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Insurance investigator Abraham Holt travels to a tiny town in rural Minnesota to look into a particularly unusual insurance claim stemming from a horrific car accident. As Holt examines the scene of the wreck, it all seems a bit too perfect. And when he interviews Isold Mcbride and her shifty husband, Fred — the impoverished beneficiaries of the massive, recently initiated life-insurance policy — he begins to suspect that something is amiss.
An anthology horror movie featuring four stories. Die Laughing is about a psychotic killer clown stalking a young woman. In The Horror Hostess a movie scream queen gets more than she bargained for when she is interviewed by a TV talk show hostess. The Bad Flower is a nature run amok tale, and The Hunt tells the story of an FBI agent investigating a series of brutal murders in a small town.
At the height of the Cold War, Gilligan’s Island depicted seven Americans living in an analogue of a post-apocalyptic world where the survivors have to rebuild civilization. Remarkably, the society they create is pure communist. Interviews with the show’s creator and some of the surviving actors, as well from professors from Harvard, reveal that Gilligan’s Island was deliberately designed to be dismissed as low brow comedy in order to celebrate Marxism and lampoon Western democratic constructs.
Combining extensive filmmaker interviews and rare archival footage, Chuck Workman’s documentary takes us through the life of one of cinema’s greatest masters: Orson Welles.
Sparked by a public display of sexual harassment in 2012, GTFO pries open the video game world to explore a 20 billion dollar industry riddled with discrimination and misogyny. Every year, the gaming community grows increasingly diverse. This has led to a clash of values and women are receiving the brunt of the consequences every day, with acts of harassment ranging from name calling to death threats. Through interviews with video game creators, journalists, and academics, GTFO paints a complex picture of the video game industry, while revealing the systemic and human motivations behind acts of harassment. GTFO begins the conversation that will shape the future of the video game world.
This is Tomorrow is the third film of ‘A London Trilogy, the films of Saint Etienne’. A History and reconstruction of the Royal Festival Hall, interviewing surviving architects and designers including Leonard Manasseh and Robin Day. The film also documented the hall’s complete refurbishment from 2005-2007, which has once again made it London’s cultural centre.
Chronicles the history, ideology and aesthetic of Norwegian black metal – a musical subculture infamous as much for a series of murders and church arsons as it is for its unique musical and visual aesthetics. This is the first (and only) film to truly shed light on a movement that has heretofore been shrouded in darkness and rumor and obscured by inaccurate and shallow depictions. Featuring exclusive interviews and verité with the musicians, a wealth of rare, seldom seen footage from the “Inner Circle’s earliest days, Until the Light Takes Us explores every aspect of the controversial movement that has captured the attention of the world. This is the movie that gets inside the minds and hearts of black metal’s musicians.
BEAUTIFUL NOISE is an in-depth exploration of a music movement in the late twentieth century, a fascinating period when some innovative musicians mixed guitar noise into conventional pop song structures while maintaining a philosophy of letting the music speak for itself. Although many of the people interviewed are notoriously press shy they have opened up about their music and experiences from over 20 years ago, how they defied the rules and became sonic innovators that have inspired so many.
An Oscar nominated documentary about a middle-class American family who is torn apart when the father Arnold and son Jesse are accused of sexually abusing numerous children. Director Jarecki interviews people from different sides of this tragic story and raises the question of whether they were rightfully tried when they claim they were innocent and there was never any evidence against them.
Forget about nuclear missiles, the decisive weapon of the twentieth century is the car bomb. After Iraq we now know you can defeat a Superpower, start a civil war or just blow up your own Government with a trunk load of home-made explosives and a battered old car. From the Middle East, Oklahoma, Ireland and the streets of the City of London the car bomb has shaped human conflict. Even today the car bomb remains the number one terrorist threat across the world. In this film, ex-CIA agent Robert Baer uncovers the history of this extraordinary weapon. With footage of car bomb attacks and interviews with car bombers, Baer reveals how the century of the car turned into the century of the car bomb. And how a dream of freedom turned nightmare.
“My new feature length documentary Breadcrumb Trail is about Slint and the Louisville music culture they emerged from. It includes footage going back to the early 1990s that I shot when repeatedly driving up from Athens, GA to Louisville to try to chase rumors of what they guys were up to. Over the years I tracked down more stories about them, then began filming interviews with each of the band members and their contemporaries. We also unearthed some unseen/uncirculated footage from their few live performances as well as the writing and arranging of Spiderland.”
