Birth is a miracle, a rite of passage, a natural part of life. But birth is also big business. Compelled to explore the subject after the delivery of her first child, actress Ricki Lake recruits filmmaker Abby Epstein to question the way American women have babies. Epstein gains access to several pregnant New York City women as they weigh their options. Some of these women are or will become clients of Cara Muhlhahn, a charismatic midwife who, between birth events, shares both memories and footage of her own birth experience. Footage of women having babies punctuates The Business of Being Born. Each experience is unique; all are equally beautiful and equally surprising. Giving birth is clearly the most physically challenging event these women have ever gone through, but it is also the most emotionally rewarding. Along the way, Epstein conducts interviews with a number of obstetricians, experts and advocates about the history, culture and economics of childbirth. The film’s fundamental question: should most births be viewed as a natural life process, or should every delivery be treated as a potential medical emergency? As Epstein uncovers some surprising answers, her own pregnancy adds a very personal dimension to The Business of Being Born, a must-see movie for anyone even thinking about having a baby. (Red Envelope Entertainment)

Steep is a feature documentary about bold adventure, exquisite athleticism, and the pursuit of a perfect moment on skis. It is the story of big-mountain skiing, a sport that barely existed 35 years ago. It started in the 1970s in the mountains above Chamonix, France, where skiers began to attempt ski descents so extreme that they appeared almost suicidal. Men such as Anselme Baud and Patrick Vallençant were inspired by the challenge of skiing where no one thought to ski before. Now, two generations later, some of the world's greatest skiers pursue a sport where the prize is not winning, but simply experiencing the exhilaration of skiing and exploring big, wild, remote mountains. (Sony Pictures Classics)

Nanking is a powerful reminder of the heartbreaking toll that war takes on the innocent, and a testament to the courage and conviction of a few individuals determined to act in the face of evil. The film tells the story of the Japanese invasion of Nanking, China in the early days of World War II and focuses on the efforts of a small group of unarmed Westerners who established a safety zone where over 200,000 Chinese found refuge. The events of the film are told through deeply moving interviews with Chinese survivors, archival footage, and the chilling testimonies of Japanese soldiers, interwoven with staged readings of the Westerners' letters and diaries as performed by Woody Harrelson, Mariel Hemingway, Jurgen Prochnow, and Stephen Dorff, among others. (THINKFilm)

‘Tis Autumn: The Search for Jackie Paris is a documentary film that comprehensively examines the groundbreaking jazz vocalist’s life and art—his meteoric rise, enigmatic career, and mysterious life, asking the question: How much do you we need to know of an artist’s life to approach his art? (Outsider Pictures)

Billy the Kid is a sensitive and humorous vérité portrait of Billy, a 15-year-old outsider growing up in small-town Maine. Billy appears, in many ways, like other teenage boys. He's into heavy metal and martial arts, is desperate to find a girlfriend, and aspires to a career as an actor and rock star. Yet in other ways Billy is unique. A troubled past and ongoing behavioral issues have left him marked. But he is unapologetic about his personality and refuses to be victimized, creating his own techniques to help him survive in an environment of pain, conformity, and prejudice. Billy is funny, sharp, strangely wise for his age, and remarkably candid. We witness life from his perspective--from intimate conversations with his mother, to being bullied at school, to his fantasies of becoming a superhero. We also experience the exhilarating pangs of first love as Billy pursues Heather, a shy 16-year-old waitress. Will Billy get the girl? Will his community accept him on his own terms? Billy the Kid challenges viewers to imagine themselves beyond labels. (Elephant Eye Films)

A decade after JFK's assassination, America's political culture was changed almost beyond recognition. With Oswald's Ghost, acclaimed director Robert Stone offers an unprecedented deconstruction of the mythologies and controversy surrounding what is perhaps the most tangled and far reaching murder mystery of all time. Featuring interviews with Norman Mailer, Gary Hart, Tom Hayden, Mark Lane and others, the film probes the deep psychic wounds inflicted by the Kennedy assassination on American politics and culture, the scars of which remain evident to this day. Using a wealth of archival material, much of it never before seen or heard, Oswald's Ghost chronicles America's 40-year obsession with the single most pivotal event of the boomer generation. (Seventh Art Releasing)

Protagonist weaves together the stories of 4 men: A German terrorist, a bank robber, a gay evangelist and a martial arts student. At first glance the characters appear disconnected. But as their stories unfold in riveting detail, one starts to see the parallels between the uncommon, common experience of these four men. To illustrate the timelessness of her subjects' dilemmas, Yu uses puppets and the work of Greek dramatist Euripides. Whether famous, infamous, or simply anonymous, each lives out the eternal drama of how we control--or don't control--our own destinies. (IFC Films)

