Movie Releases by Genre
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Misery Loves Comedy
April 24, 2015
Over fifty very famous American and Canadian funny people (filmmakers, writers, actors and comedians) share life and professional journeys and insights, in an effort to shed light on the thesis: Do you have to be miserable to be funny?
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The Great Museum
April 24, 2015
Featuring unprecedented access to an influential and multi-faceted institution, The Great Museum reveals the inner-workings of Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum, one of the most important art institutions in the world. Widely known as the art palace that houses paintings by Rembrandt, Diego Velasquez, Pieter Brueghel, Peter Paul Rubens and Caravaggio, among many other canonical works, the museum also features a remarkable and magnetic group of dedicated employees. As the camera follows the spacious rooms hosting some of the world's most valuable art works, director Johannes Holzhausen reveals a dynamic, reflective and fast-moving institution that's both adapting to the marketing and funding realities of the 21st-century while remaining faithful to its core mission.
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Because I Was a Painter
April 24, 2015
In 1945, when the Allies liberated the concentration camps, they discovered thousands of secretly created artworks. These drawings, hidden from the Nazis, offer an unparalleled view of life during the war. For more than 70 years, the story of the artists who created them has remained untold. With unprecedented access to paintings, drawings, etchings and sculptures held in collections around the world, Because I Was a Painter conducts a gripping and fascinating investigation into art that captures, reflects and inspires in difficult times. [Cinema Guild]
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Don't Think I've Forgotten: Cambodia's Lost Rock and Roll
April 22, 2015
Don't Think I've Forgotten: Cambodia's Lost Rock and Roll tracks the twists and turns of Cambodian music as it morphs into rock and roll, blossoms, and is nearly destroyed along with the rest of the country. This documentary film provides a new perspective on a country usually associated with only war and genocide.
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Revolution
April 22, 2015
Continuing his adventurous journey around the world, filmmaker Rob Stewart brings us Revolution, a full length feature film that is inspiring humans to change the world and save our planet. Along with world renowned experts, he learns that past evolutions can help solve some of our current and future environmental problems.
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Antarctic Edge: 70° South
April 17, 2015
Filmed in one of the most perilous environments on the planet, Antarctic Edge: 70° South brings to us the stunning landscapes and seascapes of Earth's southern polar region, revealing the harsh conditions and huge challenges that scientists endure for months at a time. While navigating through 60-foot waves and dangerous icebergs, the film follows the team as they make land on rugged, inhospitable Charcot Island to study the rapidly declining Adelie Penguin. For the scientists, these birds are the greatest indicator of climate change and a harbinger of what is to come. [First Run Features]
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The Human Experiment
April 17, 2015
The Human Experiment lifts the veil on the shocking reality that thousands of untested chemicals are in our everyday products, our homes and inside of us. Simultaneously, the prevalence of many diseases continues to rise.
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Salad Days
April 17, 2015
Salad Days: A Decade of Punk in Washington, DC (1980-90) is a documentary film that examines the early DIY punk scene in the Nation’s Capital. It was a decade when seminal bands like Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Government Issue, Scream, Void, Faith, Rites of Spring, Marginal Man, Fugazi, and others released their own records and booked their own shows—without major record label constraints or mainstream media scrutiny. Contextually, it was a cultural watershed that predated the alternative music explosion of the 1990s (and the industry’s subsequent implosion). Thirty years later, DC’s original DIY punk spirit serves as a reminder of the hopefulness of youth, the power of community and the strength of conviction.
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Monkey Kingdom
April 17, 2015
Maya’s world is forever changed when she welcomes her son, Kip, into her complicated extended family. Like all families, Maya’s has more than its share of colorful personalities—and she’s determined to give her son a leg up on the social ladder. When their longtime home at Castle Rock is taken over by powerful neighboring monkeys, Maya's whole family is forced to relocate, and she uses her street smarts and ingenuity to lead them to untapped resources amidst strange new creatures and unsettling surroundings. Ultimately, they will all have to work together to reclaim Castle Rock, where Maya can hopefully realize her dreams for her son’s future. [Disneynature]
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Dior and I
April 10, 2015
Dior and I brings the viewer inside the storied world of the Christian Dior fashion house with a privileged, behind-the-scenes look at the creation of Raf Simons' first haute couture collection as its new artistic director-a true labor of love created by a dedicated group of collaborators. Melding the everyday, pressure-filled components of fashion with mysterious echoes from the iconic brand's past, the film is also a colorful homage to the seamstresses who serve Simons' vision. [The Orchard]
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In Country
April 10, 2015
To many of us, the idea of Civil War reenactment is a familiar concept. But the men of Delta 2/5(R) recreate the battles of a far more charged conflict: The Vietnam War. For one weekend a year, the woods of Oregon transform as a mix of combat enthusiasts, Iraq veterans, and even a former South Vietnamese Army officer, revive — by choice — a war that a whole generation would much rather forget. Disquieting and provocative, In Country blurs fantasy with trauma, deftly tugging at the imposing question: what compels these men to don the vintage uniforms and meticulously bring this controversial war back to life?
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Song from the Forest
April 10, 2015
As a young man, American Louis Sarno heard a song on the radio that gripped his imagination. He followed the mysterious sounds all the way to the Central African rainforest and found their source with the Bayaka Pygmies, a tribe of hunters and gatherers. He never left. Today, twenty-five years later, Louis Sarno has recorded more than 1,000 hours of unique Bayaka music. He is a fully accepted member of the Bayaka society and has a 13-year-old son, Samedi. Once, when Samedi was a baby, he became seriously ill and Louis feared for his life. He held his son in his arms through a frightful night and made him a promise: “If you get through this, one day I’ll show you the world I come from.” Now the time has come to fulfill his promise, and Louis travels with Samedi from the African rainforest to another jungle, one of concrete, glass, and asphalt: New York City. Together, they meet Louis’ family and old friends, including his closest friend from college, Jim Jarmusch. Carried by the contrasts between rainforest and urban America, with a fascinating soundtrack and peaceful, loving imagery, Louis‘ and Samedi‘s stories are interwoven to form a touching portrait of an extraordinary man and his son.
