Hats Off to Hollywood

Picking up the story first presented in I Don’t Know (1970), Hats Off to Hollywood (1972) brazenly and brilliantly mixes documentary reality with fully staged recreations/reimaginings of episodes in the lives of Jennifer and Dana, a loving, bickering couple who challenge the notion of homonormativity. Drugs, poverty, disease, bigotry and prostitution all figure into this disarmingly candid and often hilarious film, a remarkable work that is the apotheosis of director Spheeris’ early work, and a luminous signpost leading directly to The Decline of Western Civilization (1979-1997). Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.

Our War

Since 2013 more than 30,000 fighters from all over the world have joined the troops of the self-proclaimed Islamic State (Daesh) in Syria. Fighting against them as part of the YPO (Popular Protection Command) in Rojava—in the north of Syria and prevalently Kurdish—are some hundreds of Westerners. This is the story of three of them: a former American marine, an Italian anti capitalist activist, and a Swedish bodyguard.

A Failed Peace, The Mistakes of The Treaty of Versailles

At the end of WWI, the treaty of Versailles established the conditions for peace in Europe. The aim for the victorious powers was to make Germany pay reparations, and to guarantee a future without war. Yet a decade later, the denunciation of 'Versailles' became a powerful lever for the nazis to obtain power as these reparations would mark the beginning of the humiliation of the German people, and nurture a feeling of having been bestowed a hopeless future. In the 20 years that follow the end of WWI, the issue of reparations and responsibility will effectively poison international relationship. The treaty negative impact goes well beyond WWII as the new European borders it implemented led to many conflicts during the twentieth century. This documentary shines a light on the causality between the decisions taken with the treaty of Versailles, and the ensuing events of the century.

Who We Were

Defending Our Lives

Documentary about the magnitude and severity of domestic violence. This film features four women imprisoned for killing their batterers and their terrifying personal testimonies. It won an Oscar at the 66th Academy Awards in 1994 for Documentary Short Subject.

Straight from the Heart

Parents talk about their gay and lesbian children, and how they came to accept their lifestyle.

Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien

Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien is a 1996 American short documentary film directed by Jessica Yu. Mark O'Brien was a journalist and poet who lived in Berkeley, California. The documentary explored his spiritual struggle coping with his disability; he had to use an iron lung much of the time due to childhood polio. O'Brien died on 4 July 1999, from post-polio syndrome. It won an Oscar at the 69th Academy Awards in 1997 for Documentary Short Subject.

A Story of Healing

In January, 1997, a team of five nurses, four anesthesiologists, and three plastic surgeons arrive in Vietnam from the United States for two weeks' of volunteer work. They operate on 110 children who have various birth defects and injuries. They also talk to the film crew about why they've made this trip and what it means to them. We watch them work, and we see the children, their families, and their surroundings in the Mekong Delta. Over the closing credits, Dionne Warwick sings Bacharach and David's "What the World Needs Now Is Love".

Family Video Diaries: Daughter of the Bride

Pearl Randall, a 66-year-old widow, announces that she is planning to remarry, but her three grown children express conflicting emotions. Daughter Terri captures on tape the family's attempts to come to grips with Pearl's new romance.

Women Behind the Camera

Reveals the courageous lives of pioneer camerawomen from Hollywood to Bollywood, from war zones to children’s laughter, in a way that has never been seen before. Based on a book by Alexis Krasilovsky, the film tells the stories of camerawomen surviving the odds in Afghanistan, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Iran, Mexico, the U.S. and other countries, as well as exploring their individual visions.

A Mere Breath

Romania. Seven years in the life of a family of believers, struck by the illness of a little girl suffering from spina bifida pass before the camera, with a polluted town scarred by unemployment serving as a background.

Rafael Cancel Miranda: I'm Not Sorry for What I Did

Explores the trajectory of the young nationalist from the time of his incarceration, at 23 years of age, as a result of the attack on the United States Congress.

Jewel's Catch One

With four strikes against her (black, female, poor and a lesbian), our trailblazer, Jewel Thais-Williams, helped changed laws, save lives and influence communities across Los Angeles, California as she opened her legendary nightclub's door for 42 years.

Mother Land

When filmmaker Mari Soppela took her children and husband to live for a year on a sacred mountain in her native Finland, she was fulfilling a lifelong dream to share the arctic wilderness of her childhood with her family. But when years later her children turn the camera onto her, she is forced to confront her motivation for filming their lives in this searching and searingly honest cinematic exploration of identity, belonging and motherhood. Filmed over the course of 27 years, Mother Land challenges us all to examine the landscapes we carry within us and the narratives we create to make sense of our lives.

Framing Lesbian Fashion

Framing Lesbian Fashion looks at the evolution of lesbian attire and identity – butch/femme, flannel, androgyny, cross-dressing and drag, queer fluorescent, S/M and leather, lipstick and more.

The Personals: Improvisations on Romance in the Golden Years

Documentary about a Jewish senior citizens' acting group on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The film covers both the progress and impediments of a play the group is mounting about senior citizens looking for love and the life/love stories (past, present, and predictions) of the players.