Produced by MGM in cooperation with the U.S. Navy, this short film follows U.S. naval aviators through their basic training in Florida and advanced training in California.
A depiction of the landscape, both metaphorically and realistically, of Panyi island. Some footage in the film was taken from the material shot for Mysterious Object at Noon.
After seeing a grainy video of what is supposed to be an apparition of the Virgin Mary, Abdel Messeh sets out to make a documentary about belief, family and religion, much to the disapproval of his mother.
Gay twins Gary and Larry have always loved Dolly Parton. They left their small town home ten years ago to make it in Hollywood and are finally ready to get their script to Dolly. In a RV named Jolene, the boys embark on the adventure of a lifetime. This road trip is also a journey of self-discovery and an attempt to resolve mommy issues that have divided them since childhood.
Filmed secretly in Sydney by Dutch documentarian Joris Ivens, this short records the solidarity of Indonesian seamen, Australian trade unionists, and local activists who refused to support Dutch efforts to restore colonial rule after World War II. More than a chronicle, it was an act of protest that aligned cinema with the Indonesian independence movement.
"Lesson Plan" is a documentary film about The Third Wave (aka The Wave & Die Welle) classroom experiment, as told by the original students and teacher Ron Jones.
A follow-up to Rob Stewart's documentary Sharkwater, this continues his journey of discovery to find out that what he thought was a shark problem is actually a people problem. As Stewart's battle to save sharks escalates, he uncovers grave dangers threatening not just sharks, but humanity. In an effort to uncover the truth and find the secret to saving our own species, Stewart embarks on a life-threatening adventure through 15 countries, over four years in the making. In the past four years the backdrop of ocean issues has changed completely. Saving sharks will be a pointless endeavor if we are losing everything else in the ocean, not just sharks. Burning fossil fuels is releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere; changing the oceans, changing atmospheric chemistry and altering our climate.
This eye-opening documentary follows American basketball player Kevin Sheppard during his 2008-09 season playing for a professional team in Iran. Although Kevin is nervous, he makes many friends, including several politically active Iranian women.
Former football player and wrestler Chris Nowinski's quest to publicize recent findings about the often dire consequences of head concussions sustained by athletes in contact sports — injuries that have previously been considered momentary setbacks and ignored in the name of toughness and dedication to the team.
The Page family lives without electricity or running water deep in the Sussex woods. Amidst ever-growing modernity and industrialization, the family carries out chores, hunts pheasants, builds steam engines, and postulates on man's trip to the moon. They demonstrate fine lateral thinking and, through their particular delivery, display fears and concerns about pollution, intensive farming, mechanization, and self-fulfillment during a time of technological advancement.
Les Blank's first feature-length documentary captures music and other events at Leon Russell's Oklahoma recording studio during a three-year period (1972-1974).
Five stories that tell how a handful of football stars took the risk of losing everything and put their fate in the balance to make a difference by becoming the symbol of a fight.
Filmmaker Amir Bar-Lev follows two Czech Holocaust survivors, Jan Weiner and Arnost Lustig, as they revisit Terezin, a labor camp where Arnost was interned for five years and Jan's mother was murdered.
Observations of three varied corners of China’s garment industry: workers in a large-scale production line factory; a designer who rallies against the mass-machine-production of clothes and has created the eponymous hand-made collection called ‘Useless’ (Wuyong) for Paris Fashion Week; and finally the simple life of increasingly out-of-work tailors in small town Fengdang.
After the catastrophe in 1986, a 30-km restricted zone was erected around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, and 116,000 persons were evacuated from this area. Pripyat is a portrait of the people who still live and work there, and of those who have moved back. What is life like for these people, a life with the invisible and incomprehensible danger of radioactivity? How do they deal with the aftereffects of an accident which is claimed to be statistically improbable? Four protagonists tell their stories and provide a look at everyday life in “their“ zone.
An extremely lovely tribute to Ozu, on the 20th anniversary of his death. It uses a combination of footage from vintage films and new material (both interviews and Ozu-related locations) shot by Ozu's long-time camera-man (who came out of retirement to work on this). Surprisingly (or perhaps not), it focuses less on Ozu's accomplishments as a film-maker than on his impact on the lives of the people he worked with..
MISSILE follows the 4315th Training Squadron of the Strategic Air Command at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, where Air Force officers are trained to man the Launch Control Centers for the Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. Sequences include discussion of the moral and military issues of nuclear war; the arming, targeting and launching of the missile; codes; communications; protection against terrorist attack; emergency procedures; staff meetings and tutorial sessions.
Les D'Arcy is a living legend. At 89 years old, he's obviously not received the memo about slowing down, and is going for gold, literally. He's headed to China to compete in the over 80s Table Tennis Championships in Inner Mongolia. A seven time world champion, he still lifts weights to train - something he's been doing for decades, after surviving a sickly childhood. Of course compared to some, Les is a spring chicken. Australian legend Dorothy deLow is 100, and finds herself a mega celebrity in this rarefied world. She'd better watch out though- Texan Lisa Modlich is fifteen years her junior and is determined to do what it takes to win her first gold. Director Hugh Hartford follows eight players from five countries, as they prepare to compete in this extraordinary sporting event that is as much about the tenacity of the human spirit as it is about taking home the title.