Kurosawa's Way

Eleven major film makers from Europe, America and Asia talk about Akira Kurosawa and discover surprising influences on their own work.

I Remember Me

In 1984-85, people at Lake Tahoe fell ill with flu symptoms, but they didn't get better. Medical literature documents similar outbreaks: in 1934 at LA county hospital, in 1948-49 in Iceland, in 1956 in Punta Gorda, Florida. The malady now has a name, chronic fatigue syndrome, and filmmaker Kim Snyder, who suffered from the disease for several years, tells her story and talks to victims and their families, and to physicians and researchers: is it viral, it is psychosomatic, is it one disease or several (a syndrome) ; what's the CDC doing about it; what's it like to have a disease that's not yet understood? Her inquiry takes her to Punta Gorda and to a high-school graduation.

Shameless: The Art of Disability

Art, activism and disability are the starting point for what unfolds as a funny and intimate portrait of five surprising individuals. Director Bonnie Sherr Klein (Not a Love Story, and Speaking Our Peace) has been a pioneer of women's cinema and an inspiration to a generation of filmmakers around the world. SHAMELESS: the ART of Disability marks Klein's return to a career interrupted by a catastrophic stroke in 1987. Always the activist, she now turns the lens on the world of disability culture, and ultimately, the transformative power of art.

The Costume Designer

This short focuses on the job of the costume designer in the production of motion pictures. The costume designer must design clothing that is correct for the film historically and geographically, and must be appropriate for the mood of the individual scene. We see famed costume designer Edith Head at work on a production. The Costume Designer was part of The Industry Film Project, a twelve-part series produced by the film studios and the Academy. Each series episode was produced to inform the public on a specific facet of the motion picture industry. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.

Poisoning Paradise

Journey to the seemingly idyllic world of Native Hawaiians, whose communities are surrounded by experimental test sites for genetically engineered seed corn and pesticides sprayed upwind of their homes, schools, hospitals, and shorelines.

Fields of Sacrifice

This 1964 documentary returns to the battlefields where over 100,000 Canadian soldiers lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars. The film also visits cemeteries where servicemen are buried. Filmed from Hong Kong to Sicily, this documentary is designed to show Canadians places they have reason to know but may not be able to visit. Produced for the Canadian Department of Veteran Affairs by the renowned documentary filmmaker Donald Brittain. (NFB)

The Dream Machine

A 16mm anthology of experimental super 8 films by Derek Jarman, Michael Kostiff, Cerith Wyn Evans and John Maybury, with framing footage by Tim Burke of Brion Gysin using a dream machine. Jarman's contribution is a version of his 1977 Art and the Pose (aka Arty the Pose), refilmed at 3fps, with a musical soundtrack. Jarman planned The Dream Machine as a commemoration of William Burroughs and Gysin's 1982 visit to the UK, and received initial funding from the Arts Council in 1983, then rethought the project as a portmanteau film featuring Gysin alone. The production remained in limbo until 1986, when James Mackay obtained completion funding from the British Film Institute. (Since this film was released on VHS accompanied by Jarman's Broken English: Three Songs by Marianne Faithfull, T.G.: Psychic Rally in Heaven and Pirate Tape under the umbrella title The Dream Machine, synopses of this film have often muddled up its details with those of the earlier films. )

Beastie Boys: Video Anthology

The Beastie Boys are among the most influential groups of the last two decades. As their music has opened hip-hop to a wider audience and changed the parameters of its sound, their ambitious music videos have carried the medium to new levels of artistic expression. This groundbreaking two-disc anthology showcases eighteen videos containing alternate visual angles and multiple audio tracks. Loaded with never-before-seen footage and unreleased music tracks, this special edition also contains a trove of rare still photos and exclusive audio commentary by the band and the video directors.

Kathryn Bigelow: Hollywood Adrenaline

For more than 40 years Kathryn Bigelow has been making films that explore male violence. With movies like Blue Steel, Point Break, The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty, the Oscar winning American filmmaker has impressed with hard-hitting moviemaking that holds a mirror up to contemporary America and the world.

Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict

Bouncing between Europe and the United States as often as she would between lovers, Peggy Guggenheim’s life was as swirling as the design of her uncle’s museum, and reads more like fiction than any reality imaginable. Peggy Guggenheim – Art Addict offers a rare look into Guggenheim’s world: blending the abstract, the colorful, the surreal and the salacious, to portray a life that was as complex and unpredictable as the artwork Peggy revered and the artists she pushed forward.

