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‘What kind of house does a man who has been imprisoned in a six-foot-by-nine-foot cell for over 30 years dream of?’ This film captures the remarkable creative journey and friendship of Herman Wallace, one of the Angola 3, and artist Jackie Sumell while examining the injustice of prolonged solitary confinement.
Gypsy Blood examines the culture that Gypsy and Traveller fathers hand on to their children, which many non-gypsy view as overly violent, exploring its impact on two fathers and their young sons.
2016: Obama’s America takes audiences on a gripping visual journey into the heart of the worlds most powerful office to reveal the struggle of whether one man’s past will redefine America over the next four years. The film examines the question, “If Obama wins a second term, where will we be in 2016?” Across the globe and in America, people in 2008 hungered for a leader who would unite and lift us from economic turmoil and war. True to Americas ideals, they invested their hope in a new kind of president, Barack Obama. What they didn’t know is that Obama is a man with a past, and in powerful ways that past defines him–who he is, how he thinks, and where he intends to take America and the world. Immersed in exotic locales across four continents, best selling author Dinesh DSouza races against time to find answers to Obama’s past and reveal where America will be in 2016.
‘Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp’, examines the tumultuous life of legendary Chicago pimp Iceberg Slim (1918-1992) and how he reinvented himself from pimp to author of 7 groundbreaking books. These books were the birth of Street Lit and explored the world of the ghetto in gritty and poetic detail and have made him a cultural icon. Interviews with Iceberg Slim, Chris Rock, Henry Rollins, Ice-T, Snoop Dogg, and Quincy Jones.
Ayn Rand & the Prophecy of Atlas Shrugged is a feature length documentary film that examines the resurging interest in Ayn Rands epic and controversial 1957 novel and the validity of its dire prediction for America.
A feature documentary film set in Hollywood, examining a radical experiment in ’70s utopian living. The Source Family were the darlings of the Sunset Strip until their communal living, outsider ideals and spiritual leader Father Yod’s 13 wives became an issue with local authorities. They fled to Hawaii, leading to their dramatic demise.
Cassie Grant (Christina Ricci) is a young girl from the United States who is wandering through England on foot. On her way to Ashby Wake Cassie is hit by a car. The driver of the car, Mrs Marion Kirkman (Kerry Fox), immediately calls an ambulance. During an examination at the local hospital the doctor comes to the conclusion that Cassie only has some scratches and not even a concussion, but Cassie has lost her memory due to the accident. She only knows her name and mother country, but she does not know which town she comes from, who her family is and why she is in England.
Home video changed the world. The cultural and historical impact of the VHS tape was enormous. This film traces the ripples of that impact by examining the myriad aspects of society that were altered by the creation of videotape.
A crew of scientists arrives on a far, cold planet to examine archaic artifacts of unknown origin. They discover that their German enemies already have a ship there. When they seek their help after a failed landing, they only find the Germans’ bodies, obviously slaughtered by one of the archaic creatures, awoken to new life. Now the alien is after them.
Examine the rise and fall of Hollywood media mogul Harvey Weinstein following the scandal in 2017. Learn from exclusive interviews with those who knew him in the industry, and a discussion of the start of the #MeToo movement.
A committee investigating TV’s first uncensored network examines a typical day’s programming, which includes shows, commercials, news programs, you name it. What they discover will surely crack you up! This outrageous and irreverent spoof of television launched the careers of some of the greatest comedians of all time.
Six high school students, who have finished their college entrance examinations, accidentally discover a haunted house with eerie rumors to it. Inside there, the students start to hear the whispers of death and vanish one by one, as unstoppable, extreme terror engulfs them.
Featuring brand new interviews with producer Douglas Wick, screenwriter Wesley Strick, and special effects artist Rick Baker, THE BEAST INSIDE: CREATING »WOLF« examines the making of Mike Nichols’ WOLF (1994) in all its stages from original idea to final appearance.
DIE EXPATS explores love, loss and lust, identity and modern relationships. It is a story of four people in search of reclaiming a sense of self while navigating the knotted, overlapping space they occupy. When said space begins closing in around them, they realize the only way to get out, and not be squashed by it, is to examine their own intentions, and be willing to let go of the past, and each other. The saying goes, people come to Berlin to find what they want; but for this group, Berlin is the bearer of disillusionment. Perhaps in finding out what they don’t want, Vivian, Nate, Sienna and Andreas finally uncover what it is they each truly need.
Three stories examining what it means to live, find connection, deal with trauma, and do more than just exist, in the rural landscape of small mining town in West Virginia.