Everything's Cool is a film about America finally “getting” global warming in the wake of the most dangerous chasm ever to emerge between scientific understanding and political action. While industry funded nay-sayers sing what just might be their swan song of pseudo-scientific deception, a group of self-appointed global warming messengers are on a high stakes quest to find the iconic image, the magic language, the points of leverage that will finally create the political will to move the United States from its reliance on fossil fuels to the new clean energy economy--AND FAST. Hold on... this is bigger than changing your light bulbs. (Working Films)

This heart warming story of one unique woman's struggle portrays the fight of both an old art form to stay relevant and an old actress to find meaning and a stage in a society that worships youth. Shot in real time in one of the coldest winters in NY, Zypora's theater has one week to raise funding to keep their show going. Many miracles occur during this week. But will they be enough to save this critically acclaimed Yiddish show? (New Love Films)

From producer Morgan Spurlock ("Super Size Me") and director Rob VanAlkemade comes a serious docu-comedy about the commercialization of Christmas. Bill Talen was a lost idealist who hitchhiked to New York City only to find that Times Square was becoming a mall. Spurred on by the loss of his neighborhood and inspired by the sidewalk preachers around him, Bill bought a collar to match his white caterer's jacket, bleached his hair and became the Reverend Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping. Since 1999, Reverend Billy has gone from being a lone preacher with a portable pulpit preaching on subways, to the leader of a congregation and a movement whose numbers are well into the thousands. Through retail interventions, corporate exorcisms, and some good old-fashioned preaching, Reverend Billy reminds us that we have lost the true meaning of Christmas. What Would Jesus Buy? is a journey into the heart of America – from exorcising the demons at the Wal-Mart headquarters to taking over the center stage at the Mall of America and then ultimately heading to the Promised Land … Disneyland. (Palisades Pictures)

Set in northern Uganda, a country ravaged by more than two decades of civil war, War/Dance tells the story of Dominic, Rose, and Nancy, three children whose families have been torn apart, their homes destroyed, and who currently reside in a displaced persons' camp in Patongo. When they are invited to compete in an annual music and dance festival, their historic journey to their nation's capital is also an opportunity to regain a part of their childhood and to taste victory for the first time in their lives. (ThinkFilm)

It's 1943, and Holland is under Nazi occupation. At a birthday party in Amsterdam, Jack, an unassuming accountant, meets Ina, a 20-year-old beauty from a wealthy family who instantly steals his heart. But Jack's pursuit of love will be complicated; he is poor and married to Manja, a flirtatious and mercurial spouse. When the Jews are being deported, husband, wife, and lover find themselves at the same concentration camp, living in the same barracks. When Jack's wife objects to the "girlfriend" in spite of their unhappy marriage, Jack and Ina resort to writing secret love letters, which sustain them throughout the horrible circumstances of the war. Steal a Pencil for Me is a compelling documentary feature film by Academy Award nominee Michele Ohayon about the power of love and the ability of humankind to rise above unimaginable suffering. (Seventh Art Releasing)

The prophetic free jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler, who today is seen as one of the most important innovators in jazz, was obsessed with his radical music and by the thought that people one day would understand it. In 1962 he recorded his first album in Sweden. Eight years later he was found dead in New York’s East River, aged 34. My Name Is Albert Ayler follows the trail of Albert from his native Cleveland by way of Sweden to New York, meeting family, friends, and close colleagues.

Darfur Now is a story of hope in the midst of one of humanity's darkest hours--a call to action for people everywhere to end the catastrophe unfolding in Darfur, Sudan. In this documentary, the struggles and achievements of six different individuals from inside Darfur and around the world bring to light the tragedy in Sudan and show how the actions of one person can make a difference to millions. (Warner Independent Pictures)

As the lead singer of The Clash from 1977 onward, Joe Strummer changed people's lives forever. Four years after his death, his influence reaches out around the world, more strongly now than ever before. In The Future Is Unwritten, from British film director Julien Temple, Joe Strummer is revealed not just as a legend or musician, but as a true communicator of our times. Drawing on both a shared punk history and the close personal friendship that developed over the last years of Joe's life, Julien Temple's film is a celebration of Joe Strummer--before, during, and after The Clash. (IFC Films)

