Fame today is more than an obsession. Fame has become what millions of us follow, believe in and seemingly what we care about most – as well as a billion dollar-a-year industry. But what does our intense fascination with celebrity say about us? And how much is too high a price to pay for our own curiosity run rampant? “$ELLEBRITY” is a candid dialogue about the tone and texture of celebrity, past, present and future; an examination of our pop culture; and an honest look at the quality of our media consumption.
You May Also Like
This is the remarkable story of an American icon who changed the sport of big wave surfing forever. Transcending the surf genre, this in-depth portrait of a hard-charging athlete explores the fear, courage and ambition that push a man to greatness—and the cost that comes with it.
One of the most enigmatic artists of the 20th century, writer, composer and wanderer Paul Bowles (1910-1999) is profiled by a filmmaker who has been obsessed with his genius since age nineteen. Set against the dramatic landscape of North Africa, the mystery of Bowles (famed author of The Sheltering Sky) begins to unravel in Jennifer Baichwal’s poetic and moving Let It Come Down: The Life of Paul Bowles. Rare, candid interviews with the reclusive Bowles–at home in Tangier, as well as in New York during an extraordinary final reunion with Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs–are intercut with conflicting views of his supporters and detractors. At the time in his mid-eighties, Bowles speaks with unprecedented candor about his work, his controversial private life and his relationships with Gertrude Stein, Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, the Beats, and his wife and fellow author Jane Bowles.
In the history of sports, few names are more recognizable than that of Evel Knievel. Long after the man hung up his famous white leather jumpsuit and rode his Harley into the sunset, his name is still synonymous with the death-defying lifestyle he led. Notoriously brash, bold, and daring, Knievel stared death in the face from the seat of his motorcycle, but few know the larger-than-life story of the boy from Butte, Montana.
Soul Power is a 2008 documentary film about the Zaire 74 music festival in Kinshasa which accompanied the Rumble in the Jungle heavyweight boxing championship match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in October 1974. The film was made from archival footage; other footage shot at the time focusing on the fight was edited to form the film When We Were Kings.
In June 2016, 20-year-old Brit Michael Sandford was arrested at a Donald Trump rally, after trying to take a police officer’s gun in a bid to shoot the then republican presidential nominee. Michael immediately found himself at the centre of a media storm and at the mercy of America’s notoriously harsh justice system. After pleading guilty, he faced years behind bars. But how did a young middle-class boy from suburban Surrey who suffers from Asperger’s end up thousands of miles from home? And what drove him to attempt to kill one of the most powerful men in the world? This programme follows Michael’s family as they travel to the US for his sentencing, unsure of when they might see him again. Set against the backdrop of Trump’s remarkable rise to the White House, the documentary explores Michael’s complex past while using exclusive eye witness interviews and never-before-seen archive to piece together the elaborate assassination plot and attempt to find out why he did it.
A thought-provoking look at the subject of abortion today, told through the stories of women struggling with unplanned pregnancies, abortion providers and clinic staff and activists on both sides of this contentious debate.
Cookbook author and environmental activist Diana Kennedy reflects on an unconventional life spent mastering Mexican cuisine.
Charged with 2400 volts of electricity, Eduardo Garcia lost an arm, ribs, muscle mass and nearly his life, but more important than what he lost is what he found.
Based on Ta-Nehisi Coates’ #1 New York Times bestseller and originally adapted and staged by the Apollo Theater, this special combines elements of that production – including powerful readings from Coates’ book – with documentary footage from the actors’ home life, archival footage, and animation.
Like Air is a feature length documentary that follows three high school competitive dancers on their journey to a nationals championship competition. With every step towards the trophy, they discover their personal identity through dance and the life it breathes into their soul.
Seven transgender and gender nonconforming individuals share their unique experiences with Silas Howard.
A music documentary exploring the turbulent, controversial and often unbelievable 30 year history of British post-punk industrial band Killing Joke.