Search
Renowned documentary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker captures Otis Redding in his ascendancy, singing at the historic Monterey International Pop Festival in June 1967. Comedian Tom Smothers introduces Redding to a crowd that is leaving — until Redding grabs them with his charged rendition of “Shake.” Redding’s performance also includes “Respect” (which he wrote), “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long,” “Satisfaction,” and “Try a Little Tenderness.” Tragically, Redding died in a plane crash six months later. An innovative filmmaker who started in the 1950s making experimental films, Pennebaker garnered an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature in 1993 for The War Room, his behind-the-scenes look at Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign. His other subjects have included Norman Mailer, Bob Dylan, and David Bowie.
Winner of twelve awards, including Best UK Feature at the 2015 London Independent Film Festival, this compelling British drama is a provocative exploration of a family torn apart by secrets. Party-girl Nora drinks too much, can’t hold down a job and pushes away everyone she loves. After her long-suffering boyfriend throws her out, Nora is forced to return home to live with her aging father. Once inside her childhood home, the ghosts of her past begin to haunt her until the secret she has buried for so long is finally revealed. Centered around a terrible mistake and a shocking confession, Solitary takes an unflinching look at the price one family pays when they sacrifice the truth for an illusion.
The story of the descent into madness of Mussolini’s secret first wife, Ida Dasler, who was seduced by his passion and vigour but blind to the fascist dictator’s many flaws. A historical drama with the passion, lyricism and tragedy of a classical Italian opera. Nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.
Here and There (Serbian: Tamo i ovde) is a Serbian film which was premiered at the Belgrade Film Festival FEST 2009. Here and There follows two interconnected stories on two different continents. Robert (Thornton), a depressed New Yorker, tries to make quick cash and ends up in Serbia, where instead of money he finds his soul. At the same time, a young Serbian immigrant, Branko (Trifunović), struggles in an unforgiving New York, desperately trying to bring his girlfriend from Serbia to the United States. Mirijana Karanović plays Branko’s mother.
American: The Bill Hicks Story is a biographical documentary film on the life of comedian Bill Hicks. The film was produced by Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas, and features archival footage and interviews with family and friends, including Kevin Booth. The filmmakers used a cut-and-paste animation technique to add movement to a large collection of still pictures used to document events in Hicks’ life. The film made its North American premiere at the 2010 South by Southwest Film Festival. The film was nominated for a 2010 Grierson British Documentary Award for the “Most Entertaining Documentary” category. It was also nominated for Best Graphics and Animation category in the 2011 Cinema Eye Awards. Awards won include The Dallas Film Festivals Texas Filmmaker Award, at Little Rock The Oxford American’s Best Southern Film Award, and Best Documentary at the Downtown LA Film Festival. On Rotten Tomatoes, 81% of the first 47 reviews counted were rated positive.
This first feature film from Indian playwright Anand Gandhi, tells three stories about persons forced to think about the ethics and moral issues raised by medical advances: a visually impaired Egyptian photographer, who after a cornea transplant has trouble adjusting to her newfound sense of sight; a devout Indian monk fighting against animal testing, who has to confront his beliefs when he is diagnosed with liver cirrhosis; and an Indian stockbroker, who after having a kidney transplant learns about the illegal trade in stolen organs and decides to help a poor victim of such theft – even though it means travelling all the way from India to Sweden.
The film was first shown at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival, where it received great critical acclaim and was touted as “the hidden gem of the year”. It was released in India in July 2013, and was awarded Best Feature Film of 2013 at the Indian National Film Awards in 2014.
As a visually radical memoir, CAMERAPERSON draws on the remarkable footage that filmmaker Kirsten Johnson has shot and reframes it in ways that illuminate moments and situations that have personally affected her. What emerges is an elegant meditation on the relationship between truth and the camera frame, as Johnson transforms scenes that have been presented on Festival screens as one kind of truth into another kind of story—one about personal journey, craft, and direct human connection.
From the biggest festival to the smallest church social, Kenny Smyth delivers porta-loos to them all. Ignored and unappreciated, he is one of the cogs in society’s machinery; a knight in shining overalls taking care of business with his faithful ‘Splashdown’ crew.
Trapped in a damaged cryogenic pod, a man is forced to watch a series of horrific science-fiction tales while his life support systems run out. Featuring eight intense stories of the unknown and other-worldly, equally wonderful and terrifying. Visit the GALAXY OF HORRORS, if you dare! Curated from Rue Morgue & Unstable Ground’s Little Terrors Festival.
