THE LOTTERY OF BIRTH is the first in a three-part documentary series entitled ‘Creating Freedom’ exploring the relationship between freedom, power and control in Western democracies. The series draws together interviews with some of the world’s leading intellectuals, journalists and activists to offer an alternative perspective on today’s society and the future we’re creating. We do not choose to exist, or the environment we grow up in. Our starting point in life is one of passive reliance on forces over which we have no control. THE LOTTERY OF BIRTH shows that from birth onwards our minds are a battleground of competing forces: familial, educational, cultural, and professional. The outcome of this battle not only determines who we become, but the society that we create.
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The iconic Merce Cunningham and the last generation of his dance company is profiled in Alla Kovgan’s 3D documentary, through recreations of his landmark works and archival footage of Cunningham, John Cage, Robert Rauschenberg, and more.
The band stormed Europe in 1963, and, in 1964, they conquered America. Their groundbreaking world tours changed global youth culture forever and, arguably, invented mass entertainment as we know it today. All the while, the group were composing and recording a series of extraordinarily successful singles and albums. However the relentless pressure of such unprecedented fame, that in 1966 became uncontrollable turmoil, led to the decision to stop touring. In the ensuing years The Beatles were then free to focus on a series of albums that changed the face of recorded music.
Christmas Island, Australia is home to one of the largest land migrations on earth—that of forty million crabs journeying from jungle to sea. But the jungle holds another secret: a high-security facility that indefinitely detains individuals seeking asylum.
Illusionist Derren Brown concocts a psychological experiment in which he tries to manipulate an ordinary person into taking a bullet for a stranger.
Welcome to the captivating world of urban exploration, an international subculture of fearless thrill-seekers who lurk beneath city streets and trespass into long-abandoned buildings, defiantly searching for unseen treasures of modern civilization. Documentary filmmaker Melody Gilbert follows Max Action, Slim Jim, Katwoman and Turobzutek as they infiltrate aging lunatic asylums, government sites, faded tourist attractions, sewers, drains, and even the forbidden Catacombs in Paris. Many explore armed with only a camera, often snapping astonishingly beautiful photos.
The super-rich determines virtually every aspect of the lives of the other 90% of Americans. This film examines the hidden struggles of American families, the calculated political maneuvers of the elite, and the long overdue uprising of American workers. With affection for the middle-class and the outrageous attempt to color them as lazy, the film explores the question: How do we make sure workers are paid what they are worth, instead of believing they are only worth what they are paid?
White Diamond: A Personal Portrait of Kylie Minogue is a 2007 documentary film directed and produced by William Baker and chronicling the life of Australian singer Kylie Minogue during her Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour in 2005. White Diamond was filmed between August 2006 and March 2007 in both Australia and the United Kingdom and follows Australian pop singer-songwriter Kylie Minogue on concert tour before and during her resurrected Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour, originally abandoned halfway through its original 2005 run, in Sydney, when Minogue was diagnosed with breast cancer. Intended as a document of Minogue’s return to the stage following her treatment and recovery from cancer, the film also features on-stage and back-stage footage and interviews with a number of Minogue’s tour crew, including Baker himself.
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Ten easy steps show you how to make money from drugs, featuring a series of interviews with drug dealers, prison employees, and lobbyists arguing for tougher drug laws.
Everyone thinks of Santa Claus as a magical figure without flaws, but the men who keep his legend alive, real-bearded professional Santas, are nothing like the jolly ol’ Saint Nick we’ve all grown up knowing. In reality, the mall Santa in your cherished children’s photo has problems just like the rest of us. Even the jolliest of men fall victim to divorce, job loss, insecurity and even the occasional hangover. ‘I Am Santa Claus’ is a documentary that follows the lives of five real-bearded professional Santa Clauses as they anticipate and prepare the coming holiday season while showing them for who they actually are flawed, flesh and blood men who feel an overbearing responsibility to protect the integrity of the spotless, untarnished reputation of the “Red Suit.”
When 17-year-old Lennon Lacy is found hanging from a swing set in rural North Carolina in 2014, his mother’s search for justice and reconciliation begins while the trauma of more than a century of lynching African Americans bleeds into the present.
