Not Available

Documentary filmmaker Doug Block had every reason to believe his parents’ 54-year marriage was a good one. But when his mother dies unexpectedly and his father swiftly marries his former secretary, he discovers two parents who are far more complex and troubled than he ever imagined. 51 Birch Street is a riveting personal documentary that explores a universal human question: how much about your parents do you really want to know?

Filmed in Karasjok, Norway – 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle, BBC Four rigs a traditional reindeer sleigh with a fixed camera for a magical journey across the frozen wilderness of the Arctic. Following the path of an ancient postal route, the ride captures the traditional world of the Sami people who are indigenous to northern Scandinavia and for whom reindeer herding remains a way of life. Deliberately unhurried, the rhythmic pace of the reindeer guides us along an epic two-hour trip that takes us over undulating snowy hills, through birch forests, across a frozen lake and past traditional Sami settlements.

If the mind is strong it can take the body anywhere. – Ben Lecomte The Swim is about Ben Lecomte’s unprecedented attempt to survive the 5,500+ mile gauntlet from Japan to San Francisco. His mission – to be the first man to swim across the Pacific and show the world the affect humans are having on our oceans. Ben and his crew faced countless challenges including typhoons, sharks, equipment failure and far more plastic than they ever could have imagined.

Writer and urban activist Jane Jacobs fights to save historic New York City during the ruthless redevelopment era of urban planner Robert Moses in the 1960s.

Before he became one of the world’s greatest boxers, Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao was a young boy living a hand-to-mouth existence, trying to survive from one day to the next. When he discovers his natural talent for boxing, he embarks on a brutal and intense journey that takes him from the mountains of the Philippines to the streets of Manila, and must risk everything to become a champion – for himself, his family, and his country.

The gripping true-life story of the legendary 1925 “Serum Run,” in which 34 men and more than 150 dogs, rushed life-saving anti-toxin across the frozen arctic to save the children of Nome, AK from a deadly outbreak of diphtheria.

Georgiana Halmac is turning 15 this winter, but she has no time for teenage dreams when her mother, who’s on unemployment, moves to Torino to find work. Georgiana is left in charge of her six siblings in a social housing condo on the outskirts of Bacau, Romania. Caught between adolescence and the responsibilities of adulthood, Georgiana does the best she can, improvising with parenting advice from the television and the occasional phone call with her mother. As she handles her own issues and high-school dramas, Georgiana must also deal with admonishing neighbours who threaten to turn the whole family into social services. With incredible calm and stoicism, Georgiana amazes as she holds everything together in an ingenious and delicate balance.

Rithy Panh uses clay figures, archival footage, and his narration to recreate the atrocities Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge committed between 1975 and 1979.

Paris Hilton, the Fat Jew, and Brittany Furlan have all used social media to achieve massive internet fame. But, American Meme explores, is it worth it?

After escaping Russia’s communist revolution, Leon Theremin travels to New York, where he pioneers the field of electronic music with his synthesizer. But at the height of his popularity, Soviet agents kidnap and force him to develop spy technology. Steven M. Martin writes and directs this intriguing documentary about a man’s “strange” music and his very interesting life as an inventor and influential musician.

A fascinating look at how American agricultural policy and food culture developed in the 20th century, and how the California food movement rebelled against big agribusiness to launch the local organic food movement.