Feature length documentary examining the troubled life and tragic death of college football standout and talented NFL running back Lawrence Phillips, whose scars of childhood abuse and abandonment haunted him throughout his career.
Professional skateboarder Amelia Brodka examines the skateboarding industry’s approach to how it markets, promotes and supports women in its sport.
Schooled: The Price of College Sports is a comprehensive look at the business, history and culture of big-time college football and basketball in America. It is an adaptation of “The Cartel” by Pulitzer Prize Winning civil rights scholar Taylor Branch, and his October 2011 article in The Atlantic, “The Shame of College Sports.” Schooled presents a hard-hitting examination of the NCAA’s treatment of its athletes and amateurism in collegiate athletics; weaving interviews, archival and verité footage to tell a story of how college sports became a billion dollar industry built on the backs of athletes who are deprived of numerous rights.
Canyoneering is the sport of descending canyons by means of hiking, climbing, rappelling and swimming. Relatively obscure, the sport was brought to the mainstream in 2003 with the news of Aron Ralston who had severed his own arm while trapped in a canyon. Experiencing an overnight spike in popularity by the late 90s – a result of information appearing on the internet – the sport became inundated with thrill-seekers of all backgrounds and skill levels. Facing a new era of off-the-couch recreationalists, three influential participants, a canyoneering instructor, pioneer, and guidebook author each respond to a growing interest in the incredibly dangerous activity. Gorging employs the story of canyoneering to examine larger questions about the pursuit of thrills and the consequences that follow.
Paralyzed at a young age, Jing (Kwai Lun-Mei) is a kind piano teacher who leads a quiet life. One day, she accuses her doctor Zhou (Chang Chen) of molesting her during a typical medical examination. Zhou is promptly arrested, charged and put on trial. The prosecutor of the case is Tim (Aaron Kwok), an idealistic lawyer who joined the law world to punish the guilty. However, as Tim’s investigator Nam (Liu Kai Chi) helps him peel back the pieces, the more complex the case becomes. Soon, Tim begins to question the truth surrounding Jing’s story.
From the 1930’s to the 1970’s, pretty well every comedian or comic you might see on TV or the movies was Jewish. Jews came to dominate the world of western‐society comedy on radio, stage and screen alike.Why did Jews dominate comedy in this period? And why did that domination end? Were Jews just funnier back then? And if so, did that extend to your average Jew on the street? In this 90 minute documentary acclaimed director Alan Zweig will examine these questions and many others in this exploration of 20th century humour, cultural decay, and a search for a missing heritage.
While cleaning offices at night, Zsolt Kovàcs learns a lot about his invisible employers by examining what they leave behind, carefully choosing his targets, often disillusioned women whom he seduces, methodically taking their money. An artist of manipulation, with a generous dose of humor and the ability to assume different personalities, Zsolt begins to work in a psychologist’s practice, where he meets Hanna, a 30 year-old dancer who is physically incapacitated and the daughter of a millionaire. The ideal victim if love doesn’t get in the way.
Examines events that took place in the small Cambridgeshire town which horrified the country. In December 2003, Iain Huntley, a caretaker at Soham Village College, was convicted of two murders and jailed for life. This film looks at the search for his victims, Huntley’s arrest, and his subsequent trial and conviction.
THE EDUCATION OF MOHAMMAD HUSSEIN is an intimate look at how the largest Muslim community in America responds to the provocations of an anti-Islamic preacher. Through the eyes of children, the film examines what it is like to come of age as a Muslim in the United States ten years post 9/11.
This documentary examines the 80 year career of journalist George Seldes, his encounters with Lenin and J. Edgar Hoover, his long battle against press censorship, the tobacco lobby, and his eventual blacklisting.With Ben Bagdikian, Jeff Cohen, Daliel Ellsberg, Ralph Nader, and Marian Seldes
A day in the life of a Chicago cab driver is examined as he picks up fares from the good and bad parts of the city and emotionally connects to many of his passengers.
