Movie Releases by Genre
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Tina
March 27, 2021
With a wealth of never-before-seen footage, audio tapes, personal photos, and new interviews, including with the singer herself, Tina presents an unvarnished and dynamic account of the life and career of music icon Tina Turner. [HBO]
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Wojnarowicz
March 19, 2021
Wojnarowicz: F**k You F*ggot F**ker is a fiery and urgent documentary portrait of downtown New York City artist, writer, photographer, and activist David Wojnarowicz. As New York City became the epicenter of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, Wojnarowicz weaponized his work and waged war against the establishment’s indifference to the plague until his death from it in 1992 at the age of 37. Exclusive access to his breathtaking body of work – including paintings, journals, and films – reveals how Wojnarowicz emptied his life into his art and activism. Rediscovered answering machine tape recordings and intimate recollections from Fran Lebowitz, Gracie Mansion, Peter Hujar, and other friends and family help present a stirring portrait of this fiercely political, unapologetically queer artist. [Kino Lorber]
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Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal
March 17, 2021
Reenactments drive this documentary investigating the mastermind behind a scam to get the kids of rich and famous families into top US universities. [Netflix]
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Still Life in Lodz
March 12, 2021
A 75 year old painting in one apartment becomes an investigation into the power of memory, art, time and resilience. An ode to the lost generations of Jewish Lodz, in three completely different eras. One Painting. A Century of Jewish Life.
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Kid 90
March 12, 2021
As a teenager in the ‘90s, Soleil Moon Frye carried a video camera everywhere she went, documenting her friends as they grew up in Hollywood and New York City. Kid 90 explores how sometimes we need to look back to find our way forward.
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Own the Room
March 12, 2021
Five students from disparate corners of the planet take their budding business ventures to Macau, China, to compete in the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards. Santosh is from a small farming town in Nepal; Alondra works the register at her family’s bakery in Puerto Rico; Henry is a programming wiz from Nairobi; Jason is a marketing machine from Greece; and Daniela, an immigrant fleeing the crisis in Venezuela, is taking on the chemical industry from her lab at NYU. In the uplifting film, each of the business hopefuls has overcome immense obstacles in pursuing their dreams, from hurricanes to poverty to civil unrest. As they represent their countries as the top student entrepreneurs, the high-stakes global finals are their opportunity to win worldwide attention and the coveted $100,000 grand prize to make their life-changing business ideas a reality and transform the world.
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The Truffle Hunters
March 5, 2021
Deep in the forests of Piedmont, Italy, a handful of men, seventy or eighty years young, hunt for the rare and expensive white Alba truffle—which to date has resisted all of modern science's efforts at cultivation. They're guided by a secret culture and training passed down through generations, as well as by the noses of their cherished and expertly-trained dogs. They live a simpler, slower way of life, in harmony with their loyal animals and their picture-perfect land, seemingly straight out of a fairy tale. They're untethered to cell phone screens or the Internet, opting instead to make their food and drink by hand and prioritizing in-person connections and community.
The demand for white truffles increases year after year, even as the supply decreases. As a result of climate change, deforestation, and the lack of young people taking up the mantle, the truffle hunters' secrets are more coveted than ever. However, as it soon becomes clear, these ageing men may just hold something much more valuable than even this prized delicacy: the secret to a rich and meaningful life.
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F.T.A.
March 5, 2021
“The Show the Pentagon Couldn’t Stop!” In 1971, at the height of the Vietnam War, Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland toured an anti-war comedy show across Southeast Asia. It was directly engaged with and inspired by veterans against the war and, naturally, it upset U.S. military higher-ups. The F.T.A. tour was highly controversial and was a huge success among stationed soldiers. In spite of positive reviews and business, director Francine Parker’s film version was quickly taken out of circulation due to political pressures and has been difficult to see for decades. F.T.A. has now been fully restored in 4K by IndieCollect and is preceded by a new video introduction by Academy Award-winning actor and activist Jane Fonda, which provides historical context and explains the impetus that sparked the creation of the F.T.A. troupe. [Kino Lorber]
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Lost Course
March 5, 2021
Embedding herself in the village of Wukan, southern China for several years starting in 2011, first time documentarian Jill Li witnessed an unprecedented experiment in local democracy. Corrupt officials had illegally sold villagers' land, but the villagers decided to fight back. The documentary is divided into two halves: the first, "Protests", depicts the grassroots activities of Wukan residents as they work to reverse the land sales and gain a substantial measure of control over their local territory. We see how the villagers themselves learn to organize elections, form alliances, and win support. Part two, "After Protests", confronts the collapse of idealism as the newly elected village government finds itself mired in the same kind of corrupt dealings they had originally condemned. [Icarus Films]
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Stray
March 5, 2021
Stray explores what it means to live as a being without status or security, following three strays as they embark on inconspicuous journeys through Turkish society. Zeytin, fiercely independent, embarks on adventures through the city at night; Nazar, nurturing and protective, easily befriends the humans around her; while Kartal, a shy puppy living on the outskirts of a construction site, finds companions in the security guards who care for her. The strays’ disparate lives intersect when they each form intimate bonds with a group of young Syrians with whom they share the streets.
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Biggie: I Got a Story to Tell
March 1, 2021
In the wake of the Notorious B.I.G.’s landmark induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and ahead of what would have been his 50th birthday, Biggie: I Got A Story To Tell offers a fresh look at one of the greatest, most influential rappers of all time by those who knew him best. Made in collaboration with Biggie’s estate, I Got A Story To Tell is an intimate rendering of a man whose rapid ascent and tragic end has been at the center of rap lore for more than twenty years. [Netlfix]
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Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry
February 26, 2021
Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry tells the true coming-of-age story of the singer-songwriter and her rise to global superstardom. From award-winning filmmaker R.J. Cutler, the documentary offers a deeply intimate look at this extraordinary teenager’s journey, at just seventeen years old, navigating life on the road, on stage, and at home with her family, while writing, recording and releasing her debut album "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?".
