Documentary
Inspired by Steven Blush’s book “American Hardcore: A tribal history” Paul Rachman’s feature documentary debut is a chronicle of the underground hardcore punk years from 1979 to 1986. Interviews and rare live footage from artists such as Black Flag, Bad Brains, Minor Threat, SS Decontrol and the Dead Kennedys.
Samsara is a word that describes the ever turning wheel of life. It is a concept both intimate and vast – the perfect subject for filmmakers Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson, whose previous collaborations include Chronos and Baraka, and who, in the last 20 years, have travelled to over 58 countries together in the pursuit of unique imagery. Samsara takes the form of a nonverbal, guided meditation that will transform viewers in countries around the world as they are swept along a journey of the soul. Through powerful images pristinely photographed in 70mm and a dynamic music score, the film illuminates the links between humanity and the rest of the nature, showing how our life cycle mirrors the rhythm of the planet.
In 2001, Lenny Cooke was the most hyped high school basketball player in the country, ranked above future greats LeBron James, Amar’e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony. A decade later, Lenny has never played a minute in the NBA. In this quintessentially American documentary, filmmaking brothers Joshua and Benny Safdie track the unfulfilled destiny of a man for whom superstardom was only just out of reach.
The definitive zombie culture documentary, brought to the screen by the makers of THE PEOPLE vs. GEORGE LUCAS.
Nev, a 24-year-old New York-based photographer, has no idea what he’s in for when Abby, an eight-year-old girl from rural Michigan, contacts him on Facebook, seeking permission to paint one of his photographs. When he receives her remarkable painting, Nev begins a friendship and correspondence with Abby’s family. But things really get interesting when he develops a cyber-romance with Abby’s attractive older sister, Megan, a musician and model. Prompted by some startling revelations about Megan, Nev and his buddies embark on a road trip in search of the truth.
James Cameron teams up with NASA scientists to explore the Mid-Ocean Ridge, a submerged chain of mountains that band the Earth and are home to some of the planet’s most unique life forms.
On August 7th 1974, French tightrope walker Philippe Petit stepped out on a high wire, illegally rigged between New York’s World Trade Center twin towers, then the world’s tallest buildings. After nearly an hour of performing on the wire, 1,350 feet above the sidewalks of Manhattan, he was arrested. This fun and spellbinding documentary chronicles Philippe Petit’s “highest” achievement.
The Square, a new film by Jehane Noujaim (Control Room; Rafea: Solar Mama), looks at the hard realities faced day-to-day by people working to build Egypt’s new democracy. Catapulting us into the action spread across 2011 and 2012, the film provides a kaleidoscopic, visceral experience of the struggle. Cairo’s Tahrir Square is the heart and soul of the film, which follows several young activists. Armed with values, determination, music, humor, an abundance of social media, and sheer obstinacy, they know that the thorny path to democracy only began with Hosni Mubarek’s fall. The life-and-death struggle between the people and the power of the state is still playing out.
An in-depth look at the torture practices of the United States in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, focusing on an innocent taxi driver in Afghanistan who was tortured and killed in 2002
Jason Osder makes an impressive feature film debut through his unbiased and thorough account of the incidents leading up to and during the 1985 standoff between the extremist African-American organization MOVE and Philadelphia authorities. The dramatic clash claimed eleven lives and literally and figuratively devastated an entire community. Let the Fire Burn is a real-life Wild West story absent the luxury of identifying its heroes by the color of their hats.
The controversial bad-boy of comedy delivers a piercing look at his life, lifting the metaphorical smokescreen that he feels has clouded the public view, commenting on everything from the dangers of smoking to the trials of relationships, and unleashing a nonstop litany of raucous anecdotes, stinging social commentary and very personal reflections about life.
Combining his trademark wit and self-deprecating humor with original music, Bo Burnham offers up his unique twist on life in this stand-up special about life, death, sexuality, hypocrisy, mental illness and Pringles cans.
