Documentary
Rich Froning Jr entered the 2014 CrossFit Games competition with three consecutive victories, a feat that no other athlete had accomplished. After finding CrossFit in 2009, Froning began a history-making career, finishing second at the CrossFit Games in 2010 and dominating the competition for the next four years. His four titles, five trips to the podium, 16 event wins, 35 top-five event finishes and 45 top-10 event finishes are all records, and he’s revered in the community. Froning’s athletic prowess has been under the microscope for five years, but there’s much more to the man from Tennessee than snatches and pull-ups. In this in-depth documentary by Heber Cannon, take a look into the life and childhood of the fittest man in history, follow his quest to a fourth straight CrossFit Games championship, and see him as a son, a husband, and a new father.
Working largely uncredited in the Hollywood system, storyboard artist Harold and film researcher Lillian left an indelible mark on classics by Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg, Mel Brooks, Stanley Kubrick, Roman Polanski and many more.
A film portrait of the influential Bavarian actor, director and screenwriter.
Farewell Ferris Wheel explores how the U.S. Carnival industry fights to keep itself alive by legally employing Mexican migrant workers with the controversial H-2B guestworker visa.
Sixty-two year old Richard Turner is renowned as one of the world’s greatest card magicians, yet he is completely blind. This is an in-depth look at a complex character who is one of magic’s greatest hidden treasures.
David Blaine travels around America to perform tricks in the UK premiere of his show What Is Magic? He visits New Orleans where he carries out a money trick in front of locals, producing hundreds of dollars at their fingertips before stopping off at New York to conduct magic in front of Orlando Bloom. But the jewel in David’s crown is his shot at the infamous The Bullet Catch; a trick which sees a 22 calibre bullet being fired at point blank range directly at the magician who then has to catch the bullet in a small metal cup in his mouth. The stunt is filmed using Phantom Camera technology which shoots 10,000 frames per second so that not a fraction of the action is missed.
An in-depth and provocative look at the 1992 Los Angeles riots exploring the roots of civil unrest in California and the relationship between African Americans and LAPD.
After six weeks of gruelling competition, England battle reigning champions Australia. The two teams are inseparable after eighty minutes. Deep into extra time, there are just two minutes left on the clock. England rumble to within 40 yards of the posts. The ball is sent spiralling back to Jonny Wilkinson, the golden boy of English rugby, in a split second he drop kicks for goal and a chance for sporting immortality. It is an astonishing story of pressure, expectation and courage, tracing the roots of success back to the professionalization of the game in the 90s and culminating in that glorious World Cup campaign of 2003 that turned Woodward’s poisoned chalice into a golden cup.
Jean-Luc Godard brings his firebrand political cinema to the UK, exploring the revolutionary signals in late ’60s British society. Constructed as a montage of various disconnected political acts (in line with Godard’s then appropriation of Soviet director Dziga Vertov’s agitprop techniques), it combines a diverse range of footage, from students discussing The Beatles to the production line at the MG factory in Oxfordshire, burnished with onscreen political sloganeering.
Filmed at the October 1968 meeting in Hawaii of several hundred police chiefs of the International Association of Chiefs of Police as they watch demonstrations of gruesome anti-riot weapons, sing patriotic songs, and defend their policies in front of the camera. Although filmed with the permission of the chiefs, the view is not sympathetic, sometimes funny, and more often frightening.
Born Strong is the story of the four strongest men on the planet. Each year, the Arnold Strongman Classic crowns the winner in the purest test of strength on the planet. This year’s Arnolds are unique with each of these four weighing more than 400 pounds. Lithuanian Zydrunas Savickas, 40, is the acknowledged Strongest Man Ever, who may have passed his prime. American Brian Shaw is the defending champion, a 6’8’, 425-pound giant who seems poised to take the crown. England’s Eddie Hall is “the hungry wolf, ” knocking on the door. “I’ll do anything, ” he says. “I’ll die, if I have to. ” Finally, there’s Icelander Hafthor Bjornsson, who plays the Mountain on Game of Thrones. He’s the youngest of the group, but with perhaps the greatest potential. “It’s great to see these Monsters, ” says Arnold Schwarzenegger, the host of the competition and a former bodybuilding champion. Born Strong revels in the drama when these remarkable giants clash.
The Frankenstein Complex takes a historical as well as a creative perspective, with a mix of fascinating scenes behind the camera, film clips, and dozens of interviews with all the big names in the industry. In addition to the many wonderful anecdotes, the film also offers a wealth of beautiful test material, while along the way showing how the art of filmmaking has changed over the years. An affectionate ode to monster makers throughout history.
Bluefin is a tale of epic stakes set in “the tuna capital of the world.” In North Lake, Prince Edward Island, filmmaker John Hopkins tries to shed light on a baffling mystery: normally wary bluefin tuna no longer fear humans, and no one is quite sure why. Astonished Island fishermen and scientists offer conflicting explanations for the bluefin’s puzzling behaviour. One thing is certain: this great resurgence of gigantic tuna flies in the face of scientific assessments claiming that endangered stocks are down by 90 percent.
In the summer of 2015, legendary musician David Byrne staged an event at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center to celebrate the art of Color Guard: synchronized dance routines involving flags, rifles, and sabers. Recruiting performers that include the likes of Saint Vincent, Nelly Furtado, Ad-Rock, and Ira Glass to collaborate on original pieces with 10 color guard teams from across the US and Canada, Contemporary Color is a beautifully filmed snapshot of a one-of-a-kind live event.
An intimate portrait of a Chinese-European couple in New Zealand, and their journey to get a blessing for marriage from traditional Chinese parents.
