The Sun Rises in the East

Today it's a symbol of strength and vitality. 135 years ago, it was a source of controversy. This documentary examines the great problems and ingenious solutions that marked the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. From conception to construction, it traces the bridge's transformation from a spectacular feat of heroic engineering to an honored symbol in American culture.

Four writers who live and work in Brooklyn share their lives, their work, and their city: New York. Four writers capable of creating a melting pot of literary genres, just as their city mixes peoples and cultures. Far from Manhattan and the "dominant" culture, on the outskirts of the empire... on the wrong side of the bridge.

As beautiful and sleek as it is deadly, 52 Blocks merits special conservation efforts as the United States' only existing native martial culture, as it is indeed, the jazz of the martial arts world. Across the African diaspora, there are manifestations of African-derived warrior-dances, capoeira in brazil, mani in Cuba, ladja in Martinique, pinge in Haiti- yet the US offshoot has remained esoteric, because it was suppressed throughout slavery, Reconstruction and Jim Crow and then obscured in the criminal justice system. The history, interviews and training of the martial arts style that created Breakdance and boxing greats like Mike Tyson.

A collection of personal anecdotes from those who have navigated through a tumultuous year in America.

Docufilm tells the story of Italian-American boxer Chiara Dituri. The film follows her recovery after a serious accident in the ring, highlighting her determination, spiritual strength, and desire to return to fighting.

Grounders is a heartfelt personal documentary about a women’s softball league in Brooklyn, New York: the games, the teams, and the players that take the field. Exploring the dynamic personalities and compelling life stories of a diverse group of women, Grounders captures an inside view of a unique sub-culture, and a thoughtful and uplifting revelation of their community emerges. With Brooklyn as the backdrop, and connections that blur the boundaries of race, class, age, religion, and sexual orientation, these women have many stories to tell about why they are there.

A short documentary about a man, his legacy and his impact on the world.

He ran the most infamous drug empire in Brooklyn. They unleashed a violent reign of destruction on the streets of New York that made George H. Bush campaign for the War On Drugs. He orchestrated robberies, kidnappings, murdered in cold blood, and beat the charges. This true crime documentary examines how Brian Glaze Gibbs saved his life and found redemption.

A merger of megastar music. Discover the story of multi-genre performer and fashion promoter, Beyonce Knowles sand the world's first hip hop billionaire, Jay-Z.

Su Friedrich's personal essay charting the destruction of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. After living in the neighborhood for 20 years, the filmmaker was one of many who were forced out after the city passed a rezoning plan allowing developers to build luxury condos where there were once thriving industries, working-class families, and artists. Filmed over many years, it is a scathing portrait of one neighborhood's demolition and transformation.

Reverend Huie Rogers is a preacher at the Bible Way Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ in Brooklyn. He is the topic of this short film, during which launches into an epic call-and-response denunciation of human hubris, greed, corruption and failure. The use of lengthy shots present it less like a sermon and more a performance, and induce an almost trance-like state.

Once producing half of the nation's sugar, the Domino Sugar Refinery was an icon of the industrial work available in South Williamsburg. Within the year part of the building will be demolished for new housing and the rest renovated for commercial use. Two former workers who live only blocks away return to their days at Domino and visit the now derelict space that was part of their lives for 30 years.

Polish emigrant—Martynka—living for 15 years in Manhattan, divorces her American husband and decides to look for her new home in Greenpoint. This is a district that reminds her of folksy Polish people and the type of emigrants she does not want to identify with. However now she realizes that the longing for the family draws her just here. Moreover, the district is changing into an intercultural melting pot and this is the last moment to taste life among her fellow Polish people. Martynka makes contact with people who came to New York 20, 30 years ago, completely unprepared for the reality overseas. Her neighbor, Henryk, becomes her friend and helper in difficult times. Helena—an elderly lady living in a senior home—inspires her to create an artistic project. Martynka listens to stories of determination, loneliness, fear, but also stories of finding their place on foreign ground as she deals with her own past, hoping to overcome the feeling of loneliness and alienation in New York.

Kids from Brooklyn, NY housing projects try to change the world when they are paired with Sierra Leonean pen pals orphaned by a civil war.

A behind the scenes look at the current state of of this population.

As a teenager in 1950 Brooklyn, all Saul wanted to do was hang out with his friends and go to the beach. Instead, he got roped into a dangerous new job, and Saul got in a little over his head.

Brooklyn Jubilee Peace Parade

In 1899, a photographer at American Mutoscope & Biograph mounted his camera on the front of a trolley traveling over the Brooklyn Bridge. The three 90-foot rolls he created were edited together to complete the journey from Manhattan to Brooklyn, entitled Across the Brooklyn Bridge. As a commission by the Museum of Modern Art for the re-opening of their facility, American avant-garde filmmaker Bill Morrison took this remarkable footage and recombined it with itself to form a new split-screen extrapolation.

Meet the dirtiest cop in NYC history. Michael Dowd stole money and dealt drugs while patrolling the streets of '80s Brooklyn.

From the Boogie Down Bronx and beyond, the history of the b-boy.