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From the perspectives of a dozen diverse viewers, this documentary short explores the peculiar ritual of watching film. How is the medium experienced by people with sensory impairments, strong religious beliefs, or lovesickness? A story about moving images and their audience.
Chinatown Fair opened as a penny arcade on Mott Street in 1944. Over the decades, the dimly lit gathering place, known for its tic-tac-toe playing chicken, became an institution, surviving turf wars between rival gangs, changing tastes and the explosive growth of home gaming systems like Xbox and Playstation that shuttered most other arcades in the city. But as the neighborhood gentrified, this haven for a diverse, unlikely community faced its strongest challenge, inspiring its biggest devotees to next-level greatness.
A revealing look into the lives of students who put it all on the line to be selected, proving that a free education is never without a cost. ‘Selected’ is a documentary about the challenges of public urban education. Through unprecedented access in a Chicago public school, ‘Selected’ explores leadership, triumphs and losses in one of the most culturally and economically diverse schools in the country. ‘Selected’ investigates the impact of being educated in a true melting pot environment and the effect it has on education, acceptance, tolerance and a worldview. It illustrates what is possible when great leadership, diverse cultures and extraordinary minds come together. These interwoven stories highlight the benefits, and unintended consequences, of select schools and society’s constant struggle with urban education.
Actor Stephen Tobolowsky has acted in over 200 TV shows and films over the past 40 years, possessing one of the most dazzlingly diverse filmographies on the planet. But even more compelling than the stories he’s been apart of onscreen are those he tells offscreen. In ‘The Primary Instinct,’ Stephen plays himself and uses the art of storytelling to take the audience through a riveting and moving journey about life, love, and Hollywood. Along the way, he just may answer one of the questions that’s dogged humanity since the beginning of time: Why do we tell stories in the first place?
Meet the Mormons examines the very diverse lives of six devout Mormons. Filmed on location and across the globe, Meet the Mormons takes viewers on a journey into the day-to-day realities of individuals living in the U.S., Costa Rica, Nepal and beyond. From their individual passions to their daily struggles, each story paints a picture as rich and unique as the next while challenging the stereotypes that surround the Mormon faith.
Forced to work an extra shift, two young baristas must come to terms with their own relationship while being bombarded by the very different issues of their diverse customers.
Recording a 24-hour period throughout every country in the world, we explore a greater diversity of perspectives than ever seen before on screen. We follow characters and events that evolve throughout the day, interspersed with expansive global montages that explore the progression of life from birth, to death, to birth again. In the end, despite unprecedented challenges and tragedies throughout the world, we are reminded that every day we are alive there is hope and a choice to see a better future together. Founded in 2008, it set out to explore our planet’s identity and challenges in an attempt to answer the question: Who are we?
Marital fidelity can wear you down, and Ondra and Vitek are certainly suffering from a case of serious fatigue. Working side by side and living next door to each other, it doesn’t take long before these two long-married middle-aged pals start comparing sex notes, and it’s plain to see their latest scores have fallen far below what they would have hoped. Luckily, a surprise holiday on a tropical island rekindles their interest in their wives – only they don’t exacly lust after their designated partners. With no one to divert their attention, their roaming eyes inevitably settle on the wrong spouse, and pretty soon they’ve established their own little Holy Quaternity.
In 19th Century New England, the lives of a diverse group of people collide through interweaving stories of despair, identity, faith, hope and trust.
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.
Follows five trekkers and a local Chagga guide to the top of Kilimanjaro, the largest freestanding mountain in the world. Along their journey this diverse group of trekkers encounter strange landscapes and endure harsh conditions as they travel through five climate zones ranging from the lower rainforest reaches of Kilimanjaro to the summit’s arctic glaciers.
Follows six diverse trainers as they jockey for position along the 2006 Kentucky Derby trail.
A diverse group of friends gather for the festive season in a remote lodge but soon plans go awry. One of the friends goes missing and the truth behind why the lodge was booked for the holiday is disclosed. Christmas quickly turns to chaos and a bloody nightmare ensues.
‘Blood on the Mountain’ focuses on the environmental and economic injustice and corporate control in West Virginia and its rippling effect on all American workers. This film will tell the story of a hard-working people who have historically had limited choices and have never benefited fairly from the rich natural resources of their land. The failure to diversify the economy has insured control by outside, unrestricted corporations with the support of politicians kept in their positions by these very same companies.
Tungsten deals with the idea of electricity as a metaphor, the scenery is urban, and the plot is unfolded during a single day. One day in Athens, continuous outages, and a final blackout, caused by the strike of technicians at the electricity company. A day during which, six people’s lives are being crossed and diverted.
