Land Without Bread

An exploration —manipulated and staged— of life in Las Hurdes, in the province of Cáceres, in Extremadura, Spain, as it was in 1932. Insalubrity, misery and lack of opportunities provoke the emigration of young people and the solitude of those who remain in the desolation of one of the poorest and least developed Spanish regions at that time.

Megacities

Megacities is a documentary about the slums of five different metropolitan cities.

Britain's Holocaust Survivors

They experienced perhaps the greatest crimes against humanity the world has ever seen. Yet what do we know about the Holocaust survivors who made Britain their home? Britain's Holocaust Survivors takes a unique approach to recording the experiences of the last generation to have living memories of the Holocaust. The film takes viewers into the homes of a small group of extraordinary survivors, telling their stories with sensitivity, humour and compassion. A compelling cast of characters are revealed as they gradually reveal the horror of their past and how those experiences have shaped their lives.

Olympia: Part One – Festival of the Nations

Commissioned to make a propaganda film about the 1936 Olympic Games in Germany, director Leni Riefenstahl created a celebration of the human form. This first half of her two-part film opens with a renowned introduction that compares modern Olympians to classical Greek heroes, then goes on to provide thrilling in-the-moment coverage of some of the games' most celebrated moments, including African-American athlete Jesse Owens winning a then-unprecedented four gold medals.

Olympia: Part Two – Festival of Beauty

Commissioned to make a propaganda film about the 1936 Olympic Games in Germany, director Leni Riefenstahl created a celebration of the human form. Where the two-part epic's first half, Festival of the Nations, focused on the international aspects of the 1936 Olympic Games held in Berlin, part two, The Festival of Beauty, concentrates on individual athletes such as equestrians, gymnasts, and swimmers, climaxing with American Glenn Morris' performance in the decathalon and the games' majestic closing ceremonies.

Weiss ist die Farbe der Verlierer

Short film against the oppression of women. At first, differences in education are presented and then how the relationship between women and men looks like in the professional world.

Zapatista Women

April 1994 in the Lacandona Jungle, Chiapas, México. The Zapatista women talk about the living conditions of Mexican indigenous populations and the life of peasant women. They explain the reasons for their struggle and their uprising.

Morte e Vida Severina

The story of Severino, a man who tries to escape the misery and the drought prevailing in the rural backcountry of the Northeast of Brazil. He heads for Recife, passing through desert and forest regions, expecting to find a better life.

Prisoners of War

This haunting film comprises of footage shot during WWI from opposite sides of the conflict: Czarist Russia and the Austro-Hungarian empire. The filmmakers tinted the material with sensual colors from sepia to red, blue, and purple and slowed the footage to analyze the material. The total absence of commentary renders the material eloquent and disturbing. - MoMA

I'm Going to Santiago

This black-and-white film is a loving portrait of Santiago de Cuba and its people. It provides a view of Cuba as a picturesque country, the product of an earthy mix of black and criollo cultures. The film uses historical images which portray the end of the eighteenth century when Haitian slave owners fled with their slaves to Cuba after the Haitian Revolution.

People, Years, Life

Using images shot in Russia and Armenia from World War I to the 1930s and retrieved from a Soviet film archive, Gianikian and Ricci Lucchi constructed a meditative film about the status of Armenians as a people without a state. Inspired by the diary of Gianikian’s father, People, Years, Life uses rare footage depicting the region’s major historic events: the end of Tsarist Russia, violence in the Caucasus during World War I, the 1918 Armenian exodus from Azerbaijan. Gianikian and Ricci Lucchi’s treatment of the material manipulates the speed of the images, adds color and music, and magnifies various parts of the image, so that the movement of bodies across the frame begins to carry the weight of exile, mourning, dispossession.

Ghiro ghiro tondo

Inspired by their beloved Dolomite area in Northeast Italy, a battle theater in World Wars I and II, Gianikian and Ricci Lucchi continue to explore issues of war and peace in their most recent production. The film uses shots of ordinary toys found in the area, many missing limbs and other pieces, to represent, in both direct and oblique ways, the historical period between Fascism, Nazism, and the postwar era.

Criminal Animals

In this filmic comment on Fascist ideology - which uses footage from the recently discovered archives of Luca Comerio - invisible hands push captive animals to fight among themselves.

Kurosawa's Way

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

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.

How Good to See You Alive

Four years after a military coup overthrew the Brazilian government in 1964, all civil rights were suspended and torture became a systematic practice. Using a mix of fiction and documentary this extraordinary film is a searing record of personal memory, political repression and the will to survive. Interviews with eight women who were political prisoners during the military dictatorship are framed by the fantasies and imaginings of an anonymous character, portrayed by actress Irene Ravache.

The Story of the Weeping Camel

When a Mongolian nomadic family's newest camel colt is rejected by its mother, a musician is needed for a ritual to change her mind.