Sharkwater takes you into the most shark rich waters of the world, exposing the exploitation and corruption surrounding the world's shark populations in the marine reserves of Cocos Island, Costa Rica and the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. (Sharkwater Productions)

Jimmy Carter Man From Plains is an intimate, surprising encounter with President Jimmy Carter. Following the path of Mr. Carter's recent controversial book tour for Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, director Jonathan Demme reveals a complex individual who, with the gusto and determination of a youngster, criss-crosses the country to get his message across, even as that message creates a media onslaught in which his credibility and judgment are called into question. Jimmy Carter Man From Plains explores both the private and public sides of Jimmy Carter, whose intense sense of justice compels him to pursue, with undiminished energy and hope, his lifelong and deeply spiritual vision of reconciliation and peace. (Sony Pictures Classics)

This film gives a rare glimpse into the fascinating mind of the man who created such visionary classics as Eraserhead, Mulholland Drive, Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, Wild at Heart, The Elephant Man and more. Compiled from more than two years of footage, the film is an intimate portrait of Lynch's creative process as he completes his latest film, Inland Empire. We are with him as he discovers the beauty in ideas, leading us on a journey through the abstract, which ultimately unveils his cinematic vision. (Absurda)

Mr. Touchable is the true-life story of Harlem's notorious Nicky Barnes, a junkie turned multimillionaire drug lord, which takes its audience deep inside the heroin industry of the 1970s. The most powerful black drug kingpin in New York City history, Barnes came from humble beginnings to make himself and his comrades rich beyond their wildest dreams, ultimately reaching national infamy in 1977 when the New York Times put him on the front cover of its magazine with the headline "Mr. Untouchable." Soon after, it all came crumbling down, and facing a life sentence without parole, Barnes started naming names. With the firsthand testimony from "the black Godfather" himself, this documentary tells an epic story of business, excess, greed, and revenge. (Magnolia)

What would you do if America was invaded? Meeting Resistance raises the veil of anonymity surrounding the Iraqi insurgency by meeting face to face with individuals who are passionately engaged in the struggle, and documenting for the very first time, the sentiments experienced and actions taken by a nation's citizens when their homeland is occupied. Voices that have previously not been heard, male and female, speak candidly about their motivations, hopes and goals, revealing a kaleidoscope of human perspectives. Featuring reflective, yet fervent conversations with active insurgents, Meeting Resistance is the missing puzzle piece in understanding the Iraq war. (Nine Lives Documentary Productions)

Communist, anticolonialist, right-wing extremist? What convictions guide the moral mind of Jacques Vergès? Barbet Schroeder takes us down history's darkest paths in his attempt to illuminate the mystery behind this enigmatic figure. As a young lawyer during the Algerian war, Vergès espoused the anticolonialist cause and defended Djamila Bouhired, "la Pasionaria," who bore her country's hopes for freedom on her shoulders and was sentenced to death for planting bombs in cafes. He obtained her release, married her, and had two children with her. Then, suddenly, at the height of an illustrious career, Vergès disappeared without trace for eight years. He reemerged from his mysterious absence and took on the defense of terrorists of all kinds, from Magdalena Kopp and Anis Naccache to Carlos the Jackal. He represented historical monsters such as Nazi lieutenant Klaus Barbie. From the lawyer's inflammatory and provocative cases to his controversial terrorist links, Barbet Schroeder follows the winding trail left by this "devil's advocate" as he forged his unique path in law and politics. Schroeder explores and questions the history of "blind terrorism" through his penetrating investigation of this compelling man, and leads us toward shocking revelations that expose long-hidden links in history. (Magnolia Pictures)

America’s fast-food empire is fueled by a secret ingredient: corn. High fructose corn syrup makes the sodas sweet, corn-fed beef makes the burgers fat, and corn oil crisps the fries. As college buddies Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis find out, their junk food generation has grown up eating so much corn that if you test their hair– it’s actually made of the stuff. King Corn follows Ian and Curt to a tiny town in the middle of Iowa, where they plant and grow an acre of America’s most powerful crop, and attempt to follow its fate as food. What they find is alternately hilarious and horrifying: genetically modified seeds and home- brewed corn syrup, a bumper crop of obesity and diabetes, and a government paying farmers to grow what’s making us sick. You’ll never enjoy a soda again. (Balcony Releasing)