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Lambert & Stamp
April 3, 2015
Aspiring filmmakers Chris Stamp and Kit Lambert set out to find a subject for their underground movie, one that will reflect the way it feels to be young and dissatisfied in postwar London. This unlikely partnership of two men from vastly different backgrounds was inspired by the burgeoning youth culture of the early 1960s. Lambert and Stamp searched for months and finally found in a band called the High Numbers a rebellious restlessness that was just what they were looking for. Abandoning their plans to make a film, they instead decided to mentor and manage this group, which evolved into the iconic band known as the Who. The result was rock 'n' roll history.
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The Hand That Feeds
April 3, 2015
At a popular bakery café, residents of New York’s Upper East Side get bagels and coffee served with a smile 24 hours a day. But behind the scenes, undocumented immigrant workers face sub-legal wages, dangerous machinery, and abusive managers who will fire them for calling in sick. Mild-mannered sandwich maker Mahoma López has never been interested in politics, but in January 2012, he convinces a small group of his co-workers to fight back.
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The Forecaster
March 27, 2015
Martin Armstrong, once a US based trillion dollar financial advisor, developed a computer model based on the number pi and other cyclical theories to predict economic turning points with eerie accuracy. In the early 80s he established his financial forecasting and advising company Princeton Economics. His forecasts were in great demand worldwide. As Armstrong's recognition grew, prominent New York bankers invited him to join "the club" to aid them in market manipulation. Martin repeatedly refused. Later that same year (1999) the FBI stormed his offices confiscating his computer model and accusing him of a 3 billion dollar Ponzi scheme. Was it an attempt to silence him and to prevent him from initiating a public discourse on the real Ponzi Scheme of debts that the world has been building up for decades? Armstrong predicts that a sovereign debt crisis will start to unfold on a global level after October 1, 2015 - a major pi turning point that his computer model forecasted many years ago.
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The Salt of the Earth
March 27, 2015
For the last 40 years, the photographer Sebastião Salgado has been travelling through the continents, in the footsteps of an ever-changing humanity. He has witnessed some of the major events of our recent history; international conflicts, starvation and exodus. He is now embarking on the discovery of pristine territories, of wild fauna and flora, and of grandiose landscapes as part of a huge photographic project which is a tribute to the planet's beauty.
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Dreamcatcher
March 20, 2015
For twenty-five years Brenda Myers-Powell called herself Breezy and she dominated her world, or that's what she thought. It was a world that had turned her into a teenage, drug-addicted prostitute. After a violent encounter with a john, Brenda woke up in the hospital and decided to change her life. Today she is a beacon of hope and a pillar of strength for hundreds of women and girls as young as fourteen who want to change their own lives.
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Can't Stand Losing You: Surviving the Police
March 20, 2015
Based on the memoir One Train Later by guitarist Andy Summers, Can’t Stand Losing You tells of the rise of The Police. From chance encounters with Copeland and Sting, through the band’s break up, Summers shares photos and memories as they prepare for their long-anticipated 2007 Reunion Tour.
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The Wrecking Crew
March 13, 2015
What the Funk Brothers did for Motown…The Wrecking Crew did, only bigger, for the West Coast Sound. Six years in a row in the 1960s and early 1970s, the Grammy for Record of the Year went to Wrecking Crew recordings. And now, The Wrecking Crew tells the story in pictures and that oh, so glorious sound. The favorite songs of a generation are all here, presented by the people who made them for you. [Magnolia Pictures]
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Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
March 13, 2015
Alex Gibney profiles eight former members of the Church of Scientology, whose most prominent adherents include A-list Hollywood celebrities, shining a light on how the church cultivates true believers, including their experiences and what they are willing to do in the name of religion. The film covers a broad range of material from the church's origins—punctuated by an intimate portrait of founder L. Ron Hubbard—to present-day practices and alleged abuses as reported in the media. [Sundance]
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Seymour: An Introduction
March 13, 2015
Meet Seymour Bernstein: a virtuoso pianist, veteran New Yorker, and true original who gave up a successful concert career to teach music. In this wonderfully warm, witty, and intimate tribute from his friend, Ethan Hawke, Seymour shares unforgettable stories from his remarkable life and eye-opening words of wisdom, as well as insightful reflections on art, creativity, and the search for fulfillment. [IFC Films]
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Champs
March 13, 2015
Boxing, "the poor man’s sport," has long given kids from America’s roughest neighborhoods an opportunity to escape violence with violence. But with success in the ring comes new fights for which there is no training: champions are made and broken in the blink of an eye, and young men thrust into the spotlight are often ill-equipped for the fame, fortune, and hangers-on that accompany a title belt. And for many, the toughest bouts are fought during retirement, when health and financial issues begin to mount. Built around the stories of heavyweight legends Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Bernard Hopkins, who open up about their lives and careers as never before, Champs balances these uncensored recollections with gorgeous reenactments, classic fight footage, and candid interviews. [Amplify]
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Merchants of Doubt
March 6, 2015
Inspired by the acclaimed book by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway, Merchants of Doubt takes audiences on a satirically comedic, yet illuminating ride into the heart of conjuring American spin. Documentarian Robert Kenner lifts the curtain on a secretive group of highly charismatic, silver-tongued pundits-for-hire who present themselves in the media as scientific authorities – yet have the contrary aim of spreading maximum confusion about well-studied public threats ranging from toxic chemicals to pharmaceuticals to climate change. [Participant Media]
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The Life and Mind of Mark DeFriest
March 6, 2015
When a legendary escape artist comes up for parole after 30 years behind bars, a chance for freedom must be weighed against his infamous past.
