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.

Becca and Jason might save the world, or destroy it. The husband-and-wife design team have created “Your Friends Close,” a video game which forces you to choose between collaboration and backstabbing in a high stakes multi-player competition. At a party celebrating the sale of their game, a sudden betrayal creates an opportunity for one close friend to share in their life-changing success. But at what cost?  A suspenseful, intimate drama with dark comedic elements and a generous dash of science fiction.

Meet Shivani Shivaji Roy, Senior Inspector, Crime Branch, Mumbai Police, as she sets out to confront the mastermind behind the child trafficking mafia, which makes the mistake of kidnapping and smuggling a teenage girl who is like a daughter to her. Fighting a war which is very personal and in an obsessive hunt for the girl, Shivani stumbles into the world of debauchery, cruel desires and exploitation and onto a case that will change her life forever. What follows is a cat and mouse game between a fearless cop and a young and ruthless mafia kingpin. Catch Rani Mukerji in the lead, playing an edge of the seat role of a lifetime, in this raw and gritty film which will be a distinct departure from Pradeep Sarkar’s style of filmmaking.

Raised in the Tennessee mountains, Wayne White started his career as a cartoonist in NYC. He quickly found success as one of the creators of the Pee-wee’s Playhouse TV show which soon led to more work designing some of the most arresting and iconic images in pop culture. Recently his word paintings featuring pithy and and often sarcastic text statements finely crafted onto vintage landscape paintings have made him a darling of the fine art world. The movie chronicles the vaulted highs and crushing lows of an artist struggling to find peace and balance between his professional work and his personal art. This is especially complicated for a man who struggles with the virtues he most often mocks in his art…Vanity, ego and fame.

Set in “Barrytown”, a fictitious working-class quarter of Dublin. “Bimbo” Reeves gets laid off from his job. With his redundancy, he buys a van and sells fish and chips with his buddy Larry. Due to Ireland’s surprising success at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, their business starts off well, but the relationship between the two friends soon becomes strained as Bimbo behaves more like a typical boss.

Over the past 25 years, Lauren Greenfield’s documentary photography and film projects have explored youth culture, gender, body image, and affluence. In this fascinating meld of career retrospective and film essay, Greenfield offers a meditation on her extensive body of work, structuring it through the lens of materialism and its increasing sway on culture and society in America and throughout the world. Underscoring the ever-increasing gap between the haves and the have-nots, her portraits reveal a focus on cultivating image over substance, where subjects unable to attain actual wealth instead settle for its trappings, no matter their ability to pay for it.

LEMON TREE meets JOHN LE CARRÉ in a subtle thriller set in Germany involving Mona, a Lebanese woman (Golshifteh Farahani), and Naomi, an Israeli Mossad agent (Neta Riskin) sent to protect their informant while recovering from plastic surgery for her new identity. Mona and Naomi – together for two weeks in a quiet apartment in Hamburg. A safe house. A shelter. No one saw what was coming, no one knew that this supposedly quiet fortnight would turn into an abyss and that shelter would need to be found elsewhere. The intimacy of the relationship that develops between the two women is exposed to the threat of terror that is engulfing the world today. In this game of deception, beliefs are questioned and choices are made that are not their own. And yet their fate takes a surprising turn in this suspense-laden, elegant neo-noir.

Summer is a carefree teenage girl whose world is turned upside down when her mother abruptly converts to Islam and becomes a different person. At first resistant to the faith, she begins to reevaluate her identity after becoming attracted to a Muslim classmate, crossing the thin line between physical desire and piety.

Going to the very heart of the Bible’s most challenging Book, this one hour documentary decodes the visions of Revelation 12 and 17 for everyone to understand. Journeying from the birth of Christ through the Christian era, this amazing video pulls aside the veil of hidden history to reveal the rise of Babylon, the persecution of the bride of Christ, and the real-world identity of the beast. Educational and inspiring, Revelation delivers the keys to understanding the epic conflict between Christ and Satan and what it means for your life today.

