A documentary about a 78-year-old Indian woman in New York who is the world's most passionate theatergoer. Nicki Cochrane has been seeing a play every day for more than 25 years, acquiring free tickets using a variety of ingenious means.
Joan Denise Moriarty doggedly followed her dream of bringing ballet to every corner of Ireland. A pioneer of early 20th century Irish dance, she dared to create a uniquely Irish form of ballet inspired by her love of nature and Irish folklore. Her life's work has been largely overlooked since her death.
Richly detailed amateur ethnographic film on the agrarian economy and society in rural Punjab.
A Dream Trip Across India Some kilometers from Bombay, the Indian megalopolis, lost on a hill of Bollywood, is the grandiose set of a vast temple with a magical touch, reminiscent at the same time of an Indian shrine and an ancient Inca temple. Inside, Ten Ford Mustangs are waiting. Ten Ford Mustang with an incredible pedigree: Bullitt GT390, Shelby GT500, Shelby GT500 KR 1968... the deep sound of a gong resounds, the doors of the templeopen launching the first edition of the Maharajah of the Road. At the wheel of the ten Ford Mustang, passionate people coming from all over the world: Indian, French, American, Italian, Lebanese... they are business men, automobile designers, manufacturers, artists… From Mumbai to Jodhpur, a 2.000 kilometres tour will lead our Mustangs through India. From the Rats Temple in Deshnoke city to the thousand-and-one palaces, the two princesses will show the Rajasthan to the adventurers of the road in an eventful trip...
The making of the James Bond movie Octopussy (1983) in Udaipur, India during 1982.
Documentary on the great American Ballerina Wendy Whelan
Tchai is the word used by Ju/'hoansi to describe getting together to dance and sing; n/um can be translated as medicine, or supernatural potency. In the 1950's, when this film was shot, Ju/'hoansi gathered for "medicine dances" often, usually at night, and sometimes such dances lasted until dawn.
Set in a small town in the region of Tamil Nadu, in southern India, the film follows the days and works of a hijra family. Silky, Mahima, Trisha, Durga, Kuyili, Priyanka, Vasundhara and Yamuna, under the firm protection of their guru Lakshmi Ma, deliver snippets of their marginal but sovereign existence. From a millenia-old sacred tradition to getting by every second, "Guru" composes with them a poem of intertwined voices in which the world is a tough playground, where the third gender is primarily the resistance force of a life shared.
King George V and Queen Mary hold ceremonial court in Delhi.
Hotel Armada is a curated portrait of dance and expression showcasing talents in the world of contemporary, vogue, and ballet. It is an integration of time, space, movement and sounds highlighting each performer's rawness in their power and beauty.
The gang embarks on a trade mission to India. Equipped with three old British cars and a range of uniquely British products, they set off on an epic road trip across one of the world's most fascinating and challenging countries.
In the same vein as Meri's other documentations, this one takes advantage of the glasnost policy to discuss the social and ecologic impact of the Russian oil industry on the natives and the lands they inhabit.
Life on the road in India, showing the traffic, people and animals.
Hindu temples at Benares and Belur and the mythologies associated with them.
Film showing the Viceregal party entering Delhi on lavishly decorated elephants, as part of the Coronation durbar of 1903.
Against the backdrop of Partition, independent India’s first hockey team defeats England, their erstwhile coloniser, to win the Gold at the 1948 London Olympics. Six decades later, when Nandy Singh, a member of this iconic team suffers a stroke, his tenacious struggle to recover, inspires his daughter to retrace his journey. Using archival footage and interviews with teammates, she reveals lives shaped by the Gold, and by Partition that made them refugees. Revealed also is a friend in Pakistan never spoken of before. Her journey in search of him morphs into a quest for the lost ‘watan’ (homeland).
In a poetic hour and a half, director Mani Kaul looks at the ancient art of making pottery from a wide variety of perspectives.
Shot over three years, Pariah Dog paints a kaleidoscopic picture of the city of Kolkata, seen through the prism of four outsiders and the dogs they love. These men and women have found meaning and purpose in their shared mission to care for neglected street dogs, who have existed in the towns and villages of India for thousands of years. For some this mission is enough, for others, dreams of a better life are always near.
A documentary film that highlights two street derived dance styles, Clowning and Krumping, that came out of the low income neighborhoods of L.A.. Director David LaChapelle interviews each dance crew about how their unique dances evolved. A new and positive activity away from the drugs, guns, and gangs that ruled their neighborhood. A raw film about a growing sub-culture movements in America.
Produced by JVC in collaboration with a Smithsonian/Folkways Recordings editorial board of scholars and Multicultural Media, The JVC Anthology of World Music and Dance presents examples of folk music and dance from eight geographical regions split into 30 volumes (approximately 50 min. each).