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An Honest Liar
March 6, 2015
An Honest Liar is a feature documentary about the world-famous magician, escape artist, and world-renowned enemy of deception, James ‘The Amazing’ Randi. The film brings to life Randi’s intricate investigations that publicly exposed psychics, faith healers, and con-artists with quasi-religious fervor. A master deceiver who came out of the closet at the age of 81, Randi created fictional characters, fake psychics, and even turned his partner of 25 years, the artist Jose Alvarez, into a sham guru named Carlos. But when a shocking revelation in Randi’s personal life is discovered, it isn’t clear whether Randi is still the deceiver – or the deceived.
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That Guy Dick Miller
March 6, 2015
Dick Miller is the last of the great American character actors. Whether sharing the screen with Nicholson, DeNiro, Schwarzenegger or The Ramones, Dick has been stealing scenes since his screen debut in 1955. He has worked with some of the great directors: Scorsese, Corman, Fuller, Dante, Cameron, Demme and more. Every moviegoer knows his face, but few know his name and even fewer know his story - an aspiring writer turned accidental actor. For the first time, Dick Miller has allowed filmmakers incredible access to his life and home for this funny and unexpected story. Joining him are the directors, producers, co-stars and friends who have helped make him Hollywood's leading "that guy".
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Around The World In 50 Concerts
February 28, 2015
During the unique world tour of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra celebrating its jubilee in 2013 we meet musicians and concertgoers. The tour develops not just into a journey across the globe but also as a trip to the core of classical music, a quest for the palette of emotions which only classical music can arouse.
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The Hunting Ground
February 27, 2015
From the makers of The Invisible War comes a startling expose of rape crimes on US campuses, their institutional cover-ups, and the devastating toll they take on students and their families. Weaving together verite footage and first person testimonies, the film follows the lives of several undergraduate assault survivors as they attempt to pursue - despite incredible push back, harassment and traumatic aftermath - both their education and justice.
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My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
February 27, 2015
Directed and shot by Nicolas Winding Refn's wife Liv Corfixen over the duration of the production and subsequent Cannes debut of Only God Forgives, My Life Directed By Nicolas Winding Refn captures the very private and intimate moments to which a traditional documentary crew simply wouldn't have access. The result is a fascinating, detailed look at a creative genius at work and also a portrait of a director torn between the general public's desire for a "Drive 2" and his own mission to explore more challenging narrative territory.
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The Widowmaker
February 27, 2015
Every minute of every year an American drops dead of a heart attack, a huge number without any warning or prior symptom. For thirty years a hidden battle has been fought inside America’s medical establishment that has condemned them to death—a battle that is much about money, as it is about medicine—a battle that this film reveals for the first time.
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Deli Man
February 27, 2015
Jewish culture reflects the heart of a vital ethnic history. As that culture continues to shift and adapt alongside mainstream America, delicatessen food – as its name suggests – remains a beloved communal delicacy.In Houston, Texas, third-generation deli man Ziggy Gruber has built arguably the finest delicatessen restaurant in the U.S. His story – augmented by the stories of iconic delis such as Katz’s, 2nd Avenue Deli, Nate ‘n Al, Carnegie, and the Stage – embodies a tradition indelibly linked to its savory, nostalgic foods.
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Farewell to Hollywood
February 25, 2015
In a recurring poetic image, 17-year-old Regina Diane Nicholson swings between heaven and earth on a breathtakingly high cliff by the sea. Reggie is a tomboy struggling with terminal illness, her parents and her dream of making a film. She impresses us with her loving, strong personality and wisdom beyond her years, as well as her morbid sense of humor. When director Henry Corra met 17-year-old filmmaker Regina Nicholson at a film festival, he agreed to help her make a feature film. What developed over nearly two years is a powerful friendship and poignant relationship between Reggie and Henry. He became her collaborator, friend and defender in her fight to find artistic and personal freedom. When Reggie turns 18 and can make decisions on her own, things become even more intense. This film is a poetic fairytale about love and death, holding on and letting go, one that invites us to discuss the relationship between filmmaker, subject and family. An eclectic mix of images with the intimacy of a video diary or home movie, it is filmed both by Henry and by Reggie and supplemented by their text message exchanges, images from her favorite movies, and fairytale-like scenes with songs that together form a heartwarming, but also heartbreaking and controversial ode to Reggie’s life.
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Approaching the Elephant
February 20, 2015
Year one for Lucy, Jiovanni and director Alexander at the Teddy McArdle Free School in Little Falls, New Jersey, where classes are voluntary and rules are created by democratic vote. Wilder is there from the beginning, observing an indelible cast of outspoken young personalities as they form relationships, explore their surroundings and intensely debate rule violations, until it all comes to a head.
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Kung Fu Elliot
February 20, 2015
Elliot "White Lightning" Scott plans on becoming Canada's first action hero with his low-budget karate epic, Blood Fight. This surreal documentary captures two years in the lives of a passionate amateur filmmaker, his supportive partner Linda, and their outrageous cast-all trying to realize their dreams.
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Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine
February 6, 2015
With never-before-seen photos and rare video footage, Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine revisits the shocking case of Matthew Shepard, the gay young man who was tortured and murdered in one of the most notorious hate crimes in U.S. history.
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Mad As Hell
February 6, 2015
The Young Turks, one of the most popular online news shows in the world, has amassed a YouTube network of millions of subscribers and billions of views. But that wasn’t always the case. Mad As Hell documents the tumultuous, at times hilarious and altogether astonishing trajectory of Cenk Uygur, The Young Turks’ main host and founder, as he traverses from unknown Public Access TV host to internet sensation by way of YouTube. When he ventures into national television by landing the 6 PM timeslot on MSNBC, Cenk’s uncensored brand of journalism is compromised as he becomes a thorn in the side of traditional news media; his unwavering dedication to speaking the truth puts him at the very nexus of the battle between new and old media.
