County Durham, England, 1984. The miners' strike has started and the police have started coming up from Bethnal Green, starting a class war with the lower classes suffering. Caught in the middle of the conflict is 11-year old Billy Elliot, who, after leaving his boxing club for the day, stumbles upon a ballet class and finds out that he's naturally talented. He practices with his teacher Mrs. Wilkinson for an upcoming audition in Newcastle-upon Tyne for the royal Ballet school in London.
Iran, January 16th, 1979. Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi flees after being overthrown. Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Tehran and proclaims the Islamic Republic on April 1st, 1979. In the same year, Saddam Hussein seizes power in Iraq and, after several border skirmishes, attacks Iran on September 22nd, 1980, initiating a cruel war that will last eight years. Since its outbreak, correspondent Saeid Sadeghi documented it from its beginning to its bitter end.
Thesis at the University of Television and Film in Munich. In this milestone in film history, pet owners compete against their pets in a fictional TV show.
Documentary about Brazilian actress Sandra Bréa.
A multi-awarded 23 minute short film about pansexual punk rockers in a toxic relationship in London’s underground music scene
Documentary by Eckhart Schmidt about New Wave music.
In 2007, 11 years after one of the most influential American punk bands, Jawbreaker, called it quits, the three members, Blake Schwarzenbach, Chris Bauermeister, and Adam Pfahler reconnect in a San Francisco recording studio to listen back to their albums, reminisce and even perform together one last time. Follow the band as they retell their "rags to riches to rags" story writhe with inner band turmoil, health issues, and the aftermath of signing to a major label. Featuring interviews with Billy Joe Armstrong, Steve Albini, Jessica Hopper, Graham Elliot, Chris Shifflet, Josh Caterer and more.
A brief history of Talking Heads (and how they got here!)
DFW Punk, covering the Dallas/Ft. Worth punk/new wave scene. If you thought Texas in the late ’70s was all about urban cowboys, country tunes and bible-thumping, get ready to be proved dead wrong. 2007, MiniDV.
On the night before he is set to leave his Rhode Island home to study photography in New York City, Rocco must decide how much he's willing to give up to follow his dreams.
A fine documentary that details the sordid life of 1970s pornographic actor John Holmes, from the stories of his fellow actors, his ex-wives, and directors. Clips of his work are shown and insight on what made the man tick are given. Despite all his flaws, you can't help but admire him for what he was.
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It is El Salvador, 1989, three years before the end of a brutal civil war that took 75,000 lives. Maria Serrano, wife, mother, and guerrilla leader is on the front lines of the battle for her people and her country. With unprecedented access to FMLN guerrilla camps, the filmmakers dramatically chronicle Maria's daily life in the war.
In 1987, five young men, using brutally honest rhymes and hardcore beats, put their frustration and anger about life in the most dangerous place in America into the most powerful weapon they had: their music. Taking us back to where it all began, Straight Outta Compton tells the true story of how these cultural rebels—armed only with their lyrics, swagger, bravado and raw talent—stood up to the authorities that meant to keep them down and formed the world’s most dangerous group, N.W.A. And as they spoke the truth that no one had before and exposed life in the hood, their voice ignited a social revolution that is still reverberating today.
At 14, best friends Robb Reiner and Lips made a pact to rock together forever. Their band, Anvil, hailed as the "demi-gods of Canadian metal" influenced a musical generation that includes Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax. Following a calamitous European tour, Lips and Robb, now in their fifties, set off to record their 13th album in one last attempt to fulfill their boyhood dreams.
"The Farewell Affair" is one of the greatest espionage stories of the Cold War that will result in the accelerated fall of the USSR. It involves Vladimir Vetrov, a KGB agent put in the closet, who decides to contact the DST and deliver several lists of technological and scientific agents and secrets, which the KGB has been stealing from the countries of the Western Blocs for decades.
A concert film documenting Talking Heads at the height of their popularity, on tour for their 1983 album "Speaking in Tongues." The band takes the stage one by one and is joined by a cadre of guest musicians for a career-spanning and cinematic performance that features creative choreography and visuals.
'90s indie-rock band Pavement reunites for their sold-out 2022 tour. But as preparations get underway, surreal tributes emerge: an off-Broadway musical adaptation of their songs, a museum devoted entirely to the band’s legacy, and a shamelessly awards-baiting Hollywood biopic.
In the 1970s, Dr. Alexander “Sasha” Shulgin significantly contributed to the development and psychopharmaceutical use of MDMA: a catalyst to personal doors entombed or unknown. His widow, co-author, and research partner, Ann—alongside friends, family, and colleagues—gives a guided tour of their life and laboratory, reflecting on how risks and revelations opened a world of compound enlightenment. Stippled with spirituality, sadness, and skepticism, the Shulgins’ chemical love story examines the power of psychedelic psychotherapy, sacred alchemy, and challenging the path of misunderstood resistance.
How could a German Wehrmacht soldier become a celebrated soccer idol of the Britons in the post-war period? The documentary by Radio Bremen shows the moving life story of the soccer star of the 1950s in a torn Europe and how an enemy became a friend. With his legendary appearance in the English Cup Final 1956, in which he played until the end despite a broken neck, Bert Trautmann set up a memorial for himself in the history of sport. Already in the same year, he is chosen as England’s footballer of the year, and by his club Manchester City even as best player of all times. Bernhard “Bert” Trautmann is one of the most popular and best-known soccer players in England.