When the immigrants came to America, their cultures entered the "great melting pot." In Michigan's Upper Peninsula Finnish immigrants mixed their musical traditions with many other cultures, creating a sound that was unique to the "Copper Country."
African-American documentary filmmaker Marlon Riggs was working on this final film as he died from AIDS-related complications in 1994; he addresses the camera from his hospital bed in several scenes. The film directly addresses sexism and homophobia within the black community, with snippets of misogynistic and anti-gay slurs from popular hip-hop songs juxtaposed with interviews with African-American intellectuals and political theorists, including Cornel West, bell hooks and Angela Davis.
Shot on location in rural Southwestern Louisiana, Zydeco combines cinema verite style footage, interviews and musical performance to present a colorful, joyful portrait of the zydeco musicians in their culture. Featuring Dolon Carriere, Armand Ardoin, and Alphonse "Bois Sec" Ardoin. A film by Nicholas R. Spitzer. Color, 57 minutes.
This is Brendon Grimshaw's love story with Moyenne Island. We decided to distribute it openly so that his story may be known to as many people as possible and so that we may thank him in our thoughts and in our hearts while he is still alive. Brendon has provided us with an example of why not all hope is loss in what at times seems an overwhelmingly mad world...
From the camera of celebrated French documentarians Jean-Pierre Bruneau and Jose Reynes, and in the tradition of The Buena Vista Social Club, comes the exhilarating musical documentary Louisiana Blues. From the backwoods of Baton Rouge to the heart the Big Easy, creole and Cajun music have endured despite years of tumult. This film explores not only the musicians who continue to produce this music, but the climate, culture, and way of life that have shaped them. Innumerable zydeco superstars appear onscreen and deliver legendary performances, including Beau Jocque, D.L. Menard, and Zydeco Joe.
A Technicolor travelogue of the islands in the Indian Ocean east of Africa.
Impressive family film offers a unique stories of the wonderful animals who inhabit the Aldabra atoll, were born here, create communities, give birth to young and struggle for their survival.
On the occasion of his 80th birthday, an intimate documentary follows the illustrious pianist and great French jazz musician, Alain Jean-Marie from Guadeloupe, on a recent trip to Cuba. He talks about his career, his adolescence, and his youth in Guadeloupe, where he was rocked and deeply influenced by Cuban music. Director Bertrand Fèvre followed this now essential artist in Havana, to be discovered or rediscovered through a film set to jazz.
Since August 2024, in Martinique, a popular protest movement against the high cost of living has been reemerging under the leadership of the RPPRAC (Rassemblement Pour La Protection Des Peuples Et Des Ressources Afro-Caribéens – Gathering for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources). On the island, food prices are on average 54% higher than in mainland France.* Through various cultural figures, the people of Martinique are expressing their anger and seeking concrete solutions. *Source: Kiprix, Price comparison between supermarkets in the French overseas territories and mainland France.
Returning to the island that her father left 50 years earlier, the filmmaker goes back in time to retrace the history of her name.
Moving between different locations, we meet an engaging cast of knowledgeable human characters alongside great wildlife.
Guynel and Diovany are two young queer men with radically different personalities but from the same island, Martinique. After three years away, Guynel returns to his homeland to reconnect with his roots, his loved ones, and to come out to his father. Diovany, meanwhile, is about to finish his studies and is preparing to compete in one of Martinique’s first “Balls.” It marks the beginning of a dream that will likely one day lead him to the Parisian drag scene. Two intertwined destinies that, through their search for identity, tell the story of queer youth in Martinique and their passage into adulthood.
Le long voyage d'un requin-baleine
Right on the middle of the Indian Ocean, in the Seychelles archipelago, there still exists an island where the beaches are not inhabited by men but by birds : Cousin island. More than 250 000 birds live there, among giant tortoises and strange lizards.
D'Arros, le paradis des Seychelles
An exploration of Edmond Dédé and Basile Barès were 19th-century New Orleans composers of color. Dédé, born free, was an orchestral composer and violist, known for his opera Morgiane. Barès, born into slavery, was a pianist and composer of music for dance halls, unique for being the only known American composer with a copyright assigned to his work while enslaved.
The Seychelle Islands, known for their long stretches of white sand, also provide a home to unusual flora and fauna, including the coco de mer, a tree with the world's largest seeds, giant tortoises inhabiting an ancient volcano and living carpets of silver lizards. This film features contributions from experts who believe these exotic species are evidence that the islands were once part of a primeval super-continent.
A hospice nurse working at a spooky New Orleans plantation home finds herself entangled in a mystery involving the house's dark past.
Mariano has been married for 10 years with Miranda, a woman way out of his league. Their small-town life is disrupted by womanizing photographer Andrea, who — struck by her good looks — offers Miranda a one-time modelling job. Albeit hesitant, the couple eventually accepts his invitation to the Seychelles...
An opportunistic Texas gambler and the exiled Creole daughter of an aristocratic family join forces to achieve justice from the society that has ostracized them.