In this 80-minute documentary, three 10-year-old children leave their native countries to participate in one of the Islamic world’s most famous competitions, a test of memory and recitation known as The International Holy Koran Competition. Up against much older students, these youngsters have committed the 600 pages of the Koran to memory, and will put their skills to the test before the elite of the world’s Muslim community in Cairo, Egypt. In the midst of this intense international competition, the three young competitors –two boys from Senegal and Tajikistan, and one girl from the Maldives – face uncertain futures at home, as they are caught between fundamentalist and moderate visions of Islam. The children discuss their recitation techniques – with accompanying, completely improvised melodies – and talk about their nerves and excitement as they finally compete before a panel of judges.
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Gordon Welchman was one of the original elite codebreakers crucial to the allies defeating the Nazis in World War II. He is the forgotten genius of Bletchley Park. Filmed extensively at Bletchley Park, the centre for codebreaking operations during World War II, this documentary features the abandoned buildings where thousands of people worked tirelessly to crack the codes. Post-war, Welchman moved to the US to be at the centre of the computer revolution. Recently released top secret documents reveal that the case of Gordon Welchman reached the desk of the British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, and then led to questions being asked in the House of Commons after Welchman’s untimely death. Welchman’s legacy continues to this day. Welchman’s pioneering work in the field of traffic analysis led directly to the modern secret surveillance state, and particularly the use of metadata – as revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Unveils the transformative fifty-year history of a world-changing culture, illustrating hip-hop’s journey from outsider status to the pinnacle of power. This documentary showcases the pivotal contributions of artists who created some of the most powerful political songs of all time and explores the experiences of rappers who interacted with presidents and performed inside the world’s most famous residence. Starting from the blighted neighborhoods that created the culture as a result of oppressive presidential policies, this film describes the complex web of influence, culture and celebrity that is now a permanent feature of American politics.
Wicked one-liners and soul-baring confessions converge in this uniquely intimate stand-up special from “Chappelle’s Show” co-creator Neal Brennan.
Chaos theory has a bad name, conjuring up images of unpredictable weather, economic crashes and science gone wrong. But there is a fascinating and hidden side to Chaos, one that scientists are only now beginning to understand. It turns out that chaos theory answers a question that mankind has asked for millennia – how did we get here?
A searing account of what happens when raw talent and extreme personalities collide. In this unflinching, never-before-seen account of drugs and the dark side of professional skateboarding, brothers Tas and Ben Pappas’ intense bond and charisma take them from the pinnacle of their sport into a spiraling world of self-destruction.
This film details the hacking of the Ashley Madison “extramarital affairs” website and the fallout from the public release of its users’ emails.
In 1988, filmmaker Kevin Tomlinson filmed & interviewed a group of back-to-the- land “hippies”–living off-grid, insulated from mainstream culture. In 2006 he tracked down his subjects again to find out what had become of their families’ utopian plans and dreams.
In the Mexican state of Michoacán, Dr. Jose Mireles, a small-town physician known as “El Doctor,” shepherds a citizen uprising against the Knights Templar, the violent drug cartel that has wreaked havoc on the region for years. Meanwhile, in Arizona’s Altar Valley—a narrow, 52-mile-long desert corridor known as Cocaine Alley—Tim “Nailer” Foley, an American veteran, heads a small paramilitary group called Arizona Border Recon, whose goal is to halt Mexico’s drug wars from seeping across our border.
Black and white footage of performances, interviews, and conversations at the Newport Folk Festival, from 1963 to 1966. The headliners are Peter, Paul and Mary, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, and Bob Dylan, who’s acoustic and electric. Son House and Mike Bloomfield talk about the blues; John Hurt, Howlin’ Wolf, and Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee show its range. The Osborne Brothers perform bluegrass. Donovan, Johnny Cash, Judy Collins, Mimi and Dick Farina, and others less well known also perform. Several talk musical philosophy, and there’s a running commentary about the nature and appeal of folk music. The crowd looks clean cut.
This documentary film chronicles the process of renaming Ft. James Island, which was a holding cell for slaves during the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade, to Kunta Kinteh Island- after one of The Gambia’s most well-renowned sons. It shares the points of view of both the government and the Kinteh family, who still preserve their history as residents of neighboring Juffureh Island. This film embodies the rich spirit of a people that can be passed on throughout the diaspora for decades to come.
Examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods.
Iosif Demian returns forty years later to Rosia Montana, the place where two memorable films of the Romanian cinema have been shot: “Nunta de piatra” and “Duhul aurului” for which he signed the cinematography.