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Erēmīta (Anthologies)
February 26, 2021
An anthology of short documentaries composed during the 2020 pandemic by leading cinematographers curated and produced by Sam Abbas.
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'Til Kingdom Come
February 26, 2021
Millions of American Evangelicals are praying for the State of Israel. Among them are the Binghams, a dynasty of Kentucky pastors, and their Evangelical congregants in an impoverished coal mining town. They donate sacrificially to Israel’s foremost philanthropic organization, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, because they fervently believe the Jews are crucial to Jesus’s return. This film traces this unusual relationship, from rural Kentucky to the halls of government in Washington, through the moving of the American Embassy in Jerusalem and to the annexation plan of the West-Bank. With unparalleled access, the film exposes a stunning backstory of the Trump and Netanyahu administrations, where financial, political and messianic motivations intersect with the apocalyptic worldview that is insistently reshaping American foreign policy toward Israel and the Middle-East.
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My Darling Supermarket
February 24, 2021
In the midst of executing extremely repetitive tasks, workers of a supermarket find space to express their doubts and affections, their fears and unlikely dreams. Humor, drama, mystery, romance and quantum physics coexist alongside milk cartons, meat cuts, bar codes and security cameras. Steeped in the confined space of a supermarket, these workers don't allow their routine to hijack their spirit.
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Pelé
February 23, 2021
This documentary feature tells the story of iconic footballer Pelé, his quest for perfection and the mythical status he attained. As well as unprecedented interview access to Pelé, the film includes archive footage and interviews with legendary former team-mates including Zagallo, Jairzinho and Rivellino. The story looks back at the 12-year period in which Pelé, the only man to win three World Cup titles, went from young superstar in 1958 to national hero in 1970; a radical yet turbulent era in Brazil’s history. [Netflix]
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Ruth: Justice Ginsburg in Her Own Words
February 12, 2021
How does some one with three strikes against her, rise to the highest court in the land, the U. S. Supreme Court?
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Life in a Day 2020
February 6, 2021
On July 25th, 2020, people all over the world filmed their lives and shared their stories to be part of a documentary film. When all the submissions were tallied, the filmmakers had received over 300,000 videos from 192 countries. The result is a film about love, death, heartbreak, and hope that looks beyond geography and circumstance to explore what connects us as humans.
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A Glitch in the Matrix
February 5, 2021
What if we are living in a simulation, and the world as we know it is not real? To tackle this mind-bending idea, acclaimed filmmaker Rodney Ascher (ROOM 237, THE NIGHTMARE) uses a noted speech from Philip K. Dick to dive down the rabbit hole of science, philosophy, and conspiracy theory. Leaving no stone unturned in exploring the unprovable, the film uses contemporary cultural touchstones like THE MATRIX, interviews with real people shrouded in digital avatars, and a wide array of voices, expert and amateur alike. If simulation theory is not science fiction but fact, and life is a video game being played by some unknowable entity, then who are we, really? A GLITCH IN THE MATRIX attempts to find out.
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M.C. Escher: Journey To Infinity
February 5, 2021
M.C. Escher: Journey To Infinity is the story of world famous Dutch graphic artist M.C Escher (1898-1972). Equal parts history, psychology, and psychedelia, Robin Lutz’s entertaining, eye-opening portrait gives us the man through his own words and images: diary musings, excerpts from lectures, correspondence and more are voiced by British actor Stephen Fry, while Escher’s woodcuts, lithographs, and other print works appear in both original and playfully altered form. Two of his sons, George (92) and Jan (80), reminisce about their parents while musician Graham Nash (Crosby, Stills & Nash) talks about Escher’s rediscovery in the 1970s. The film looks at Escher’s legacy: one can see tributes to his work in movies, in fiction, on posters, on tattoos, and elsewhere throughout our culture; indeed, few fine artists of the 20th century can lay claim to such popular appeal.
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Softie
January 29, 2021
Political activist Boniface "Softie" Mwangi runs for office in a regional Kenyan election, which puts pressure on his young family and his convictions.
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Notturno
January 22, 2021
Filmed over three years on the borders between Iraq, Kurdistan, Syria and Lebanon, Notturno captures the everyday life that lies behind the continuing tragedy of civil wars, ferocious dictatorships, foreign invasions and the murderous apocalypse of ISIS.
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The Human Factor
January 22, 2021
With unprecedented access to the foremost American negotiators, The Human Factor is the behind-the-scenes story from the last 25 years, of how the United States came within reach of pulling off the impossible – securing peace between Israel and its neighbors. Today, the need to learn from past mistakes couldn't be more urgent.
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Derek DelGaudio’s In & Of Itself
January 22, 2021
Storyteller and Conceptual Magician Derek DelGaudio attempts to understand the illusory nature of identity and answer the deceptively simple question 'Who am I?'
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MLK/FBI
January 15, 2021
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is remembered today as an American hero: a bridge-builder, a shrewd political tactician, and a moral leader. Yet throughout his history-altering political career, he was often treated by U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies like an enemy of the state. In this virtuosic documentary, award-winning editor and director Sam Pollard (Editor, 4 LITTLE GIRLS, MO’ BETTER BLUES; Director/Producer, EYEZ ON THE PRIZE, SAMMY DAVIS, JR.: I’VE GOTTA BE ME) lays out a detailed account of the FBI surveillance that dogged King’s activism throughout the ’50s and ’60s, fueled by the racist and red-baiting paranoia of J. Edgar Hoover. In crafting a rich archival tapestry, featuring some revelatory restored footage of King, Pollard urges us to remember that true American progress is always hard-won.
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Acasă, My Home
January 15, 2021
In the wilderness of the Bucharest Delta, an abandoned water reservoir just outside the bustling metropolis, the Enache family lived in perfect harmony with nature for two decades, sleeping in a hut on the lakeshore, catching fish barehanded, and following the rhythm of the seasons. When this area is transformed into a public national park, they are forced to leave behind their unconventional life and move to the city, where fishing rods are replaced by smartphones and idle afternoons are now spent in classrooms. As the family struggles to conform to modern civilization and maintain their connection to each other and themselves, they each begin to question their place in the world and what their future might be. With their roots in the wilderness, the nine children and their parents struggle to find a way to keep their family united in the concrete jungle.
