Documentary telling the extraordinary story of Koko, the only 'talking' gorilla in the world, and her lifelong relationship with Penny Patterson. Project Koko started as a PhD project to teach sign language to a baby gorilla, but as Koko began to communicate with Penny, an intense bond formed between them. Penny has now been with Koko for over 40 years and claims Koko can reveal fresh insights into the workings of an animal's mind. Koko's unique life with Penny has been filmed every step of the way. Over 2,000 hours of footage chart the most dramatic moments - Penny's battle to keep Koko from being taken back to the zoo in which she was born, Penny's clash with academic critics who doubted her claims and the image of Koko mourning the death of her kitten.
Nicky Nelson is a fast-talking sideshow barker with a wax-and-alive concession on Atlantic City's boardwalk. Even with the band of his friend, struggling musician Gene Krupa, playing on the sidewalk to attract the customers, "The Living Corpse" and other low-rent acts aren't enough to lure the seen-it-all boardwalk strollers, and the landlord closes the show in lieu of never-paid rent. Nicky, always promoting, goes to Stephen Hanratty, head of the pier's Dance Pavilion, to plug Krupa's band as an attraction, but Hanratty won't even listen to them. But, while there, he meets singer Lily Racquel, who knows he is a phoney but might have the ability to to talk a radio-station manager into giving her an audition. She gives him a ring to help finance the project; he promptly loses it in a crap-game.
Wonders of the Arctic 3D centers on our ongoing mission to explore and come to terms with the Arctic, and the compelling stories of our many forays into this captivating place will be interwoven to create a unifying message about the state of the Arctic today. Underlying all these tales is the crucial role that ice plays in the northern environment and the changes that are quickly overtaking the people and animals who have adapted to this land of ice and snow.
When an unsuspecting town newcomer is drawn to local blood fiends, the Frog brothers and other unlikely heroes gear up to rescue him.
In 1936, 18 African American athletes dubbed the "black auxiliary" by Hitler defied Nazi Aryan Supremacy and Jim Crow Racism to win hearts and medals at the 1936 Summer Olympic Games in Berlin. The world remembers Jesse Owens. But, Olympic Pride American Prejudice shows how all 18 are a seminal precursor to the modern Civil Rights Movement.
Husband and wife Gabe and Adelaide Wilson take their kids to their beach house expecting to unplug and unwind with friends. But as night descends, their serenity turns to tension and chaos when some shocking visitors arrive uninvited.
A mix of live performances and behind-the-scenes footage from the televised benefit concert to raise relief funds for victims of Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
A master thief recruits a notorious thief to help him steal two famous Faberge eggs from an impenetrable vault in an effort to pull off one final job and repay his debt to the Russian mob.
Jason Staebler lives on the Boardwalk and fronts for the local mob in Atlantic City. He is a dreamer who asks his brother David, a radio personality from Philadelphia, to help him build a paradise on a Pacific Island, which might be just another of his pie-in-the-sky schemes. Inevitably, complications begin to pile up.
Filmmaker Jonas Mekas follows his friend, film director Martin Scorsese, and his cast and crew, through various locations during the shooting of his film The Departed, released in 2006.
A Documentary about Nikos Nikolaidis' work. Nikos Nikolaidis was an acclaimed film director and author from Greece. He is famous for creating controversial characters in his films that have a rebellious attitude towards the social and political status quo. He illustrates a dark and pessimistic present and future, but also providing ambiguous hope for the end when his heroes find their escape in death. His films are shocking and contentious, raising questions during times when political visions start to fade away. His filming was poetic, dynamic and aesthetically beautiful in order to present situations on edge and elicit his audience's feelings. The aim of this project is to transfer his dynamics in a documentary that will convey some of his messages and create a platform for exchanging opinions among filmmakers from all over the world, in an effort to decipher his universe and his symbols as reflections of his unique and rare personality.
The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia will be the first ever to be held in a subtropical resort. The most expensive games ever break all records when it comes to corruption and megalomania. Putin's administration has everyone at its beck and call, from oligarchs down to the ordinary people who have to pay the Olympic bill. Both the powerful and the weak speak out in this investigative documentary, which unveils the hidden story behind Putin's games. Government critic Garry Kasparov says that Putin's Olympic propaganda is really all about speeding up the privatization of land in Sochi. Many inhabitants have had to make way for hotels, ski jumps and a large harbor, which were subsequently swept away by storms and landslides – the Olympic village was built on a swamp in the hottest region of Russia. To a large extent, the story of these environmentally unfriendly Olympic Games is one of threats and enormous misappropriations of money.
Have you ever woken in the night unable to move, certain that you are not alone? This is an experimental documentary examining what happens when dreams leak into waking life. It is about what is real, what is not, and if it even matters.
The lecturer shows a microcinematographic sequence of spirochaetes and drawings of the gonoccus (the bacteria responsible for syphilis and gonorrhea). He then turns to an easel and begins to draw 'the road of health'; the cartoon takes this up in magic drawing, in a style that is highly reminiscent of the 'Giro the Germ' series made for the Health and Cleanliness Council a few years before.
A celebration of the spirit found in an Australian rural village. Old timer farmers rub shoulders with newcomer creative people which include some of Australia's most famous artists and composers seeking a tree change. They discover in Robertson there is more than just trees. Above all, the residents of Robertson want to retain their town as a rural village. Collectively the community, old and new, vigorously fight against the invasion of the outside world, threats of a large jail, bores which deplete the aquifers and coal seam gas mining. In a contemporary world that sometimes questions the advantages of social media technology, A Place Called Robertson is a snapshot of traditional Australian values, a magical film, celebrating the spirit that can be found in a small Australian rural village.
Ronnie is a short exposé of a handsome young street hustler Curt McDowell met in San Francisco. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2015.
An unruly young mother and her two kids spend a hot summer day illicitly making ends meet on the Atlantic City boardwalk.
Musicians perform live in the street in this one-take film.
A conversation between an older, HIV positive woman and her niece. The women talk about what it means to be a woman, mother, elderly and HIV positive in Lesotho. They speak about love, marriage, motherhood, inter-generational sex and health systems in the context of HIV in Lesotho.
Champion adventure racer, Jason "The Hammer" Lane, had both knees reconstructed in 2010. After being told that the best therapy was to ride a bike, Jason entered The Race Across America (RAAM) - a 3000-mile, coast to coast cycling race. The winner will finish in less than 8 days. Sleep? Certainly not for the first 48 hours. After that, rest comes in the form of receiving IV drips and counting REM cycles. "The Hammer" literally puts you in the passenger's seat of RAAM as you follow an unknown rookie racer battle for the lead, get run over by a car, and feud with an unprepared crew in a fight to the finish line. In this raw, unabashed documentary, you will witness the determination of a true champion and the love that grows among near strangers through challenge and conflict. The Race Across America has no favorites; rather a taste to swallow half of the field. Each and every racer is tested. Some will pass, some will fail, but only one will Hammer.