“Ramón y Cajal: drawings on the retina” is a documentary about the Nobel Prize winner that explores, from a contemporary perspective, his fascination with images as a bridge between the reality of the physical world and that created in the brain, with a new integrative approach to his artistic and scientific facets and his legacy, told through the experiences and points of view of researchers, artists, historians, family members, and other experts who consider Cajal a visionary who transcended his own science. In one of the laboratories, a machine answers Cajal's last question: how are images formed in the brain?
A detailed investigation into the political and economic interests that, since the beginning of the 20th century, have pulled the strings of the arms trade, hidden in the shadows, feeding the shameful corruption of politicians and government officials and promoting a state of permanent war throughout the world, while they cynically asked for a lasting and universal peace.
September 18, 1980, 6:25 p.m., Titan II base in Damascus, Arkansas. On this fateful night an explosion kills an Air Force member and transforms the lives of everyone on the base. Honing in on a single case of so-called "human error", Command and Control juxtaposes precision on a minute scale against the gargantuan risks inherent in the United States' aggressive nuclear proliferation policy during the Cold War.
Home video changed the world. The cultural and historical impact of the VHS tape was enormous. This film traces the ripples of that impact by examining the myriad aspects of society that were altered by the creation of videotape.
A wall can be a barrier. It can be a structure of limitation or a source of repression. For the Inside Out Project, a wall is a canvas, and so are sides of trains, the arches of bridges and the steps leading to Brooklyn brownstones. This fascinating documentary tracks the evolution of the world’s largest participatory art project, the wildly popular Inside Out. From Haiti to Tunisia, South Dakota to the streets of Paris, French artist JR motivates communities to define their most important causes by pasting giant portraits in the street, testing the limits of what they thought possible. The power of paper turns people who feel without voice into unlikely activists by empowering them with their own images.
Go inside the lives and training regimes of eight of the world’s gutsiest professional skateboarders. These fearless stars face unique obstacles on the way to the Street League Championship and the coveted title of best skateboarder in the world.
Mike Epps, Richard Pryor Jr. and others recount the culture-defining influence of Richard Pryor - one of America's most brilliant, iconic comic minds.
Research and dissemination documentary-film about contemporary art in which more than 30 staff members of museums and galleries, visual and sound artists, collectors, art critics and curators share their knowledge and give an account of their experiences and anecdotes.
"Art is more precious than a hot dog" - Francis Picabia's (1879-1953) pamphlet is the title of this color animation of Cartsen Regild's art and the studio recording in black and white.
In the film "You Don't Need Feet to Dance," African immigrant Sidiki Conde, having lost the use of his legs to polio at fourteen, balances his career as a performing artist with the almost insurmountable obstacles of life in New York City, from his fifth-floor walk up apartment in the East village, down the stairs with his hands and navigating in his wheelchair through Manhattan onto buses and into the subway. Sidiki struggles to cope with his disability and to earn a decent living, but he still manages to teach workshops for disabled kids, busk on the street, rehearse with his musical group, bicycle with his hands, and prepare for a baby naming ceremony, where he plays djembe drums, sings, and dances on his hands.
Water Birds is a 1952 short documentary film directed by Ben Sharpsteen. The film delves into the still waters of lagoons and marshes to the wild blue wilderness of the vast oceans, to experience the beauty and variety of their majestic birds, each perfectly designed for its habitat. It won the Oscar for Best Short Subject, Two-Reel.
More than 40 years ago, Bas Jan Ader decided to go on an adventure. In a tiny sailing boat, the Dutchman set sail across the ocean. Nine months later the boat was found adrift at sea. There was no sign of Ader. It’s a story that has always fascinated filmmaker Martijn Blekendaal, not just because of the disappearance itself, but also because of the entire mystery that surrounds it. Blekendaal embarks on an investigation that follows his footsteps to Hollywood. It turns out that, in order to understand what drove this man to his fateful voyage, the filmmaker has to overcome his fear of looking beyond his own horizon. In a whirlwind montage of images jumping from one time, place and person to another, Blekendaal shows us that Bas Jan left behind something more special than just a mystery.
World-renowned Drag Queen Miz Cracker helps a Texas family that’s experiencing strange occurrences after renovating their 1892 home. As a lover of the paranormal, can Miz Cracker solve their ghost problem and help them coexist peacefully with the spirits?
The Sfroos - Viaggio nella musica di Lombardia
Godard constructs a lyrical study of the cinematic and creative process by deconstructing the story of his 1982 film Passion. “I didn’t want to write the script,” he states, “I wanted to see it.” Positioning himself in a video editing suite in front of a white film screen that evokes for him the “famous blank page of Mallarmé,” Godard uses video as a sketchbook with which to reconceive the film. The result is a philosophical, often humorous rumination on the desire and labor that inform the conceptual and image making process of the cinema.
Oil Sands Karaoke is a documentary about five oil patch workers vying to win a karaoke contest in one of the most controversial places on the planet - Northern Alberta's infamous Oil Sands. These five characters know they're at the center of a global controversy and yet they continue to work there under extremely arduous physical conditions for long hours for extended periods without a single day off. Why? Obviously for the high wages. But what could motivate a person in this situation to sing karaoke, let alone take it seriously? A documentary unlike any other, Oil Sands Karaoke will make us laugh, sing along, and perhaps re-examine our biases
Inside his studio, painter Philip Trusttum launches into a new work. He employs ordinary house paint to create a bold, large-scale painting, tells stories, and reflects on his career as an artist.
The representation of women in contemporary Italian media
In part of the HBO's America Undercover series, this documentary provides an insider's view of mental illness, and the use of psychotropic drugs to alleviate some of its symptoms. Tracks the odyssey of four psychiatric patients, beginning with their arrival at Massachusetts General Hospital and the affiliated Lindemann Center, revealing their personal struggles and inner strength as they enter the world of psychiatric treatment to seek relief from insanity.
Yallah! Underground follows some of today’s most influential and progressive artists in Arab underground culture from 2009 to 2013 and documents their work, dreams and fears in a time of great change for Arab societies. In a region full of tension, young Arab artists in the Middle East have struggled for years to express themselves freely and to promote more liberal attitudes within their societies. During the Arab Spring, like many others of this new generation, local artists had high hopes for the future and took part in the protests. However, after years of turmoil and instability, young Arabs now have to challenge both old and new problems, being torn between feelings of disillusion and a vague hope for a better future.