The Corporation (2003)

Directors:
Jennifer Abbott, Mark Achbar

IMDB

Synopsis:
In the mid-1800s, corporations began to be recognized as individuals by U.S. courts, granting them unprecedented rights. The Corporation, a documentary by filmmakers Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott and author Joel Bakan, delves into that legal standard, essentially asking: if corporations were people, what kind of people would they be? Applying psychiatric principles and FBI forensic techniques, and through a series of case studies, the film determines that this entity, the corporation, which has an increasing power over the day-to-day existence of nearly every living creature on earth, would be a psychopath. The case studies include a story about how two reporters were fired from Fox News for refusing to soft-pedal a story about the dangers of a Monsanto product given to dairy cows, and another about Bolivian workers who banded together to defend their rights to their own water supply. The pervasiveness of corporate influence on our lives is explored through an examination of efforts to influence behavior, including that of children. The filmmakers interview leftist figures like Michael Moore, Howard Zinn, Naomi Klein, and Noam Chomsky, and give representatives from companies Burson Marsteller, Disney, Pfizer, and Initiative Media a chance to relay their own points-of-view. The Corporation won the Best Documentary World Cinema Audience Award at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.

If a Tree Falls (2011)

Directors:
Marshall Curry, Sam Cullman

IMDB

Synopsis:
Filmmaker Marshall Curry explores the inner workings of the Earth Liberation Front, a revolutionary movement devoted to crippling facilities involved in deforestation, while simultaneously offering a profile of Oregon ELF member Daniel McGowan, who was brought up on terrorism charges for his involvement with the radical group.

Dətropia (2012)

Directors:
Həidi Ewing, Rachəl Grady

IMDB

Synopsis:
In 1930, Dətroit was the fastest growing city in the world as the booming auto industry made it one of America's key manufacturing centers and people flocked to Michigan looking for steady jobs and a chance to live out the American dream. In the 21st Century, as American car makers struggle to compete and production has moved either overseas or to "right to work" states, unemployment in Detroit has been estimated at close to 50 percent, while the city's population has shrunk from 1.8 million in 1950 to less than 714,000 in 2010. Filmmakers Həidi Ewing and Rachəl Grady present a look at life in contemporary Detroit in the documentary Dətropia, which focuses on the people who are struggling to keep a great American city alive in the wake of serious economic and political woes. Dətropia also offers troubling facts on the circumstances that led to Detroit's economic collapse, and how the city's problems may be coming to a town near you. Dətropia was an official selection at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, where it received honors for best documentary editing.

Another Road Home (2004)

Director:
Danae Elon

IMDB

Synopsis:
In 1967, not long after the Israeli Six Day War, noted author Amos Elon had moved into a new home in West Jerusalem, and he and his wife decided to hire someone to help watch over their one-year-old daughter, Danae. Mahmoud \"Musa\" Obeidallah, a Palestinian, applied for the job and got it, and so in the midst of bitter conflict, Danae grew up being taken care of and tutored by a man who was supposed to be a political rival of her family. In her early twenties, Danae lost contact with Musa, but recalled hearing that his children had relocated to New Jersey so they would be able to avoid the violence that had overrun his homeland. Years later, after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Danae saw a news report stating that Patterson, NJ, was believed to have been home to an enclave of Arab terrorists, and Danae became both curious and concerned about the fate of Musa and his family. She decided to find Musa, and made a film about her search; Another Road Home was the result, and explores the odd contradictions of their relationship, as well as the deep affection that still exists between Danae and Musa.

Power Trip (2003)

Director:
Paul Devlin

IMDB

Synopsis:
In 1999, the major American utility company AES Corporation spent over 30 million dollars to purchase the former Soviet Republic of Georgia's electrical distributing company, Telasi, in a bid to expand the American company's international market share. In his 2003 documentary entitled Power Trip, filmmaker Paul Devlin examined the actions of the Georgian citizenry and governmental officials, as well as those taken by the AES management team. What looked good on paper turned into a series of major business setbacks, as the Republic of Georgia had been beset with constant domestic turmoil since the collapse of the U.S.S.R. Quite nearly from the beginning of the Telasi buy-out, the AES upper management team was presented with numerous seemingly unpredictable and insurmountable obstacles which included the extremely low incomes of the vast majority of the population and pervasive governmental corruption. As the American company struggled to single-handedly update a nearly Third World economy, the Georgian populace was merely struggling to exist. Power Trip was a included in the program for the 2003 Berlin International Film Festival.

Secret Lives: Hidden Children and Their Rescuers During WWII (2002)

Director:
Aviva Slesin

IMDB

Synopsis:
As an infant at the dawn of World War II, director Aviva Slesin was handed off by her Jewish parents to a Lithuanian family, for safekeeping from the Nazis. Now, Slesin seeks out the stories of other "adoptees" and their families in the documentary Secret Lives: Hidden Children & Their Rescuers During WWII. Over the course of interviews with over five dozen children who escaped the Holocaust, Slesin learns of the struggles, hardships, and love experienced by these displaced sons and daughters, and about their faint memories of their birth parents. By the same token, Slesin finds out the rationales of the families who took them in -- whether due to goodwill, loyalty, or, in some cases, economic gain -- and even examines the resentment felt by some of them toward their "new" brothers and sisters. Featuring a score by avant-garde composer John Zorn, Secret Lives made the festival rounds in 2002, winning an award at the Hamptons Film Festival before its theatrical release in 2003.