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On the Way to School
February 6, 2015
They live in all four corners of the planet and share a thirst for knowledge. Almost instinctively they know that their wellbeing, indeed their survival, depend on knowledge and education. From the dangerous savannah of Kenya to the winding trails of the Atlas mountains in Morocco, from the suffocating heat of Southern India to the vast, dizzying plateaux of Patagonia, these children are all united by the same quest, the same dream. Jackson, Zahira, Samuel and Carlito are the heroes of On the Way to School, a film that interweaves the four pupils forced to confront and overcome countless, often dangerous obstacles – enormous distances over treacherous territory, snakes, elephants, even bandits – on their journey to the classroom. By setting foot on their extraordinary path, by embarking on this adventure littered with traps and challenges, they will begin to leave their childhoods behind. [Distrib Films]
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Ballet 422
February 6, 2015
New York City Ballet, under the artistic direction of Ballet Master in Chief Peter Martins, boasts a roster of more than 90 elite dancers and a repertory of works by many of the greatest choreographers in the history of the art form. When 25-year-old NYCB dancer Justin Peck begins to emerge as a promising young choreographer, he is commissioned to create a new ballet for the Company’s 2013 Winter Season. With unprecedented access to an elite world, the film follows Peck as he collaborates with musicians, lighting designers, costume designers and his fellow dancers to create Paz de la Jolla, NYCB’s 422nd new ballet. [Magnolia Pictures]
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1971
February 6, 2015
On March 8, 1971, The Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI, as they called themselves, broke into a small FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania, took every file, and shared them with the American public. These actions exposed COINTELPRO, the FBI's illegal surveillance program that involved the intimidation of law-abiding Americans and helped lead to the country's first Congressional investigation of U.S. intelligence agencies. Never caught, forty-three years later, these everyday Americans – parents, teachers and citizens – publicly reveal themselves for the first time and share their story in the documentary 1971.
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The Other Man: F.W. de Klerk and the End of Apartheid
February 6, 2015
F.W. de Klerk was the last President of apartheid-era South Africa. In less than 4 years he went from being Mandela's jailor to his vice president. Together they changed history for the better and may have prevented a civil war, yet little is known about de Klerk. Through his probing lens, Rossier explores the fascinating political journey and legacy of this complicated figure. [First Run Features]
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Above and Beyond
January 30, 2015
In 1948, just three years after the liberation of Nazi death camps, a group of Jewish American pilots answered a call for help. In secret and at great personal risk, they smuggled planes out of the U.S., trained behind the Iron Curtain in Czechoslovakia and flew for Israel in its War of Independence. As members of Machal - "volunteers from abroad" - this ragtag band of brothers not only turned the tide of the war; they also embarked on personal journeys of discovery and renewed Jewish pride.
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Backstreet Boys: Show 'Em What You're Made Of
January 30, 2015
A behind-the-scenes look at the popular boy band, Backstreet Boys, that takes us through the many highs and lows that led the band to return to the studio in 2012, write a new album and plan their 20th anniversary relaunch. The reunion renewed friendships but dynamic shifts reveal new and old tensions that need confronting and resolving. [Gravitas Ventures]
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Manny
January 23, 2015
From abject poverty to becoming a ten time boxing world champion and history’s first boxing congressman, international icon Manny Pacquiao is the definition of a Cinderella story. In the Philippines, he first entered the ring as a sixteen year old weighing 98 pounds with the goal of earning money to feed his family. Now, almost twenty years later, when he fights, the Philipines, a country of 100 million people comes to a complete standstill to watch. Today at the height of his career, he is faced with maneuvering an unscrupulous sport and political duties, while still maintaining a personal life. The question now is what bridge is too far for Manny Pacquiao to cross? [Gravitas Ventures]
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Joy of Man's Desiring
January 16, 2015
This cinematic reflection on the nature of work pivots almost continuously from mode to mode, approaching its subject from a myriad of directions. Filmed in factories and workshops, it’s composed in turn of theatrical monologues, poetic musings, immaculately composed documentation, and the whisper of a narrative. Its constantly shifting form triggers a reckoning with the concept of manual labor – and with the daily routines and inner lives of the factory workers who populate the film – which breaks free of the rhetoric that typically goes with the territory. [Anthology Film Archives]
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Farewell, Herr Schwarz
January 9, 2015
Siblings Michla and Feiv'ke Schwarz survived the Holocaust but never reunited after the war. Michla moved to the soon-to-be-founded Jewish state in the Middle East and started a family there. Her brother Feiv'ke, presumed dead, returned to East Germany, married a German woman and inexplicably lived amidst the concentration camp ruins where he was once a prisoner. The Israeli and German sides to the family lived unaware of each other for half a century until first time filmmaker Yael Reuveny probed exactly what happened to her family in 1945. [Kino Lorber]
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La Última Película
January 9, 2015
As the Mayan Apocalypse approaches, an American director (Alex Ross Perry) travels to the Yucatán to scout locations for his last film.
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Vessel
January 9, 2015
Dr. Rebecca Gomperts sails a ship around the world, providing abortions at sea for women with no legal alternative. Her idea begins as flawed spectacle, faced with governmental, religious, and military blockade. But with each roadblock comes a more refined mission, until Rebecca realizes she can use new technologies to bypass law - and train women to give themselves abortions using WHO-researched protocols with pills. From there we witness her create an underground network of emboldened, informed activists who trust women to handle abortion themselves. Vessel is Rebecca's story: one of a woman who hears and answers a calling, and transforms a wildly improbable idea into a global movement.