Forty-something Pierre is serving a fourteen year prison sentence. His mother, who is approaching eighty, visits him every week. Suzanne, Pierre’s current wife, has moved on since he was sent away. Each character gives us a frank account of a period in their lives that seems suspended in time by the fragile connection between life on the inside and the world outside. Their destinies are linked by crime, guilt and loneliness, and like casualties of love and desire, they are dying to stick their heads above the water and breathe the air of life.

An animated retelling of the worst passenger ship disaster in history. In this version, love blossoms between the upper-class Sir William and the blue-collar Angelica, who is hoping to find romance in America. At the same time, there are also a number of animal passengers, including talking dogs, cats and mice, who are also looking forward to arriving in the New World.

Susan Price has written a #1 bestseller, a steamy novel about a woman’s search for the ultimate sexual experience entitled, “The Dark Side of Judith.” When Susan is framed for the murder of her fiance, billionare publisher Jack Reynolds, she eludes authorities by changing her identity and becoming the woman she wrote about in her book, Judith Anderson. To find the real killer, Susan goes undercover as a relay operator for the hearing impaired to contact District Attorney Beth McDaniels who is deaf. While relaying intimate phone conversations between Beth and her boyfriend Calvin, Susan discovers her own dark side when she becomes entangled in this voyeuristic world of deceit, intrigue and murder.

A time to remember and celebrate the founders of this great group of troubadours, who started it all back in 1962: Ronnie Drew, Luke Kelly, Ciarán Bourke and Barney McKenna. These were the originals who lit the flame 50 years ago, and set fire to the world of folk music. For the filming of this DVD, hundreds of old photographs were assembled; audio and video clips were retrieved from the archives to capture the spirit of the group down through the decades. Projected performances from the past played an integral role in this celebration concert. The atmosphere was electric, with music, stories and poetry flowing from reservoirs of memory — a unique collaboration between the original group and the current line-up, a perfect party to celebrate 50 years.

Asta and Yuno were abandoned together at the same church, and have been inseparable since. As children, they promised that they would compete against each other to see who would become the next Emperor Magus. However, as they grew up, some differences between them became plain. Yuno was a genius with magic, with amazing power and control, while Asta could not use magic at all, and tried to make up for his lack by training physically. When they received their Grimoires at age 15, Yuno got a spectacular book with a four-leaf clover (most people receive a three-leaf-clover), while Asta received nothing at all. However, when Yuno was threatened, the truth about Asta’s power was revealed, he received a five-leaf clover Grimoire, a “black clover”! Now the two friends are heading out in the world, both seeking the same goal!

This documentary feature pulls back the curtain on the world of ‘working class’ rappers. The film spotlights independent artists struggling to find a balance between making a living and pursuing their art alongside the never-ending saga of age and relevance. Weaved together through a series of 30 plus interviews that are devoid of the ego so common in the business of music, especially hip-hop, the film traverses the country (USA) to explore the myths and misconceptions of life as a full-time rapper.

Imagine this: you go dancing at a parade, there you will be filmed and suddenly this movie appears on the net. An artist makes art out of these images. From that moment on, your face buzzes out into the digital world. This case actually exists. The dancer is called Technoviking. He has become a famous figure on the Internet. However, it also raises a lot of questions: What are the boundaries between personality rights and the freedom of art? Can such a phenomenon be curbed at all by legal means? A feature length documentary on the popular Technoviking-Meme, one of the early big video memes on YouTube that ended up in court.

In 1969, a young Beijing student, Chen Zhen, is sent to live among the nomadic herdsmen of Inner Mongolia. Caught between the advance of civilization from the south and the nomads’ traditional enemies – the marauding wolves – to the north; humans and animals, residents and invaders alike, struggle to find their true place in the world

The Hope Affair is the story of the fascinating affair between an impassioned woman in the midst of an attack on a conservative male bastion and an éminence grise from that same men’s world. An affair that pitches head against heart. An affair that completely spins out of control. And that can be quite funny.