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Film About a Father Who
January 15, 2021
Over a period of 35 years between 1984 and 2019, filmmaker Lynne Sachs shot 8 and 16mm film, videotape and digital images of her father, Ira Sachs Sr., a bon vivant and pioneering businessman from Park City, Utah. Film About a Father Who is her attempt to understand the web that connects a child to her parent and a sister to her siblings. With a nod to the Cubist renderings of a face, Sachs' cinematic exploration of her father offers simultaneous, sometimes contradictory, views of one seemingly unknowable man who is publicly the uninhibited center of the frame yet privately ensconced in secrets. With this meditation on fatherhood and masculinity, Sachs allows herself and her audience to see beneath the surface of the skin, beyond the projected reality. As the startling facts mount, she discovers more about her father than she had ever hoped to reveal.
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Rock Camp: The Movie
January 15, 2021
Summer camp meets Spinal Tap as we journey to Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp, where dreamers from across America and around the world gather to shred with their heroes - and learn to rock like the legends. Rock Camp is an institution and cultural phenomenon that has been going on in Los Angeles, New York and other cities since 1996. The brainchild of music producer David Fishof, Rock Camp boasts a jaw-dropping array of rock star "counselors" that include Roger Daltrey, Alice Cooper, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, Nancy Wilson, Joe Perry, Jeff Beck, Slash and countless other rock legends. The counselors teach, inspire and jam with the campers over the course of four days. Each Rock Camp concludes with all of the counselors and their respective campers, performing together.
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Some Kind of Heaven
January 15, 2021
Behind the gates of a palm tree-lined fantasyland, four residents of America's largest retirement community, The Villages, FL, strive to find solace and meaning.
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The Reason I Jump
January 8, 2021
Based on the best-selling book by Naoki Higashida, The Reason I Jump is an immersive cinematic exploration of neurodiversity through the experiences of nonspeaking autistic people from around the world. The film blends Higashida's revelatory insights into autism, written when he was just 13, with intimate portraits of five remarkable young people. It opens a window for audiences into an intense and overwhelming, but often joyful, sensory universe.
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Beautiful Something Left Behind
January 8, 2021
At Good Grief groups, children meet to understand the passing of a parent or a sibling through play, giving in to rage in 'the volcano room' and saying goodbye to a dying teddy bear patient in 'the hospital room'. Over the course of a year, we follow the weekly meetings and get close to Kimmy, Nicky, Peter, Nora, Nolan and Mikayla and their close companion: grief. It is sometimes heartbreaking, but also humorous, to experience the questions about life and death through their open and curious minds. Grief is high and heavy as a mountain, but it helps you understand what has happened, and that death is irreversible.
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My Rembrandt
January 6, 2021
My Rembrandt is set in the world of the Old Masters and offers a mosaic of gripping stories in which unrestrained passion for Rembrandt’s paintings leads to dramatic developments and unexpected plot turns.
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The Dissident
December 25, 2020
When Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappears in Istanbul, his fiancée and dissidents around the world piece together the clues to a murder and expose a global cover up.
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Museum Town
December 18, 2020
Museum Town tells the story of a unique museum, the small town it calls home, and the great risk, hope, and power of art to transform a desolate post-industrial city.
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Audrey
December 15, 2020
Audrey Hepburn won her first Academy Award at the age of 24, and went on to become one of the world’s greatest cultural icons: a once-in-a-generation beauty, and legendary star of Hollywood’s Golden Age, whose style and pioneering collaboration with Hubert de Givenchy continues to inspire. But who was the real Audrey Hepburn? Malnourished as a child, abandoned by her father, and growing up under Nazi occupation in Holland, Hepburn faced a life-long battle with the traumas of her past, which thwarted her dreams of becoming a ballet dancer, and cast a shadow over her personal life. Yet she found inner peace, using her superstardom for good as a global ambassador for UNICEF, and bringing her life full circle: first a victim of war, then a source of relief to millions. A hybrid of rare archive, cinematic dance sequences, and intimate interviews with those who knew her best, this film brings a truly extraordinary woman to life, who stands as testament to the power of love and forgiveness.
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The Last Blockbuster
December 15, 2020
The Last Blockbuster is a fun, nostalgic feature length documentary film about the rise and fall of Blockbuster video and how one small town store managed to outlast a corporate giant.
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The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart
December 12, 2020
The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart chronicles the triumphs and hurdles of brothers Barry, Maurice, and Robin Gibb, otherwise known as the Bee Gees. The iconic trio, who found early fame in the 1960s, went on to write over 1,000 songs and have 20 No. 1 hits throughout their career, transcending more than five decades of changing tastes and styles.
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Assassins
December 11, 2020
The audacious murder of the brother of North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jon Un in a crowded Malaysian airport sparked a worldwide media frenzy. At the center of the investigation are two young women who are either cold-blooded killers or unwitting pawns in a political assassination. ASSASSINS goes beyond the headlines to question every angle of this case, from human trafficking to geo-political espionage to the secretive dynamics of the North Korean dynasty.
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Gunda
December 11, 2020
Experiential cinema in its purest form, Gunda chronicles the unfiltered lives of a mother pig, a flock of chickens, and a herd of cows with masterful intimacy. Using stark, transcendent black and white cinematography and the farm's ambient soundtrack, director Victor Kossakowsky invites the audience to slow down and experience life as his subjects do, taking in their world with a magical patience and an other worldly perspective. Gunda asks us to meditate on the mystery of animal consciousness, and reckon with the role humanity plays in it. [Neon]
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Finding Yingying
December 11, 2020
After a young Chinese student goes missing on an American university campus, her family travels to the U.S. for the first time, hoping to unravel the mystery of her disappearance.
