Roam the Wild West frontier land of the Rio Grande’s Big Bend alongside its iconic animals, including black bears, rattlesnakes and scorpions.
Follows unaccompanied child migrants, on their journey through Mexico, as they try to reach the United States.
The corruption runs deeper than you'd ever imagine. A multi-billion dollar industry you've never heard of. This is the world Patent Trolls thrive in: A world created for them by our own U. S. Patent system. You can be sued for clicking on a hyperlink, using your own scanner, or sharing your Wi-Fi! It sounds insane, but the reality is even crazier. Patent Trolls look for obvious ideas, patent them, and then sue anyone they claim is infringing on their idea. People's lives and businesses are being destroyed.. and they have no way out. “The Patent Scam” exposes the underbelly of this system, and the people that commit this practice.
A flamboyant restaurateur, a good ol' boy and a political ingénue, walk into a small town political contest and compete head to head to head, for the non-paid mayoral seat of the Tomato Republic. What happens next is anyones guess. The only thing that could slow this race down is a freight train. Let the takeover begin. - Written by Whitney Graham Carter
Grindcore Vacation melds the expository documentary, diary film, and live performance footage to produce a portrait of the musicians who play grindcore, an extreme sub-genre of punk/metal characterized by high speed and full volume. Shot during a weekend trip from Victoria BC to Dallas TX for a single DIY concert, it interviews members of Deterioration, Cognizant, and Imperial Slaughter. Live concert footage combines with interviews and Super 8mm film to create an impression of the people who play grindcore, why they love the genre, and their experiences as practitioners of the niche style.
After the Robb Elementary school shooting in Texas, local Uvalde Leader-News journalists are left to report on the fallout – and on one of their staff members. Reporter Kimberly Rubio rises to national prominence as an advocate for gun reform after her ten-year-old daughter, Lexi, is killed in the shooting. Through the journalists’ reporting, we witness the social fabric of this small Texas town unravel as Kimberly and other victims’ families search for accountability from law enforcement and local leaders. The documentary also shines a light on the critical role of community journalism, at a time when local newspapers are folding rapidly across the country.
In a Texas military town, three teenage girls confront the dark corners of adolescence at the end of a fever dream summer.
Barbecue is a religion in Texas, and this droll documentary takes a look at some of the colorful characters who live and die for this culinary art. Narrated by former Gov. Ann Richards, the film covers everything from the Church of the Holy BBQ and the Great Texas Mosquito Festival to a zealous group of University of Texas students who lead "barbecue missions." Interviews with Dan Rather, Kinky Friedman and other famous Texans are included.
A short Doc/Music Collage of the DIY shows at Taqueria El Picante. Featuring bands from all around DFW, Houston, Chicago, and Canada too. During editing, it became a story about Alli, Pat, and good ass music.
Rae Ripple, a welder from the outskirts of West Texas transforms neglected metal into works of art and in the process finds healing from her traumatic past.
For the last half century, the little town of Luling, Texas has held an annual Watermelon Thump Festival – and its own world championship watermelon seed spitting competition. This short documentary is about both the contest and the chief seed spitting judge, Phil, an underemployed, over-stimulated, former expatriate, who’s come home after years abroad in Europe.
In the early 1830s Texas was about to explode. Although ruled by Mexico, the region was home to more than 20,000 U.S. settlers agitated by what they saw as restrictive Mexican policies. Mexican officials, concerned with illegal trading and immigration, were prepared to fight hard to keep the province under their control. Caught in the middle were the area's 4,000 Mexican Texans or Tejanos. With war on the horizon, the Tejanos had to pick a side. Many chose to fight with their Anglo neighbors against an army sent by Mexico City. The conflict pitted brother against brother and devastated the community. The Tejano gamble for a more prosperous future in an independent Texas proved tragic. Following the revolution, the Tejanos were overwhelmed by a surge of Anglo immigration -- leaving them foreigners in a land they had fought to defend.
The Last of the Little Breweries, a student film documenting the history of the Spoetzel Brewery in Lavaca County, Texas, was produced and directed by University of Texas at Austin student Frank Binney (later a professor in the Radio-Television-Film Department) in 1976. Tracing Bavarian-born brewmaster Kosmos Spoetzel's journey through Egypt, Canada, and San Francisco before landing in Shiner, Texas, in 1915, it won an Achievement Award in documentary at the 4th Annual Student Film Awards (now known as the Student Academy Awards) in 1977.
In 1972, Moody Anderson bought a ghost town and brought it back to life. Nearly four decades later, Moody faces the heart-wrenching task of dismantling and selling his collection of Americana artifacts used in hundreds of films, from Lonesome Dove and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to the Coen Brothers' remake of True Grit.
One million people legally cross the U.S.-Mexico border every day in both directions. Among them are women from Ciudad Juárez who cross to give birth in El Paso, Texas. Even with visas that allow them to cross, their journeys are uncertain. Gaby and Luisa, two women from Ciudad Juárez, cross legally into El Paso, Texas, in order to give birth. Two Chicana midwives in El Paso, Lina and Sandra, support the women who cross. After living through the extreme violence that engulfed Ciudad Juárez from 2008-2012 and with the looming threat of obstetrical violence in Mexican hospitals, Gaby and Luisa choose to cross, seeking a safer future for their children and the opportunity for natural childbirth with midwives. They risk losing their visas, getting turned back, and harassment at the hands of U.S. Border Patrol. Against the backdrop of oppressive U.S. border policy, these women's stories of risk and resilience reveal the complexities of life on the U.S.-Mexico border.
This documentary explores two horrific stories. With haunting interviews with the killers, plus emotional exchanges with the daughters.
Scott Panetti was tried for the capital murder of his parents-in-law on September 8, 1992 in Gillespie County, Texas. He was subsequently sentenced to death on September 22, 1995. Panetti has an extensive history of mental illness, including schizophrenia, manic depression, auditory hallucinations and paranoia. Panetti was hospitalized, both voluntarily and involuntarily for mental illness fourteen times in six different hospitals before his arrest for capital murder in 1992. Following his conviction, Panetti’s former wife, and daughter of the victims, Sonja Alvarado, filed a petition stating that Panetti never should have been tried for the crimes as he was suffering from paranoid delusions at the time of the killings.
A look back at the history of major league baseball in Houston, starting with its humble beginnings at Colt .45 stadium, to the massive grandeur of the Astrodome and the birth of the Astros. Enjoy many of the great moments in Houston's baseball history including Ken Johnson's no-hitter, which he lost, Don Wilson's spectacular performances on the mound, and Nolan Ryan's triumph in overtaking Walter Johnson's strikeout record, just to name a few. Relive the story of the Astros as told by the stars who experienced it: like Rusty Staub, Joe Morgan and Mike Scott. From an expansion team in 1962 to today's National League Western Division Champions, "A Silver Odyssey" captures a quarter-century of history, humor and excitement.
Ever since the Astrodome's grand opening night on April 9, 1965, when the Astros hosted the legendary Mickey Mantle and the New York Yankees in an exhibition game, baseball under glass has produced exciting times and great memories. The Astrodome revolutionized baseball and the game hasn't been the same since. Take a fun look back at the early years. Relive the excitement of the 1980 and '86 playoff series, then review the 1989 season as the Astros' young guns came of age, ready for the 1990s. All of these moments and more are captured in this video tribute to the Astros and their 25 years in the "Eight Wonder of the World." Written and produced by Houston sports journalist and Astros broadcaster Bruce Gietzen.