Filmmaker and art theorist Dr. Francisco J. Ricardo delves into the creative mind of the multi-faceted James Franco in this innovative documentary or film essay. As the two converse on Franco’s thoughts and process in executing some of his early experimental art and film work, the viewer is privy to these art pieces, some of which were rarely seen outside of a film festival or art show.
On a business trip to the Cannes Film Festival, Manhee is accused of being dishonest, and fired. A teacher named Claire goes around taking photos with a Polaroid camera. She gets to know Manhee and sympathizes with her. Claire is like a person who can see Manhee’s possible future or past selves, through the mysterious power of the beach tunnel. Through taking photos, Claire has acquired the ability to look slowly at things, and to transform objects. Now, Claire goes with Manhee to the café where she was fired. We look forward to seeing Claire’s power at work.
Vic Edwards was one of the biggest movie stars in the world, known for his mustachioed good looks and cocky swagger. With his Hollywood glory a distant memory, the now-octogenarian Vic is prompted to reassess his life with the passing of his beloved dog and the arrival of an invitation to receive a lifetime achievement award from the (fictional) International Nashville Film Festival.
Set over three summers at The Westival, a fictional West Australian rural folk festival redoubtable local radio personality ‘Queenie’ describes as “Australia in a tent”. Two young musicians fall in love against a wider collection of tales dealing with a microcosm of contemporary discussion points, including Indigenous, immigration and refugee issues.
For generations, it was an urban legend that lived in the nightmares of children. Now, the season to rejuvenate the tale will revive a town’s darkest fears. With the Scarecrow Festival on the horizon, school teacher Aaron Harris is doling out punishment for six students serving detention. Their task: help Aaron’s girlfriend Amanda fix her family farm before it’s sold. But the cornfields circling the farm come with a legend and Tyler takes macabre delight in recounting the tale: It never sleeps, it never dies, it can’t be stopped, hear their cries.
Fans flock to a festival celebrating the most iconic horror movies, only to discover that the charismatic showman behind the event has a diabolical agenda. As attendees start dying off, three teenagers with more horror-film wits than real-world knowledge must band together and battle through every madman, monstrosity, and terrifying scenario if they have any hope of surviving.
Character actor Tom Lenk (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing) has long dreamed of performing in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the world’s largest theater arts festival. Nerdgasm follows Tom’s journey through all things nerdy as he prepares to fulfill his aspirations and struggles with his inner demons along the way.
Orchestra Rehearsal (Italian: Prova d’orchestra) is a 1978 Italian film directed by Federico Fellini. It follows an Italian orchestra as the members go on strike against the conductor. The film was shown out of competition at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival. Considered by some to be underrated Orchestra Rehearsal was the last collaboration between composer Nino Rota and Fellini, due to Rota’s death in 1979.
Featuring performances by popular artists of the 1960s, this concert film highlights the music of the 1967 California festival. Although not all musicians who performed at the Monterey Pop Festival are on film, some of the notable acts include the Mamas and the Papas, Simon & Garfunkel, Jefferson Airplane, the Who, Otis Redding, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Hendrix’s post-performance antics — lighting a guitar on fire, breaking it and tossing a part into the audience — are captured.
The life story of traditional Irish folk singer Joe Heaney, who is estimated to have recorded in excess of 500 traditional Irish sean nós (‘old style’) songs. Heaney moved from Ireland to the UK, and then on to New York City, where he settled shortly after performing at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.
After his family falls apart Joshua (writer/co-director/star Aaron Ellis) is forced to move to Canada. It is there he meets Jay (Justin Liles), a local tattoo artist who fled the violent actions of his parents back home in Alabama. Both young men, abandoned and lonely in their own way, find themselves falling for one another… until a pair of high school brats intrude on the boys’ growing relationship. This LGBT film has won numerous awards at film festivals, including Best LGBT Feature Film at the Accolade Competition and the Independent Filmmakers Showcase IFS Film Festival, as well as Best Leading Actor and Narrative Feature at the IndieFEST Film Awards.
Rihito Sajo, an honor student with a perfect score on the entrance exam and Hikaru Kusakabe, in a band and popular among girls, would have never crossed paths. Until one day they started talking at the practice for their school’s upcoming chorus festival. After school, the two meet regularly, as Hikaru helps Rihito to improve his singing skills. While they listen to each other’s voice and harmonize, their hearts start to beat together.