Through the experiences of five very normal, very Christian, very American families -- including those of former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt and Episcopalian Bishop Gene Robinson -- we discover how insightful people of faith handle the realization of having a gay child. Informed by such respected voices as Bishop Desmond Tutu, Harvard's Peter Gomes, Orthodox Rabbi Steve Greenberg and Reverend Jimmy Creech, For the Bible Tells Me So offers healing, clarity and understanding to anyone caught in the cross-hairs of scripture and sexual identity. (First Run Pictures)

In the span of only a few months, 4-year-old Marla Olmstead rocketed from total obscurity into international renown – and sold over $300,000 dollars worth of paintings. She was compared to Kandinsky and Pollock, and called “a budding Picasso.” But not all of the attention was positive. From the beginning, many faulted her parents for exposing Marla to the glare of the media and accused the couple of exploiting their daughter for financial gain. Others felt her work was, in fact, comparable to the great Abstract Expressionists – but saw this as emblematic of the meaninglessness of Modern Art. And then, five months into Marla’s new life as a celebrity and just short of her fifth birthday, a bombshell dropped. CBS’ 60 Minutes aired an exposé suggesting strongly that the paintings were painted by her father, himself an amateur painter. As quickly as the public built Marla up, they tore her down. The Olmsteads were barraged with hate mail, ostracized around town, sales of the paintings dried up, and Marla’s art dealer considered moving out of Binghamton. Embattled, the Olmsteads turned to the filmmaker to clear their name. Torn between his own responsibility as a journalist and the family’s desire to see their integrity restored, the director finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into a situation that can’t possibly end well for him and them, and could easily end badly for both. (Sony Classics)

The surreal nightmare of internationally-acclaimed artist and professor Steve Kurtz began when his wife Hope died in her sleep of heart failure. Police who responded to Kurtz’s 911 call deemed Kurtz’s art suspicious and called the FBI. Within hours the artist was detained as a suspected "bioterrorist" as dozens of federal agents in Hazmat suits sifted through his work and impounded his computers, manuscripts, books, his cat, and even his wife’s body. Today Kurtz and his long-time collaborator Dr. Robert Ferrell, Professor of Genetics at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, await a trial date. (L5 Productions)

Filmmaker Tony Kaye, best known for “American History X,” has been working on Lake of Fire for the past fifteen years and has made a film that is unquestionably the definitive work on the subject of abortion. Shot in luminous black and white, which is in fact an endless palette of grays, the film has the perfect aesthetic for a subject where there can be no absolutes, no ‘right’ or ‘wrong.’ He gives equal time to both sides, covering arguments from either extremes of the spectrum, as well as those at the center, who acknowledge that, in the end, everyone is ‘right’ – or ‘wrong.’ (THINKFilm)

An intimate and moving meditation on the late musician and artist Kurt Cobain, based on more than 25 hours of previously unheard audiotaped interviews conducted with Cobain by noted music journalist Michael Azerrad for his book "Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana." In the film, Kurt Cobain recounts his own life - from his childhood and adolescence to his days of musical discovery and later dealings with explosive fame - and offers often piercing insights into his life, music, and times. The conversations heard in the film have never before been made public and they reveal a highly personal portrait of an artist much discussed but not particularly well understood. (Sidetrack Films)

The Price of Sugar follows a charismatic Spanish priest, Father Christopher Hartley, as he organizes some of this hemisphere's poorest people to challenge powerful interests profiting from their work. When he arrives in the Dominican Republic, he's warned against entering the sugar plantations where most of his parishioners live. Breaking a centuries-old taboo, he discovers shocking examples of modern-day slavery intrinsic to the global sugar trade. (Uncommon Productions)

The Rape of Europa is an epic journey through seven countries that follows the violent whirlwind of fanaticism, greed, and warfare, which threatened to wipe out the artistic heritage of Europe. For 12 long years, the Nazis looted and destroyed art on an unprecedented scale in history. But heroic young art historians and curators from America, as well as across Europe, fought back. They did so in a miraculous campaign to rescue then return the millions of lost, hidden, and stolen treasures. (Menemsha)

Pete Seeger was the architect of the folk revival, writing some of its best known songs including "Where Have All the Flowers Gone,” "Turn, Turn, Turn” and "If I Had A Hammer." Largely misunderstood by his critics, including the US government, for his views on peace, unionism, civil rights and ecology, Seeger was targeted by the communist witch hunt of the Fifties. He was picketed, protested, blacklisted, and, in spite of his enormous popularity, banned from American television for more than 17 years. With a combination of never-before-seen archival footage and personal films made by Seeger and his wife, Pete Seeger: The Power of Song chronicles the life of this legendary artist and political activist. (Jim Brown Productions)