Since they were both five, Ryosuke has been stalked by Momoko – the ugliest girl in the village. Her love for Ryosuke is so boundless that she has her face surgically altered to suit his taste – but still he wants nothing to do with her. Ryosuke goes in for fleeting romance – for example, with the girlfriend of a gangster boss. But when he finds out about their affair, he has Ryosuke’s little finger hacked off. Magically, the finger falls into Momoko’s hands, and she uses it to clone Ryosuke, so she can finally have him (or almost him) for herself. And this is just the first five minutes of Lisa Takeba’s short-but-powerful feature debut. Just like in her previous short films, the director – who cut her teeth in the advertising world and as the writer of a video game – throws a lot of genres and techniques into the mix: from science fiction to gangster films, from hospital eroticism to animation. Hectic and absurd, but with its heart in the right place. © IFFR
Things are hectic in heaven. Dozens of scribes sit before a long scroll incessantly scribbling away. They are composing the biographies of earth-dwellers. What is invented by the men in heaven is lived out below. And their employer, God, is increasingly vehement in demanding avant-garde ideas. Take, for example, the beautiful Yuri, a girl who dies in a car crash. Some of the heavenly scribes find this very dull and send former gangster Chas, who has become a heavenly tea-boy, back down to earth with instructions to save Yuri no matter what. And so Chas ends up in Okinawa, gets to know the earth-dwellers, interferes in their fates, becomes celebrated as ‘Mr Angel’ and is hounded by brutal enemies. His falling in love with Yuri is of course a foregone conclusion. But no one could anticipate what happens next. Not even God himself
That’s Not Funny is an examination of the history of taboo subjects and controversy in comedy, and one comedy fan’s heartfelt and passionate defense of an art form.
Rattled by the prospect of becoming a dad, a 40-year-old filmmaker begins to consider what “manhood” really means for him, prompting him to pursue an array of interests and reexamine his views — which were shaped by his father.
Doctor Henry Morgan, New York City’s star medical examiner, has a secret. He doesn’t just study the dead to solve criminal cases, he does it to solve the mystery that has eluded him for 200 years—the answer to his own inexplicable immortality. This long life has given Henry remarkable observation skills which impresses his new partner, Detective Jo Martinez. Each week, a new case and their budding friendship will reveal layers of Henry’s long and colorful past. Only his best friend and confidant, Abe knows Henry’s secret.
The first feature film from accomplished short filmmaker Kate Shenton, On Tender Hooks is a documentary film delving into the world of human suspension and the people involved. Kate spends a year following a different people and group of suspenders. Every Sunday they pierce themselves with hooks and hang in mid-air from rigs in a display that challenges the perceptions and squeamishness of even the most hardened. The film is a fly on the wall documentary showing how the ordinary human body can achieve extraordinary things. Beginning with groups in London, and then following events in Rico, Croatia and Oslo, Norway, the film depicts a wide variety of experience and opinions, and delves thoughtfully into a deeply misunderstood practice On Tender Hooks was a self-funded project filmed and edited by director Kate Shenton. Completed in 2012 it is an example of independent film-making at its purest.
As 2015 marks a half a century since the Moors murderer was sentenced to life imprisonment, this documentary examines Ian Brady’s 50 years in jail. Among the contributors are prison officers, detectives, relatives of victims, pen pals and inmates who served time with him. They reveal how Brady has shown a psychopathic lack of connection with his crimes. Arrested and charged in 1965, he’s never been considered for parole, nor has he asked to be freed.
In 2010, the media branded a platoon of U.S. Army infantry soldiers “The Kill Team” following reports of its killing for sport in Afghanistan. Now, one of the accused must fight the government he defended on the battlefield, while grappling with his own role in the alleged murders. Dan Krauss’s absorbing documentary examines the stories of four men implicated in heinous war crimes in a stark reminder that, in war, innocence may be relative to the insanity around you.
Live and Let Live is a feature documentary examining our relationship with animals, the history of veganism and the ethical, environmental and health reasons that move people to go vegan.
Desperate for companionship, a lonely, young Palestinian-American man agrees to marry an Israeli woman in need of a Green Card, forcing them to re-examine their respective cultural and familial traditions.
This is an examination into the psyche of former London gangster Freddie Foreman: 85 years old, allegedly responsible for multiple murders, and nearing the end of his life. Fred is the only gangster who lived through the turbulent history of the British underworld and survived to tell the tale.
During their journey the expedition led by Captain Choi Do-hyung discovers a journal that was left behind by a British expedition 80 years earlier. The journal was remarkably preserved in a box in the snow and Kim Min-jae, another member of the expedition, gets the job of examining it. It turns out that the two expeditions shared the same goal and soon other strange similarities between them start to show up.
Perhaps their strikingly different personalities make the relationship between detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles so effective. Jane, the only female cop in Boston’s homicide division, is tough, relentless and rarely lets her guard down, while the impeccably dressed Maura displays a sometimes icy temperament — she is, after all, more comfortable among the dead than the living. Together, the best friends have forged a quirky and supportive relationship; they drop the protective shield in each other’s company, and combine their expertise to solve Boston’s most complex cases.
This investigation examines the mysterious shooting of soul icon Sam Cooke, whose death silenced one of the most vital voices in the civil rights movement.