When the Soviet Army marched into Romania in 1944, a part of the Romanian population went “into the mountains” – a diverse assortment of nationalists and fascists, liberals, apolitical farmers and members of the middle-class, who were affected by the Communists’ expropriations. Over a thousand armed resistance groups took refuge in the inaccessible forests of the Carpathian Mountains where they waited in vain for the support of the Western Allies. One of them was led by Ion Gavrilă-Ogoranu, who managed to remain undetected until 1976 when he was arrested. This film depicts the daily existence of this group. It tells the story of a struggle that became an end in itself, as the enemy was constantly in pursuit and arrest meant torture and often liquidation. Hungry and emotionally withdrawn, the group of young men got entangled in a partisan war that could not be won, lost in the landscape of the South Carpathians, accompanied by a vigilant secret police, the Securitate.
Journey of the Universe is an epic documentary exploring the human connection to Earth and the cosmos, from producer-directors Patsy Northcutt and David Kennard director of Carl Sagan s Cosmos and Hero s Journey: The World of Joseph Campbell. Big science, big history, big story, this one-of-a-kind film was created by a renowned team of scientists, scholars, and award-winning filmmakers, led by co-writers Brian Thomas Swimme, the acclaimed author and evolutionary philosopher, and Yale University historian of religions Mary Evelyn Tucker. They weave a tapestry that draws together scientific discoveries in astronomy, geology, biology, ecology, and biodiversity with humanistic insights concerning the nature of the universe.
As Josh struggles with the death of his wife Sam, his grief begins to manifest itself in haunting and strange ways. When Josh comes face to face with his dead wife who is somehow alive and well, he slowly realizes that his world consists of two divergent realities. As he journeys between the two realms, hopeful of recreating the life he shared with Sam, tragedy ensues.
As autism has exploded into the public consciousness over the last 20 years, two opposing questions have been asked about the condition fueling the debate: is it a devastating sickness to be cured or is the variation of the human brain just a different way to be human? The film takes a look at two movements; the recovery movement, which views autism as a tragic epidemic brought on by environmental toxins, and the neurodiversity movement, which argues that autism should be accepted and that autistic people should be supported. After his son’s diagnosis, filmmaker Todd Drezner visits the front lines of the autism wars to learn more about the debate and provide information about a condition that is still difficult to comprehend.
FOREST TALE is a family film unique Finnish forests, the colorful and diverse life. film starring Forest by numerous individuals: the bears and deer, snakes and owls, ants, frogs and flying squirrels, the ancient soul of birds such as the Siberian jay, woodpecker and many, many others. Central role are also hundreds of years old trees. There is still a primeval forest is an impressive experience, and gives us a reason to respect the forest environment like the old days of his contemporaries did. around a campfire in the woods has always been told and listened to
Eoghan is a sound-recordist who is returning to Ireland from Berlin for the first time in 15 years. His reason for returning is a job offer: to find and record places free from man-made sound. His quest takes him away from towns and villages into remote terrain. Throughout his journey, he is drawn into a series of encounters and conversations which gradually divert his attention towards a more intangible silence, one that is bound up with the sounds of the life he had left behind. Influenced by elements of folklore and archive, “Silence” unfolds with a quiet intensity, where poetic images reveal an absorbing meditation on themes relating to sound and silence, history, memory and exile.
In 1985, former oil rig worker Richard Linklater began a film screening society in Austin, Texas, that aimed to show classic art-house and experimental films to a budding community of cinephiles. Eventually incorporating as a nonprofit, the newly branded Austin Film Society raised enough money to fly in their first out-of-town filmmaker: James Benning. Accepting the invitation, Benning met Linklater and the two began to develop a personal and intellectual bond, leading to many future encounters. Starting in the 1960s, Benning had been creating low budget films mostly on his own, while Linklater had just begun to craft his first shorts. The filmmakers have remained close even as their careers have diverged. After the cult success of Slacker, Linklater went on to make films with Hollywood support. Benning, meanwhile, has stayed close to his roots and is mainly an unknown figure in mainstream film culture.