Another Period’s Natasha Leggero hosts an all-star lineup of today’s finest comedians in part one of this two-part showcase filmed live at the 2016 SXSW Comedy Festival. Along with some star-studded sneak peeks at the festival, catch hilarious sets from Baron Vaughn, Andrew Santino, Emily Heller, James Adomian, and Moshe Kasher.
In the center of the recent Tribeca Film Festival scandal surrounding his film VAXXED: From Cover-up to Controversy stands Andrew Wakefield, discredited and stripped of his medical license for his infamous study suggesting a link between the MMR vaccine, bowel disease, and autism. THE PATHOLOGICAL OPTIMIST takes us into the inner sanctum of Wakefield and his family from 2011- 2016 as he fights for his day in court in a little known defamation case against the British Medical Journal. Wakefield attempts to clear his name as the media-appointed Father of the Anti-vaccine movement. Director Miranda Bailey weaves a delicate portrait of a man who is THE PATHOLOGICAL OPTIMIST utilizing a never-before-seen, full access look at the man at the center of one of the biggest medical and media controversies of our times.
Christmas in the charming town of Briar Falls will be bittersweet this year when architect Nell goes back to her hometown having been given the job of turning the historic Majestic Playhouse into a modern multiplex, much to the town’s objections. The Playhouse has been home to their annual Christmas tableaux, which will now have to end after a long and historic tradition to the town. This job is Nell’s first promotion, and one she wishes she hadn’t been chosen for, especially when she meets the new owner of the theater, Connor, whose vision and ideas clash with Nell’s. Since Connor hasn’t had much experience celebrating Christmas, Nell hopes that if she can give him a crash course in Christmas during the town’s Twelve Day Festival, that he might just change his mind about modernizing the Majestic.
When a quiet intruder enters a Manhattan loft, it becomes home to a geopolitical act that no one can notice. Official Selection of the Montreal World Film Festival and Warsaw Film Festival.
The Go Master is a 2006 biopic by director Tian Zhuangzhuang of renowned twentieth century Go master Wu Qingyuan, better known by his adopted name of Go Seigen. The film, which premiered at the 44th New York Film Festival, focuses on the life of this extraordinary player from his meteoric rise as a child prodigy to fame and fortune as a revolutionary strategic thinker, as well as the tumultuous global conflicts between his homeland and his adopted nation. The film also features a scene involving the Atomic bomb go game.
This “Best Fiction Film Winner”* follows Valentine, a female assassin who is trapped in a room with one of her marks during the last few minutes of his life. The moment changes her own life as she vows to give up the business and seek redemption by finding the son of the man she has killed. But once in the small desert town of “Godfree”, which may or may not be stranger than the world she has just left, her old life returns to haunt her. Convinced she has joined forces with an elusive ex-assassin named “Cupid”, her former comrades hunt her down and soon discover that some things are not what they appear…. *Hollywood Documentary And Fiction Film Festival (2006)
A 2008 documentary and debut feature film of Bafta-Award nominated director Jamie Jay Johnson. It follows the lives of the participants of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007, specifically the entrants from Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Georgia. The film sees them proceed from the national finals that saw them crowned the representatives of their country through to the international song festival itself held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands where they each compete against 16 other acts.
Lucas Simons has become obsessed with death following the loss of his older brother. A shy child, Lucas spends most of his free time filming funerals in an attempt to understand what happens when we die. When Lucas accidentally captures a mysterious presence in one of his films and posts it online, he inadvertently becomes a YouTube phenomenon and the target of media speculation. Suddenly, he and his grief-numbed parents find themselves thrust into the spotlight, shaking them out of their complacency while complicating their relationship. Lucas’s quest for answers leads him toward an unlikely friendship with Chris Brighton (Tim Meadows), a local author who died for nine minutes and lived to tell about it. As Chris takes on a mentor role to Lucas, he helps him navigate the fame while teaching him how to embrace life again and live larger than the shadow of death. (from Nashville Film Festival)
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.
Frank is left with the responsibility for his nephew Bo on an already planned canoe trip. Frank’s mate Casper is also coming along. Weighed down a with their obligation, Frank and Casper nevertheless look forward to ending the trip at Skanderborg Festival where there’s plenty there for the guys, a spree of drinking and women. Not the best example to set for young Bo. And how do their partners see it all?