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The Search for General Tso
January 2, 2015
This mouthwateringly entertaining film travels the globe to unravel a captivating culinary mystery. General Tso's chicken is a staple of Chinese-American cooking, and a ubiquitous presence on restaurant menus across the country. But just who was General Tso? And how did his chicken become emblematic of an entire national cuisine? Director Ian Cheney (King Corn) journeys from Shanghai to New York to the American Midwest and beyond to uncover the origins of this iconic dish, turning up surprising revelations and a host of humorous characters along the way. [Sundance Selects]
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Tales of the Grim Sleeper
December 26, 2014
Nick Broomfield digs into the case of the notorious serial killer known as the Grim Sleeper, who terrorized South Central Los Angeles over a span of twenty-five years.
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Inside the Mind of Leonardo
December 19, 2014
Inside the Mind of Leonardo is based on the artist's private journals dating from the Italian Renaissance. With more than 6,000 pages of handwritten notes and drawings, da Vinci's private journals are the most comprehensive documents that chronicle the work of the world's most renowned inventor, philosopher, painter, and genius. Never before has access been granted to capture these works in 3D HD format. Using this precious collection of writings and drawings to recount da Vinci's story in his own words, the film re-creates the mindscape and ideas of mankind's greatest polymath. In a powerful haunting performance, actor Peter Capaldi portrays Leonardo, dramatically narrating passages and monologues from his journals. Capaldi captures the passion of Leonardo's genius, his understand of the workings of the natural world, his insights on art and life and his inner fears and torments.
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Sagrada: The Mystery of Creation
December 19, 2014
One of the most iconic structures ever conceived, Barcelona's La Sagrada Familia is a unique and unfinished architectural project designed by the controversial architect Antoni Gaudi in the late 19th century. Stefan Haupt’s new documentary Sagrada: The Mystery of Creation celebrates the genius of Gaudi's vision while exploring the continuing work of the thousands of artisans, laborers, and designers as they strive to complete the colossal project. [First Run Features]
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We Are the Giant
December 12, 2014
Since late 2010, more than a dozen nations have experienced popular uprisings that have collectively been called the Arab Spring. Protests, buoyed by predominantly young participants and social-media organizing, have exposed repression and led to regime changes. What does it mean to take part in a collective action that has the potential to unseat dictators and bring previously undreamt-of freedoms to a people? We Are The Giant explores this question through a series of insightful activist portraits.
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Maidan
December 12, 2014
Maidan chronicles the civil uprising that toppled the government of Ukrainian president Victor Yanukovich and has since developed into an international crisis between Russia and the West. Filmed in stunning long takes, sans commentary, Maidan is a record of a momentous historical event and an extraordinary study of the popular uprising as a social, cultural and philosophical phenomenon. [Cinema Guild]
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Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles
December 10, 2014
Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles looks at the remarkable genius of Orson Welles on the eve of his centenary - the enigma of his career as a Hollywood star, a Hollywood director (for some a Hollywood failure), and a crucially important independent filmmaker. [Cohen Media Group]
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Concerning Violence
December 5, 2014
From the director of The Black Power Mixtape comes a bold and fresh visual narrative on Africa, based on newly discovered archive material covering the struggle for liberation from colonial rule in the late '60s and '70s, accompanied by text from Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth. [Kino Lorber]
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The Barefoot Artist
December 5, 2014
The Barefoot Artist traces Lily Yeh's evolution as an artist – from her first exposure to Chinese landscape painting as a young girl in China to the hauntingly beautiful memorial she designed to honor the victims of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. It shows her methodology for community building – using art as the foundation – which she has developed over many years as she has worked in impoverished communities around the world. Finally, it reveals the source of her quest, and the personal costs of a life committed to the public.
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She's Beautiful When She's Angry
December 5, 2014
From the founding of NOW, with ladies in hats and gloves, to the emergence of more radical factions of women’s liberation; from intellectuals like Kate Millett to the street theatrics of W.I.T.C.H. (Women’s International Conspiracy from Hell!), She's Beautiful When She's Angry resurrects the buried history of the outrageous, often brilliant women who founded the modern women’s movement from 1966 to 1971.
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A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness
December 5, 2014
A Spell to Ward off the Darkness follows an unnamed character through three disparate moments in his life: as one member of a 15-person collective on a small Estonian island, alone in the wilderness of Northern Finland, and as the singer and guitarist of a black metal band in Norway.
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A Small Section of the World
December 5, 2014
A Small Section of the World is an inspirational story about a group of women from a remote farming region of Costa Rica whose ideas sparked a revolution in the coffee growing world. After the men of the village left in search of work the women came together to imagine a different future for themselves, their families and their community. The film follows the impact of this remarkable story of perseverance as it touches lives around the globe and shows how these resourceful women overcame adversity to change the culture in their small section of the world to one of prosperity and sustainability.
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Antarctica: A Year on Ice
November 28, 2014
Antarctica: A Year on Ice is a visually stunning journey to the end of the world with the hardy and devoted people who live there year-round. The research stations scattered throughout the continent host a close-knit international population of scientists, technicians and craftsmen. Isolated from the rest of the world, enduring months of unending darkness followed by periods when the sun never sets, Antarctic residents experience firsthand the beauty and brutality of the most severe environment on Earth. Capturing epic battles against hellacious storms, quiet reveries of nature's grandeur, and everyday moments of work and laughter, this unique documentary shows a steadfast community thriving in a land few humans have experienced. [Music Box Films]
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The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness
November 28, 2014
Granted near-unfettered access to the notoriously insular Studio Ghibli, director Mami Sunada follows the three men who are the lifeblood of Ghibli – the eminent director Hayao Miyazaki, the producer Toshio Suzuki, and the elusive and influential “other director” Isao Takahata – over the course of a year as the studio rushes to complete two films, Miyazaki’s The Wind Rises and Takahata’s The Tale of The Princess Kaguya. The result is a rare fly on the wall look at the inner workings of one of the world’s most celebrated animation studios, and an insight into the dreams, passion and singular dedication of these remarkable creators. [GKIDS]
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Remote Area Medical
November 28, 2014
A documentary on the annual three-day "pop-up" medical clinic organized by the non-profit Remote Area Medical (RAM) in Bristol, Tennessee's NASCAR speedway.