The story that led to the film, My Wedding and Other Secrets.
Ballet Boys takes you through disappointments, victories, forging of friendship, first loves, doubt, faith, growing apart from each other, finding your own way and own ambitions, all mixed with the beautiful expression of ballet.
Big Time gets up close with Danish architectural prodigy Bjarke Ingels over a period of six years while he is struggling to complete his largest projects yet, the Manhattan skyscraper W57 and Two World Trade Center.
A documentary chronicling the filmmaking career of Dennis Hopper.
An Honest Liar tells the incredible story of the world-famous magician, escape artist, and world-renowned enemy of deception, James ‘The Amazing’ Randi. The film brings to life Randi’s intricate investigations that publicly exposed psychics, faith healers, and con-artists with quasi-religious fervor. A master deceiver who came out of the closet at the age of 81, Randi created fictional characters, fake psychics, and even turned his partner of 25 years, Jose Alvarez, into a sham guru names Carlos.
Never-before-aired NASA footage presents evidence that the Moon is being used as a base.
Hosted by twice Oscar nominated actor and activist Woody Harrelson, Ethos lifts the lid on a Pandora’s box of systemic issues that guarantee failure in almost every aspect of our lives; from the environment to democracy and our own personal liberty: From terrifying conflicts of interests in politics to unregulated corporate power, to a media in the hands of massive conglomerates, and a military industrial complex that virtually owns our representatives. With interviews from some of todays leading thinkers and source material from the finest documentary film makers of our times Ethos examines and unravels these complex relationships, and offers a solution, a simple but powerful way for you to change this system!
The November 13, 2015 terrorist attack in Paris claimed 130 lives around the city — 89 of them at the Eagles of Death Metal’s Bataclan Theatre concert. “Eagles of Death Metal: Nos Amis (Our Friends)” spotlights the American rock band as they recount their experiences before and after the tragic events. The film explores the deep bonds between band co-founders Jesse Hughes and Josh Homme (also a member of Queens of the Stone Age), as well as the intense connection the band has always had with its devoted fans, which moved them to return to Paris to perform once again in February 2016.
Portrait of Andy Goldsworthy, an artist whose specialty is ephemeral sculptures made from elements of nature.
In his first major television special, British Asian illusionist Adam Patel, showcases his trademark brand of magic, sleight-of-hand, perceptual manipulation and mind hacking, astounding celebrities and the general public.
10+10 is a project initiated by the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival to demonstrate the solidarity between Taiwanese film-makers. 20 directors are invited to make a 5-minute short film each on the theme of the “Uniqueness of Taiwan,” but allowed total freedom in all other aspects.
Toronto-based documentary filmmaker and cinematographer Nicholas de Pencier (Four Wings and a Prayer, Watermark) examines the complex global impact that the internet has had on matters of free speech, privacy and activism.
For years men have thought women had a lower sexdrive? Can men be proven wrong again? The film explores the the scientific, historical, biological and social aspects behind the female sex drive and female gaze.
A unique examination of the life-long existential journey taken by a self-made musician, his unforgiving ambition and self-destructive determination to express himself.
Russian president Vladimir Putin attacks the 2016 American Presidential Election in collaboration with The Trump Campaign.
In 1977, a book of photographs captured an awakening – women shedding the cultural restrictions of their childhoods and embracing their full humanity. FEMINISTS: WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? revisits those photos, those women and those times and takes aim at our culture today that alarmingly shows the need for continued change.
When Sarah accidentally proposes to her girlfriend in Provincetown, she finds herself at odds with her partner’s expectations of their future. The mixup sends both women on different journeys of marital exploration.
This Is A.I. follows the history, development and future of artificial intelligence in different aspects of our lives. Interviewed experts give their opinion on the various ways this ‘smarter’ future is going to impact us.
This documentary seeks to be the ultimate Odyssey of exploration into Cannabis and its uses starting from the formation of the Endocannabinoid system in the simple sea squirt, through to its early uses, the plant’s medical benefits and landing at the modern legalisation movements across the Globe. Where the billions generated in tax could be re-invested back into hospitals, roads, fire departments, scientific research, community projects and the list goes on.
Church & State is the improbable story of a brash, inexperienced gay activist and a tiny Salt Lake City law firm that joined forces to topple Utah’s gay marriage ban. The film’s ride on the bumpy road to equality in Utah offers a glimpse at the Mormon church’s influence in state politics and the squabbles inside the gay community that nearly derailed a chance to make history. Church & State is a story of triumph, setback and a little-known lawsuit that should have failed, but instead paved the way for a U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized gay unions nationwide.
An intimate look into the life of icon Quincy Jones. A unique force in music and popular culture for 70 years, Jones has transcended racial and cultural boundaries; his story is inextricably woven into the fabric of America.
Girl next door, activist, so-called traitor, fitness tycoon, Oscar winner: Jane Fonda has lived a life of controversy, tragedy and transformation – and she’s done it all in the public eye. An intimate look at one woman’s singular journey.
When a popular honors graduate becomes an unlikely campus gunman, citizen sleuths embark across the country to investigate the metamorphosis of a respected prosecutor turned mass shooter.
Millions tuned in to see KSI beat Joe Weller in the biggest amateur boxing match of all time. But what didn’t they see? The blood, sweat and determination underpinning KSI’s intense training regime and a revealing look at his world off camera. This is the exclusive and never before seen story of Knowledge, Strength and Integrity, and how JJ, with 18m YouTube subscribers, went from actor to athlete.
The definitive look at Betty White’s life and career. As the only authorized documentary on Betty ever made, this film is packed with hilarious clips from her long career. Plus comments from friends and co-stars.