A UFO enthusiast interviews Dan Aykroyd on the subject of extraterrestrials visiting Earth.
Andy is a legendary Mahjong player. Years ago Andy’s passion for Mahjong cost his family their entire fortune, his brother Louis then turned against him. Thus now Louis suffers from economy downturn. Andy offers to take care of him and their aging mother. Meanwhile, Louis is being trapped by a job interview supervisor and her cons, Sean. Andy revenged Sean by beating him at the game table. Gigi, Andy’s ex-flame, is increasing disappointment in Andy’s rejection, she wishes he’ll never win at the Mahjong table again. Oddly, Gigi’s words come true….
Über Goober focuses on the often-misunderstood, sometimes-controversial, and always-kind-of-geeky world of Gamers. Director Steve Metze examines several different groups including historical miniature gamers, role-players, and those known simply as “LARPers.” The film also explores opposition from religious groups, negative media portrayals, and some of the meanest ‘man-on-the-street’ interviews ever committed to video. Meet the Gamers, learn their exotic language, see their bizarre rituals, gasp at their semi-authentic costumes, and thrill to the painting techniques on their miniatures!
Interviews with varied U.S officials and experts offer a deconstruction on the Bush administration’s case for war in Iraq in the wake of 9/11.
White Diamond: A Personal Portrait of Kylie Minogue is a 2007 documentary film directed and produced by William Baker and chronicling the life of Australian singer Kylie Minogue during her Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour in 2005. White Diamond was filmed between August 2006 and March 2007 in both Australia and the United Kingdom and follows Australian pop singer-songwriter Kylie Minogue on concert tour before and during her resurrected Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour, originally abandoned halfway through its original 2005 run, in Sydney, when Minogue was diagnosed with breast cancer. Intended as a document of Minogue’s return to the stage following her treatment and recovery from cancer, the film also features on-stage and back-stage footage and interviews with a number of Minogue’s tour crew, including Baker himself.
“I Have Never Forgotten You” is a comprehensive look at the life and legacy of Simon Wiesenthal, the famed Nazi hunter and humanitarian. Narrated by Academy Award winning actress Nicole Kidman, it features interviews with longtime Wiesenthal associates, government leaders from around the world, friends and family members–many of whom have never discussed the legendary Nazi hunter and humanitarian on camera. Previously unseen archival film and photos also highlight the film. What was the driving force behind his work? What kept him going when for years the odds were against his efforts? What is his legacy today, more than 60 years after the end of World War Two?
In an unprecedented and candid series of interviews, six former heads of the Shin Bet — Israel’s intelligence and security agency — speak about their role in Israel’s decades-long counterterrorism campaign, discussing their controversial methods and whether the ends ultimately justify the means. (TIFF)
“The Principle” brings to light astonishing new scientific observations challenging the Copernican Principle; the foundational assumption underlying the modern scientific world view. The idea that the Earth occupies no special or favored position in the cosmos has launched the last two scientific revolutions – the Copernican Revolution and Relativity – and, as Lawrence Krauss has said, we could be on the verge of a third, with “Copernicus coming back to haunt us”. Interviews with leading cosmologists are interspersed with the views of dissidents and mavericks, bringing into sharp focus the challenges and implications not only for cosmology, but for our cultural and religious view of reality.
Through an oral history format of in-depth interviews and archival footage, RIOT ON THE DANCE FLOOR bring to life the gritty story of City Gardens, one of New Jersey’s most infamous clubs and its larger than life promoter, Randy Now. Featuring the stark and iconic photography of Thrasher Magazine’s Ken Salerno, the film chronicles the rise of several different music scenes in a venue for underground music that traversed the entertainment spectrum; from the comedy of Henny Youngman to Nine Inch Nails, New Order to Nirvana. It is the story of musical champions, underdogs and how hoards of misfit kids found an unlikely home and above all, the freedom and liberation of having complete creative control. – IFF Boston
Rich Peppiatt delivers a satirical dissection of the newspaper trade by turning the tables on unscrupulous editors. Through a series of mischievous stunts and interviews with heavyweights of journalism, comedy & politics, Peppiatt hilariously exposes the hypocrisy at the heart of modern journalism.