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The Immortalists
November 28, 2014
Two eccentric scientists struggle to create eternal youth in a world they call “blind to the tragedy of old age.” As they battle their own aging and suffer the loss of loved ones, their scientific quest ultimately becomes personal.
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Food Chains
November 21, 2014
A group of Florida farmworkers battle to defeat the $4 trillion global supermarket industry through their ingenious Fair Food program, which partners with growers and retailers to improve working conditions for farm laborers in the United States.
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Little Hope Was Arson
November 21, 2014
January 2010: In the buckle of the Bible Belt, ten churches burn to the ground in just over a month igniting the largest criminal investigation in East Texas history. No stone is left unturned and even Satan himself is considered a suspect in this gripping investigation of a community terrorized from the inside-out. Families are torn apart and communities of faith struggle with forgiveness and justice in this incredible true story.
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Monk With a Camera
November 21, 2014
Nicholas Vreeland walked away from a worldly life of privilege to become a Tibetan Buddhist monk in 1972. Grandson of legendary Vogue editor, Diana Vreeland, and trained by Irving Penn to become a photographer, Nicholas' life changed drastically upon meeting a Tibetan master, one of the teachers of the Dalai Lama. Soon thereafter, he gave up his glamorous life to live in a monastery in India, where he studied Buddhism for fourteen years. In an ironic twist of fate, Nicholas went back to photography to help his fellow monks rebuild their monastery. Recently, the Dalai Lama appointed Nicholas as Abbot of the monastery, making him the first Westerner in Tibetan Buddhist history to attain such a highly regarded position. Monk With a Camera chronicles Nicky's journey from playboy to monk to artist. [Kino Lorber]
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Flamenco, Flamenco
November 21, 2014
Director Carlos Saura and cinematographer Vittorio Storaro capture 21 flamenco performances.
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Night Will Fall
November 21, 2014
Researchers discover film footage from World War II that turns out to be a lost documentary shot by Alfred Hitchcock and Sidney Bernstein in 1945 about German concentration camps.
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Happy Valley
November 19, 2014
Nestled in the idyllic area known as Happy Valley lies the town of State College and the home of Penn State University. For over 40 years, Joe Paterno was the celebrated head coach of the school's storied football team. Lauded not only for his program's success on the field, but also for students’ achievements in the classroom, Paterno was a revered figure in a town where team loyalty approached nationalistic fervor. Then in November 2011 everything changed when longtime assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was charged with 40 counts of child sex abuse, setting off a firestorm of accusations about who failed to protect the children of Happy Valley. [Music Box Films]
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Pulp: A Film About Life, Death & Supermarkets
November 19, 2014
Though culminating with the farewell concert the band played to thousands of adoring fans in their hometown of Sheffield, England, Pulp is by no means a traditional concert film or rock doc. As much a testament to the band as it is to the city and inhabitants of Sheffield, the film weaves exclusive concert footage with man-on-the-street interviews and dreamy staged sequences to paint a picture much larger, funnier, moving, and life-affirming than any music film of recent memory. [Oscilloscope Pictures]
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Drug Lord: The Legend of Shorty
November 14, 2014
Angus Macqueen and Guillermo Galdos set out to achieve what the combined forces of the US and Mexican governments had failed to do in thirteen years – track down Joaquin Guzman, one of the most wanted men in the world. Guzman, known as ‘El Chapo’ or ‘Shorty’ was head of the Sinaloa Cartel, the most powerful drug cartel in history. [Gravitas Ventures]
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The Circle
November 14, 2014
Zurich: 1958. The bashful teacher Ernst Ostertag and the German cabaret artist Robi Rapp get to know one another in the Swiss underground organization called Der Kreis (The Circle). As the two dissimilar men defend their love, they witness the heyday and decline of this Europe-wide pioneering organization for gay emancipation. [Wolfe Releasing]
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Red Army
November 14, 2014
Red Army is about the Soviet Union and the most successful dynasty in sports history: the Red Army hockey team. Filmmaker Gabe Polsky tells an extraordinary human story from the perspective of its captain Slava Fetisov, the friendships, the betrayals, and the personal dramas, which led to his transformation from national hero to political enemy. The film examines how sport mirrors social and cultural movements and parallels the rise and fall of the Red Army team with the Soviet Union. [Sony Pictures Classics]
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Virunga
November 7, 2014
In the forested depths of eastern Congo lies Virunga National Park, one of the most bio-diverse places in the world and home to the last of the mountain gorillas. In this wild, but enchanted environment, a small and embattled team of park rangers - including an ex-child soldier turned ranger, a carer of orphan gorillas and a Belgian conservationist - protect this UNESCO world heritage site from armed militia, poachers and the dark forces struggling to control Congo's rich natural resources. When the newly formed M23 rebel group declares war in May 2012, a new conflict threatens the lives and stability of everyone and everything they've worked so hard to protect.
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Death Metal Angola
November 7, 2014
Following nearly 40 years of unrelenting war – with every attendant horror – peace and reconstruction are slowly arriving to Angola. Damaged first by the war for independence from Portugal, Angola was then ripped apart by a devastating civil war that orphaned thousands of children. Huambo, Angola’s second largest city, finds 55 of these children in the Okutiuka orphanage under the care of Sonia Ferreira. Sonia’s boyfriend, Wilker Flores, is a death metal guitarist who uses the brutal sounds and rhythms of this hardcore music as a path to healing, or, as Sonia says, “to clear out the debris from all these years of war.”