The Trap: What Happened to Our Dream of Freedom (2007)

Director:
Adam Curtis

IMDB

Synopsis:
The many ways in which Western notions of personal and political freedom are changing in the 21st Century are explored in this three-part documentary from writer and filmmaker Adam Curtis. Part one, titled "F--k You, Buddy," explores how the widely held belief formulated by economist Friedrich von Hayek that the free market system would create a wealthier and more responsible society is giving way to John Nash's principle that individuals will almost always do what is in their own best interest, even if its at the expense of others. Part Two, "The Lonely Robot," focuses on how governments often act in their own interest at the expense of their citizens, and the malaise that's a by product of growing cynicism by ordinary people towards their leaders. And the conclusion, "We Will Force You To Be Free," investigates the theories of British thinker Isaiah Berlin and his twin principles of "positive liberty" (in which the people take direct and active control of their destiny) and "negative liberty" (freedom that inherited with no active effort towards any specific goal). Featuring interviews with John Nash, James Buchanan, Robert Reich, Tom Peters, Thomas Frank, Sir Anthony Jay and many others, The Trap: What Happened To Our Dream Of Freedom was originally produced for British television, but later received theatrical screenings at a number of film festivals.

Mule Skinner Blues (2001)

Director:
Stephen Earnhart

IMDB

Synopsis:
Set in Florida's beach community, Mule Skinner Blues chronicles a group of locals who crave self-expression in the midst of their Southern Gothic lifestyles. Chief among the figures is Beanie Andrew, a fifty-something former alcoholic who acts, sings, dances, writes, and lives in a trailer park outside Jacksonville and who finds work as an extra in a music video. He then presents Stephen with a series of home videos displaying his and his friends' talents. Most of them are out-of-work shrimpers, such as Steve Walker, a Vietnam veteran and troubadour; Ricky Lix, an ill-tempered blues guitarist; Miss Jeannie, a country singer who also has a penchant for yodeling; and Annabelle Lea, an art school grad and costume designer who keeps her departed bulldog's dead body in a backyard freezer. After the music video shoot, Stephen returns to Florida to find the group beginning work on an ambitious horror film called "Turnabout Is Fair Play," which has no completed script; still, the team tries to pull together to make the picture. The subject matter is very similar to Chris Smith's award-winning documentary American Movie, which also followed a struggling group of filmmakers through their production of a very low-budget genre piece.

Devil's Playground (2002)

Director:
Lucy Walker

IMDB

Synopsis:
Lucy Walker directed this documentary about a little-known facet of Amish life. Although the Amish live in traditionally conservative enclaves, shunning modern conveniences and electricity while favoring a strict code of conduct and dress, they do have a moment in their lives known as "rumspringa." When an Amish child turns 16, they are allowed to interact with and take part in life away from their upbringing. This film follows a handful of teenagers as they break from their past and experiment with drinking, drugs, and driving (possibly for the only time in their lives). Devil's Playground was screened at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival.

Paris Is Burning (1990)

Director:
Jennie Livingston

IMDB

Synopsis:
Poignant, well-received documentary that reveals the community of New York's minority drag queens, gay black and Latino men who cross dress as women and invent the dance style of "voguing," imitating the fashion poses on the covers of the magazine Vogue. As director Jennie Livingston discovers, her subjects band together into family-like "houses" for protection, taking the same last names and competing in drag balls where awards are given out for authenticity or "realness," as well as other categories like "evening wear" and "executive wear." Both an embracing and a refutation of the world of high fashion, the balls become the social locus of this underclass, underground society of outcasts defiantly refusing to be ignored by a world that scorns them. Paris Is Burning was one of several critically acclaimed documentaries of the late 1980s and early 1990s excluded from Academy Award nominations, eventually leading to a reappraisal of the Academy's stodgy selection process.

Flag Wars (2003)

Directors:
Linda Goode Bryant, Laura Poitras

IMDB

Synopsis:
Socio-economic status, minority rights, and housing codes all come into dramatic conflict in co-directors Linda Goode Bryant and Laura Poitras' 2003 documentary Flag Wars. Set in a historic district in Columbus, OH, named Olde Towne East, Bryant and Poitras discover the serenity of the primarily African-American neighborhood is in jeopardy. Gay professionals are moving into the neighborhood with the intentions of buying inexpensive property, and as they improve upon their acquisitions, the new residents stand accused of using underhanded -- yet legal -- tactics in order to force the longtime residents to either refurbish their properties or move out of the district altogether. Yet the two minority groups are not as far removed from one another as it would initially appear, as certain conservative elements within the greater Columbus community seem interested in using the conflict to further their own agendas. Flag Wars was a competing film at the 2003 South by Southwest Film Festival, where it was awarded the Jury Documentary Prize.

Festival Express (2003)

Director:
Bob Smeaton

IMDB

Synopsis:
In 1970, with seemingly every North American city of any size holding a rock festival after the success of Woodstock, Ken Walker and Thor Eaton, a pair of Canadian entrepreneurs and music buffs, had an idea: instead of setting up one massive show with a bunch of top-name acts, why not stage a series of them across the country? With this in mind, Walker (then only 22 years old) and Eaton (whose family owned one of Canada's most successful department store chains) signed up Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, the Band, Buddy Guy, the Flying Burrito Brothers, and several others and hired out a private train that would carry the musicians in high style for a string of five shows from Toronto to Calgary. The jaunt was called "The Festival Express," and a camera crew tagged along to capture the shows on film, as well as the constant party that took place en route. The tour proved to be a financial bust and, as a result, the footage sat on the shelf for over thirty years until director Bob Smeaton recut the material into Festival Express, which not only documents the glorious folly of the tour, but offers a hindsight look at the events from some of the surviving participants.