The miraculous discovery of a hand-colored print of the world-famous TRIP TO THE MOON, the 1902 Georges Melies film, that took 12 years to restore, and opened the Cannes Film Festival in May 2011. The story of this film, from its shooting more than a century ago to its spectacular revival in 2011, is the subject of THE EXTRAORDINARY VOYAGE, the film Serge Bromberg and Eric Lange just completed, which will world premiere at Moma, in New York, November 11, at 7pm, along with the George Melies film with a new spectacular sound track by French group AIR.
While seeking answers to a past he cannot remember, a schizophrenic must find the strength to control his mental illness as he tries to build relationships with those he pushed away. Winner of multiple festival awards.
The Kingdom of the People of the Vale once ruled over the land, but now all that remains is the Sword of the Vale. in the city of Eindoak. Ash, Iris, and Cilan arrive in Eindoak during a harvest festival’s Pokémon Tournament and meet the legendary Pokémon Victini who wishes to share its powers of victory to someone. Elsewhere in the city, a descendant of the People of the Vale named Damon has arrived who seeks to revive the kingdom’s power with the Sword of the Vale, bringing them back into power over the land, and Ash and his friends must stop him before he destroys the land along with Victini.
Magic Tree House is a 2011 Japanese anime drama film based on the American children fantasy series of the same name. The film is directed by Hiroshi Nishikiori, and the film’s screenplay was adapted from the Japanese version of the novel series Magic Tree House by Ichiro Okouchi. The film stars actress Keiko Kitagawa as Jack, and also stars child actress Mana Ashida as Annie. Magic Tree House debuted at the 24th Tokyo International Film Festival on 23 October 2011. It was subsequently released in Japanese cinemas on 7 January 2012.
Timothy Hughes (Adrian Lockett) returns back from War only to face tragedy. His brother has been murdered , and they have no witnesses. which sends him on a downward spiral of Violence along with his Uncle ( DSR legend, Big Tuck), while being pursued by a DEA Agent (Christian Petrovich) under investigation , who takes one last chance at a new life but digs himself deeper than he ever thought. – Meanwhile a young Hispanic youth (Alexander Luna) gets in over his head trying to impress a Girl , that takes him down a dangerous road to the Mexican Cartel. Unknown to all 3, their lives will soon Collide . From RISING upcoming Director JUAN SALAS, comes this 8X Award Winning Indie EPIC. WINNER of Best Feature, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Editing across several Festivals.
“The big ALL FUN show for the whole family to enjoy!” was the tagline for this musical comedy classic. Sir Howard Morrison (as himself) and Rotorua are the stars in the tiki-flavoured tale. Moving from Sydney to a Rotorua music festival the plot centres on a romance between a young drummer (Gary Wallace) and his girl Judy (Carmen Duncan) and the hurdles they face to stay true. But this is only an excuse for a melange of madcap, pep-filled musical fun. Made by John O’Shea’s Pacific Films, it features Kiri Te Kanawa, Lew Pryme and Aussie star Norman Rowe.
Halloween is almost here and George can’t wait for the festivities to begin: carving pumpkins, costume contests, and especially the Annual Boo Festival. Eager to get the festivities started, George and Allie visit Renkins’ Farm to pick out the perfect pumpkin. There, they are told the spooky tale of the Legend of No Noggin. As the story goes, No Noggin is a hat-kicking scarecrow who appears on Halloween to kick people’s hats off. On Halloween night, George and Allie are determined to get a picture of No Noggin and prove he’s real once and for all. Will they be able to get the proof? Only the curious will find out!
Turo is stuck in a small village and the best thing in his life is being the lead vocalist for the amateur metal band Impaled Rektum. He and his bandmates have practiced for 12 years without playing a single gig. The guys get a surprise visitor from Norway — the promoter for a huge heavy metal music festival — and decide it’s now or never. They steal a van, a corpse, and even a new drummer to make their dreams a reality.
In the glitzy, glittering futuristic world of 1994, music is king — and the man who controls it is all-powerful malicious mogul Mr. Boogalow. Now he has his eye on two fresh-faced young singers, Alphie and Bibi, who score a hit at his WorldVision Song Festival and fall under the irresistible spell of fame, money, and temptation.