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Getting to the Nutcracker
November 7, 2014
Every Christmas season, The Nutcracker Ballet is performed in cities all over the world. We love the timeless story, but what does it really take to produce this ballet each year? The documentary film Getting to The Nutcracker takes you inside the herculean effort involved in gathering the resources, assembling the volunteers, casting the dancers, rehearsing and staging the performances of this classic ballet.
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The Invisible Front
November 7, 2014
In 1944, Soviet forces occupied Lithuania for a second time in less than five years. This time the youth of the nation chose to fight back and formed a guerrilla army of partisans called the Forest Brothers. Among them was a charismatic leader named Juozas Luksa who joined the resistance with his three brothers. Having realized that the pen was mightier than the sword Luksa risked his life to escape to Paris in 1948 to spread the word of the partisan struggle. In Paris, Luksa quickly joined up with Western intelligence agencies, wrote a memoir and met the love of his life: Nijole. Shortly after their wedding, Luksa, was air-dropped back into Soviet Lithuania by the CIA to help liberate his country. The Invisible Front tells the story of Lithuanian resistance, Luksa and Nijole through the use of Luksa’s writings and his love letters to Nijole.
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On Any Sunday: The Next Chapter
November 7, 2014
Inspired by his father Bruce Brown's 1971 documentary On Any Sunday, Dana Brown chronicles the current state of international motorcycle racing.
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Actress
November 7, 2014
Brandy Burre had a recurring role on HBO’s The Wire when she gave up her career to start a family. When she decides to reclaim her life as an actor, the domestic world she’s carefully created crumbles around her.
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21 Years: Richard Linklater
November 7, 2014
It's been said that the first 21 years defines the career of an artist. Few directors have single-handedly shaken up the film establishment like the godfather of indie, Richard Linklater. From the groundbreaking Slacker to his innovative Boyhood, Linklater has just reached the 21-year mark and has unapologetically carved his signature into American pop culture. This compelling documentary takes you on a behind the scenes tour into Linklater's style, skills, and motivation via his friends, actors, and other directors. Get a raw and honest perspective on Richard through candid conversations with Ethan Hawke, Jack Black, Keanu Reeves, Billy Bob Thornton, Matthew McConaughey, Jason Reitman, Julie Delpy and others, and see their stories brought to life through hilarious animated sequences. For a guy who became famous for celebrating the cool and casual, Linklater emerges as a surprisingly strategic and visionary director who has already established a legacy and perfected a style that can't be denied.
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Pelican Dreams
November 7, 2014
Judy Irving (The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill) follows Gigi, a wayward California brown pelican, from her "arrest" on the Golden Gate Bridge into care at a rehab facility, while exploring nesting grounds, Pacific coast migration and survival challenges.
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National Gallery
November 5, 2014
The National Gallery in London is one of the great museums of the world with 2400 paintings from the 13th to the end of the 19th century. Almost every human experience is represented in one or the other of the paintings. The sequences of the film show the public in various galleries; the education programs, and the scholars, scientists and curators, studying, restoring and planning the exhibitions. The relation between painting and storytelling is explored.
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Point and Shoot
October 31, 2014
In Februrary, 2011, 32-year old Matthew VanDyke left Baltimore and set off for Libya to help rebels overthrow the country’s dictator, Muammar Gaddafi. With a gun in one hand and a video camera in the other, he struggled to achieve political revolution and personal transformation.
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Plot for Peace
October 31, 2014
For the first time, heads of state, generals, diplomats, master spies and anti-apartheid fighters reveal how Africa's front line states helped end apartheid. Their improbable key to Mandela's prison cell was a mysterious French businessman, dubbed "Monsieur Jacques" in classified correspondence. His trade secret was trust.
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Showrunners: The Art of Running a TV Show
October 31, 2014
Showrunners is the first ever feature length documentary film to explore the world of US television showrunners and the creative forces aligned around them. These are the people responsible for creating, writing and overseeing every element of production on one of the United State’s biggest exports – television drama and comedy series. Often described as the most complex job in the entertainment business, a showrunner is the chief writer / producer on a TV series and, in most instances, the show’s creator. Battling daily between art and commerce, showrunners manage every aspect of a TV show’s development and production: creative, financial and logistical. [Gravitas Ventures]
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True Son
October 31, 2014
22-year old Stanford graduate Michael Tubbs campaigns for a seat on the Stockton, CA City Council during a year of record homicides and impending bankruptcy.
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Magical Universe
October 31, 2014
Filmed for over a decade, Magical Universe is a portrait of Al Carbee, an 88 year old reclusive outsider artist who spends his days alone in a massive house in Maine creating art—mostly featuring Barbie Dolls in elaborate dioramas. The documentary profiles Carbee's amazing body of work and his relentlessly creative lifestyle. Carbee’s story is explored through the prism of his unlikely friendship with New York filmmaker Jeremy Workman, who unexpectedly becomes Carbee’s closest friend and only link to the outside world. [IFC Films]
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Revenge of the Mekons
October 29, 2014
Born out of the 1977 British punk scene, the Mekons progressed from a group of socialist art students with no musical skills to the prolific, raucous progeny of Hank Williams. Joe Angio’s documentary reveals how, four decades into a still-evolving career, the Mekons continue to make original, genre-defying music while surmounting obstacles that would derail most bands. [Music Box Films]
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The Great Invisible
October 29, 2014
On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. It killed 11 workers and caused the worst oil spill in American history. The explosion still haunts the lives of those most intimately affected, though the story has long ago faded from the front page. At once a fascinating corporate thriller, a heartbreaking human drama and a peek inside the walls of the secretive oil industry, The Great Invisible is the first documentary feature to go beyond the media coverage to examine the crisis in depth through the eyes of oil executives, survivors and Gulf Coast residents who experienced it first-hand and then were left to pick up the pieces while the world moved on.