Between 1968 and 1972, nine American spacecrafts voyaged to the Moon, and 12 men walked upon its surface. They remain the only human beings to have stood on another world. In the Shadow of the Moon brings together for the first--and possibly the last--time the surviving crew members from every single Apollo mission that flew to the Moon, and allows them to tell their story in their own words. This riveting first-hand testimony is interwoven with visually stunning archival material that has been remastered from the original NASA film footage--much of it never used before. The result is an intimate epic that vividly communicates the daring, the danger, the pride, and the promise of this extraordinary era in history, when the whole world literally looked up at America. (THINKFilm)

The Wehrmacht-Exhibition, which was shown in eleven major cities in Germany between 1999 and 2004 and was visited by more than 500,000 attendants, challenged ordinary Germans to rethink what their fathers and grandfathers did during the war. Whereas most had been led to believe that the cold-blooded murder of civilians had been a crime of a minority of officers, for the first time Germans saw photos and footage of ordinary soldiers gleefully tormenting and executing civilians on the Eastern front. The nation was shaken, and large protests were organized by those who believed the evidence was manufactured. (First Run Features)

Mr. Vig is an elderly, deeply eccentric, never-married Dane, living alone in a ramshackle castle; he dreams of donating his homestead to the Russian Orthodox Church to become a monastery. In a long, black overcoat, with a shock of unruly white hair, and glasses perched on the tip of his nose, he looks like a character straight out of Dickens. Enter Sister Ambrosija, a remarkably attractive young Russian nun, who arrives with a small entourage and plans to whip the place into shape. A whirlwind of activity (days begin at 5:30 am), she insists upon extensive repairs; Mr. Vig wants Band-Aids, whereas she suggests surgery. Their contest of wills plays out in humorous, offbeat encounters that take unexpected turns as two unlikely people find companionship and common ground. Hauntingly shot, The Monastery is a modern fairytale with timeless roots. (Film Forum)

Deep Water is the stunning true story of the fateful voyage of Donald Crowhurst, an amateur yachtsman who entered the most daring nautical challenge ever: the very first solo, nonstop, round-the-world boat race. (IFC Films)

Manda Bala explores the cycles of violence that plague Brazil’s upper and lower economic classes in fits of rampant corruption and violent kidnappings. The film chronicles these cycles by utilizing highly personalized stories that reflect the growing truth about Brazil’s huge economic disparities – differences that cause violence on both sides of the spectrum. A frog farm connected to a corrupt politician and one of the most powerful men in Brazil; a kidnapping victim who had both her ears cut off before she was released to her parents; a wealthy plastic surgeon who pioneered the procedure used to reconstruct the ears of kidnapping victims; and a kidnapper who has watched many like him escape the poorest parts of Brazil for the wealthier Sao Paolo, where they terrorize the upper class with kidnappings, theft and murder. Manda Bala explores the various cottage industries cropping up in response to the violence and links these stories to weave a compelling narrative about what happens in a country where the rich and powerful steal from the poor, and in turn some of the poor terrorize the rich. (City Light Pictures)

The 11th Hour is the last moment when change is possible. The film explores how we’ve arrived at this moment -- how we live, how we impact the earth’s ecosystems, and what we can do to change our course. Featuring ongoing dialogues of experts from all over the world, including former Soviet Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev, renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, former head of the CIA R. James Woolsey and sustainable design experts William McDonough and Bruce Mau in addition to over 50 leading scientists, thinkers and leaders who discuss the most important issues that face our planet and people. (Warner Independent Pictures)

A middle-school science teacher and a hot sauce mogul vie for the Guinness World Record on the arcade classic, Donkey Kong. (Picturehouse Entertainment)

Primo Levi’s Journey is a picaresque road trip through history. In 1945, famous writer Primo Levi, was released from Auschwitz and took a thousand-mile walk through war torn Europe to return to his home in Turin, Italy. This documentary pieces together that journey.

The first Western interview with Comrade Joe, James Joseph Dresnok, an American soldier who defected to North Korea in 1962 and has embraced life in the secret state ever since. (Kino International Corp.)