Up the Yangtze (2007)

Director:
Yung Chang

IMDB

Synopsis:
Director Yung Chang uses the construction of China's massive Three Gorges Dam as a springboard to better understanding the social hierarchies and changing times in his homeland in this documentary focusing on the luxury cruise ship that carries predominately Western tourists down the Yangtze River. Constructed as a symbol of modern progress in China, the Three Gorges Dam has forced millions of common people out of their ancestral homes, and will soon swallow up numerous nearby towns and villages. Despite the fact that the government has funded alterative housing for the dislocated families, however, many citizens make their way to higher ground feeling as if they have been duped by the powers that be. In order to truly understand how this affects the people, Chang focuses on telling the stories of middle-class scion Chen Bo Yu (renamed "Jerry" by the cruise line) and Yu Shui (who answers to the call of "Cindy" while on duty). As the ship sets sail, this hard-working pair do their best to familiarize themselves with Western social cues, striving to perform to the best of their abilities, and ponder the prospects of a brighter future.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)

Director:
David Gelb

IMDB

Synopsis:
Jiro Ono is one of the most-respected and acclaimed sushi chefs in Japan. At the age of 85, he operates an exclusive sushi restaurant, Sukiyabashi Jiro, with a long waiting list for reservations (the restaurant has a mere ten tables and a typical meal costs $300) and a prized three-star rating from the Michelin restaurant guide. Perfecting the art of sushi has been one of Ono's obsessions since he was a young man, and filmmaker David Gelb offers a delicious look into his life and work in the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi. In the film, Ono discusses his unhappy childhood, his early days in the restaurant game, and his techniques and philosophies about his chosen dish; he also interacts with fish dealers and his two sons, both gifted chefs who live and work in their father's shadow. Jiro Dreams of Sushi was an official selection at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival.

Billy the Kid (2007)

Director:
Jennifer Venditti

IMDB

Synopsis:
Filmmaker Jennifer Venditti crafts a cinéma vérité-style coming-of-age story with this portrait of a small-town teen from Maine who struggles to embrace his outsider status while still being shaped by the tragic events of his childhood. It was while casting the Carter Smith film Bugcrush that Venditti first encountered the boy named Billy -- his eccentric wisdom leaving an immediate and lasting impression on the filmmaker. Later, after casting Billy in the film and preparing to craft a documentary about everyday heroes, Venditti and her crew returned to Maine to spend five days with the troubled young boy who had commanded her attention. Shunned by his classmates and categorized as a "special needs" student by his teachers, Billy boldly refuses to be victimized by his individuality in an environment obsessed with labels and conformity.

The Gleaners & I (2000)

Director:
Agnès Varda

IMDB

Synopsis:
Legendary filmmaker Agnes Varda takes digital camcorder in hand and roams about the French countryside in search of "gleaners." An age-old practice, as depicted in Millet's famous painting, performed traditionally by peasant women, gleaners scavenged the remains of a crop after the harvest. Varda finds their modern-day equivalent collecting rejected potatoes outside of Lyon, fallen apples in Provence, and refuse in the markets of Paris. Along the way, she talks to a man sporting yellow rubber boots who has lived on trash for ten years, a gourmet chef who gleans for his restaurant, a homeless doctorate in biology who teaches literacy courses to immigrants for free, a couple of artists who use trash in their work, and the grandson of early cinema innovator Étienne-Jules Marey. Along the way, Varda discusses heart-shaped potatoes, big trucks on the highway, the waste of consumerism, and the ravages of time. This film was screened at the 2000 Cannes and Toronto Film Festivals.

Black Gold (2006)

Directors:
Marc Francis, Nick Francis

IMDB

Synopsis:
Filmmakers Marc and Nick Francis team to explore the discrepancy between the skyrocketing profits of multinational coffee companies and the all-time low prices paid for coffee harvests in a documentary that aims to provide a voice to the struggling farmers and laborers who strive to keep the coffee flowing. As devastated farmers are forced to sell off their once-bountiful lands simply to make ends meet, Ethiopia's once-thriving coffee industry slowly falls to ruin; but one man is out to fight for the struggling laborers. Tadesse Meskela represents over 70,000 struggling coffee farmers, and in his mission to help the farmers preserve their rich heritage, Meskela has traveled to every corner of the globe on a mission to seek out fair prices for what are often considered the highest-quality beans on the market.

9 Star Hotel (2007)

Director:
Ido Haar

IMDB

Synopsis:
Middle Eastern director Ido Haar helms the haunting cinema direct documentary 9 Star Hotel. The work introduces the audience to a cadre of Palestinian men who have built a transient community on the Israeli border, comprised of jerry-built huts and tiny, sarcophagus-like sleeping compartments. The men leave these quarters and systematically cross the border each morning before dawn, to work illegally at construction jobs in Israel - risking their safety and their lives to simply draw a regular income. Throughout, the workers stick close together (Haar suggests that the circumstances actually engender tighter social bonds between them) and evince a surprising sense of humor, tenacity and resilience. Meanwhile, constant hopes for improved circumstances in the future belie their lingering fears of being discovered and shot or arrested by Israeli authorities.