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Citizenfour
October 24, 2014
In January 2013, filmmaker Laura Poitras was in the process of constructing a film about abuses of national security in post-9/11 America when she started receiving encrypted e-mails from someone identifying himself as “citizen four,” who was ready to blow the whistle on the massive covert surveillance programs run by the NSA and other intelligence agencies. In June 2013, she and reporter Glenn Greenwald flew to Hong Kong for the first of many meetings with the man who turned out to be Edward Snowden. She brought her camera with her. [RADiUS-TWC]
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Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me
October 24, 2014
In 2011, music legend Glen Campbell set out on an unprecedented tour across America. They thought it would last 5 weeks instead it went for 151 spectacular sold out shows over a triumphant year and a half across America. What made this tour extraordinary was that Glen had recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. He was told to hang up his guitar and prepare for the inevitable. Instead, Glen and his wife went public with his diagnosis and announced that he and his family would set out on a “Goodbye Tour.”
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E-Team
October 22, 2014
Anna, Ole, Fred and Peter are four members of the Emergencies Team — or E-Team — the most intrepid division of a respected, international human rights group. Trained to deal with unfolding crises, the E-Team flies to hotspots all over the world as soon as allegations of human rights abuse surface. Then they get to work — gathering crucial evidence to determine if further investigation is warranted and, if so, to investigate, document, and capture the world's attention. They also immediately challenge the responsible decision makers, holding them accountable. Human rights abuses thrive on secrecy and silence, and the work of the E-Team, backed by their international human rights organization, has shone light in dark places and given voice to thousands whose stories would never otherwise have been told.
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Watchers of the Sky
October 17, 2014
Watchers of the Sky interweaves four stories of remarkable courage, compassion, and determination, while setting out to uncover the forgotten life of Raphael Lemkin - the man who created the word "genocide," and believed the law could protect the world from mass atrocities. Inspired by Samantha Power’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, A Problem From Hell, Watchers of the Sky takes you on a provocative journey from Nuremberg to The Hague, from Bosnia to Darfur, from criminality to justice, and from apathy to action.
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Algorithms
October 17, 2014
In India, a group of boys dream of becoming Chess Grandmasters. But this is no ordinary chess and these are no ordinary players. Algorithms is a documentary that transports us into the little known world of Blind Chess. Chess is an ancient and universal game with origins in India. Filmed over three years in different parts of India, Algorithms follows three boys and an adult champion who aspires not only to bring global recognition to India's blind chess players, but also wants to encourage all blind children to play chess. [First Run Features]
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Private Violence
October 17, 2014
Every day in the US, at least four women are murdered by abusive (and often, ex) partners. Through the eyes of two survivors – Deanna Walters, a mother who seeks justice for the crimes committed against her at the hands of her estranged husband, and Kit Gruelle, an advocate who seeks justice for all women – Private Violence looks at the complicated and complex realities of intimate partner violence.
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The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga
October 15, 2014
A descent into Eastern Europe's haunted woodlands uncovers the secrets, fairy tales, and bloody histories that shape our understanding of man's place in nature.
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Awake: The Life of Yogananda
October 10, 2014
Awake: The Life of Yogananda is an unconventional biography about the Hindu Swami who brought yoga and meditation to the West in the 1920s. Paramahansa Yogananda authored the spiritual classic “Autobiography of a Yogi,” which has sold millions of copies worldwide and is a go-to book for seekers, philosophers and yoga enthusiasts today. By personalizing his own quest for enlightenment and sharing his struggles along the path, Yogananda made ancient Vedic teachings accessible to a modern audience, attracting many followers and inspiring the millions who practice yoga today.
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The Overnighters
October 10, 2014
In the tiny town of Williston, North Dakota, tens of thousands of unemployed hopefuls show up with dreams of honest work and a big paycheck under the lure of the oil boom. However, busloads of newcomers chasing a broken American Dream step into the stark reality of slim work prospects and nowhere to sleep. The town lacks the infrastructure to house the overflow of migrants, even for those who do find gainful employment. Over at Concordia Lutheran Church, Pastor Jay Reinke is driven to deliver the migrants some dignity. Night after night, he converts his church into a makeshift dorm and counseling center, opening the church’s doors to allow the “Overnighters” (as he calls them) to stay for a night, a week or longer. [Drafthouse Films]
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Meet the Mormons
October 10, 2014
Meet the Mormons examines the very diverse lives of six devout members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Filmed on location and across the globe, Meet the Mormons takes viewers on a journey into the day-to-day realities of individuals living in the U.S., Costa Rica, Nepal and beyond. From their individual passions to their daily struggles, each story paints a picture as rich and unique as the next while challenging the stereotypes that surround the Mormon faith.
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Botso
October 10, 2014
Sometimes a story is so inspiring that it must be told. Such is the astonishing life of Wachtang “Botso” Korisheli—musician, sculptor, and beloved teacher to generations. Born in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, young Botso was affectionately held by Josef Stalin not long before Stalin’s brutal regime ordered the execution of Botso’s father, popular actor Platon Korisheli. Remarkably, Botso was allowed 20 minutes to see his father one last time. Here, inside a dark prison, Platon communicated to his son what was most important about living your life, words that still inspire him at the age of 91. This powerful moment helped Botso not only endure years of suffering at the hands of both the Soviets and Nazis during World War II, but also gave him the determination to maintain an infectious passion for humanity, the arts, and life itself.
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Coming Soon
-
The Longest Game
- Runtime: 69 min
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Voyage of Time: Life's Journey
- Runtime: 90 min
-
The Dead and the Others
- Runtime: 114 min
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