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A Dog Called Money
December 11, 2020
A Dog Called Money is a uniquely intimate journey through the inspiration, writing and recording of a PJ Harvey record. Writer and musician Harvey and award-winning photographer Seamus Murphy, hatched a collaboration. Seeking first-hand experience of the countries she wanted to write about, Harvey accompanied Murphy on some of his worldwide reporting trips, joining him in Afghanistan, Kosovo, and Washington DC. Harvey collected words, Murphy collected images. Back home, the words become poems, songs, then an album, which is recorded in an unprecedented art experiment in Somerset House, London. In a specially constructed room behind one-way glass, the public - all cameras surrendered - are invited to watch the 5 week process as a live sound-sculpture. Murphy exclusively documents the experiment with the same forensic vision and private access as their travels.By capturing the immediacy of their encounters with the people and places they visited, Murphy shows the humanity at the heart of the work, tracing the sources of the songs, their special metamorphosis into recorded music, and, ultimately, cinema.
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Queer Japan
December 11, 2020
Trailblazing artists, activists, and everyday people from across the spectrum of gender and sexuality defy social norms and dare to shine in this kaleidoscopic view of LGBTQ+ culture in contemporary Japan. From glossy pride parades to playfully perverse underground parties, Queer Japan pictures people living brazenly unconventional lives in the sunlight, the shadows, and everywhere in between.
Dazzling, iconoclastic drag queen Vivienne Sato peels back the layers of language and identity. Maverick manga artist Gengoroh Tagame tours the world with his unapologetically erotic gay comics. Councilwoman Aya Kamikawa recounts her rocky path to becoming the first transgender elected official in Japan. At legendary kink-positive hentai party Department H, non-binary performance artist Saeborg uses rubber to create a second skin. Culled from 100+ interviews conducted over 3 years in locations across Japan, Queer Japan features dozens of individuals sharing their experiences in their own words. Get to know a vibrant and inspiring group of human beings in a country with a unique history of queer expression.
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40 Years a Prisoner
December 4, 2020
Philadelphia native Tommy Oliver follows the efforts of Mike Africa Jr. to exonerate his parents, both incarcerated members of the revolutionary group MOVE.
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Sing Me a Song
December 4, 2020
Sing Me a Song, the new feature from acclaimed documentary filmmaker Thomas Balmès (Babies, Happiness), follows Peyangki, a young monkliving in a rural monastery in Bhutan. When TV and the Internet eventually come to the remote country, Peyangki is lured by the power of smartphones, which now compete with the structured daily rituals of monastery life. Unexpected and profound, Peyangki’s journey challenges us to reassess our own perceptions of relatedness and self-worth in an age of unparalleled connectivity.
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Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan
December 4, 2020
Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan dives into the life of the tortured Irish vocalist, best known as the lead singer and songwriter of the Pogues, who famously combined traditional Irish music with the visceral energy of punk rock. Featuring unseen archival footage from the band and MacGowan’s family, as well as animation from legendary illustrator Ralph Steadman, Julien Temple’s rollicking love letter spotlights the iconic frontman up to his 60th birthday celebration, where singers, movie stars and rock ’n’ roll outlaws gather to celebrate the man and his legacy.
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Billie
December 4, 2020
Billie Holiday had one of the greatest voices of all time and changed the face of American music. She was a woman of breath-taking talent and global popularity while also stirring controversy. She started a notable rebellion singing “Strange Fruit” which exposed the realities of Black life in America and earned her powerful enemies. Raw, emotional and brutally honest, Billie is filled with never-before-heard interviews from musical greats like Charles Mingus, Tony Bennett, Sylvia Syms and Count Basie.
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76 Days
December 4, 2020
Raw and intimate, this documentary captures the struggles of patients and frontline medical professionals battling the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan.
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Dear Santa
December 4, 2020
Dear Santa shines a light on the 100-year-old Operation Santa Program of the United States Postal Service. Each year, hundreds of thousands of letters to Santa arrive at Post Offices around the country. Through Operation Santa, the United States Postal Service makes it possible for the public to safely adopt these letters and make children’s dreams come true. The film invites audiences along for the magic of this massive endeavor. Traveling the country, much like Santa does on Christmas Eve, the film focuses on select Operation Santa Centers: some in metropolitan areas like the massive operation in New York City and others in small towns where the Post Office is the heart of the community. [IFC Films]
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Mayor
December 2, 2020
Mayor follows Musa Hadid, the Christian mayor of Ramallah, during his second term in office. His immediate goals: repave the sidewalks, attract more tourism, and plan the city’s Christmas celebrations. His ultimate mission: to end the occupation of Palestine.
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Baby God
December 2, 2020
For more than 30 years, Dr. Quincy Fortier covertly used his own sperm to inseminate his fertility patients. Now his secret is out and his children seek the truth about his motives and try to make sense of their own identities.
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My Psychedelic Love Story
November 29, 2020
Errol Morris’ latest documentary takes us on an Alice in Wonderland adventure deep inside a largely forgotten episode of the early ’70s. Told through the lens of Swiss-born, Paris-raised free spirit Joanna Harcourt-Smith, Timothy Leary’s lover, the film examines the twists and turns that led Leary, the High Priest of LSD, to seemingly sell out the millions he urged to “turn on, tune in and drop out” and become a narc in 1974. At the heart of the story is the woman Leary described as his “perfect love.” Was she a government pawn, a Mata Hari, or simply a beautiful, young, intelligent woman on the trip of a lifetime? Through a series of candid interviews, Morris and Harcourt-Smith reexamine this chaotic period, resulting in a singular snapshot of the early 1970s’ cultural landscape-and its profound impact on the trajectory of one woman’s life. (Showtime)
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Zappa
November 27, 2020
With unfettered access to the Zappa family trust and all archival footage, Zappa explores the private life behind the mammoth musical career that never shied away from the political turbulence of its time. Alex Winter’s assembly features appearances by Frank’s widow Gail Zappa and several of Frank’s musical collaborators including Mike Keneally, Ian Underwood, Steve Vai, Pamela Des Barres, Bunk Gardner, David Harrington, Scott Thunes, Ruth Underwood, Ray White and others.
