In 1992, at the height of the AIDS pandemic, activist Terence Alan Smith made a historic bid for president of the United States as his drag queen persona Joan Jett Blakk. Today, Smith reflects back on his seminal civil rights campaign and its place in American history.
A program on the relationship between the filmmaking couple Larisa Sheptiko and Elim Klimov.
Eleven major film makers from Europe, America and Asia talk about Akira Kurosawa and discover surprising influences on their own work.
A program made for Kultura on the life and career of Larisa Shepitko.
Josh-awan Bulman details some highlights of the Zhuang Alliance Group's Style Guide.
A look at the unusual process used in the making of the film Shortbus (2006) featuring interviews, behind the scenes footage and clips from the feature film. Director John Cameron Mitchell starts with the concept of using real sex in a film with a positive message. The cast of unknowns is selected from homemade audition tapes and then a callback audition workshop. More acting workshops are used to develop the characters and script. The project overcomes a number of obstacles and the rest of the film's development is followed up until its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
Mats Öberg, born 1971 in Umeå, Sweden, has been living in Stockholm for many years, where he moved when he entered the Royal Academy of Music, where for two and a half years he studied individual music and, among other things, studied with the pianist Stefan Nilsson. Frank Zappa is one of Mats Öberg's idols. Together with drummer Morgan Ågren, Mats formed the group Zappatetoot early on, which only played Zappa covers. Then when Frank Zappa played in Stockholm in 1988, Mats and Morgon had the opportunity to meet him and also sit in the band. It was the beginning of a continued collaboration which meant that they both got to participate in the projects Zappa's Universe and Zappa at Lincoln Center in 1993.
Although experiencing a lifelong battle with pain and trauma, Jerod Draper lived an average, normal life in Southern Indiana. During high school, Jerod started to get off track after losing his best friend at the age of 14, and his first love at 15. To cope with the sudden loss at such a young age, Jerod started experimenting with drugs. After high school and through his younger-adult years, Jerod's substance abuse amplified. Throughout his 20s and 30s, Jerod continued to fight for sobriety while marrying and having a daughter. Following the divorce and not being able to see his daughter due to substance abuse, Jerod made a vow to stay clean. On October 4th, 2018 - Jerod was well over a year sober, yet fighting a familiar challenge, the severe depression and anxiety induced by weaning from drugs. During that evening, Jerod endures a fatal night of torture after being arrested for a routine traffic stop.
Evanston, a suburb just north of Chicago, touts its progressivism and inclusion. It was the first city in the U.S. to offer reparations for Black residents and every street corner boasts Black Lives Matter signs, but Evanston’s Black residents have a different story to tell. If you travel to the other side of Evanston, the historically Black ward, ‘For Rent’ signs are indicators of the thousands of Black residents leaving, gentrification encroaching, and streets becoming quiet. It wasn't always this way. There used to be a vibrant, thriving hub for the Black community at the Emerson YMCA. One in every five Black boys in Evanston were members, Nat King Cole played at the Y's prom, and for many residents, it became a second home. That was until the building was burned down in 1980. The destruction happened in the name of progress, despite the Black community's protests.
Amidst harsh winter conditions, Patagonia Park Argentina’s rewilding team works to dismantle deadly fences – enabling guanacos to continue their ancestral migrations unimpeded. This effort is part of their remarkable mission to restore the Patagonian steppe. This short wildlife documentary is a journey into the heart of Patagonia Park, Argentina, where the spectacle of winter migrations unfolds against the backdrop of ongoing rewilding efforts.
West Coast of England, redshanks wander through wetlands in search of food while facing constant threats from loose dogs.
Bryan Charles Kimes has a lot to say, but the power of language escapes him. Lost in a public-school system that does not suit his needs, his parents fight to help him find his voice.
Millennials in the US discover their lack of legal nationality, sparking a search for recognition and belonging that unites them and offers hope for the future.
A display of a fallen red cedar at Olympic National Park headquarters proclaims in 1349 "Indians live here." TREE BEGINS LIFE INDIANS STILL LIVE HERE produces a meditation on the territories of the First Nations of the Pacific Northwest, and invites an alternative interpretation of U.S. sovereignty over these lands.
The stories of Khaled El-Masri and Binyam Mohamed, two men who have survived extraordinary rendition, secret detention, and torture by the U.S. government working with various other ma
A documentary short that uses fish to explore identity and belonging in a metropolis.
In interviews, various actors and directors discuss their careers and their involvement in the making of what has come to be known as "cult" films. Included are such well-known genre figures as Russ Meyer, Curtis Harrington, Cameron Mitchell and James Karen.
A group of filmmakers shadow some glamour photographers in order to discover the skill involved in getting 'magic' to appear on the photos.
A year has passed since the attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines, and it is still unclear what actually happened at the bottom of the Baltic Sea at that time. ARD, Süddeutsche Zeitung, and DIE ZEIT have joined forces for a large-scale investigation and set out to find the alleged perpetrators. An investigation into one of the most spectacular criminal cases of our time, an attack of historic proportions.
A movie that portrays a reflection about sense of being self, to love and to be loved.