In the early-morning hours of Sunday, August 22, 1971, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and Attorney General John Mitchell announced that FBI agents had arrested 20 antiwar activists in and near a draft board office in Camden, New Jersey. Five days later, Mitchell made public the indictment of these individuals and included eight others who were linked to the break-in. The major charges against the group were conspiracy to remove and destroy files from the draft board, FBI office, and the Army Intelligence office; destruction of government property and interfering with the Selective Service system. If convicted, some of the indicted faced up to 47 years in federal prison. The men and women arrested that summer of ’71 in Camden called themselves “America’s conscience.” The government called them the Camden 28. The surprise arrest and unorthodox trial of the Camden 28 is a story of friendship and betrayal played out against the backdrop of one of the most turbulent periods in recent American history. (ECC Media)

The first film of its kind to chronicle the reasons behind Iraq’s descent into guerrilla war, warlord rule, criminality and anarchy, No End in Sight is a jaw-dropping, insider’s tale of wholesale incompetence, recklessness and venality. Based on over 200 hours of footage, the film provides a candid retelling of the events following the fall of Baghdad in 2003 by high ranking officials such as former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, Ambassador Barbara Bodine (in charge of Baghdad during the Spring of 2003), Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, former Chief of Staff to Colin Powell, and General Jay Garner (in charge of the occupation of Iraq through May 2003), as well as Iraqi civilians, American soldiers and prominent analysts. No End in Sight examines the manner in which the principal errors of U.S. policy – the use of insufficient troop levels, allowing the looting of Baghdad, the purging of professionals from the Iraqi government and the disbanding of the Iraqi military – largely created the insurgency and chaos that engulf Iraq today. (Magnolia Pictures)

From National Geographic Films, the people who brought you March of the Penguins and Paramount Classics, the studio that brought you An Inconvenient Truth, Arctic Tale is an epic adventure that explores the vast world of the Great North. The film follows the walrus, Seela and the polar bear, Nanu, on their journey from birth to adolescence to maturity and parenthood in the frozen Arctic wilderness. Once a perpetual winter wonderland of snow and ice, the walrus and the polar bear are losing their beautiful icebound world as it melts from underneath them. (Paramount Vantage)

The Devil Came on Horseback exposes the tragedy taking place in Darfur as seen through the eyes of an American witness who has since returned to the US to take action to stop it. Using the exclusive photographs and first hand testimony of former U.S. Marine Captain Briahn Steidle, The Devil Come on Horseback takes the viewer on an emotionally charged journey into the heart of Darfur, Sudan, where an Arab run government is systematically executing a plan to rid the province of it's black African citizens. As an official military observer, Steidle had access to parts of the country that no journalist could penetrate. He was unprepared for what he would witness and experience, including being fired upon, taken hostage, and being unable to intervene to save the lives of young children. Ultimately frustrated by the inaction of the international community, Steidle resigned and returned to the US to expose the images and stories of lives systematically destroyed. (Break Thru Films)

Documentary filmmaker, Camila Guzmán Urzúa compares modern day Cuba to the Cuba she knew in her youth, during the country's "Golden Years", the 70's and 80's after the 1959 Castro Revolution.

A human story about a socially responsible company, Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox documents the complicated family legacy behind the counterculture’s favorite cleaning product. (Balcony Releasing)

Sicko, filmmaker Michael Moore's new documentary, sets out to investigate the American healthcare system. Sticking to his tried-and true one-man approach, Moore sheds lights on the complicated medical affairs of individuals and local communities. (The Weinstein Company)

Billed as a Caribbean epic of family, love and violence, this film takes us inside the lives of the notorious gang leaders who dominate the Haitian slum of Cite Soleil. (ThinkFilm)

Manufactured Landscapes begins as a portrait of acclaimed Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky, who specializes in large-scale images of vast industrial landscapes. It quickly develops into a meditation on the human and environmental costs of the permanent and profound changes our planet is experiencing. Focusing on Burtynsky's images of China as it undergoes an unprecedented transformation into a 21st century powerhouse, the film’s surface is beautiful, its implications frightening. Largely shot by Peter Mettler, it captures a brave new world that manages to be both luscious and unutterably repellent, often simultaneously. (Film Forum)

In this French documentary, a family reflects on the murder of their 29-year-old son and tries to move beyond feelings of hatred and revenge. (First Run Features)

A mockmentary about a Czech mega-store.

Shot by legendary cinematographer Albert Maysles, this dynamic musical documentary follows five Gypsy bands from four countries who unite for the Gypsy Caravan as they take their show around North America for a six-week tour, astounding every audience they meet. Their musical styles range from flamenco to brass band, Romanian violin to Indian folk. And with humor and soul in their voices, they celebrate the best in Gypsy culture and the diversity of the Romani people in an explosion of song and dance. (Little Dust Prod.)