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Insert Coin
November 25, 2020
The oral history of a team of geeks and misfits in the back of a Chicago factory creating the biggest video games (Mortal Kombat, NBA JAM, and others) of all time.
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Overseas
November 25, 2020
In the Philippines, women get deployed abroad to work as domestic workers or nannies. In one of the many training centers dedicated to domestic work, a group of trainees are getting ready to face both homesickness and the possible abuses lying ahead during a series of role-playing exercises. [MUBI]
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The Mystery of D.B. Cooper
November 25, 2020
The Mystery of D.B. Cooper brings to life the stories of four individuals fervently believed by their family and friends to be “D.B. Cooper,” the mystery man who hijacked a 727 flying out of Seattle, traded the passengers’ lives for $200,000 and four parachutes, lept from the jet over some of Washington state’s roughest terrain, and was never heard from again. Almost 50 years later, the case continues to confound the FBI and inspire wild speculation as it remains the only unsolved airplane hijacking in United States history. The film draws from a combination of recreated and archival footage, as well as exclusive interviews with those most connected to the infamous case and its likeliest culprit, and explores how the heist inspired copycat hijackings around the world and elevated Cooper to “legend” status before his plane even touched back down on land.
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The Walrus and the Whistleblower
November 24, 2020
Phil Demers is a part-time mailman who lives in a bungalow across the creek from MarineLand, the iconic amusement park in Niagara Falls, where he had his dream job as an animal trainer for over a decade. He swam with killer whales and ran the show, until he quit and blew the whistle, making claims of animal abuse and calling for an end to the near 60-year-old practice of keeping marine mammals in pools.
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Shawn Mendes: In Wonder
November 23, 2020
In Wonder follows Shawn Mendes’ journey toward self-discovery, after the physical and emotional demands of his rise, and his last world tour, pushed him towards a personal and musical reckoning. The documentary is a heartfelt look at a songwriter and performer wrestling with the pressures of stardom and the emotional tolls of coming-of-age while the world watches. Largely framed around his rise and recent tour, the film offers unprecedented access to Mendes’ private life both at home, and while traveling across North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia, and features years of footage as he rose from precocious troubadour to global superstar. [Netflix]
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Belushi
November 22, 2020
Using previously unheard audiotapes recorded shortly after John Belushi's death, director R.J. Cutler's documentary examines the too-short life of once-in-a-generation talent who captured the hearts and funny bones of devoted audiences.
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Collective
November 20, 2020
Collective follows a heroic team of journalists as they uncover shocking, widespread corruption. After a deadly nightclub fire, the mysterious death of the owner of a powerful pharmaceutical firm, and the quiet resignation of a health minister—seemingly unrelated events, all within weeks of each other—the team of intrepid reporters exposes a much larger, much more explosive political scandal. COLLECTIVE is a fast-paced, real-time detective story about truth, accountability, and the value of an independent press in partisan times.
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Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on the Exorcist
November 19, 2020
A lyrical and spiritual cinematic essay on The Exorcist, Leap Of Faith explores the uncharted depths of William Friedkin's mind's eye, the nuances of his filmmaking process, and the mysteries of faith and fate that have shaped his life and filmography.
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Crazy, Not Insane
November 18, 2020
Crazy, Not Insane follows Dr. Dorothy Otnow Lewis, a psychiatrist who has dedicated her career to studying murderers and seeking answers as to why people kill. The film explores her lifelong attempts to look beyond the grisly details of homicides and into the hearts and minds of the killers themselves.
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69: The Saga of Danny Hernandez
November 16, 2020
Part investigative documentary, part real-life gangster movie, 69: The Saga of Danny Hernandez unpacks the life of polarizing rap sensation and internet troll Tekashi69. One of the most controversial figures in contemporary pop culture, 69 repeatedly broke the internet with his sensationalist music videos and social media beefs before infamously testifying against Brooklyn gang the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods in a landmark trial. [Hulu]
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I Am Greta
November 13, 2020
The story of teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg is told through compelling, never-before-seen footage in this intimate documentary from Swedish director Nathan Grossman. Starting with her one-person school strike for climate action outside the Swedish Parliament, Grossman follows Greta—a shy student with Asperger’s—in her rise to prominence and her galvanizing global impact as she sparks school strikes around the world. The film culminates with her extraordinary wind-powered voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to speak at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York City. [Hulu]
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Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds
November 13, 2020
Fireball: Visitors From Darker Worlds explores how meteorites have impacted our planet’s landscapes and cultures.
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Transhood
November 12, 2020
Filmed over five years in Kansas City, Transhood chronicles the lives of four young people (aged 4, 7, 12, and 15 at the start of filming) and their families as they navigate growing up transgender in America’s heartland. By sharing personal realities of how gender expression is reshaping their lives, the film explores how these families struggle and stumble through parenting, and how the kids are challenged and transformed as they experience the complexity of their identities.
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Coded Bias
November 11, 2020
An exploration of the fallout of MIT Media Lab researcher Joy Buolamwini's startling discovery of racial bias in facial recognition algorithms.
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Us Kids
October 30, 2020
Sparked by the plague of gun violence ravaging their schools, Us Kids chronicles the March For Our Lives movement over several years. The documentary follows Emma Gonzalez, David Hogg, Cameron Kasky, Samantha Fuentes, gun violence survivors, and teenage activists as they pull together the largest youth protest in American history. Their movement went global with rallies on six continents and in over 700 cities in every state across the nation, expanding to address racial injustice, a growing public health crisis, and shocking a political system into change.
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The Donut King
October 30, 2020
Ted Ngoy's story is one of fate, love, survival, hard knocks, and redemption. It’s the rags to riches story of a refugee escaping Cambodia, arriving in America in 1975 and building an unlikely multi-million-dollar empire baking America’s favorite pastry, the donut. Ted sponsored hundreds of visas for incoming refugees and helped them get on their feet teaching them the ways of the donut business. By 1979 he was living the American Dream. But, in life, great rise can come with great falls.