A feature length documentary film representing the ‘B’ side to the 2012 release ‘Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap’. A hard hitting story of life and death in South Central Los Angeles. A struggle beyond the nearby Hollywood limelight among people for whom state intervention comes mostly with a siren attached. Amsterdam Film Festival Winner World Cinema Documentary Editing Award 2014.
The Muslims Are Coming follows a band of Muslim-American comedians as they visit big cities, small towns, rural villages, and everything in between to combat Islamophobia! These Muzzies not only perform standup at each tour stop but create ridiculous interventions in unsuspecting town squares, like the ol’ classic, “Ask a Muslim Booth.”
Don Collier has a wonderful life and family, but no time to enjoy either. His impossible boss even has him collecting signatures for a huge project the day before Christmas, but as he goes office to office it seems that every signer is a ghost from his past, and he soon begins to wonder if this is coincidence… or heavenly intervention.
Doc Pomus’ dramatic life is one of American music’s great untold stories. Paralyzed with polio as a child, Brooklyn-born Jerome Felder reinvented himself as a blues singer, renaming himself Doc Pomus, then emerged as one of the most brilliant songwriters of the early rock and roll era, writing “Save the Last Dance for Me,” “This Magic Moment,” “A Teenager in Love,” “Viva Las Vegas,” and dozens of other hits. Spearheaded and co-produced by his daughter, Sharyn Felder, and packed with incomparable music and rare archival imagery, this documentary features interviews with collaborators and friends including Dr. John, Ben E. King, Joan Osborne, Shawn Colvin, Dion, Leiber and Stoller, and B.B. King, as well as passages from Doc’s private journals read by his close friend Lou Reed.
Of Two Minds explores the extraordinary lives, struggles and successes of three unique and compelling people living with bipolar disorder in America today. Through a combination of intimate verité and revealing interviews, we experience what it feels like to be bipolar – from exquisite feelings of grandiosity and sensuality to the depths of despair and depression. A journey from the painful to the painfully funny, Of Two Minds puts a human face on the illness, opening an engaging, harrowing and perception-changing view on those all around us who live in bipolar’s shadows…our sisters and brothers, parents and friends, and ourselves.
Take a look at Tarantino’s career from the beginning, with interviews from co-workers, critics, stars and master filmmakers alike as well as a tribute to his greatest collaborator, Sally Menke. Produced for the ‘Tarantino XX’ Blu-ray collection
THE LOTTERY OF BIRTH is the first in a three-part documentary series entitled ‘Creating Freedom’ exploring the relationship between freedom, power and control in Western democracies. The series draws together interviews with some of the world’s leading intellectuals, journalists and activists to offer an alternative perspective on today’s society and the future we’re creating. We do not choose to exist, or the environment we grow up in. Our starting point in life is one of passive reliance on forces over which we have no control. THE LOTTERY OF BIRTH shows that from birth onwards our minds are a battleground of competing forces: familial, educational, cultural, and professional. The outcome of this battle not only determines who we become, but the society that we create.
After running into a neighbourhood acquaintance at the local used record store who shared his list of 15 reasons to live, Alan Zweig felt a strong compulsion to make a film on the subject, despite his admission, “I didn’t make lists and I never thought about reasons to live.” From this inspiration begins a series of episodic chapters adapted to the themes of Ray Robertson’s collection of essays. The participants are as eclectic as the list, sharing personal anecdotes related to (among other themes) work, love, intoxication, humour, solitude, duty, home and death. Humorous and sometimes heartbreaking, Zweig’s compassion for his subjects and their stories, expressed through his conversational and candid interview style, ties these vignettes together in a visual essay that strikes deeper chords about finding meaning in our existence. Amongst his subjects’ reasons to live Zweig finds a couple of his own in his touching, honest and endearing way.
Once a vibrant part of American culture, drive-ins reached their peak in the late 1950s with almost 5,000 dotting the nation. Although drive-ins are experiencing a resurgence, today less than 400 remain. In a nation that loves cars and movies, why haven’t they survived? April Wright’s lovingly made documentary–filled with archival images of hundreds of open and closed drive-in theaters and interviews with theater owners and cinema luminaries such as Roger Corman–attempts to answer that question.
A documentary directed by Grammy- and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Thom Zimny. The ninety-minute film combines never-before-seen footage of Springsteen and the E Street Band shot between 1976 and 1978—including home rehearsals and studio sessions—with new interviews with Springsteen, E Street Band members, manager Jon Landau, former-manager Mike Appel, and others closely involved in the making of the record.
