Through a series of extraordinarily honest and intimate conversations, filmmaker Aurora Brachman examines the intergenerational fallout of experiences her mother endured as a child. Together, they forge a path forward that offers them a new beginning.
About three women in search of a home return to South Korea after an absence of more than thirty years. In the 1970s, they left everything behind in order to go to Germany as "guest workers." Although assimilated in their new country, they long for the old one. Now they are able to realize their dream of returning with their German husbands to Dogil Maeul, the German village that has been created for people like them. Situated in a picturesque bay, the village is indeed more German than Germany--there is even whole meal bread and Frankfurter sausages. This is the new-old home to which their sixty something husbands Armin, Willi and Ludwig have come in the hope of spending their remaining years. However, there is still something missing for the three women as they discover it is not so easy to pick up where they left off.
In 2003, on the eve of the Iraq war, acclaimed director Iara Lee embarked on a journey to better understand a world increasingly embroiled in conflict and, as she saw it, heading for self-destruction. After several years, traveling over five continents, Iara encountered growing numbers of people who committed their lives to promoting change through the arts. This is their story. From IRAN, where graffiti and rap have become tools in fighting government repression, to BURMA, where monks acting in the tradition of Gandhi take on a dictatorship, to PALESTINIAN refugee camps in LEBANON, where photography, music, and film have given a voice to those rarely heard, CULTURES OF RESISTANCE explores how art and creativity can be ammunition in the battle for peace and justice.
Viva Zapatero! is a 2005 documentary by Sabina Guzzanti telling her side of the story regarding the conflict with Silvio Berlusconi over a late-night TV political satire show broadcast on RAI-3. The show, RAIot (a play on the name of the Italian state public TV: RAI, and the English word riot), lampooned prime minister Berlusconi. Since it wasn't considered a satirical show, but a political one, it was cancelled after the first episode.
A darkly comic tale of the heart and how it might be more than the sum of its parts. Pump was Severance’s debut film and screened at over 60 festivals worldwide, winning five best short awards.
From a basketball academy in Senegal, to the high-pressure world of American prep schools, the film documents the extraordinary personal journeys of four particularly tall West African Muslim teenage boys with NBA dreams.
Ice People takes you on one of the earth's most seductive journeys-Antarctica. Emmy-winning filmmaker Anne Aghion spent four months "on the ice" to capture the true experience of living and working in this extreme environment.
The film MISS REPRESENTATION exposes how American youth are being sold the concept that women and girls’ value lies in their youth, beauty and sexuality. Explores the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America, and challenges the media's limited portrayal of what it means to be a powerful woman. It’s time to break that cycle of mistruths.
A behind-the-scenes look at the trial of Schapelle Corby, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for smuggling marijuana into Indonesia.
The true story of a young, wild killer whale - an orca - nicknamed Luna, who lost contact with his family on the coast of British Columbia and turned up alone in a narrow stretch of sea between mountains, a place called Nootka Sound.
CRAZY WISDOM explores the arrival of Tibetan Buddhism in America through the story of Chögyam Trungpa, who landed in the U.S. in 1970. Trungpa became renowned for translating ancient Buddhist concepts into language and ideas that Westerners could understand and shattered preconceived notions about how an enlightened teacher should behave. Initially rejected, his teachings are now recognized by western philosophers and spiritual leaders as authentic and profound.
Filmmaker Jenny Abel explores the life and career of her father Alan Abel, known to many as "the world's greatest hoaxer."
Chris & Don chronicles the lifelong relationship between author Christopher Isherwood and his much younger lover, artist Don Bachardy, and it combines present-day interviews, archival footage shot by the couple from the 1950s, excerpts from Isherwood's diaries, and playful animations to recount their romance.
An inside look at polygamist teens who have become religious refugees in mainstream America.
An entertaining combination of heavy-metal rockers and female mud wrestlers hosted by Jessica Hahn.
A vibrant chronicle of one of today's most notorious and revered live bands, Gogol Bordello Non-Stop follows Eugene Hütz s gypsy-punk brigade around the world as they spread their liberating libertine musical gospel. Filmmaker Margarita Jimeno tracks their raucous gigs from 2001 to 2006, from NYC to Italy, as the band rises from dingy basements to festival main-stages. The cast is a rotating circus of polyglot personalities from Israel, Russia and America, who dish on their music, their heritage, and their favored vices. Hütz, a sardonic mustachioed Ukrainian immigrant and the group ringleader, fuses his gypsy heritage with a love of punk rock and burlesque. Part carnival barker, social organizer, and poet, he s a mesmerizing presence on-stage and off. Gogol Bordello Non-Stop is an artful documentary that mixes flamboyant costumes, intricate dance choreography, a relentless beat and an explosive energy not seen since the dawn of rock n roll.
Children of the Secret State follows Ahn Chol, a 29-year-old North Korean man who escaped from the country in 1997 by swimming across a river to China after his parents died of starvation. Chol has slipped back into North Korea several times since 1997 with a hidden camera to reveal a side of the communist nation that its government tries to hide from the outside world. In the documentary, viewers are exposed to many gruesome realities, including a food supply only available on the black market and small children fending for themselves to survive, scooping up spilled rice and corn.
Focusing on Mark Lee Ping-bin, one of the most talented and prolific cinematographers in Asia, the movie details the itinerant lifestyle of a deeply observant and philosophical artist and the tolls that his profession takes on his family life.
Sampat Pal Devi, founder of India’s Gulabi (“Pink”) Gang and fearless defender of the rights of untouchable women, challenges husbands, fathers-in-law and policemen in this immersive study by acclaimed documentarian Kim Longinotto. More than a profile of an everyday heroine, the film captures the courage and sacrifice necessary for social progress.
Can a ruthless mass killer become a messenger of peace? This spellbinding documentary traces the rise and fall of General Butt Naked—feared warlord of Liberia’s 14-year civil war—and his self-proclaimed quest to heal his country and redeem his own soul as a newborn evangelist.