Using archival footage, United States Cabinet conversation recordings, and an interview of the 85-year-old Robert McNamara, THE FOG OF WAR depicts his life, from working as a WWII whiz kid military officer, to being the Ford Motor Company’s president, to managing the American Vietnam War, as defense secretary for presidents Kennedy and Johnson.
John Bishop’s back! After taking time out to write his autobiography, John limbered up again for his third sell-out national Arena tour, ending with a special one-off show at London’s iconic Royal Albert Hall. This latest comedy caper by the immensely talented John Bishop was described as “the funniest two hours you’ll have anywhere, anytime soon” by The Daily Mirror.
This film explores the daily lives of two aging, eccentric relatives of Jackie Kennedy Onassis. Edie Bouvier Beale and her mother, Edith, are the sole inhabitants of a Long Island estate. During the course of the documentary, they discuss their habits, desires and former loves with filmmakers Albert and David Maysles. The women reveal themselves to be misfits with outsized, engaging personalities. Much of the conversation is centered on their pasts, as mother and daughter now rarely leave home.
Brooklyn Castle is a documentary about I.S. 318 – an inner-city school where more than 65 percent of students are from homes with incomes below the federal poverty level – that also happens to have the best, most winning junior high school chess team in the country. (If Albert Einstein, who was rated 1800, were to join the team, he’d only rank fifth best.) Chess has transformed the school from one cited in 2003 as a “school in need of improvement” to one of New York City’s best. But a series of recession-driven public school budget cuts now threaten to undermine those hard-won successes.
A combination of first-person stories and exclusive aerial images, HUMAN is a unique documentary. This sensitive experience is an introspection into whom we are today as a community but also and most importantly as an individual. Through wars, inequalities, discriminations, HUMAN confronts us with the realities and the diversity of our human conditions. Beyond this darker side, testimonies show the empathy and the solidarities which we are capable of. All these contradictions are ours and HUMAN leads us to reflect about the future we wish to give to people and the planet today. Filmed in 60 countries during two years, HUMAN by Yann Arthus-Bertrand draws a portrait of nowaday’s Humanity.
Director Spike Lee chronicles Michael Jackson’s early rise to fame.
Filmmaker Amy Berg sheds light on the sexual, financial and spiritual abuses heaped upon members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by their former leader, Warren Jeffs.
Eric toured the world, he worked on boats. It seems to live the life he always dreamed when he was imprisoned in Brazil, awaiting deportation to Canada. Between the calls to the Embassy, the unexpected intervention of a stranger seeking to incriminate him and the announcement of the news to distraught parents, PINOCCHIO gradually pierces the mystery surrounding Éric over conversations, memories Travel to South America and confidences.
The Cove tells the amazing true story of how an elite team of individuals, films makers and free divers embarked on a covert mission to penetrate the hidden cove in Japan, shining light on a dark and deadly secret. The shocking discoveries were only the tip of the iceberg.
A celebration of the musical work of a group of session musicians known as “The Wrecking Crew”, a band that provided back-up instrumentals to such legendary recording artists as Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys and Bing Crosby.
Meet the dirtiest cop in NYC history. Michael Dowd stole money and dealt drugs while patrolling the streets of ’80s Brooklyn.
Supermensch documents the astounding career of Hollywood insider, the loveable Shep Gordon, who fell into music management by chance after moving to LA straight out of college, and befriending Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix. Shep managed rock stars such as Pink Floyd, Luther Vandross, Teddy Pendergrass and Alice Cooper, and later went on to manage chefs such as Emeril Lagasse, ushering in the era of celebrity chefs on television.
Documentary filmmaker Robert Kenner examines how mammoth corporations have taken over all aspects of the food chain in the United States, from the farms where our food is grown to the chain restaurants and supermarkets where it’s sold. Narrated by author and activist Eric Schlosser, the film features interviews with average Americans about their dietary habits, commentary from food experts like Michael Pollan and unsettling footage shot inside large-scale animal processing plants.