The story of Roky Erickson: the manic singer and front man for the legendary band, The 13th Floor Elevators, You’re Gonna Miss Me, is a disturbingly intimate portrait of an imploding family and the struggle between modernized medicine and religion. (Palm Pictures)

Dan Klores' Crazy Love tells the astonishing story of the obsessive roller-coaster relationship of Burt and Linda Pugach, which shocked the nation during the summer of 1959. (Magnolia Pictures)

Something's happening on the edge of town. There's a desperate housewife in the parking lot, a musical chorus line mowing the lawn - and a loaded gun in the upstairs closet. Welcome to Radiant City, new film on 21st century suburbanites. (Odeon Films)

A documentary essay dealing with the stolen presidential election in Kiev, Ukraine, in 2004. (AZ Films)

A documentary about illegal border crossings – from Palestine into Israel.

This feature-length documentary film was produced to mark the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth. (Seventh Art Productions)

ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway is a feature-length documentary that examines the annual influx of ambitious, star-crossed hopefuls, scrambling for the high-board to make their big leap into everlasting limelight. (Regent Releasing)

A lyrical, feature documentary that explores the captivating experience of casting actors. (Kino International)

From Executive Producers Bruce Willis and Queen Latifah, The Hip Hop Project is the compelling story of Kazi a formerly homeless teenager who inspired a group of New York City teens to transform their life stories into powerful works of art, using hip hop as a vehicle for self-development and personal discovery. (ThinkFilm)

José Antonio Gutierrez was one of the 300,000 soldiers sent by US Army to war in Iraq. A few hours after the war began, his picture was broadcast all over the world: he was the first American soldier to be killed in the war. He was there as a so-called 'green-card soldier' -- one of approximately 32,000, fighting in the ranks of the US Army for a foreign country. (Atopia Distribution)

This documentary profiles the legendary Crispus Attucks Tigers with first hand accounts from players, coaches, and community members.

Zoo is an extraordinary glimpse into the life of a seemingly normal Seattle man whose secret sexual appetites led to his shocking death. (ThinkFilm)

Directed by her grandson Andrew Neel, this feature-length documentary tells the story of American painter Alice Neel (1900-1984). Exploring the struggles she faces as a woman artist, a single mother, and a painter who defied convention, the film males use of extensive textual, photographic, and filmic archives. [SeeThink Productions]

Once known as the "California Riviera," the Salton Sea is now called one of America's worst ecological disasters. This documentary covers the historical, economic, political, and environmental issues that face the Sea, it more importantly offers up an offbeat portrait of the eccentric and individualistic people who populate its shores. Hair-raising and hilarious, part history lesson, part cautionary tale and part portrait of one of the strangest communities you've ever seen, this is the American Dream gone as stinky as a dead carp. (Tilapia Corp.)

Jack Smith has been simultaneously hailed as the godfather of performance art, the William Blake of film, and a photographer who has "influenced three decades of artists." While largely unknown in mainstream circles today, Jack Smith was central to a period when American culture finally began to question itself. (Tongue Press)

Personifying the fierce independence and do-it-yourself spirit of the Hip Hop movement, festival producer Chang Weisberg puts everything on the line for his impossible dream of reuniting notorious no-shows The Wu-Tang Clan. (Open Road)

This documentary tells the story of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, two Italian immigrant anarchists who were accused of a murder in 1920, and executed in Boston in 1927 after a notoriously prejudiced trial. It is the first major documentary film about this landmark story. (Willow Pond Films)

A battle of naked ambition played out on the national and, ultimately, world stage, Air Guitar Nation chronicles the birth of the U.S. Air Guitar Championships as legions of aspiring rock stars live out their dreams on a quest to become the world champion in a strange world where musical ability plays second fiddle to virtual virtuosity. (Docurama Films)

In an absurd comedy of errors, a freedom-loving Iraqi journalist is mistaken as Tony Blair's would-be assassin and sent to Abu Ghraib Prison where he discovers the true meaning of liberation. (Red Envelope Entertainment)

American Cannibal is a documentary as wild as the story behind it: a shocking, hilarious, bona fide portrait of our celebrity-driven culture and the appalling lengths we'll go to for entertainment. (Lifesize Entertainment)

The siege of Leningrad during World War II famously lasted 900 days, leaving more than 600,000 dead from starvation, disease or cold. Blockade, a compilation film based entirely on silent footage found in Moscow's archives, is an extraordinary account of life and death in a great city experiencing unprecedented hardship. (First Run/Icarus Films)