Girl Model (2011)

Directors:
David Redmon, Ashley Sabin

IMDB

Synopsis:
Documentary filmmakers David Redmon and Ashley Sabin offer this illuminating - and often disturbing - look at the challenges faced by young, aspiring Russian models determined to break into the fashion industry. Ashley (not Sabin) is a former American model who has parleyed her experience in front of the camera into a lucrative job scouting young girls in Siberia. The lucky few who Ashley selects to move on are then offered the opportunity to model in Japan. Ashley's latest discovery is Nadya, a 13 year old, self-described "grey mouse" who possesses a striking natural beauty, and who endeavors to pull her family out of poverty through her modeling career. Upon arriving in Japan and attempting to navigate the strange new world without the benefit of speaking the language, however, Nadya and homesick fellow model Madlen soon realize that nothing is what they thought it would be, and that the work they were "guaranteed" back home seems frustratingly hard to come by. Meanwhile, surreptitious contract clauses stipulate that the girls could quickly be sent home at a moment's notice, and wind up deeply in debt to the same company who promised them the opportunity of a lifetime.

New York Doll (2005)

Director:
Greg Whiteley

IMDB

Synopsis:
The New York Dolls were a rock band who titled their second studio album Too Much Too Soon, and it summed up the band's career all too well. Playing hard, swaggering rock & roll that anticipated the aural chaos of punk five years before the Sex Pistols became a cause célèbre, and boasting an androgynous fashion statement that made David Bowie look timid, the Dolls made headlines and earned a loyal cult following between 1971 and 1976, but their look and sound were too extreme for the mass audience at the time, and the fact that several members of the band had serious drug and alcohol problems hardly helped matters. After the New York Dolls finally fell apart in 1977, singer David Johansen went on to a successful solo career (scoring hit records under the alter ego Buster Poindexter), lead guitarist Johnny Thunders and drummer Jerry Nolan kept the band's sound alive in the Heartbreakers, and guitarist Syl Sylvain cut a few solo albums and occasionally worked with Johansen. But bassist Arthur Kane struggled for years to get his musical career back on track while battling alcoholism, with little success on either front. In 1989, after a stay in the hospital, a clean and sober Kane embraced the Mormon faith, and through his contacts in the church he got a job working in a Mormon genealogy library in Los Angeles. Despite his quiet new life, Kane's greatest dream was to someday play a reunion show with the New York Dolls, and in 2004 his wish unexpectedly became a reality when British pop icon Morrissey invited the surviving members of the band to appear at a prestigious music festival he was curating. Filmmaker Greg Whiteley knew Kane as a fellow Mormon, and New York Doll is a documentary about the ups and downs of Kane's life in music, how his faith came into his life, and his unexpected return to the rock & roll stage at the age of 55.

E-Dreams (2001)

Director:
Wonsuk Chin

IMDB

Synopsis:
In 1998, Joseph Park had an idea: What if someone created an Internet-based delivery service in which, after you'd typed a few commands into a web page, you could have videos, snacks, books, or other small items delivered to your door in less than an hour? By January of 1999, Park and his friend and business partner, Yong Kang, had turned their idea into a business proposal for Kozmo.com, and by the end of that year, the company had managed to secure 150 million dollars in financing, with seemingly everyone on board poised to become fabulously wealthy. In April of 2000, the NASDAQ market crash tolled the end of the e-commerce boom, and it soon became evident to Kozmo.com's investors that the company was losing money like water through a sieve; within months, Park's dream was in ruins. E-Dreams is a documentary that examines the rise and fall of Kozmo.com, and by extension the failings and foibles of the Internet commerce explosion of the late '90s.

Triage: Dr. James Orbinski's Humanitarian Dilemma (2008)

Director:
Patrick Reed

IMDB

Synopsis:
Documentarist Patrick Reed's Triage: Dr. James Orbinski's Humanitarian Dilemma creates a biographical portrait of Orbinski, former head of the non-governmental organization Doctors Without Borders and one of the most ardent social crusaders to work in Third World African countries during the late 20th century. Triage visits Dr. Orbinski at a point when this physician - amid the completion of his memoirs - returns to the countries of his life's work, including Rwanda, Somalia, and Congo, to evaluate the status quo in each locale. As memories of deplorable conditions and grave personal dangers come flooding back to haunt the physician, his current findings are even more sobering and challenging: today, the countries have worsened, elevating the need for social activism. Nevertheless, Orbinski feels encouraged by the individuals who continue to strive for improved conditions, and issues a not-so-subtle plea for westerners to assume social responsibility and become involved at all costs with alleviating the plight of their African neighbors.

The Glass House (2009)

Director:
Hamid Rahmanian

IMDB

Synopsis:
Growing up can be hard under ideal circumstances, but for young women in Iran, a male-dominated society where a female's rights and opportunities are compromised from birth, growing into an emotionally healthy adult can be profoundly difficult. Iranian expatriate Marjaneh Halati has opened an outreach center for teenage women in Tehran, where they can speak to counselors and receive training that can help them deal with the crises they face. Filmmaker Hamid Rahmanian offers a telling portrait of four of the young women who have come to Halati's center for help in the documentary The Glass House. Mitra is sixteen years old and growing up in a violent household where her father will beat her for talking back to him, and she's come to the center looking for help in conflict resolution while learning to express herself through her fiction. Nazila is nineteen and has found an outlet for the anger she feels about her life as a rapper; however, her family forbids her to record her music and her outspoken rhymes would almost certainly never be aired in Iran. At twenty, Sussan has been the subject of physical and emotional abuse for much of her life, and repeated beatings have left her with brain damage and memory loss. And Samira is trying to deal with an addition to drugs that was inflicted upon her by her own family. The Glass House received its American premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

4 Little Girls (1997)

Director:
Spike Lee

IMDB

Synopsis:
Director Spike Lee made his first feature-length documentary with this powerful story of the bombing of an African-American church in Birmingham, AL, in 1963, which took the lives of four girls, ages 11 through 14. The shocking incident received national press attention and became a rallying point in the ongoing struggle for civil rights, but while Lee's film examines the crime, the perpetrators, and the long struggle to bring them to justice, it also offers a close look at the four girls themselves as their friends and families recall, in moving detail, who they were and how they lived. A variety of civil rights activists, politicians, journalists, and lawyers are interviewed onscreen, including Walter Cronkite and a brief but disturbing meeting with former Alabama governor George Wallace.