Thought Crimes

Dubbed “The Cannibal Cop,” former NYPD officer Gilberto Valle was charged with conspiring to kidnap and eat women but argued it was all a fantasy. His story made headlines both for its disturbing details and its potential to kick off a trend of thought-policing across the nation. Featuring intimate interviews with Valle and insights from experts, Thought Crimes explores if someone can be found guilty for their most dangerous thoughts.

The 15th Stone

Joáo Bénard da Costa, director of the Portuguese National Film Archives [deceased in 2009], interviews the dean of contemporaneous film directors [96-years-old then]. Two humanists of different philosophical backgrounds, both with their long, entire lives dedicated to culture in general (music, painting, literature) and to film in particular, discuss freely, sometimes haltingly, the director's power as a creator or a magician, the philosophy beyond particular scenes in classic movies, film technique, the importance of color, sound and music to films, art versus entertainment, and much more. Their talk takes place in a museum room, seating in front of "The Annunciation" (a 1510 oil painting by João Vaz, a Portuguese artist), which eventually leads to a discussion of 'Leonardo da Vinci', and the relationship between a trend-setter master and his disciples.

Straight Hustle

Hustle, hustle, hustle... hard. These two got a cold hustle going on in downtown Seattle. Commissioned and produced by the Northwest Film Forum for their One-Shot program.

Leben nach Microsoft

Der Film portraitiert eine Gruppe von Microsoft-Aussteigern: im Ruhestand mit 32, Multimillionäre und ohne die geringste Idee, was sie mit dem Rest ihres Leben anstellen sollen. Ihre Jahre im Unternehmen, der Hype des Goldrausches und das Adrenalin des Erfolges hat sie ausgebrannt und doch sind sie entschlossen mehr aus ihrem Leben zu machen - vor allem Sinn und Bedeutung in der wirklichen Welt zu finden.

Gringo Trails

Are tourists destroying the planet-or saving it? How do travelers change the remote places they visit, and how are they changed? From the Bolivian jungle to the party beaches of Thailand, and from the deserts of Timbuktu, Mali to the breathtaking beauty of Bhutan, GRINGO TRAILS traces stories over 30 years to show the dramatic long-term impact of tourism on cultures, economies, and the environment.

The Salt Mines

Explores the lives of Sara, Gigi and Giovanna, three Latino transvestites who for years have lived on the streets of Manhattan supporting their drug addictions through prostitution. They made their temporary home inside broken garbage trucks that the Sanitation Department keeps next to the salt deposits used in the winter to melt the snow. The three friends share the place known as "The Salt Mines".

The Transformation

Ricardo was once Sara, a homeless HIV positive transvestite, living in the underbelly of Manhattan. Today he is a churchgoing, married man, "saved" by a Dallas ministry. He has renounced his homosexuality, but is his conversion complete? Susana Aiken and Carlos Aparicio offer an intimate look at Ricardo's transformation.

1 Day

This searing British thriller follows Flash (Dylan Duffus), who's safeguarding his buddy Angel's (Yohance Watson) cash until his release from prison. Now Angel is out -- and Flash is 100 pounds short. He turns to a lowlife named Evil (Tobias Duncan) for help, the first in a series of mistakes. Now, Flash has more than just Angel hunting him down. Directed by Penny Woolcock (Mischief Night), the film co-stars Ohran Whyte and Chris Wilson

The Alps - Climb of Your Life

In 1966, John Harlin II died while attempting Europe's most difficult climb, the North Face of the Eiger in Switzerland. 40 years later, his son John Harlin III, an expert mountaineer and the editor of the American Alpine Journal, returns to attempt the same climb.

Truth Has Fallen

TRUTH HAS FALLEN is a one-hour live action/animated documentary that examines the work of James McCloskey. Mr.McCloskey founded Centurion Ministries, an organization whose mission is to free prisoners who have been wrongfully convicted of murder. Employing a combination of abstract, surreal animation and live action images, TRUTH HAS FALLEN asks how innocent people could be convicted of murder - what could be done to prevent such injustices in the future - and what happens to these innocent people when they are released from prison after years of incarceration?

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Naruto OVA 8: Naruto x UT

Naruto x UT is the eighth Naruto OVA. Approximately 200,000 copies of this OVA were distributed by Uniqlo to promote a line of Naruto-themed shirts designed by Masashi Kishimoto in conjunction with Studio Pierrot. It shows the aftermath between a fight between Naruto and Sasuke and shows clips of their times together and the story so far.

