The Factory: How a Product is Made

Making of: Pierce Fire Trucks

This time High Performance Imports visits Ebisu Circuit for the draft matsuri, tours the Veilside factory and attends some drag meetings.

Discover the untold story of the first Black Barbie and the pivotal role three trailblazing women at Mattel had in creating a doll who looked like them.

When a massive Chinese factory complex attempts a high-stakes expansion in rural Ethiopia, three women in search of prosperity have their faith in industrialization tested to the limit. Filmed over four years with singular access, Made in Ethiopia lifts the curtain on China’s historic but misunderstood impact on Africa, and explores contemporary Ethiopia at a moment of profound crisis. The film was awarded the Jury Special Mention at Tribeca Festival.

While gift shopping at an "enlightened" toy store, a mother and son are out of luck finding the latest Spider-Man and Transformers toys-because all this eccentric shopkeeper proudly sells are Rick Mercer-themed toys that are meant to inspire the next generation of Canadian youth.

On the Kainai (Blood) First Nations Reserve, near Cardston, Alberta, a hopeful new development in Indigenous enterprise. Once rulers of the western plains, the Bloods live on a 1 300-square-kilometer reserve. Many have lacked gainful employment and now pin their hopes on a pre-fab factory they have built. Will the production line and work and wages fit into their cultural pattern of life? The film shows how it is working and what the owners themselves say about their venture.

Working men and women leave through the main gate of the Lumière factory in Lyon, France. Filmed on 22 March 1895, it is often referred to as the first real motion picture ever made, although Louis Le Prince's 1888 Roundhay Garden Scene pre-dated it by seven years. Three separate versions of this film exist, which differ from one another in numerous ways. The first version features a carriage drawn by one horse, while in the second version the carriage is drawn by two horses, and there is no carriage at all in the third version. The clothing style is also different between the three versions, demonstrating the different seasons in which each was filmed. This film was made in the 35 mm format with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and at a speed of 16 frames per second. At that rate, the 17 meters of film length provided a duration of 46 seconds, holding a total of 800 frames.

Megacities is a documentary about the slums of five different metropolitan cities.

In the spring of 1984, a strange new comic book sat beside cash registers in select shops, too big to fit in the racks, and too weird to ignore. Eastman and Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles presented a completely original breed of super hero. It was too bizarre, too crazy. It broke all the rules and should never have worked. Until it sold out. Again and again and again. For 30 years. Now, peek under the shell and see how this so-called "happy accident" defied every naysayer to become one of the most popular and beloved franchises in the world.

MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES is the striking new documentary on the world and work of renowned artist Edward Burtynsky. Internationally acclaimed for his large-scale photographs of “manufactured landscapes”—quarries, recycling yards, factories, mines and dams—Burtynsky creates stunningly beautiful art from civilization’s materials and debris.

Four puppets that can't leave their house because of quarantine, decide to make a short film, but they have no idea what to make it about.

In Portugal, the daily life of a bronze foundry, specialized in the semi-industrial production of spare parts for the naval field, is compared with the freedom of spirit characterizing the "pottery of monsters" on a village square where everyone gathers.

A group of teddybears awaken in the attic after years of storage. Store-Nalle (Big Teddy) explains the history of the species, from the very first teddybears manufactured in Germany. Other segments include dramatizations of the directors' childhood memories, as well as interviews with several stuffed animal owners.

The word panchão was first heard in Macao. From the Chinese pan-tcheong or pau-tcheong, dictionaries define it as a Macanese regionalism also known as China cracker. Who inhabits the ancient IEC Long firecracker factory?

A journey through a century of Ambrosoli family history.

A cinema verite study of the world of the blue-collar worker and the economic and psychological bind in which he is caught.

As a decades-old state-run aeronautics munitions factory in downtown Chengdu, China is being torn down for the construction of the titular luxury apartment complex, director Jia Zhangke interviews various people affiliated with it about their experiences.

Monster im Kinderzimmer

The Beanie Bubble follows the unbelievable tale of America’s most fascinating phenomenon – Beanie Babies. Flashing back to the 90’s and early 2000’s, we take an in-depth look at how the era-defining zeitgeist came to be, the mysterious man behind the mania, and the lives that were forever changed in its wake. This is not simply a retelling, but rather an exploration of the American Dream and what makes all people susceptible to buying into a fantasy.

Steve Glew, a small-town Michigan farmer, boards a plane for Eastern Europe soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall. His mission is to locate a secret factory that holds the key to the most desired and valuable pez dispensers. If he succeeds, he will pull his family out of poverty and finally find a purpose in his mundane life.