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City Hall
October 28, 2020
City government touches almost every aspect of our lives. Most of us are unaware of or take for granted these necessary services such as police, fire, sanitation, veterans affairs, elder support, parks, licensing of various professional activities, record keeping of birth, marriage and death as wells as hundreds of other activities that support Boston residents and visitors. City Hall, by Frederick Wiseman, shows the efforts by Boston city government to provide these services. The film also illustrates the variety of ways the city administration enters into civil discourse with the citizens of Boston. Mayor Walsh and his administration are presented addressing a number of their policy priorities which include racial justice, affordable housing, climate action, and homeless. City Hall shows a city government successfully offering a wide variety of services to a diverse population.
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Nationtime
October 23, 2020
Nationtime is a report on the National Black Political Convention held in Gary, Indiana, in 1972, a historic event that gathered black voices from across the political spectrum, among them Jesse Jackson, Dick Gregory, Coretta Scott King, Richard Hatcher, Amiri Baraka, Charles Diggs, and H. Carl McCall. Narrated by Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte, the film was considered too militant for television broadcast at the time and has since circulated only in an edited 58-minute version. This new 4K restoration from IndieCollect, with funding from Jane Fonda and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, returns the film to its original 80-minute length and visual quality.
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Bruce Springsteen's Letter to You
October 23, 2020
Go behind the music as Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band record together live for the first time since Born In The U.S.A. in this intimate documentary that captures reflections on love, loss, and the way music has shaped Bruce Springsteen’s life.
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White Noise
October 21, 2020
The Atlantic's first feature documentary is the definitive inside story of the movement that has come to be known as the alt-right. With unprecedented access, White Noise tracks the rise of far-right nationalism by focusing on the lives of three of its main proponents: Mike Cernovich, a conspiracy theorist and sex blogger turned media entrepreneur; Lauren Southern, an anti-feminist, anti-immigration YouTube star; and Richard Spencer, a white-power ideologue. Directed and shot by Daniel Lombroso in his directorial debut, this film takes the viewer into the terrifying heart of the movement -- explosive protests, riotous parties, and the rooms where populist and racist ideologies are refined, weaponized, and injected into the mainstream. Just as the alt-right comes to prominence, infighting tears the movement apart. Spencer and Cernovich clash over the role of white nationalism in conservative politics. Southern struggles to reconcile her leadership role with the sexism and misogyny of her peers. Lawsuits mount and internecine fights erupt, but even as the alt-right fractures, its once-marginalized ideas find a foothold in mainstream discourse; in Republican politics; in the establishment right-wing press, especially Fox News -- and on the world's biggest social-media platforms. As white-nationalist violence surges in America and across the world, White Noise represents an urgent warning about the power of extremism, and where it's going next.
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The State of Texas vs. Melissa
October 20, 2020
Melissa Lucio was the first Hispanic woman sentenced to death in Texas. For ten years she has been awaiting her fate, and now faces her last appeal.
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David Byrne’s American Utopia
October 17, 2020
David Byrne’s American Utopia brings the critically acclaimed Broadway show to HBO in a one-of-a-kind film directed by Spike Lee. Recorded during its run at Broadway’s Hudson Theatre in New York City, David Byrne is joined by an ensemble of 11 musicians, singers, and dancers from around the globe, inviting audiences into a joyous dreamworld where human connection, self-evolution, and social justice are paramount.
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White Riot
October 16, 2020
Britain, late-1970s. Punk is exploding. The country is deeply divided over immigration. The National Front, a far-right and fascist political party, is gaining strength as politicians like Enoch Powell push a xenophobic agenda. Outraged by a racist speech from Eric Clapton, music photographer Red Saunders writes a letter to the music press, calling for rock to be a force against racism. NME, Melody Maker, and Sounds all publish the letter. Flooded with responses, Red discovers many share his views. Teaming up with like-minded creatives Roger Huddle, Kate Webb, Syd Shelton and Australian graphic designer Ruth Gregory, the team bands together to create Rock Against Racism (RAR) and a fanzine, Temporary Hoarding. Speaking directly to the youth, Temporary Hoarding reports stories and issues that the mainstream British media ignores, like immigration, the Catholic side of the Northern Ireland conflict, and the police’s controversial “suspected persons” (sus) powers. They give a voice to the voiceless. The National Front begins to strike back, committing acts of violence against RAR supporters and petrol-bombing their HQ. Despite this, RAR spreads virally across the UK and into Europe, becoming a grassroots youth movement. The Clash, Steel Pulse, Tom Robinson and other top bands of the day jump on board. White Riot is a moment in time when music changed the world. When a generation challenged the status quo. It’s Woodstock meets the March on Washington, punk-style.
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Harry Chapin: When in Doubt, Do Something
October 16, 2020
Award-winning singer/songwriter Harry Chapin (“Taxi” and “Cats in the Cradle”) spent his fame and fortune chasing a dream to end world hunger and poverty, and in the process inspired, changed, and saved the lives of millions of people.
