Kentucky Bourbon Tales: Distilling the Family Business

Billy Hicks has been coaching basketball for over 40 years. He is the winningest high school basketball coach in the state of Kentucky. This documentary will dive into his "basketball philosophy" and his successful time at Scott County.

A veteran Taxi driver struggles to find passengers in San Francisco and wages a spiritual war against his new self driving competitor, Waymo.

Lexington, Kentucky, 2004. Four young men attempt to execute one of the most audacious art heists in the history of the United States.

Three men, who in their youth fell victim to the allure of the fast life in the small town of Paris, Kentucky, later find redemption through giving back to a grief-stricken community grappling with the shocking loss of a promising young athlete.

Neat is a documentary that dives into the rich and storied world of bourbon. Exploring its colorful history, charismatic characters, and uniquely American process, the film is a celebration of the time, artistry, and relationships that make for America's only native spirit.

Andrew Thornton’s drug operation was one of the largest Kentucky and Tennessee had ever seen. Thornton would perish while attempting to parachute carrying African gold coins, weapons, thousands in cash and 75 pounds of cocaine. From the CIA to secret parties, Thornton is described as the James Bond of Kentucky by those who knew him. The documentary uncovers the true story behind the drug-sniffing bear and its rise to stardom. The film dissects the myths surrounding the ultimate party animal. Did Country Music legend Waylon Jennings buy the taxidermied bear? How much cocaine did it eat? And is the actual drug-eating bear now on display in a Kentucky store?

In July of 2019 the Blackjewel coal company announced it was declaring bankruptcy. Miners were told to stop working mid shift, and their last paychecks bounced. The miners retaliated by blocking a train full of coal, camping out on the coal tracks for weeks. Queer regional organizers made their way to the encampment to support the miners. The encampment became a place for community gathering and mutual aid distribution. Sarah Moyer, a film maker living in Kentucky, also made their way to the encampment and filmed this short documentary on the blockade. (Summary from Queer Appalachia)

Cryptozoologists journey into the forests of Kentucky to gather evidence of a canine/human hybrid.

During World War I, African-Americans worked on the railroad near Corbin, Kentucky. When whites returned from the war, there was conflict. Whites sought their former jobs and positions in the community. In 1919, a race riot occurred. Whites put the African-Americans on railroad cars and ran them out of town. In Trouble Behind, members of the Corbin community speak out on the issue. The filmmakers also interview former members of the Corbin, which at the time of filming had only one black family. Some Corbin residents express confusion as to why African-Americans don't move back. Others openly use racial epithets. Some young adults seem troubled by the racism, past and present. Others don't.

A filmmaker journeys back to the significant places of his Kentucky upbringing to preserve the memories they still hold.

In a contemplative coming of age portrait, PINBALL follows Yosef, a spirited athlete, in Louisville, Kentucky as he dives into the memories of his journey from Iraq to America and what it means to chase his dreams in the shadow of a war that displaced his family from their Iraqi homeland.

This project by the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT) produced a video for training technicians in correct methods for preserving stone walls and rock fences. The video is a primary training resource, providing graphic instruction on how to repair, rebuild and relocate stone walls and rock fences. In addition to providing training to practitioners, the video explains fence and wall construction to archeologists, engineers, preservationists and conservators.

Lee and Opal Sexton live in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky, farming the land where Lee was raised. Lee is a retired coal miner and revered banjo legend, a living link to the deep past of American music. Though now well into his eighties and hampered by age, Lee continues to perform and teach his distinctive 2-finger banjo style to a new generation eager to preserve a vanishing cultural tradition. Linefork offers an immersive view of Lee and Opal's daily rituals and inherent resilience while documenting the raw yet delicate music of a singular musician, linked to the past yet immediately present.

What do Josh Hutcherson, Steve Zahn, Josh Hopkins, Eddie Montgomery, Laura Bell Bundy and The Back Street Boys all have in common? Aside from making great movies and music, they all bow at the altar of Kentucky Basketball as members of Big Blue Nation!

"Calipari & The Chicken Man" is an original documentary that tells the story of a billionaire college booster and a hall of fame coach, who's friendship led to one of the most shocking moves in the history of college athletics.

Unable or unwilling to conform to the rigid atmosphere of Washington and Lee College as a freshman, Ed bailed out after a brief stint there to attend—and graduate from—Miami of Ohio. After graduate work at UK, he left for the Left Coast, and it suited him just fine. The first stop was a writing instructorship at Oregon State, then enrollment into the Stanford Writing Program, a move shared by Jim, Wendell, and Gurney. There he cultivated, among other things, relationships with Larry McMurtry, Robert Stone, and—most importantly—Ken Kesey. Ed didn’t just experience the 1960s; he wallowed in them. Also, a bonus interview from 1996 program, Signature Live.

Revisit photographs created by Kentucky school children in the 1970s and the place where their photos were made. Photographer and artist Wendy Ewald, who guided the students in making their visionary photographs, returns to Kentucky and learns how the lives and visions of her former students have changed.

A retrospective of the work of the late actor Warren Oates, with clips from his films and interviews with cast and crew members who worked with him.

Imagine an AM Radio Station with a dawn to dusk license that played nothing but jazz and comedy records. Did I mention it FLOATED in the Ohio River and changed the culture of a Community? The history of Cincinnati Jazz is long, wide, diverse and in the case of WNOP sometimes beyond belief. Saxophonist turned filmmaker Christopher Braig's second Film will focus on the people, music, and cities that kept "The Jazz Ark" sailing for 42 years from 1968 to 2000.

A heartbreaking record of the thirteen-month struggle between a community fighting to survive and a corporation dedicated to the bottom line.