Samantha “Sam” works at a crisis hot-line where she listens to strangers and helps them deal with their pain. It’s a pain she knows well since the hot-line saved her life once when she lost her sight and didn’t know how to live in a world of darkness. On her last night on the job, Sam receives an terrifying visit from one of her regular callers who feels betrayed that she’s leaving him. This man is no ordinary caller. He’s a sadistic serial killer she’s unknowingly been keeping from killing himself for over a year. With only a skeleton on the graveyard shift, there’s very little that stands between him and Sam. He’s come for her and won’t let anything or anyone stand in his way. Will Sam survive the longest, darkest night of her life?

THE FALLEN is a three-sided story about German, Italian, and American soldiers, set in Northern Italy during the final weeks of the World War II. On the one side, a group of American supply soldiers delivers ammunition to the front line, a journey that becomes a descent into hell, the success of the mission becomes less likely with every setback. On the other, a doomed German unit and their ragtag Italian partners struggle to maintain morale and discipline amongst their beleaguered troops in the face of certain defeat. Torn between these are the divided loyalties of the Italians, both fascist soldiers and communist partisans, who have turned brother against brother in a bloody civil war. The film looks at the everyday life of the soldiers, their encounters on the road, their hopes and dreams, and the differences in values, morals, and patriotism between the cultures at the end of that era.

Lucas joins a break dancing troupe and, traveling the world, finds himself torn between the life he knows and the chance to do something more. Inspired by true events.

Sterling Archer is the world’s most daunting spy. He works for ISIS, a spy agency run by his mother. In between dealing with his boss and his co-workers – one of whom is his ex-girlfriend – Archer manages to annoy or seduce everyone that crosses his path. His antics are only excusable because at the end of the day, he still somehow always manages to thwart whatever crises was threatening mankind.

FIVE DANCES, written and directed by Alan Brown, is a creatively adventurous narrative feature film set in the New York ‘downtown’ modern dance world. The story follows the rocky emotional journey of an 18-year old dancer (the amazing Ryan Steele) with talent to burn, who must choose between his responsibility to his broken family in the Midwest, and forging a life and career for himself. The film features five of New York’s most gifted dancers acting on film for the very first time, and performing the choreography of internationally acclaimed choreographer Jonah Bokaer.

Imagine that you have the power to decide on people’s lives. Who would you condemned, and whom he saved? In the center of Europe suddenly, without a trace, people begin to disappear. The investigation goes into the hands of Vulture (Michal Zebrowski) – a police officer who appears to be devoid of feelings. Tough, incorruptible, no obligations and favors to others. Until he meets Natasha (Anna Przybylska) – a woman other than those that he met so far. Vulture begins a dangerous game with the enemy ahead of him is still a step. Discovers a world in which people are leading a double life. For the first time, logical thinking will drive him into a trap with no way out. Suddenly, the hunter turned into animals. Balancing on the border between passion and reason, the world of logic and clever manipulation, you will have to answer the question: is there anything more important than life?

Rachel is an intelligent, modern-day woman constantly on the move. Primarily focused on her career as a diplomatic consul for the U.S. embassy, she’s literally lived her life on the move, globe-trotting from city to city. Currently working in Mexico City and set to leave for London, Rachel’s world turns upside down on the eve of her own goodbye party when she gets drunk and passes out on the street. Saved by Alejandro, a handsome Mariachi singer and single father, Rachel wakes up in his apartment with no recollection of how she got there. Nor does she remember that she rejected his visa the day before, which he desperately needs for his daughter. Romance unexpectedly blossoms between the two, but either sparks or fists will fly after she finds out his secret.

For Heather music is everything. Following in her mother’s footsteps, Heather has always dreamed about getting into Juilliard and becoming a classical pianist. But all her dreams get shattered the day her mum dies. Left with nothing but a piano and debts, Heather’s only option is to move in with her estranged father and half-brother. When her application for a scholarship is rejected, Heather’s last hope to see her Big Dream come true is swept away. Until one day she meets Toby, a hip and handsome music store owner who opens up a whole new world to her – the world of DJ-ing and dance music. Heather is carried away by this enticing underground world, and her heart starts to beat again to the rhythm of a new life – and a new love. Heather eventually finds herself torn between two worlds of music and as her audition approaches, time comes for her to choose. And for the first time in her life she starts questioning what it is that she really desires.

