince Charming or will she end up heartbroken? With hard-won access to this notoriously secretive, hidden world, Sexwork, Love & Mr Right will be a revealing and thought-provoking documentary with multiple supporting narratives from experienced punters to wise madams. As streetwise sexworker Lina navigates the highs and lows of her precarious new relationship, the film asks can sexworkers ever really find true love?
The Business of Disease is a film exploring the hypnosis of marketing, belief systems, and the body's ability to heal. It shows the social programs from which our choices are shaped.
Founding father of Anthropology, Bronislaw Malinowski's work raises powerful and disturbing questions today. This is a look at his legacy and the imprints it has made on the generations that followed.