Maxed Out takes viewers on a journey deep inside the American style of debt, where things seem fine as long as the minimum monthly payment arrives on time. With coverage that spans from small American towns all the way to the White House, the film shows how the modern financial industry really works, explains the true definition of "preferred customer" and tells us why the poor are getting poorer while the rich keep getting richer. Hilarious, shocking and incisive, Maxed Out paints a picture of a national nightmare which is all too real for most of us. (Red Envelope Entertainment)

This documentary is an intimate exploration of the lingering wounds of war and the healing power of art. The film is a heart-warming affirmation of humanity that will appeal to all lovers of peace, art, and cats. (Corporation for Public Broadcasting)

This documentary about an ascetic monastery is one of the most mesmerizing and poetic chronicles of spirituality ever created. More meditation than documentary, it's a rare, transformative theatrical experience for all. (Zeitgeist Films)

This documentary chronicles the evolution of the longest running music festival in the world. Fueled by a staggering range of music, the movie embraces the spirit, characters and overwhelming experiences of the festival as it reflects the extraordinary world changes of the last three decades. (ThinkFilm)

A unique documentary about troops' experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan, based on writings by soldiers, Marines, and air men. Some writings were published in the New Yorker in summer 2006. A larger assortment was published as a book by Random House last September. The film drew upon the submissions by soldiers for the book. It's a remarkable portrait of troops at war - the complexities, doubts, and fears - written with honesty. The 81-minute version of the film (which will be in theatres) includes 11 pieces of writing, with different visual strategies, along with interviews with the writers, and with more established American writers who are also veterans. In the latter group are Tim O'Brien, Yusef Komunyakaa, Tobias Wolff, Joe Haldeman, James Salter, Anthony Swofford, Richard Currey, and Paul Fussell. The visual approaches range from poet Brian Turner reading directly to camera, to archival footage, to an animated "graphic novel," to a still photo sequence shot by photographer Antonin Kratochvil. It's rooted in a program by the NEA that created a series of writing workshops at military bases. After those workshops, the writers submitted pieces for consideration in the book, edited by Andy Carroll. From those writings were selected 11 for inclusion in the film. There is also a 53-minute version of this film which will be airing on PBS as part of the series "America at a Crossroads" in April, 2007. Both of these are different from the other film 'Operation Homecoming" from 2007, directed by Lawrence Bridges. That piece was produced by the NEA as a documentary about their writing workshops.

This documentary explores the almost forgotten story of the legendary artist Marie Menken (1909 - 1970) who became one of New York's outstanding underground experimental filmmakers of the 1940s through the1960s. The film allows a glimpse into her social and artistic struggle and radical integrity, drawing the picture of a modern myth in personal diary style. (First Run / Icarus Films)

This documentary explores the treatment of prisoners under the East German Secret Police.

When Annabelle Gurwitch was fired from a play by Woody Allen, she was devastated. She started asking friends in show business if they had ever been fired and began collecting the stories. Her journey has grown into this documentary look at what it means to be both hired and fired as an American worker in the global economy.

East of Havana is an unflinching close-up on the lives and friendship of three young rappers compelled to address their generation's future from the confines of a Cuban ghetto. Soandry, Magyori, and Mikki possess theundeniable talent and charisma of pop icons; but within Cuba's fearless and rebellious undergound movement, they are also the defacto leaders, creating music whose cross-pollination of early American rap and Latin influences brings self-expression to its sharpest, riskiest, and most triumphant point.

According to Mexican legend, the devil demands that one soul be offered up for every bridge built, as a guarantee for the structure's durability. In Juan Carlos Rulfo's internationally-praised documentary, this age-old adage takes on mammoth proportions. (Kino International)

This documentary follows the 2004 Missouri Democratic primary to replace retiring 28-year veteran and former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt. It is told from inside the campaign of Jeff Smith, a 29-year old part-time political science instructor at Washington University. The film offers an unvarnished look at the inside of what national pundits called one of 2004's surprising campaigns. And the film asks if it is still possible in America for voters excited by a person's ideas and ability to get involved in the political process and elect a candidate who has not sold out, or bought into the existing political establishment. (At Risk Films)

With the help of exciting graphics, rare archival footage and over forty on-camera interviews conducted over the past two years, An Unreasonable Man traces the life and career of Ralph Nader, one of the most unique, important, and controversial political figures of the past half century. (Two Left Legs, LLC)

This documentary is a powerful and poignant journey into the harsh world of sweatshop workers. (Bullfrog Films)