From the creators of the epic film series ‘MOTO The Movie’, The Assignment Inc. is proud to present their latest and most anticipated installment to the film franchise, MOTO 5. Without reservation this is by far the biggest and baddest of the MOTO The Movie films. Tag along with upcoming star Cooper Webb as he escapes to the exclusive Chaney Ranch to reflect on his first season as a pro; watch Tyler Bereman hone his bike skills in the Washingon Dunes and SoCal hills; see how Adam Cianciarulo shadows Ryan Villopoto in hopes of becoming one of the greats; go on a sand-blasting, soul-searching journey into the desert with X-Games superstar Ronnie Renner; watch Zach Osborne train to be one of the most diverse MX and off-road riders on the planeth
Every teenager thinks their parents are evil. What if you found out they actually were? Six diverse teenagers who can barely stand each other must unite against a common foe – their parents.
Follow the life and crimes of five diverse and treacherous manicurists working at the Nail Artisan of Manatee County salon, where there is a lot more going on than silk wraps and pedicures.
Scuba-diver turned beach-bum Jonathan Slade is forced back into his previous milieu – the world of international espionage – in order to retrieve Black Boxes from an American jetliner that crashed under mysterious circumstances into the Black Sea. With his computer-hacker younger brother, Slade travels to a resort on the Russian-Turkish border to begin his quest. To his surprise and dismay, he’s now joined by another secret agent, a beautiful but highly-skilled woman named Alex. As they begin diving in search of the downed jetliner, Slade and Alex begin to suspect they’re being manipulated by higher-ups who may not be committed to American interests.
This award winning documentary, narrated by Lou Reed, explores the breadth and depth of Occupy Wall Street and how it quickly grew from a small park in lower Manhattan to an international movement. The film highlights why people from diverse age, ethnic and financial backgrounds support the movement and its focus of removing money from politics in order to reclaim democracy from entrenched corporate interests so that critical issues including job creation, affordable access to health and education, protecting the environment and gun safety can be fully addressed. Featuring interviews with a wide range of subjects including Occupiers, economist Jeffrey Sachs and business magnate Russell Simmons.
Through the voices of Americans from all walks of life, The Out List explores the identities of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community in America. In this series of intimate interviews, a diverse group of LGBTQ personalities bring color and depth to their experiences of gender and sexuality. With wit and wisdom, this set of trailblazing individuals weaves universal themes of love, loss, trial, and triumph into the determined struggle for full equality.
Jump into the daily routines of a diverse group of New Yorkers and how they light things up. “The Guy” is a nameless pot deliveryman whose client base includes an eccentric group of characters with neuroses as diverse as the city.
The ostensibly simple story of a sympathetic veteran teacher giving Italian lessons to a weekly class of diverse immigrants is given infinitely more depth and complexity by the manner in which director Daniele Gaglianone renders his story. Blurring the lines between fact and fiction, truth and artifice, and between documentary and drama, Gaglianone has created a film within a film. You see the apparent artifice of Gaglianone’s crew using professionals, including the noted film actor Valerio Mastandrea as the teacher, interlinked with ‘real’ immigrant protagonists, studying the language to improve their chances of employment and of gaining a permanent residence permit. Thus in the course of the lessons there is simultaneously the painful and upsetting relation of the students’ personal stories but also humour, as they interact and share their humanity, bridging cultural differences, united in their striving to make a better life for themselves. (Source: LFF programme)
The young coast guard and diver Jessica finds two dead scuba divers after a storm. She disagrees with her superiors that it was an accident and seeks the help of her childhood friend Patrik. Patrik and Erica, who are on their way to a romantic holiday, make a detour to the beautiful village of Kungshamn. They soon become involved in the case. Erica hides her real identity as the policemans wife and is invited to join the museum association. Already during the first meeting she attends the associations chairman is found murdered… The three deaths are now officially opened for investigation, and the common denominator between the victims seems to have been an interest in the wreckage of a 1820s ship. Did somebody finally find it? And what cargo did it carry? What caused the ship to sink?
A maverick skydiver and a former KGB agent team up to stop the Russian mafia from stealing gold.
Upon graduating college, a brokenhearted aspiring writer, without a dime or connections, packs his bags and heads to Los Angeles in the hopes of finding a new beginning. He quickly gets immersed into two very different worlds – one young, provocative and alluring, the other rooted in diversity, community and loyalty – both with their own unique appeals, advantages and dangers. Through his new experiences, he realizes who he is and where he belongs.
A diverse group of recruits has arrived at the FBI Quantico Base for training. They are the best, the brightest and the most vetted, so it seems impossible that one of them is suspected of masterminding the biggest attack on New York City since 9/11.
A commercial diver is stranded on the seabed with only five minutes of oxygen supply, but with no chance of rescue for more than 30 minutes. With access to amazing archive, this is the true story of one man’s impossible fight for survival.