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This Is Not a Movie
October 16, 2020
Yung Chang’s This Is Not a Movie captures Fisk in action—feet on the ground, notebook in hand, as he travels into landscapes devastated by war, ferreting out the facts and firing reports back home to reach an audience of millions. The process of translating raw experience into incisive and passionate dispatches requires the determination to see things first-hand and the tenacity to say what others won’t. In his relentless pursuit of the facts, Fisk has attracted his share of controversy. But in spite of the danger, he has continued to cover stories as they unfold, talking directly to the people involved. In an era of fake news, when journalists are dubbed “the enemies of the people,” Fisk’s resolve to document reality has become an obsessive war to speak the truth. [KimStim]
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Blackpink: Light Up the Sky
October 14, 2020
Since their debut in August 2016, Blackpink has become the highest-charting female K-pop group of all time with their innovative music, eye-popping music videos and internet-breaking fashion concepts. Blackpink: Light Up the Sky serves up the never-before-seen moments that Blackpink’s global fandom — known as “Blinks” — have been craving for years. The documentary goes deep with each of Blackpink’s four members: Jisoo, the whip-smart unnie (“big sister”) of the group with a quirky sense of humor; Jennie, the rapper whose fierce onstage persona contrasts with her soft-spoken nature; Rosé, the dulcet-voiced Australian coming into her own as a singer-songwriter; and Lisa, the dancing queen whose spark plug personality never fails to make her bandmates laugh. As Blackpink continues reaching new heights in their career — from headlining sold-out world tours to becoming the first female Korean group to perform at Coachella — each member reflects on the ups and downs of fame and the long, often challenging journey that brought them to worldwide success. Blackpink: Light Up the Sky reveals the relatable, unfiltered sides of the foursome, who continue to be a leading force in expanding K-pop’s popularity, proving that music knows no borders or language barriers. [Netlfix]
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Totally Under Control
October 13, 2020
On January 20th, 2020 the US and South Korea both discovered their first cases of COVID-19. However, 9 months later, the novel Coronavirus has claimed the lives of over 200,000 Americans and caused staggering economic damage, while in South Korea, there were no significant lockdowns and, in an urbanized population of 51 million, only 344 lives have been lost. Where did we go wrong? As the presidential election nears, Americans are increasingly enraged by a lack of clear leadership, endemic political corruption and left to wonder how did the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world manage to fail so thoroughly in its response to a global pandemic?
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Time
October 9, 2020
Fox Rich is a fighter. The entrepreneur, abolitionist and mother of six boys has spent the last two decades campaigning for the release of her husband, Rob G. Rich, who is serving a 60-year sentence for a robbery they both committed in the early 90s in a moment of desperation. Combining the video diaries Fox has recorded for Rob over the years with intimate glimpses of her present-day life, director Garrett Bradley paints a mesmerizing portrait of the resilience and radical love necessary to prevail over the endless separations of the country’s prison-industrial complex.
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Aggie
October 7, 2020
Aggie is a feature-length documentary that explores the nexus of art, race, and justice through the story of art collector and philanthropist Agnes “Aggie” Gund’s life. Director Catherine Gund focuses on her mother’s journey to give viewers an understanding of the power of art to transform consciousness and inspire social change. Aggie is internationally recognized for her robust and prescient support of artists–particularly women and people of color–and her unwavering commitment to social justice issues. After falling in love with art as a high-school student, Aggie discovers a new way of looking at the world. The film opens with Aggie selling Roy Lichtenstein’s “Masterpiece” For $165 million to start the Art for Justice Fund. The proceeds from one of the highest grossing artworks ever sold fuel a monumental effort to reform the American criminal justice system and end mass incarceration. The film captures Aggie as a true maverick who demonstrates the unique role and potential of collectors and benefactors to use art to fight justice. This is untapped terrain, and we see Aggie leading the way. [Strand Releasing]
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Siempre, Luis
October 6, 2020
When Luis A. Miranda Jr. left Puerto Rico for New York City in the 1970s, he had big dreams, but little did he know how far he’d go.
Siempre, Luis follows Miranda over the course of a year as his devotion to family and country propels his insatiable appetite for empowering his fellow Latinos. With humor and heart, the documentary dives into Miranda's campaign to mitigate the devastation of Hurricane Maria in his homeland by tirelessly organizing relief efforts and managing the logistics behind bringing his son Lin-Manuel Miranda’s award-winning production of Hamilton to the island. Welcoming audiences into the man's passionate, patriotic, family-focused world, Siempre, Luis ultimately tells the story of a proud American whose lifetime dedication to community and fatherhood has rendered him an unstoppable force of nature.
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David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet
October 4, 2020
In his 94 years, David Attenborough has visited every continent on the globe, exploring the wild places of our planet and documenting the living world in all its variety and wonder. Now, for the first time he reflects upon both the defining moments of his lifetime as a naturalist and the devastating changes he has seen.
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The Projectionist
October 2, 2020
This documentary portrait of theater operator Nicolas “Nick” Nicolaou moves from 1970s Times Square adult film houses through decades of city regulation, chain takeovers, and cultural shifts, charting a charming odyssey through the history of film exhibition and New York City. Abel Ferrara traces the life and work of friend and fellow cinephile Nicolas “Nick” Nicolaou, a Cypriot immigrant who began working as a teenager in small neighborhood movie theaters around Manhattan, defying gentrification, changing viewing habits and corporate dominance in the 1980s, only to emerge decades later as one of New York City's last independent theater owners. A moving tribute to friendship, tenacity and the love of cinema, The Projectionist is also a timely paean to what going to the movies is all about.
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Herb Alpert Is...
October 2, 2020
Herb Alpert is different things to different people. Artist, Performer, Producer, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist and so much more. This exploration of his personal and creative journey reveals the critical events, passions, experiences and challenges that have shaped an extraordinary life and instilled deep within him the desire to make a difference each and every day.
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Dick Johnson Is Dead
October 2, 2020
A lifetime of making documentaries has convinced the award-winning filmmaker Kirsten Johnson of the power of the real. But now she's ready to use every escapist movie-making trick in the book - staging inventive and fantastical ways for her 86-year-old psychiatrist father to die while hoping that cinema might help her bend time, laugh at pain, and keep her father alive forever.
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Bellingcat: Truth in a Post-Truth World
October 1, 2020
Bellingcat: Truth in a Post-Truth World explores the promise of open source investigation, taking viewers inside the exclusive world of the “citizen investigative journalist” collective known as Bellingcat. In cases ranging from the MH17 disaster to the poisoning of a Russian spy in the United Kingdom, the Bellingcat team’s quest for truth will shed light on the fight for journalistic integrity in the era of fake news and alternative facts.
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Nasrin
October 1, 2020
Nasrin was secretly filmed in Iran by women and men who risked arrest to make this documentary. It is an immersive portrait of the world’s most honored human rights activist and political prisoner, attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh, and of Iran’s remarkably resilient women’s rights movement. In the courts and on the streets, Nasrin has long fought for the rights of women, children, religious minorities, journalists and artists, and those facing the death penalty. In the midst of filming, Nasrin was arrested in June 2018 for representing women who were protesting Iran’s mandatory hijab law. She was sentenced to 38 years in prison, plus 148 lashes. [Kino Lorber]
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American Murder: The Family Next Door
September 30, 2020
In 2018, 34-year-old Shanann Watts and her two young daughters went missing in Frederick, Colorado. As heartbreaking details emerged, their story made headlines worldwide. Told entirely through archival footage that includes social media posts, law enforcement recordings, text messages and never-before-seen home videos, director Jenny Popplewell pieces together an immersive and truthful examination of a police investigation and a disintegrating marriage.