The Monastery: Mr. Vig and the Nun (2006)

Director:
Pernille Rose Grønkjær

IMDB

Synopsis:
A lovable, eighty-two year old virgin living alone in a dilapidated Danish castle enlists the aid of an ambitious and headstrong Russian Orthodox nun in realizing his lifelong dream of transforming his vast abode into a Russian Orthodox monastery in filmmaker Pernille Rose Gronkjær's heartwarming, and often humorous, documentary. Mr. Vig is an amiable eccentric who finally finds his dream coming to fruition as controlling nun Sister Ambrosija agrees to send a group of nuns and priests to evaluate and develop the site. An unapologetically overbearing woman who has a very precise vision of how the monastery should be run, Sister Ambrosija commences to making a seemingly-endless list of repair demands and the put-upon Mr. Vig implores the filmmaker for advice on dealing with the slightly-boorish bride of Christ. Despite their initial differences and occasional misgivings, however, Mr. Vig and Sister Ambrosija soon form a unique and exceptional bond as they work together for the good of a common cause.

Mondovino (2004)

Director:
Jonathan Nossiter

IMDB

Synopsis:
Filmmaker Jonathan Nossiter is a serious wine connoisseur as well as a practicing sommelier when he isn't busy behind the camera, and he's combined his two passions in this documentary on the international wine business. Mondovino offers a witty but well-informed look at how business concerns and the homogenization of tastes around the world are changing the way wine is being made. Nossiter's primary focus is on American vintners and their new degree of worldwide acceptance (in part due to the efforts of wildly influential U.S. wine critic Robert Parker), as well as French wine makers who are struggling to maintain a more traditional approach in the wake of a rapidly shifting business climate, such as Hubert de Montille and Yvonne Hegoburu. Nossiter deals with the personalities of his subjects as much as their status in the wine business, and he frequently introduces us to the pets of his interview subjects. Mondovino was screened in competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.

LaLee's Kin: The Legacy of Cotton (2001)

Directors:
Deborah Dickson. Susan Frömke, Albert Maysles

IMDB

Synopsis:
The cotton-growing industry has long had a tight hold on the political and economic lives of many people in the Mississippi Delta, and this documentary -- directed in part by Albert Maysles -- explores the toll King Cotton has taken on one woman and her family. Laura Lee Wallace, known to friends and family as LaLee, has spent all her life in Mississippi's Tallahatchie County. The product of a long line of cotton farmers, LaLee has grown up in dire poverty, and her children and grandchildren are poor prospects for a better life, given the region's failing school systems. At the urging of the major cotton firms, Tallahatchie County's schools used to routinely shut down during the harvest season so children could join their parents in the fields, and conditions have gotten only marginally better, with the county's ill-funded school system facing a possible takeover by the state government unless scores improve on the next round of standardized aptitude tests. With both money and job opportunities scarce, LaLee faces an uphill struggle to support her extended family, which now includes several grandchildren left to her care by sons and daughters unable to care for their offspring themselves. LeLee's Kin: The Legacy of Cotton was produced for the premium cable television network HBO; prior to it's HBO debut, the film was presented at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.

Comments enabled!

Well I was surprised when I tried to add a comment and wasn't able to, and then I have discovered that the commenting on posts is turned off. How did this happen I don't know, probably some blogger "updates" and "improvements" have messed something up. Nevertheless the comments are now enabled once again so fire away!

Cheers

CoSM the Movie: Alex Grey & the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors (2006)

Director:

Nick Krasnic

IMDB

Review:

CoSM The Movie is a magical new kind of documentary experience, leading audiences on an enriching and sense-heightening journey into the visionary art cosmos of world-renowned painter Alex Grey. Grey is our guide on a cinematic pilgrimage through the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors gallery in New York City, where his vividly rendered depictions of human anatomy and transcendental imagery reflect the universal human experience with birth, death, family, love, and enlightenment as the unfolding iconic narrative. Fusing the power of music with stunning cinematography, director Nick Krasnic channels the raw power of Grey's art into a potent film odyssey that captures the essence of this unique sacred space, and offers rare, personal insight from one of the most significant artists of our time.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (2003)

Directors:
Kim Bartley, Donnacha O'Briains

IMDB

Synopsis:
Taking its title from a poem/song by Gil Scott-Heron, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised is an award-winning international documentary. Irish filmmakers Kim Bartley and Donnacha O'Briain went to Venezuela to make a documentary about the charismatic, democratically elected president, Hugo Chavez. Very popular with the Venezuelan people, Chavez is a firm supporter of socialism and a redistribution of wealth from the oil profits in his country. He's also an outspoken opponent of the Bush administration's tactics in Afghanistan. In April 2002, the filmmakers ended up witnessing the failed coup that took place when a group of oil-interested parties tried to remove Chavez from office. Pedro Carmona was supposed to be installed as the new leader. However, due to the loyalty of his people, Chavez was back in power in 48 hours. While the state-controlled media (Channel 8 in Venezuela) gave the president a call-in show to talk with the public, privatized media outlets reported that pro-Chavez supporters had fired on an anti-Chavez march. After making its U.S. premiere at the 2003 South by Southwest Film Festival, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (also known as Chavez: Inside the Coup) has aired around the world on the RTE, BBC, and CBC.

