What happens if you give magic mushrooms (psilocibine) to experienced Zen practitioners who have never used drugs? What does that teach us about the mystical experience of oneness with nature? Based on these questions, psychiatrist Franz Vollenweider and Zen master Vanja Palmers set up a legal science experiment in a monastery at the top of Mount Rigi in Switzerland. Exactly 50 years after the magic mushrooms were officially banned, a new story begins in what is now called the “psychedelic renaissance”. While in 2021 most studies with psychedelics mainly focus on their promising medical applications, Frans and Vanja are already going a step further. Can the combination of meditation and psilocibin help humanity get out of the mess we have created on ourselves and the planet with our neo-liberal society?
A young activist goes deep into dairy land where he takes on the giants of New Zealand's most powerful industry, and reveals how the sacred cash-cow industry has been milked dry. His journey exposes not only the sustainability crisis and the dangerous denial of impending agricultural disruption, but also what New Zealand and other countries can do to change their fate.
Goddess Snow and her close friends Ceara Lynch, Princess Rene, Astro Domina, Princess Meggerz and Sarah DiAvola have built a supportive underground punk scene of fetish content creators, empowering each other, their clients, fans and the rest of the adult population to engage in the fight for a shame-free, consensual, and safe exploration of one’s sexuality. Dancing between the worlds of online fetish content creation, and in-person domination sessions, Goddess Alexandra Snow has built a thriving empire which supports the empowerment of women, sex workers, and anyone who has ever felt like a misfit.
Blending drama with the explanations of passionate historians and specialists, this enriched historical reconstruction traces 60 years in the life a man who transformed the Middle Ages and laid the foundation of modern Europe, William The Conqueror.
Anita Chitaya has a gift: she can help bring abundant food from dead soil, she can make men fight for gender equality, and maybe she can end child hunger in her village. Now, to save her home in Malawi from extreme weather, she faces her greatest challenge: persuading Americans that climate change is real. Traveling from Malawi to California to the White House, she meets climate sceptics and despairing farmers. Her journey takes her across all the divisions that shape the USA: from the rural-urban divide, to schisms of race, class and gender, and to the American exceptionalism that remains a part of the culture. It will take all her skill and experience to help Americans recognise, and free themselves from, a logic that is already destroying the Earth.
In 2014, director Richard Linklater released Boyhood, a fictional coming-of-age saga that was filmed using the same cast across twelve years. This film mirrors that concept: creating a real-life epic of boyhood and manhood that follows the same individual over 20 years, living in one of the most dangerous countries in the world. When we first meet Mir, he is a mischievous boy of seven living in a cave in central Afghanistan alongside the Buddhas of Bamiyan, two statues that were recently destroyed. For two decades, the film follows the adventures of his life, until, as an adult with a family of his own, he decides to pursue his own career as a news cameraman in Kabul. More than just a personal journey, My Childhood, My Country is an powerful examination of what has – and has not – been achieved in Afghanistan over the past 20 years.
Three renowned chocolatiers - Maribel Lieberman, Susumu Koyama and Mikkel Friis-Holm - take us through the process of craft chocolate-making all the way from the tree to the final chocolate piece. On their journey, each of them finds how important it is to know the roots of their primer material - the cacao bean, and how they can highly impact the lives of the people involved in the chocolate production chain
Capturing CO2 to recycle it, brightening clouds to better intercept sunlight, massive reforestation: here's an overview of scientific solutions to combat global warming that offer a glimmer of hope.
“The Hidden Angels of Luchino Visconti” This is the title. It tells of the man, the great man and director that he was, through the eyes of his closest collaborators, through never-before-seen images of Mario Tursi’s personal photographic archives. He was the photographer who followed Visconti his entire life. In this documentary Visconti’s camera operators who have given back to us the vision of his genius and contributed to his greatness: in silence, without fanaticism or exaltation, and for this reason they are his “Hidden Angels”.
The story of three lifelong friends who overcame domestic violence, substance abuse and depression to form Life of Agony, one of the most influential bands in its genre, led by the very first openly transgender singer. Through the success of their groundbreaking 1993 debut "River Runs Red", hailed by Rolling Stone as "One of the Greatest Metal Albums of All Time", they channeled their cumulative life stories into a soundtrack for a broken generation. This new found fame allowed them to suppress the tragedies of their past, but in its wake new obstacles arose.
A joyful, cinematic celebration of this singular musical artist, who remains as vital and relevant today as when he exploded on the scene with his group, Brasil '66. With a rich, multi-layered approach to storytelling, the film digs deep to reveal the forces that shaped his incredible journey.
To right the wrongs of his all-American sex education, 36-year-old Alex Liu goes on a quest to uncover naked truths and hard facts—no matter how awkward it gets. From neuroscience labs to church pews, A Sexplanation features provocative conversations with psychologists, sex researchers—and even a Jesuit priest. With humor and grit, Alex takes audiences on a playful, heartfelt journey from a shame-filled past to a happier, healthier future.
A harrowing account of Europe's migrant crisis. A family of Syrian refugees separated by the borders of Europe, fight to be reunited as they migrant from Syria to Germany.
Against the backdrop of Cold War, Glory to the Queen reveals stories of four legendary female chess players from Georgia who revolutionized women’s chess across the globe and became Soviet icons of female emancipation.
Like many young people around the world, best friends Fawzi and Mahmoud are obsessed with soccer. But for the past several years, the teenagers have been stuck in Zaatari, the world’s largest camp for Syrian refugees, located in Jordan. With uncertain legal status and an interrupted education, their prospects are limited. On the local soccer pitch, however, they can imagine a brighter future as professional athletes, a path to escaping the camp and providing for their families. When scouts from a world-renowned Qatari sports academy visit Zaatari, Fawzi and Mahmoud believe they might be able to realize their dreams—if given the opportunity.
Summer camp meets Spinal Tap as we journey to Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp, where dreamers from across America and around the world gather to shred with their heroes - and learn to rock like the legends. Rock Camp is an institution and cultural phenomenon that has been going on in Los Angeles, New York and other cities since 1996. The brainchild of music producer David Fishof, Rock Camp boasts a jaw-dropping array of rock star "counselors" that include Roger Daltrey, Alice Cooper, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, Nancy Wilson, Joe Perry, Jeff Beck, Slash and countless other rock legends. The counselors teach, inspire and jam with the campers over the course of four days. Each Rock Camp concludes with all of the counselors and their respective campers, performing together.
There are multiple levels to global superstar actress Jennifer Aniston. Yet the road to success did not come without its challenges. Aniston radiates a vulnerable warmth both on and off screen that keeps her audience loyal.