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Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles
September 25, 2020
In the summer of 2018, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art enlists Yotam Ottolenghi, the London-based Isreali chef and celebrated author of cookbooks Jerusalem and Plenty, to organize a food gala inspired by the Met exhibit “Visitors to Versailles.” In preparation for the event, Ottolenghi travels to the Palace of Versailles. At the landmark French site, the famed chef is possessed by a child-like curiosity, as he finds in Versailles a glimpse into the French Monarchy’s decadence.
And so Ottolenghi, with the help of pastry chefs (including “Cronut” maestro Dominique Ansel), positions The Met event as both an expression and critique of excess. Several centuries ago in Versailles, the royal family lived in public to help broadcast the country’s splendor and wealth. Ottolenghi fast-forwards to the advent of social media and finds a new aristocracy streaming their riches, food, and prosperity. In both eras, we see deep exclusion, longing for community, a patriarchal structure – and the same potential for revolution.
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Oliver Sacks: His Own Life
September 23, 2020
Oliver Sacks: His Own Life explores the life and work of the legendary neurologist and storyteller, as he shares intimate details of his battles with drug addiction, homophobia, and a medical establishment that accepted his work only decades after the fact. Sacks was a fearless explorer of unknown mental worlds who helped redefine our understanding of the brain and mind, the diversity of human experience, and our shared humanity.
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Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story
September 22, 2020
An action-documentary about the evolution of stunt women from The Perils of Pauline (1914) and beyond.
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The Way I See It
September 18, 2020
Based on the New York Times #1 bestseller comes The Way I See It, an unprecedented look behind the scenes of two of the most iconic Presidents in American History, Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan, as seen through the eyes of renowned photographer Pete Souza. As Official White House Photographer, Souza was an eyewitness to the unique and tremendous responsibilities of being the most powerful person on Earth. The movie reveals how Souza transforms from a respected photojournalist to a searing commentator on the issues we face as a country and a people.
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Space Dogs
September 11, 2020
Laika, a stray dog picked up by the Soviet space program on the streets of Moscow, became the first living being to orbit the earth when she was launched into space on Sputnik 2. Although Laika would not survive the journey, directors Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter trace the persistence of her memory and legacy into the present day. As the capsule containing Laika re-entered Earth’s orbit and began to burn up, the narrator announces “What had been a Moscow street dog had become a ghost.” The ghost Laika lives on in the present-day strays of Space Dogs. Photographed at ground level with wandering, hypnotic camera movements, the strays are seen navigating the urban environs of modern Moscow. In hewing closely to the dog’s point of view, the city is rendered as a strange, alien environment. Pulsating music from buildings and unidentified passerby take on an unfamiliar quality as the dogs explore this strange new world. [Icarus Films]
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Our Time Machine
September 11, 2020
When influential Chinese artist Ma Liang (a.k.a. Maleonn) realizes that his father Ma Ke, an accomplished Peking Opera director, is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, he invites his father to collaborate on his most ambitious project to date - a haunting, magical, autobiographical stage performance featuring life-size mechanical puppets called "Papa's Time Machine". Through the creation of this play, the two men confront their mortality before time runs out and memories are lost forever.
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Red, White & Wasted
September 11, 2020
An unapologetic immersion into Florida's redneck mudding culture. Video Pat is a mudding enthusiast who must question his passion, and maybe his entire way of life, when the last mudhole in Orlando is shut down.
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The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte hosts the Tonight Show
September 10, 2020
In 1968, entertainer and activist Harry Belafonte took over "The Tonight Show" for one historic week, introducing a fractured, changing country to itself alongside legendary guests.
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Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President
September 9, 2020
If it hadn’t been for a bottle of scotch and a late-night visit from musician Gregg Allman, Jimmy Carter might never have been elected the 39th President of the United States. The documentary charts the mostly forgotten story of how Carter, a lover of all types of music, forged a tight bond with musicians Willie Nelson, the Allman Brothers, Bob Dylan and others. Low on campaign funds and lacking in name recognition, Carter relied on support from these artists to give him a crucial boost in the Democratic primaries. Once Carter was elected, the musicians became frequent guests in the White House. The surprisingly significant role that music played throughout Carter’s life and in his work becomes a thread in this engaging portrait of one of the most enigmatic Presidents in American history.
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The Social Dilemma
September 9, 2020
Technology wizards have masterminded a new form of capitalism, and humanity is now the raw resource feeding the machine. Powerful, hidden artificial intelligence tasked with hijacking our attention is tearing apart social norms, jeopardizing truth and democracy, and putting civilization on a programmed path toward self-destruction. Set in the dark underbelly of Silicon Valley, The Social Dilemma fuses investigative documentary with enlightening narrative drama—think An Inconvenient Truth meets The Matrix. Expert testimony from tech whistle-blowers exposes our disturbing predicament: the services Big Tech provides—search engines, networks, instant information, et cetera—are merely the candy that lures us to bite. Once we’re hooked and coming back for more, the real commodity they sell is their prowess to influence and manipulate us.
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All In: The Fight for Democracy
September 9, 2020
In anticipation of the 2020 presidential election, All In: The Fight for Democracy examines the often overlooked, yet insidious issue of voter suppression in the United States. The film interweaves personal experiences with current activism and historical insight to expose a problem that has corrupted our democracy from the very beginning. With the perspective and expertise of Stacey Abrams, the former Minority Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives, the documentary offers an insider’s look into laws and barriers to voting that most people don’t even know are threats to their basic rights as citizens of the United States.
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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
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The Dead and the Others
- Runtime: 114 min
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