We Were Here (2011)

Directors:
David Weissman, Bill Weber

IMDB

Synopsis:
In the 1970s, San Francisco had arguably the largest and most active gay community in America; it was the first city in America to elect an openly gay man to public office, Harvey Milk, and was one of the first places where the gay community learned to consolidate their political and economic power as well as enjoying a freedom and openness unknown in most cities. But the idyll of the 1970s ended in the early '80s, as AIDS began its spread through the city's gay community, claiming some of the best and brightest voices of a generation and forever changing the conversation about gay culture. Filmmaker David Weissman offers a moving portrait of the AIDS crisis and its legacy in the documentary We Were Here: Voices From the AIDS Years in San Francisco, in which people who lived in the city before, during, and after the height of the AIDS pandemic discuss not just disease, death, and consequences, but how the community learned to come together to support and protect one another in a time of darkness. We Were Here was screened as a work in progress at the 2010 San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival.

Desert Bayou (2007)

Director:
Alex LeMay

IMDB

Synopsis:
Filmmaker Alex LeMay explores the plight of 600 African-Americans who were unwittingly airlifted into the predominantly Caucasian state of Utah in the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in this documentary exploring the aftermath of one of the worst natural and humanitarian disasters in American history. When the water settled on New Orleans, the disaster had only begun. Now, as LeMay allows evacuees of Hurricane Katrina to tell their remarkable stories in their own words, viewers are invited to explore whether two radically different cultures can truly come together in their most desperate hour, or whether social differences will simply prove too difficult to overcome. Additional candid interviews with military, political, and religious leaders, as well as influential figures from both communities, paint a vivid picture of the struggle for survival as the misplaced New Orleans citizens struggle to come to terms with their loss, and the rising tides of racism, religion, and politics threaten to wash away a century's worth of social progress.

Gimme Shelter (1970)

Directors:
David Maysles, Albert Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin

IMDB

Synopsis:
Called the greatest rock film ever made, this landmark documentary follows the Rolling Stones on their notorious 1969 U.S. tour. When three hundred thousand members of the Love Generation collided with a few dozen Hells Angels at San Francisco’s Altamont Speedway, Direct Cinema pioneers David and Albert Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin were there to immortalize on film the bloody slash that transformed a decade’s dreams into disillusionment.

The 'Alien' Saga (2002)

Director:
Brent Zacky

IMDB

Synopsis:
Originally aired on AMC, this documentary focuses on one of the most horrifying series ever to be committed to celluloid -- the Alien film series. With interviews from most of the main players, including Ridley Scott, James Cameron, Sigourney Weaver, and H.R. Giger, the special goes through conception through production of all four films released from 20th Century Fox. Narrated by the Alien's first-ever onscreen victim, John Hurt, The Alien Saga gives insight into various script changes, casting choices, and the series fantastical effects through the eyes of the innovators behind them. The same production team, headed by writer/director Brent Zacky, also produced the equally exhausting horror film series documentary The Omen Legacy.

Wall (2004)

Director:
Simone Bitton

IMDB

Synopsis:
In the summer of 2002, Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon ordered the construction of a massive security wall, which would clearly define the border between Israel and Palestine and prevent Palestinian forces from easily entering Israeli territory. While the wall follows the nation's official borderlines, it cuts through neighborhoods, gardens, farmlands and others areas, serving as an ugly and divisive reminder of the ongoing conflict and ultimately trapping people on both sides within the barrier. Documentary filmmaker Simone Bitton, a Jew born in Morocco who identifies with both Israeli and Arab cultures, examines the long and costly process of building this fence in Wall (aka Mur), which offers a visual record of the barrier's emergence and features interview with the people who build it, as well as those forced to live in its shadow. Wall was screened as part of the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.

Regret to Inform (1998)

Director:
Barbara Sonneborn

Synopsis:
A documentary that premiered in competition at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival, Regret To Inform analyzes the Vietnam War from the point of view of the women who lost the men they loved. Interweaving interviews with American and Vietnamese women, the film also centers on the documentary filmmaker Barbara Sonneborn, who learned on her 24th birthday that her husband (and sweetheart of ten years) died in the war. Twenty years later, Barbara takes her camera to Vietnam to retrace the final steps of her husband, hoping to finally set aside her unanswered questions. Through Sonneborn and the women she meets, viewers are reminded of the horrors of war and see that a single bullet has an effect far beyond the body it hits.

The Execution of Wanda Jean (2002)

Director:
Liz Garbus

IMDB

Synopsis:
Liz Garbus (The Farm: Angola, USA) directed this documentary that takes a close look at death row inmate Wanda Jean Allen. What sets this film apart from the average examination of a death row appeal is that the convicted killer is a lesbian African-American. If the state of Oklahoma goes through with the sentence, she will become the first black woman to be killed by the state in almost a half century. Garbus interviews both Allen's legal team, as well as the parents of the victim. Since Allen certainly committed the act she has been convicted of, the legal drama hangs on if new evidence concerning Allen's mental state will sway the clemency board. This film was screened at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival.

