A young transgender man explores his gender identity and searches for love in rural Nebraska.
Over twenty years, the Russian documentary filmmaker Marina Goldovskaya interviewed pioneers of American documentaries, such as Richard Leacock, Robert and Anne Drew, Albert Maysles, D.A. Pennebaker, Jonas Mekas, among others. In long conversations, they discuss the elaboration of titles that are now fundamental to the genre’s world history, commenting on the introduction of new light and portable cameras that allowed the advent of Cinema Verite, in addition to sharing the fundamentals and principles of the art of capturing life. The sum of these parts corresponds to a singular opportunity of re-encounter with the thinking of these masters, even those that have already passed away.
In the last days of 1999, ex-cop turned street hustler Lenny Nero receives a disc which contains the memories of the murder of a prostitute. With the help of bodyguard Mace, he starts to investigate and is pulled deeper and deeper in a whirl of murder, blackmail and intrigue.
A humorous and heartwarming documentary feature, CYBER-SENIORS chronicles the extraordinary journey of a group of senior citizens as they discover the world of the Internet through the guidance of teenage mentors. Their exploration of cyberspace is catapulted to another level when 89 year-old Shura decides to create a YouTube cooking video. A spirited video competition for the most “views" evolves as the cyber-seniors’ hidden talents and competitive spirits are revealed. CYBER-SENIORS provides insight into the wonderful things that can happen when generation gaps are bridged, proving you are never too old to get "connected."
When asked to make a documentary about her friend’s mother—a Parisian astrologer named Juliane—the filmmaker sets off for Montmartre with a Bolex to craft a portrait of an infectiously exuberant personality and the pre-war apartment she’s called home for 50 years.
An intimate exploration of the circumstances surrounding the incarceration of Native American activist Leonard Peltier, convicted of murder in 1977, with commentary from those involved, including Peltier himself.
In this film, Sara Gómez documents the everyday life of the Isla de Pinos, the discussions about the problems of construction, the school and the leisure activities of the youth in 1968 and contextualizes these images with Frantz Fanon's thoughts about the construction of a nation through decolonization.
Documentary depicting the lives of child prostitutes in the red light district of Songachi, Calcutta. Director Zana Briski went to photograph the prostitutes when she met and became friends with their children. Briski began giving photography lessons to the children and became aware that their photography might be a way for them to lead better lives.
A dual portrait of young drifters on the streets of Odessa, where every day seems the same and the future keeps getting further away.
In the course of Alaide Foppa's life, she became a precursor of feminism in Mexico. She was an immigrant who, in her own way, tried to break the molds established by her upper-class upbringing. Her sensitivity and intellectual development made her question matters of social injustice, educational and gender inequalities, the importance of socially-committed art forms and the vindication of democracy throughout Latin America. Her tragic end reveals much about the history of Guatemala.
The film describes the microcosmos of the small village Wacken and shows the clash of the cultures, before and during the biggest heavy metal festival in Europe.
For almost 50 years, the world's population has grown at an alarming rate, raising fears about strains on the Earth's resources. But how true are these claims? Taking cues from statistics guru Hans Rosling, Misconception offers a provocative glimpse at how the world—and women in particular— are tackling a subject at once personal and global. Following three individuals, director Jessica Yu focuses on the human implications of this highly charged political issue, inspiring a fresh look at the consequences of population growth. In English, Hindi, Mandarin, and Russian with subtitles.
Lucy Daniels believes that a family secret told to her as a four year-old radically impacted the trajectory of her life, and set in motion a life-long debilitating mental illness. Born into a powerful newspaper-magnate family, from an early age Lucy defined her worth by her ability to write. Despite early success, she was struck with severe anorexia and underwent brutal treatment in mental institutions, only to survive, pen her first best-seller, and ultimately win a Guggenheim Prize in literature - all before the age of 22. The first of its kind, this hybrid documentary weaves together 'relational' recreations, animated dream sequences, constructed worlds and intimate interviews to tell a worthwhile story of survival and creativity, filtered through the eyes of filmmaker and subject.
Tom Ripley - cool, urbane, wealthy, and murderous - lives in a villa in the Veneto with Luisa, his harpsichord-playing girlfriend. A former business associate from Berlin's underworld pays a call asking Ripley's help in killing a rival. Ripley - ever a student of human nature - initiates a game to turn a mild and innocent local picture framer into a hit man. The artisan, Jonathan Trevanny, who's dying of cancer, has a wife, young son, and little to leave them. If Ripley draws Jonathan into the game, can Ripley maintain control? Does it stop at one killing? What if Ripley develops a conscience?
Filmmaker Froukje van Wengerden’s 86-year-old grandmother shares a powerful memory from 1944, when she was just 14. As her story unfolds, we see a group of contemporary 14-year-old girls. Their procession of portraits permits the spectator to see simultaneously forward and back, into the future and towards the past. A miraculous testimonial that uses eye contact to focus the viewer inward and evoke unexpected emotions.
A woman reads letters written to her by her imprisoned lover over a seascape. In this dialogue between images and text, absence, expectation and the desire for freedom are expressed.
Recaptures the lives and times of Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Ida Cox, Alberta Hunter, Ethel Waters, and the other legendary women who made blues music a vital part of American culture. The film brings together for the first time dozens of rare, classic renditions of the early blues.
A documentary portrait of International Chrysis, a New York “show girl” and drag queen. Surreal herself, Chrysis was one of Salvador Dali’s inner circle, a woman from the waist up, a man from the waist down.
The story of two teenage extraterrestrial refugees from the planet Pluto, who escape to Earth after their planet is destroyed by the US government, as it was deemed “insignificant.” For many years prior, tensions between the Plutonians and the Earthlings had seen a steady incline, as Pluto held camps where Earthlings were experimented on and tortured. The two aliens make their crash landing, undertake human form and undergo the aliases “Hugh Jainus” and “E. Rection”. In an effort to wage revenge on the nation, with their brainwashed sidekick Potator under their wing, the trio hijack television stations worldwide and broadcast mind-numbingly stupid and ridiculous, yet insane and often violent programs to dumb down and distract the nation’s citizens from their devious plans. The tube tells the story...
In 1928, Lady Heath became the first person to fly solo from Cape Town to London. Eighty-five years later, Tracey Curtis-Taylor set out in a vintage biplane to fly that adventure again. Following Tracey as she retraces the journey, The Aviatrix is more than just a film about the rapture of flying – it’s a story about living life on your own terms and having the courage and determination to realise your greatest dreams.