The Domino Effect

Rafael - the minister of sports of an unrecognized country, and Natasha - a Russian opera singer, try living together in Abkhazia - a war-torn future-less country. Observing their difficult relations, we see life in a place marked by war and nationalism. The film portrays trapped people dreaming of peace, normality and happiness.

Butch Jamie

The film follows the story of Jamie, a struggling butch lesbian actress who gets cast as a man in a film. The main plot is a romantic comedy between Jamie's male alter-ego, "Male Jamie," and Jill, a heterosexual woman on set. The film's subplots include Jamie's bisexual roommate Lola and her cat actor Howard, Lola's abrasive butch German girlfriend Andi, and Jamie's gay Asian friend David.

Iverson

Iverson is the ultimate legacy of NBA legend Allen Iverson, who rose from a childhood of crushing poverty in Hampton, Virginia, to become an 11-time NBA All-Star and universally recognized icon of his sport. Off the court, his audacious rejection of conservative NBA convention and unapologetic embrace of hip hop culture sent shockwaves throughout the league and influenced an entire generation. Told largely in Iverson's own words, the film charts the career highs and lows of one of the most distinctive and accomplished figures the sport of basketball has ever seen.

Classic Albums: Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

The worlds of glitz, glam, and pop-rock fused immortally on Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, born of the formidable partnership of Elton John and Bernie Taupin. This 1973 double album may well have been the peak of their collaboration. Ranging from perennial favorites like "Candle in the Wind," "Bennie and the Jets," and the title track to more ambitious compositions like "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" and everything in between, Goodbye is unmatched in its depth and scope. This entry in the Classic Albums series of DVDs documents the often tumultuous writing and recording sessions for that masterpiece through vintage clips of the musicians in the studio and new interviews with Elton, Bernie, producer Gus Dudgeon, and the band members. We may never know how the John-Taupin team achieved their magic, but this release offers a both a peek at the process and a few reasons why the album endures today.

My First Anime

Nobody forgets their first time.

Geisterkatzen (1)

Mantovani, the King of Strings

Known for his unmistakable cascading strings and recordings such as Charmaine, Mantovani enthralled the world with his sublime arrangements. This is the story of the man and his music.

Land Grabbing

The world’s farmland is at risk. Demand for land has soared as investors look for places to grow food for export, grow crops for biofuel or simply buy up land for profit. The film gives an inside look into the world of investors in the international agricultural-business and shows the consequences for families kicked off their land. Land Grabbing shows how “colonialism 2.0” works.

X-Man

Abstract painting and modern music create an animated soundscape. A succession of tangled, non-figurative images is punctuated by playful character animation.

Una Pausa Para La Eternidad

A father sees live how his son becomes the protagonist of a TV program.

Rhyme and Punishment

The gritty elements of urban crime and violence have always had an influence on hip hop culture and rap music. More and more, the trappings of street life have landed popular rap artists behind bars - and not just for a music video shoot. What happens when a rapper who has everything suddenly has his freedom stripped away and is forced to deal with the harsh realities of prison? "Rhyme and Punishment" takes an in-depth look at the role of prison in hip hop culture, and reveals the side of the story that is not being covered by the news and popular media. The true and personal stories of hip hop artists who are, have been, or are soon to be incarcerated, in their own words. Featuring intimate and compelling interviews with convicted rappers Beanie Sigel, Prodigy, Cassidy, Project Pat, Immortal Technique, Slick Rick and many more.

Explicit Ills

The film follows four inter-connecting stories revolving around love, drugs and poverty in Philadelphia

Calogero - Alcaline le Concert

Old Mother Riley, MP

Old Mother Riley loses her laundry job and then battles her ex-boss in a parliamentary election.

TYPE-MOON Fes.

Recording of a two day concert celebrating the 10th anniversary of TYPE-MOON, several years late.

Nero Wolfe

Gourmet Nero Wolfe interrupts his orchid-tending to take on the case of a lady tycoon who wants to know why she's under investigation by the FBI, only to find himself enmeshed in a puzzling murder-mystery. TV movie based on Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe series.

LaMB

The film tells the story of a futuristic inhabited planet that has seemingly perfected a system of justice and imprisonment, called “Lamination”. Individuals convicted of serious crimes are encased in laminated suits, which results in virtual slavery. The criminals are referred to as “LaMBs”. The protagonists struggle with the political and ethical system of laminated imprisonment, leading to the eventual development of a romantic relationship between a free citizen and a LaMB. LaMB is an animated film produced by Animax. The film has been developed into four different episodes for Mobile and PSP users.

Concert for a Carrot Pie

The Cat Orchestra performs "Concert for Carrot Pie". Grandma decides to bake a carrot pie and sends grandfather and her granddaughter to bring carrots from the field.

Ruins

A documentary about a shocking case of HIV criminalization in Greece.