The Prisoner or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair (2006)

Directors:
Petra Epperlein, Michael Tucker

IMDB

Synopsis:
The Prisoner Or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair represents a follow-up to husband-and-wife filmmaking team Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein's critically-worshipped, defiantly nonpartisan documentary Gunner Palace (2004), on the day-to-day of American soldiers stationed on the Iraqi front. In that earlier picture, Tucker and Epperlein stumble across Yunis Khatayer Abbas, a Middle Eastern man who merely confesses, "I am a journalist," before American soldiers drag him off to incarceration. The Tuckers reconnected with Abbas at a later point, and disinter his backstory in this film. Tortured by the goons of Saddam Hussein's brother, Uday Hussein, Abbas later became a key terrorist suspect of the U.S. government, who believed that he intended to kill British prime minister Tony Blair. American authorities had Abbas thrown into the notorious Abu Ghirab prison (and other penitentiaries) and subjected him to month after month of grueling interrogation. Eventually, they released him - with a one-word apology. Tucker and Epperlein recount Abbas's story with an unusual approach: in lieu of a straight documentary, the filmmakers employ a comic-book iconography, with over 150 onscreen illustrations of Abbas's plight by Epperlein, intercut with clips from Abbas's home movies and glimpses of U.S. Army documents - all of which detail the sad absurdities that befell him.

Arakimentari (2004)

Director:
Travis Klose

IMDB

Synopsis:
Nobuyoshi Araki is Japan's most famous and notorious photographer. In a culture where complete female nudity is frowned upon even in men's magazines, Araki has been acclaimed and condemned for his photo books and exhibitions which usually focus upon women, usually nude and often in bold (and sometimes disturbing) poses. While he has been decried as a pornographer and a misogynist in his homeland, many others regard him as singular voice in the photographic arena, and many of the women who work with him have spoke of his sincere love and respect for them. Arakimentari is a film by American documentarian Travis Klose which offers a look at the professional and personal sides of Araki, including his background, his relationships with his models, his less well known portraiture and landscape work, and how he spends his spare time. Also included are interviews with several friends and contemporaries, including musician Björk, photographer Richard Kern, and actor/filmmaker Takeshi Kitano.

Happy crappy!

So the fucking life continuous and this depressing freakin’ cold winter doesn’t make it any easier. What’s new well nothing much except of the really, really crappy attitude and yeah documentaries.  I have discovered that alcohol mixed with friends helps a bit in that night and also in the morning. Of course in the morning when you are hangover as hell you don’t tend to think about stuff that truly should concern you but instead you just focus on the misery that is currently here. I am not saying you should do this well in fact,please do avoid it! Well I just wanted to share something with you so don’t mind.  Cheers

Campaign (2007)

Director:
Kazuhiro Soda

IMDB

Synopsis:
Documentary filmmaker Kazuhiro Soda offers a revealing examination of modern democracy with this cinéma vérité-style look at how political connections have a curious way of trumping actual experience. Kazuhiko Yamauchi was a stamp and coin dealer with little charisma and even less political experience. Backed by the political powerhouse of Prime Minister Koizumi and his Liberal Democratic Party, however, the man who would have little hope of taking office on his own merit suddenly becomes the dark horse candidate to watch. As election day draws near, the events that unfold offer fascinating insight into the inner workings of the Japanese political machine.

The Nazi Officer's Wife (2003)

Director:
Liz Garbus

IMDB

Synopsis:
Filmmaker Liz Garbus (The Farm: Angola, USA) documents the extraordinary story of Edith Hahn in The Nazi Officer's Wife. Using old newsreel footage, personal photos, and interviews with Hahn, her daughter Angela, and various acquaintances, with narration by Susan Sarandon and Julia Ormond (who reads excerpts from Hahn's autobiography), the film explores how Hahn, a Jewish woman living in Vienna during the Nazi takeover of Austria, survived. The film begins the tale with Hahn's childhood, including her education, the death of her father, and her college romance with a half-Jewish intellectual. As the Nazis grew in power, and Hahn's sisters fled for Palestine, he insisted that they would be safe in Vienna. Soon, Hahn, a law student, found herself in a slave labor camp. By the time she returned to Vienna, her mother had been sent to a concentration camp in Poland. Certain to be deported herself, Hahn chose instead to remove the yellow star from her clothing and go into hiding. Finding help from the unlikeliest of sources (including two prominent members of the Nazi party,) Hahn took on a new identity as a young Aryan woman, and left Vienna, traveling to Munich, in the heart of the Third Reich, where she got a job working as a nurse's aide for the Red Cross. There, visiting a museum, she met a bright and well-spoken Nazi, Werner Vetter, who approached her. Soon, against Hahn's better judgment, the two had started a romance, which eventually led to an unlikely marriage and a child. All the while, Hahn kept up her disguise to all but her husband, even suppressing her own vital personality, and taking on the role of a subservient Aryan housewife.

The Up Series (1964-2005)

Director:
Michael Apted

IMDB:
7 UP | 14 UP | 21 UP | 28 UP | 35 UP | 42 UP | 49 UP

Synopsis:
“Give me the child until he is seven and I will give you the man.” Starting in 1964 with Seven Up, The UP Series has explored this Jesuit maxim. The original concept was to interview 14 children from diverse backgrounds from all over England, asking them about their lives and their dreams for the future. Every seven years, renowned director Michael Apted, a researcher for Seven Up, has been back to talk to them, examining the progression of their lives.

From cab driver Tony to schoolmates Jackie, Lynn and Susan and the heart-breaking Neil, as they turn 49 more life-changing decisions and surprising developments are revealed.

An astonishing, unforgettable look at the structure of life in the 20th century, The UP Series is, according to critic Roger Ebert, “an inspired, almost noble use of the film medium. Apted penetrates to the central mystery of life.”

Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore? (2006)

Director:
Frank Popper

IMDB

Synopsis:
Using an underdog congressional bid as a springboard, director Frank Popper explores the dangers of political dynasties in this documentary that aired as part of PBS's Independent Lens series. In 2004, 29-year-old political unknown Jeff Smith decided to make a run for an open congressional seat in Missouri, and soon found himself facing off against a political Goliath. With only a passionate grassroots group of volunteers behind him, Smith's candidacy serves as a true test of the efficacy of the little guy in modern American politics.

Domestic Violence (2001)

Director:
Frederick Wiseman

IMDB

Synopsis:
With Domestic Violence, master documentarian Frederick Wiseman (High School, Titicut Follies) turns his unflinching eye on a topic that society has ignored for far too long. Rather than film actual domestic disputes, a la COPS, Wiseman instead takes a much less exploitative approach, and, in so doing, has created a deeply intelligent, challenging work that will no doubt spark serious discussions wherever it is exhibited (most likely on PBS, with whom the director has a longstanding relationship). Focusing on The Spring, Tampa, which is Florida's largest shelter for abused women and their children, Wiseman's objective camera allows a group of these distraught women to tell their own painful stories. As each new victim bravely shares her tale of horror, it becomes painfully clear just how convoluted and troubling a problem domestic violence actually is, a claim that Wiseman supports technically, through his use of extremely long takes and unobtrusive editing. At 196 minutes, the experience is a draining one, to say the least. But it is stimulating in a way that most films, documentary or otherwise, are not. Staying true to the formula that has made him a cinematic legend, Frederick Wiseman proves once again that there is far more drama in everyday life than in the multiplexes.

ACTA bullshit

Not so many people know about ACTA as they did about SOPA and PIPA. It seems now that SOPA and PIPA were basically an cover-up so that ACTA project can still be on. Personally I think they did a good job on that because I was fooled by it also. Forgot about this completely and irony is that this is even more dangerous than SOPA and PIPA together. This video will partially explain some things about ACTA.

A Lion in the House (2006)

Directors:
Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert

IMDB

Synopsis:
Five young people battle incurable disease as their families deal with their physical and emotional struggles in this powerful documentary from filmmakers Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert. A Lion in the House was largely filmed on Ward 5A of Cincinnati Children's Hospital, a wing devoted to children with cancer and related illnesses. The film focuses on five youngsters undergoing treatment there -- Justin Ashcraft, an 18-year-old who has been living with leukemia since age eight; Al Fields, an 11-year-old non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patient; seven-year-old Alex Lougheed, also with leukemia; a third leukemia patient, nine-year-old Jen Moore; and Tim Woods, a 15-year-old boy with Hodgkin's lymphoma. As the children deal with the rigors and treatment and the toll their illnesses take on their bodies, they also wrestle with their need to be kids and navigate the tricky roads of growing up, while their families and physicians sometimes have to confront the fact that the children may not survive their treatment. Produced for broadcast on public television, A Lion in the House was screened as part of the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.

Etoiles: Dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet (2001)

Director:
Nils Tavernier

IMDB

Synopsis:
The Paris Opera Ballet has long been one of the most respected ballet companies in France, and many of the nation's most gifted dancers vie for the privilege of performing there. This documentary offers an intimate look at the men and women of The Paris Opera Ballet as they prepare and rehearse for performances of Swan Lake and a demanding dance interpretation of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony; the tight-knit but deeply competitive world of ballet is introduced, where close friends often find themselves battling for the same role, and the lessons learned through time and experience often run counter to the gradual decay of the body's mechanisms through age. Etoiles: Dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet was the first theatrical feature from director Nils Tavernier, the son of noted filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier.

Some Nudity Required (1998)

Directors:
Johanna Demetrakas, Odette Springer

IMDB

Synopsis:
In this documentary, filmmakers Odette Springer (former music supervisor for Concorde-New Horizons) and Joanna Demetrakas take a look at the exploitative world of grindhouse gore, and trashy slasher films. Trained in classical music, Springer turns self-analytical in this movie memoir, asking herself, "How did I go from Beethoven to 'B' movies?," examining her own S&M leanings and possible abuse when she was a child. Clips include Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfold, and Angel of Destruction. Interviews include Roger Corman, American International's Samuel Z. Arkoff, Edward Albert Jr., director Jim Wynorski, Julie Strain, Maria Ford (Stripped to Kill II), and Catherine Cyran (Slumber Party Massacre 3). Made in 16mm and video, the 82-minute film was shown at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival.

Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010)

Director:

Werner Herzog

IMDB

Review:

In 1994, a group of scientists discovered a cave in Southern France perfectly preserved for over 20,000 years and containing the earliest known human paintings. Knowing the cultural significance that the Chauvet Cave holds, the French government immediately cut-off all access to it, save a few archaeologists and paleontologists. But documentary filmmaker, Werner Herzog, has been given limited access, and now we get to go inside examining beautiful artwork created by our ancient ancestors around 32,000 years ago.

Deadline (2004)

Directors:
Katy Chevigny, Kirsten Johnson

IMDB

Synopsis:
One of the biggest hot-button issues dividing the United States has long been capital punishment, so when Illinois Governor George Ryan, a conservative Republican, commuted the sentences of 167 death row inmates the day before his term ended, it shocked the nation and outraged many in his own party. This documentary from the filmmaking duo of Katy Chevigny and Kirsten Johnson explores not only the investigative work done by a group of Northwestern University journalism students that led to Ryan's staunch opposition to the death penalty, but also the impact the capital punishment debate has on the nation as a whole. Deadline premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.