Softwaring Hard

Mid-Missouri cult hero Nathan Truesdell sifts through a Cleveland TV station's archives and unearths a fancy wrist watch, blistered fingers and other casualties of a misbegotten exercise in civic pride. In September 1986, the city of Cleveland attempted to set a special record: the simultaneous launch of 1.5 million balloons. But fate intervened, and the result was both crazier and more tragic than anyone could have imagined.

For the first 50 years of film history, the newsreel was a fixture in American movie theaters. From 1911 to 1967, these shorts proved an influential source of information – and misinformation – for generations of American moviegoers. Television news and public affairs programs became a great improvement over the scanty information offered by the newsreels. This documentary offers insight into a medium which has disappeared.

An 18-minute long single-channel video which uses CNN footage cut so that each word is spoken by a different newsperson. The pieces literally asks the viewers questions about media authenticity and give CNN a distinct voice

Information Violence

Us and Them

A new, original documentary from Connecticut Public, Fake: Searching for Truth in the Age of Misinformation, takes on this topic, just in time for the 2020 election season. Viewers will learn how and why misinformation spreads, and how to be a smarter information consumer in our increasingly digital world.

In a field dominated by men, five pioneering camerawomen Mary Rogers, Cynde Strand, Jane Evans, Maria Fleet and Margaret Moth went to the frontlines of wars, revolutions and disasters to bring us the truth. As colorful as accomplished, these brave photojournalists made their mark by capturing some of the most iconic images from Tiananmen Square, to conflicts in Sarajevo, Iraq, Somalia and the Arab Spring uprising. But the world doesn’t know it was these women behind the camera. In the midst of unfolding chaos, the pictures they took for CNN both shocked and informed the world. This feature documentary by director Heather O’Neill tells their remarkable story.

This Shiver (ITV Studios) documentary reveals what happened behind-the-scenes on some of the most momentous breaking news events in our lifetime - as told by those caught up in the real-life drama, those in the newsrooms and those responsible for delivering these newsflashes into millions of people's homes. News stories covered include the death of Diana, Princess of Wales (1997); the assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas (1963); the coal-tip landslide in Aberfan (1966); the Lockerbie Air Disaster (1988); the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York (2001); the start of Operation Desert Storm during the Gulf War (1991); the dramatic end of the Iranian Embassy siege in London (1980); and the announcement of the death of the Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (2002).

REVOLUTION OS tells the inside story of the hackers who rebelled against the proprietary software model and Microsoft to create GNU/Linux and the Open Source movement.

The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults is a two-hour live American television special that was broadcast in syndication on April 21, 1986, and hosted by Geraldo Rivera. It centered on the live opening of a secret vault in the Lexington Hotel in Chicago once owned by noted crime lord Al Capone.

In recent decades, humans have lost 25 to 40 percent of the world's corals due to seawater temperature rise and ocean acidification. Dr David Vaughan has been studying corals his whole life, but until eight years ago, could only watch the crisis unfold. After an accident one day in the lab, Vaughan discovered a secret of coral reproduction, and is now working to replant dwindling coral reefs at an astonishing rate. The Atlantic visited Dr Vaughan in the Florida Keys to uncover how the process works and understand how much hope there is to revitalize our reefs.

This film examines the very real threat of the electrical grid going down either from natural or human causes. All civilization is based on the electrical grid and without it eight out of ten people would not survive a long term loss of electricity. There are ways to prevent this, but neither the government or power companies seem interested in it.

At nearly 169 feet tall, Verrückt was taller than Niagara Falls. Riders flew down the world's tallest water slide at 70 miles per hour, challenging the laws of physics. Then, on August 7, 2016, 10-year-old Caleb Schwab was decapitated on the ride. What went wrong to cause such a horrific tragedy?

Stephen Hawking has warned that the creation of powerful artificial intelligence will be “either the best, or the worst thing, ever to happen to humanity”. Inspired by Brian Christian’s study The Most Human Human: What Artificial Intelligence Teaches Us About Being Alive, the filmmakers set out on an international investigation highlighting the effects of AI - scenes from our daily lives destructive and constructive.

Grace Hopper dedicated her life to bringing computers to the masses, when most supposed the technology was only useful for scientists and the military. Through her genius, she taught software English, so that everyone could communicate with computers.

When the renowned author, orator and journalist Christopher Hitchens was challenged to undergo the brutal interrogation technique known as waterboarding, few would've expected he'd accept such a task - he had previously expressed the position that the controversial procedure would not qualify as torture, and most who'd claim such a thing would not have the courage to test their convictions. Yet, in May 2007, Hitchens did just that - and his experience profoundly impacted both himself and his stance on the matter, prompting him to declare he'd been wrong, and later to publish his 2008 article for Vanity Fair's August issue, simply titled 'Believe Me, It's Torture'.

A tale of how the great vision and epic failure of General Magic, the "greatest dead company in Silicon Valley", changed the lives of billions.

A timely exploration into the complex links between the U.S. and China. Interspersed with remarks from journalists and experts, All Eyes and Ears interweaves the stories of U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, his adopted Chinese daughter, Gracie Mei, and blind legal advocate Chen Guangcheng as they find purpose, identity and resolve amid the two nations’ evolving relationship.

As local newsrooms vanish, "News Without a Newsroom" explores journalism's uncertain future in the digital age. Through powerful stories and expert insights, the film examines the collapse of traditional media, the rise of misinformation, and the fight to preserve truth, trust and accountability in an era of disruption.

The real story of wellness campaigner Belle Gibson's massive worldwide fraud and the famous interview that brought the con artist down.