James Hunt has never been equalled. Could swashbuckling Hunt catch the scientific Lauda? Could Niki overcome an appalling crash to come back from the dead and fight James all the way to the last race of the season? This powerful story captures the heart of the 1970s – told through unseen footage and exclusive interviews with the people who were really there – the team managers, families, journalists and friends who were in the front row of the season that changed Formula 1 forever.
Xiaoxian’s life is right on track. She has a steady job at an upscale wedding planning company, a cute apartment, and most importantly, a loving boyfriend of 7 years. Any day now, Xiaoxian is sure that he’ll pop the question. But everything comes crashing down when she discovers that he’s actually cheating on her— with her best friend. How could things go so wrong? Dumped and heartbroken, Xiaoxian is a total mess. It doesn’t help that she has to face perky brides every day. Things go from bad to worse until her sassy, but jaded, co-worker Jian intervenes. It’s not that Jian really cares. It’s more that he’s sick of witnessing her pathetic decline. Xiaoxian seriously needs to get a grip. 33 days into her breakup, Jian’s brand of tough love is working, but Xiaoxian still can’t help wondering: will she ever get a chance at love again?
The digital revolution of the last decade has unleashed creativity and talent of people in an unprecedented way, unleashing unlimited creative opportunites. But does democratized culture mean better art, film, music and literature or is true talent instead flooded and drowned in the vast digital ocean of mass culture? Is it cultural democracy or mediocrity? This is the question addressed by PressPausePlay, a documentary film containing interviews with some of the world’s most influential creators of the digital era.
Beloved by children of all ages around the world, Elmo is an international icon. Few people know his creator, Kevin Clash, who dreamed of working with his idol, master puppeteer Jim Henson. Displaying his creativity and talent at a young age, Kevin ultimately found a home on Sesame Street. Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg, this documentary includes rare archival footage, interviews with Frank Oz, Rosie O’Donnell, Cheryl Henson, Joan Ganz Cooney and others and offers a behind-the-scenes look at Sesame Street and the Jim Henson Workshop.
Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese and his longtime documentary collaborator David Tedeschi, A 50 Year Argument rides the waves of literary, political, and cultural history as charted by the The New York Review of Books, America’s leading journal of ideas for over 50 years. Provocative, idiosyncratic and incendiary, the film weaves rarely seen archival material, contributor interviews, excerpts from writings by such icons as James Baldwin, Gore Vidal, and Joan Didion along with original verité footage filmed in the Review’s West Village offices. Confrontation and original argument are in the Review’s DNA – the magazine seems as vital now as when it was run by its indefatigable founding editors, Robert Silvers and the late Barbara Epstein. Co-produced with the BBC’s award-winning Arena and shaped by Scorcese’s vivid filmmaking style, The Fifty Year Argument captures the power of ideas in influencing history.
The Walking Dead Girls is a behind-the-scenes look into zombie culture in the United States and the obsession into “”Sexy Female Zombies””. What is it about Zombie Bimbos or “”Zimbies”” that are starting to gain the worlds interest? Why are zombies now in mainstream culture and seen in advertising from JCPenny and Sears? With interviews with zombie master maker George Romero and cult movie star Bruce Campbell from ZomBcon 2010 and so much more. “”The Walking Dead Girls”” is a sexy look into the zombie phenomenon created by George Romero that is 40 years in the making
Cocky young attorney Michael Gray finds himself framed for murder when an inmate he is defending violently kills himself during their interview at South River State Penitentiary. Now locked in the same nightmarish Cell 213 where his client died, he soon realizes that unnatural forces are behind a string of inmate suicides, making matters of guilt and innocence not as cut and dry as they seem.
More money flows through the family courts, and into the hands of courthouse insiders, than in all other court systems in America combined – over $50 billion a year and growing. Through extensive research and interviews with the nation’s top divorce lawyers, mediators, judges, politicians, litigants and journalists, DIVORCE CORP. uncovers how children are torn from their homes, unlicensed custody evaluators extort money, and abusive judges play god with people’s lives while enriching their friends. This explosive documentary reveals the family courts as unregulated, extra-constitutional fiefdoms. Rather than assist victims of domestic crimes, these courts often precipitate them. And rather than help parents and children move on, as they are mandated to do, these courts – and their associates – drag out cases for years, sometimes decades, ultimately resulting in a rash of social ills, including home foreclosure, bankruptcy, suicide and violence.