Being bullied at school and suffering violence at home, Mi-rae, a middle school loner, lives on the border between reality and fantasy. The only places she feels restful are the computer game world, and the would in the novel she writes in her notebook. As her classmates Baek-hap and Tae-yang come close to Mi-rae, she gradually opens up her mind to them. In the meantime, the computer game service is terminated, and the world in her novel also disappears, leading Mi-rae to face a tough reality again.

This animated Japanese film is a dark, adult-oriented thriller. A peace treaty between the Earth and the Black World, a parallel universe of spider-like aliens is coming to an end. Two cops, Taki, a human male, and Maki, a female alien, are assigned to protect a diplomat who will help secure another treaty. A radical group of aliens from the Black World are out to assassinate the diplomat and prevent the treaty; only the bond that forms between the two cops can save the Earth from destruction. Sex is strongly associated with violence in many graphic scenes; although this is intended to play a symbolic role, this theme is used excessively. The story is effective, but the film is definitely not for children or anyone easily offended.

Pompous and self-absorbed Kyle, is unhappily stuck in his life, longing to relive the success of his first novel. His not-so-desirable life rapidly unravels forcing him to return home to his wildly eccentric family with his tail between his legs. Life at home begins to show signs of improvement when Kyle meets the spunky, vivacious girl across the street who recruits Kyle to help her make the world a better place, making him feel alive for the first time in ages and inspiring his writing. But its short-lived. Joys been told shes going to die soon and wants Kyle to write her obituary.

The series centers on Ryan Atwood, a troubled youth from a broken home who is adopted by the wealthy and philanthropic Sandy and Kirsten Cohen. Ryan and his surrogate brother Seth, a socially awkward yet quick-witted teenager, deal with life as outsiders in the high-class world of Newport Beach. Ryan and Seth spend much time navigating their relationships with girl-next-door Marissa Cooper, Seth’s childhood crush Summer Roberts, and the fast-talking loner Taylor Townsend. Story lines deal with the culture clash between the idealistic Cohen family and the shallow, materialistic, and closed-minded community in which they reside. The series includes elements of postmodernism, and functions as a mixture of melodrama and comedy.

Spanish photographer Francesc Boix, imprisoned in the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp, works in the SS Photographic Service. Between 1943 and 1945, he hides, with the help of other prisoners, thousands of negatives, with the purpose of showing the freed world the atrocities committed by the Nazis, exhaustively documented. He will be a key witness during the Nuremberg Trials.

A renegade USAF general, Lawrence Dell, escapes from a military prison and takes over an ICBM silo near Montana and threatens to provoke World War 3 unless the President reveals details of a secret meeting held just after the start of the Vietnam War between Dell and the then President’s most trusted advisors.

Dr. Anne Innis Dagg re-traces the steps of her groundbreaking 1956 journey to South Africa to study giraffes in the wild. Now, at 85 years old, Anne sees a startling contrast between the world of giraffes she once knew and the one it has become. Weaving through the past and present, her harrowing journey gives us an intimate look into the factors that destroyed her career and the forces that brought her back.

A contemporary and culturally resonant drama about a young programmer, Elliot, who suffers from a debilitating anti-social disorder and decides that he can only connect to people by hacking them. He wields his skills as a weapon to protect the people that he cares about. Elliot will find himself in the intersection between a cybersecurity firm he works for and the underworld organizations that are recruiting him to bring down corporate America.

Isabella is the ambitious new owner of her family’s Oregon winery whose dream of becoming world-renowned takes a big step forward when she enters a prestigious wine competition in Paris. Upon arrival, Isabella meets her biggest competitor, Jacques, from one of the world’s foremost winemaking families. Impressed by Isabella and her expertise in wine, a budding romance develops between them. However, as the results as the competition are announced, Isabella believes Jacques badmouthed her wine. Hurt, she returns home. When Jacques discovers what upset her, he seeks to win her back, even if it means leaving behind his beloved winery.