A film pioneer, Binka Zhelyazkova was at the forefront of political cinema under Bulgaria's Communist dictatorship. Though she remained faithful to the communist ideals she became an avid critic of the regime and brought upon herself the wrath of its censorship. As a result four of her nine films were shelved and released to the public only after the fall of the regime in 1989, and Binka Zhelyazkova became known as the bad girl of Bulgarian cinema. A provocative portrait that reveals the pressures and complexities that arise when art is made under totalitarianism.
A biography of the Portuguese-Brazilian singer Carmen Miranda, whose most distinctive feature was her tutti-frutti hat. From her arrival in the US as the "Brazilian Bombshell" to her Broadway career and Hollywood stardom in the 1940s.
When the lights dim and the stage is revealed, Meschke channels life through the strings of his puppets, triggering the spiritual connection between the creator and his alter-egos: the charismatic Don Quixote, the loving Penelope, the inquisitive Baptiste, or the mysterious Antigone. THE MAN WHO MADE ANGELS FLY is a poetic story about a master of his craft that has inspired audiences to reflect upon common issues of suffering and the mortal coil. Visionary and un-biographic, imaginary tribute to the puppeteer.
APPROACHING THE ELEPHANT is a feature-length documentary about The Teddy McArdle Free School, where classes are optional and rules are made by democratic vote. Summerhill, founded 90 years ago by A. S. Neill, was the first free school - now there are more than 200 worldwide. Approaching the Elephant chronicles a free school in the making - spanning two years, from Teddy McArdle's first day when there were no rules or classes, through the changing of the school's director and the expulsion of a student by democratic vote, to the last day of the second year, APPROACHING THE ELEPHANT is an intimate portrait of a small group of people from a range of educational backgrounds, come together to forge a place where children are treated as equals, at liberty to spend their days however they please.
In 1971, inmates at Attica State Prison seized control of D-yard and took 35 hostages after peaceful efforts for reforms failed. Attica investigates the rebellion and its bloody suppression, revealing institutionalized injustices, sanctioned dishonesty, and abuses of power.
Nerdcore Rising is a documentary/concert film starring MC Frontalot and other nerdcore hip hop artists such as mc chris, Wheelie Cyberman of Optimus Rhyme and MC Lars, with contributors from such as "Weird Al" Yankovic, Prince Paul and Brian Posehn. It combines interviews about nerdcore and its origins with footage of MC Frontalot's 2006 Nerdcore Rising national tour.
As a young man, Peter visited the rolling lush green hills of a remote and hidden valley in Wales and chose to stay there permanently. Self-sufficient and alone, Peter was content. Then he met Ben. Peter found Ben, an orphaned newborn lamb, abandoned in a ditch. Now Ben has matured into a full-grown wooly sheep with ambitions to move into Peter's house with him. Peter, however, has other ideas. Peter and Ben is a touching and quirky story of how two "black-sheep" form an unusual and enduring bond.
In America, size matters. The bigger you are, the more power you have, especially in the business world. Anat Baron takes you on a no holds barred exploration of the U.S. beer industry that ultimately reveals the truth behind the label of your favorite beer. Told from an insider’s perspective, the film goes behind the scenes of the daily battles and all out wars that dominate the industry.
Both an activist and a documentarian, Valentina Pedicini also brings her background in anthropology to this impressively captured, claustrophobic nonfiction feature. Venturing beneath sea level, From the Depths profiles the lone woman at work in the last coal mine in Sardinia, Italy.
The first film in a Seven Up-like series examining the lives of three teenage girls in South Australia during the 1970s. It looks at issues such as boys and sex, abortion, marriage, pregnancy, career paths, and education.
Naomi Kawase collaborates with Shinya Arimoto, a Taiyo award-winning photographer she knows from university, to create a photo album of Machiko Ono (who Kawase scouted for her previous feature film Moe no Suzaku) and Mika Mifune (daughter of famous actor Toshiro Mifune) with the idea to contrast these two aspiring actresses, Ono coming from the rural Nara and Mifune from Tokyo. Kawase documents the photo shooting and interviews Arimoto, Ono and Mifune as the work progresses, while the tension between her and Arimoto increases over disagreement on the direction of the project.
The exhibition "Qin Shihuang: Chinese Terracotta Warriors" featuring hundreds of palace-level cultural relics featuring terracotta warriors will be exhibited at the British Museum on September 13. Today, the packing work of the terracotta warriors and horses officially started, and at the same time, the decoration work of the central hall of the British Museum (where Marx once consulted information) is also in full swing. Hong Kong Phoenix Satellite TV, China Shaanxi TV Station and British Sky TV News Channel will cooperate for the first time to live broadcast the opening ceremony of the exhibition, visits and other important activities, and show the whole process of exhibit packing, departure, exhibition arrangement, exhibition and exhibition to the global audience Live delivery.
Documentary on the exodus of the Dominican illiterate laborers to Puerto Rico during the late 1980's to 1990. Focuses on the plight of Dominican women who, faced with no economic opportunities in Santo Domingo, embark in an illegal boat trip to Puerto Rico.
"Levante" won Canal Futura's annual documentary competition in 2014 and was filmed in Brazil, Mexico, Japan, Gaza and Hong Kong. It first aired at 22pm on the 25th June on Canal Futura. The film is about inspiring people around the world who use technology to speak out against injustice such as Filipe Peçanha from Midia Ninja who used the Japanese Twitcasting app to broadcast the Brazilian protests of 2013 from his smartphone, Noor Harazeen from Palestine who created the first English-speaking youtube news channel in Gaza, and Howard Kong from the Apple Daily newspaper in Hong Kong who used a drone to film the conflicts between police and protesters in 2014.
Discusses the mass immigration to the United States from the Dominican Republic due to the poor economic conditions there. Includes interviews with people, primarily women, who have emigrated and gives details on the hardships the travelers endure.
Documents the life and musical production of Puerto Rican music composer, Tite Curet Alonso. Includes Tite Curet's last interview before his death.
Features the life of feminist Luisa Capetillo in late 19th and early 20th century Puerto Rico.
Carlos Oliveira's literary universe is re-enacted in a studio using the writer’s personal objects and manuscripts, and with the help of Luis Miguel Cintra and Fernando Lopes. Shot with the purpose to document his work in the same way Carlos de Oliveira documented his hometown in Gândara, the film uses all the creative liberty that new digital technology allows in order to recreate the visual and sound records that were also present in the writer and poet’s own work.
Documenting the creative brilliance and passion of three stand-up comedians working the comedy club circuit in the “flyover zones” of middle America, Road Comics: Big Work on Small Stages explores expectations of where and how comedy thrives today in the United States. Anthropologist and first-time filmmaker Susan Seizer follows comedians Stewart Huff, Tim Northern, and Kristin Key as they earn their living on the road, pausing along the way to discuss the business of being funny with regional club owners.
The inspiring account on international bodyboarding star Luz 'Loly' Grande - a young woman on a personal mission to make bodyboarding a means to improve the lives of disadvantaged children in Puerto Rico, Argentina, Brazil, and Peru.