Documentary short following French-Vietnamese artist Marcelino Truong on his journey back to Vietnam for the research on his 'roman graphique' 'Une si jolie petite guerre' (A Lovely Little War). Truong looks back to when his family lived in Saigon from 1961 to 1963 when his father served as a translator to then president of the Republic of Vietnam Ngo Dinh Diem. The film follows Truong as he ruminates over memories, photos and films, and also conducts a host of interviews with Vietnamese relatives and officials to present a personal and long awaited Vietnamese perspective to the war.
Henry Rollins narrates Lilly Scourtis Ayers' no-holds-barred profile of volatile Bay Area punk legend Marian Anderson, whose hypnotic beauty, devil-may-care rebellion and shocking sexual exploits onstage launched her to infamy before tragically dying of a heroin overdose at the tender age of 33.
Over the past few years, Israel's ongoing military occupation of Palestinian territory and repeated invasions of the Gaza strip have triggered a fierce backlash against Israeli policies virtually everywhere in the world—except the United States. This documentary takes an eye-opening look at this critical exception, zeroing in on pro-Israel public relations efforts within the U.S.
Show Girls celebrates Montreal's swinging Black jazz scene from the 1920s to the 1960s, when the city was wide open. Three women who danced in the legendary Black clubs of the day - Rockhead's Paradise, The Terminal, Café St. Michel - share their unforgettable memories of life at the centre of one of the world's hottest jazz spots. From the Roaring Twenties, through the Second World War and on into the golden era of clubs in the fifties and sixities, Show Girls chronicles the lives of Bernice, Tina and Olga - mixing their memories with rarely seen footage of the era.
Investigating slavery in Canada through the story of Marie-Josèphe Angélique, a Black slave accused of burning Montreal in 1734. After an epic trial, this untameable slave is tortured and sentenced to death. But was she really guilty of this crime or was she the victim of a bigger conspiracy? Why this voluntary amnesia about this unknown page of Canadian history?
A documentary about Elzbieta Czyzewska, one of Poland's greatest actresses, a beauty icon of the 1960s, who died in 2010. She had a great career in Poland, but the filmmakers focus more on her attempts to make a name for herself as an actress in America, after her sudden emigration to the United States with her husband, American journalist David Halberstam. Friends and acquaintances of Elzbieta Czyzewska speak without embellishment about her failed marriage, her battle with alcoholism won after years, and her attempts to return to Poland. This is a story about the fate of the actress at different stages of her career: at the top, at the bottom and in between.
Two mermaid sisters, who end up performing at a nightclub, face cruel and bloody choices when one of them falls in love with a beautiful young man.
Joni Mitchell, the Queen of folk/rock, performs for an intimate audience on a Warner Bros. soundstage in Los Angeles. This concert is classic Joni, covering a broad base of her repertoire from over the years. With a backdrop provided by some of her very own paintings, this program is a reveling look at both the life and talents of Joni Mitchell.
Explores the attempts of the minister of the Augustana Lutheran Church in Omaha, Nebraska, to persuade his all-white congregation to reach out to "negro" Lutherans in the city's north side.
One night in Durham, North Carolina, a rape accusation set fire to the reputations of three college athletes and their elite university. As the Duke lacrosse players grappled with their transition from model student to the criminally accused, several wars were launched on different fronts.
With over 300 million firearms, the U.S. holds the highest rate of gun ownership per capita in the world. Meanwhile, with each gun-related tragedy, the question remains whether to regulate or to arm. Increasing demand, illegal distribution and emerging 3D technologies threaten to upend the traditional debate of gun control. As discussed in interviews from Austin to Grand Rapids, Denver to New York City, NO CONTROL seeks to address the efficacy of gun laws and the ongoing debate between personal freedom and public safety in a candid discussion of one of the most complex, contentious issues in American history.
In the mid-1990s, Orlando was the center of excitement in the NBA. The young franchise, led by mega-stars Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway, beat the mighty Bulls en route to the 1995 NBA Finals. While it was clear Orlando was a dynasty in the making, the Magic's moment on top was never fully realized.
Five New York divas close up. The thing that in addition to their friendship links these gifted, confident and beautiful women; a painter, an actress and three musicians, is their shared homeland, former Yugoslavia.
The mysterious world of the sleepless. Four insomniacs from around the world invite us to spend a night with them. While the rest of the world sleeps, they're awake.
A single mother’s American Idol audition helps her rise above a history of poverty, sexual abuse, and illiteracy to achieve national prominence.
An insider's look at the first year of an activist group known as the Lesbian Avengers.
In 1972 a coal-waste dam owned by the Pittston Company collapsed at the head of a crowded hollow in southern West Virginia. A wall of sludge, debris, and water tore through the valley below, leaving in its wake 125 dead and 4,000 homeless. Interviews with survivors, representatives of union and citizen’s groups, and officials of the Pittston Company are juxtaposed with actual footage of the flood and scenes of the ensuing devastation. As reasons for the disaster are sought out and examined, evidence mounts that company officials knew of the hazard in advance of the flood, and that the dam was in violation of state and federal regulations. The Pittston Company, however, continued to deny any wrongdoing, maintaining that the disaster was an “act of God.”
Bolivia's Climbing Cholitas - a group of indigenous women scaling the Andes Mountains, some of the highest peaks in the world. Shot in Bolivia for Vogue Latin America and Vogue Mexico's 20th anniversary cover story.
A short documentary from 1975 about two women serving 25 years in a Missouri penitentiary. Made with an all-female crew.
This cinema-verite-style documentary interweaves the pregnancy and childbirth of a young woman with the lingering death of a cancer patient to comment on the celebration and tragedy of existence. The tenderness and intimacy of the young couple, and the mystery of birth are contrasted with the dignity of a man who faces his death without deception.