I am Chris Farley tells his hilarious, touching and wildly entertaining story – from his early days in Madison, Wisconsin, to his time at Second City and Saturday Night Live, then finally his film career (which included hits like Tommy Boy and Black Sheep). The film showcases his most memorable characters and skits from film and television and also includes interviews and insights from his co-stars, family and friends – including the likes of Christina Applegate, Dan Aykroyd, Mike Myers, Bob Odenkirk, Bob Saget and Adam Sandler.
Fueled by stunning footage, this stirring documentary considers wild horses’ role in the American psyche and their dwindling numbers in today’s West. In an artful blend of exquisite nature documentary and character-driven narrative, the majestic wild horses of the American West are revealed in stereoscopic 3D as never before. The wonder in a girl’s eye pulls us into the drama that unfolds on hundreds of millions of acres of public land. The battle lines have long been carved into the landscape, and the players are deeply entrenched. Yet as the subtle choreography that has evolved over thousands of years begins, we are captivated. The intricate dance between a man and a wild horse presents lessons for us all, even the battle-hardened special interest groups fighting for the place of the AMERICAN MUSTANG.
Bergensbanen is a real time documentary film of the entire journey by rail from Bergen to Oslo in Norway. The journey, lasting almost seven and a half hours, was filmed by cameras on the outside of the train, and is interspersed with interviews, archive footage and music. An alternative cut (the version commonly available on the internet) consists entirely of unbroken phantom ride footage.
MARTIN ARMSTRONG, once a US based trillion dollar financial adviser, used the number pi to predict economic turning points with precision. When some big New York bankers asked him to join the club to help them to take over Russia, he refused to join the manipulation. A few days later the FBI stormed his offices accusing him of a 3 billion dollar Ponzi Scheme – an attempt to stop him talking about the real Ponzi Scheme of debts that the US has build up over the years and which he thinks starts to collapse after October 1, 2015, a mayor pi turning point he is predicting.
On January 1, 2014, recreational marijuana sales began in Colorado. With all eyes on ground zero of the green rush, The Denver Post became the first major media outlet to embrace it and appointed the world’s first marijuana editor. Legalization is not just an experiment for society, but a risk for the dying industry of newspapers to hedge its bets on the booming business of marijuana. Ricardo Baca sets out to report on history in the making with a team of straight-laced staff writers and fish out of water freelancers in tow for The Cannabist as it unfolds. Policy news, strain reviews, parenting advice and edible recipes are the new norm in the unprecedented world of pot journalism.
In June 2013, Laura Poitras and reporter Glenn Greenwald flew to Hong Kong for the first of many meetings with Edward Snowden. She brought her camera with her. The film that resulted from this series of tense encounters is absolutely sui generis in the history of cinema: a 100% real-life thriller unfolding minute by minute before our eyes. Poitras is a great and brave filmmaker, but she is also a masterful storyteller: she compresses the many days of questioning, waiting, confirming, watching the world’s reaction and agonizing over the next move, into both a great character study of Snowden and a narrative that will leave you on the edge of your seat as it inexorably moves toward its conclusion.
This movie chronicles the life and times of R. Crumb. Robert Crumb is the cartoonist/artist who drew Keep On Truckin’, Fritz the Cat, and played a major pioneering role in the genesis of underground comix. Through interviews with his mother, two brothers, wife, and ex-girlfriends, as well as selections from his vast quantity of graphic art, we are treated to a darkly comic ride through one man’s subconscious mind.
Documentary Filmmaker Adrian Grenier documents his attempt to reunite with his estranged father.
Zeitgeist: the Movie is a 2007 documentary film by Peter Joseph examining possible historical and modern conspiracies surrounding Christianity, the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the Federal Reserve bank. It was officially released online on June 18, 2007 on www.ZeitgeistMovie.com
On Any Sunday, The Next Chapter” is an exploration into the two-wheeled world of motorcycle riding. The film journeys deeper into the humanity, thrills and excitement behind the global culture of motorcycle riding. We meet those who are bonded by their passion for the race, we experience the exhilaration of the ride and we witness the love of family and friendship as each individual seeks out their next thrilling moment on the bike.
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