Calabria

Two morticians, one originally from Portugal and the other a Romani from Serbia, drive to southern Italy from Switzerland in order to deliver a body.

Un Caso Excepcional

A young actress arrives late to a casting, making up a great excuse without knowing a small detail.

12

“Can one man bear the sins of the world?”

Gasping for Air

When his sister disappears after leaving their home in hopes of singing stardom, Luis tracks her down and discovers the grim reality of her whereabouts.

Hami Nepali Hami Gorkhali

Hami Nepali Hami Gorkhali is a Nepali music video story about Gurkha people

Return

A single man has worked most of his life in a supermarket. One night, he unexpectedly meets with his father, and the two are faced with the question of the reasons for their separation.

Chrome Soldiers

Five ex-soldiers go to a small town in Oregon to help a friend investigate the murder of his brother.

Terra Nullius or: How to Be a Nationalist

Even uninhabited archipelagos may be subject to drawn out territorial disputes if they are rich in oil deposits. However, the filmmaker is more concerned with how ownership issues reverberate amongst nationalists in competing countries rather than in the history of the dispute or its resolution, making it possible to present the patriotic pathos-soaked ceremonies of the Japanese, the efforts of Chinese authorities to complicate diversionary activities, and the expressive protests and bizarre rituals of Taiwanese activists. The desire to understand the situation leads the director to participate in several futile attempts to land on the islands. Although he finds himself on the frontline during an escalation in the conflict, he is able to maintain his distance as an impartial observer.

High School Musical 3: Senior Year

As seniors in high school, Troy and Gabriella struggle with the idea of being separated from one another as college approaches. Along with the rest of the Wildcats, they stage a spring musical to address their experiences, hopes and fears about their future.

Loved by All: The Story of Apa Sherpa

Apa Sherpa has climbed Mount Everest 21 times, more than any other human. But he wouldn’t wish this upon anybody. Having grown up in the remote Khumbu region of Nepal, Apa was forced to leave school and work as a porter at the age of 12. His dreams of being a doctor forever lost. It is a story all too common for the Sherpa people of Nepal, a story Apa aims to change with his work at the Apa Sherpa Foundation. In this visually stunning short documentary, we follow young Pemba Sherpa, a young child who must walk six hours a day to attend school. Pemba’s story is a present day reflection of Apa’s past, one where the draw of being a high altitude porter conflicts with the dreams of Nepal’s rural people, dreams made possible only through education and knowledge.

Spare Time

Documentary short by Humphrey Jennings

123

Short film from the Philippines

Linfa

"In Rome, the author says, hidden among the little streets of the Pigneto and Tor Pignattara districts, an underground scene made up of strong women has developed. A scene full of passionate women who dedicate their lives to experimentation and free art expression(…) When I discovered their world I immediately felt involved, and I decided to make this documentary." The result is a generous choral documentary about the female music/performance scene in the eastern area of Rome. A documentary about love for music and art, about freedom to be what we really want to be, trying to discover our true identity, beyond the stereotypical roles imposed by contemporary society. A documentary about choosing to follow the talents and desires that are essential for life, our life's blood (linfa), and that give meaning to our existence. It is a story of female artistic activism that becomes political demonstrating that it is possible to oppose the ordinary and banal with alternative creative worlds.

Crime in Connecticut: The Story of Alex Kelly

About a notorious Connecticut convicted rapist.

Secret of Naruto

From the pen of Yoshikawa Eiji comes this exciting story. The Naruto Strait separates Tokushima from the islands of Awaji and Honshu. On Tokushima the mad lord dreams of conquest and forges a bloody revolt against the Tokugawa shogunate. A mysterious swordsman named Noriyuki Gennojo has crossed Naruto’s waters to uncover the Awa clan’s secrets. He puts his life on the line after finding a testament of Awa’s secrets, written in blood by a dying man. Joining Noriyuki are a female ninja who loves him, and the beautiful daughter of an enemy who’s sworn to kill him. Awa’s defenders willl stop at nothing to prevent the blood-soaked letter from reaching the shogun.

Yakimanka, 90s

The Yakimanka Center for Contemporary Art is one of the most important institutions of contemporary art in the 90s in Moscow. It was here that the first open platform for all forms of self-expression was created. New artists, gallery owners and curators appeared here, the main events of the artistic life of the last decade of the twentieth century took place.