The Universe of the Manas

It has been a lifelong dream of Kyrgyz director Melis Ubukeyev to create an elaborate film version of the Kyrgyz national epic 'Manas'. He spent years working with the National Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyzstan to gather material for this film project, which was ultimately to remain a dream. However, the director's efforts were not in vain: Not only did he make films in 1962 and 1988 about the highly respected Manasçı – folk singers who passed on the epic over countless generations in melodic speech –, but in 1995, on the occasion of the 1,000th anniversary of 'Manas', he also made a beguiling essay film that not only outlines the plot of the epic with the help of magnificent images and lavish costumes, but also gives a semi-documentary account of the history of the Kyrgyz people interwoven with the myth. Long inaccessible, the essay film has recently been restored by the film studio Kyrgyzfilm and uploaded to YouTube in 4K.

Deadly Deception: General Electric, Nuclear Weapons and Our Environment

This 1991 Academy Award®-winning documentary uncovers the disastrous health and environmental side effects caused by the production of nuclear materials by the General Electric Corporation.

Chop & Steele

Follows childhood friends turned professional comedians, Nick Prueher and Joe Pickett, the founders of the Found Footage Festival. When Nick and Joe book their gag strongman routine on unsuspecting morning news shows, their pranks go viral and land them in federal court with a vengeful media conglomerate. The stress of the lawsuit and pressure to continue their pranks threatens their livelihood and tests their lifelong friendship.

KANASHII YOKAN: The Life and Legacy of Yukiko Okada

Thirty years ago, idol Okada Yukiko jumped off the Sun Music agency building in a desperate attempt to take her own life. Unfortunately, she was successful. Outside of Japan, not much is known about Yukko, aside from her music and her death. In this documentary series, we will document her short life in its entirety, beginning from her birth and ending with her legacy beyond death.

I Want to Destroy America

A documentary film by Peter I. Chang which traces the life of the Japanese musician Hisao Shinagawa through his early years as a folk singer in Tokyo to his current occupation as a street performer in Los Angeles.

Something's Coming: West Side Story

Incredible video behind-the-scenes with the stars, Steven Spielberg, and see one of the last interviews with the legendary Stephen Sondheim.

The Rope of Death

An encounter with the last shamans of Bolivia's Beni River Valley brings the audience on an intimate spiritual journey through the Amazon Rainforest. Navigating the viewer through lush landscapes on a ritual of transcendence and forgiveness, this experimental documentary recreates for audiences the experience of the potent and sacred Ayahuasca Vine.

Nobody Does It Better: The Music of James Bond

TV documentary exploring the musical world of James Bond through interviews with key figures and discussion of work of David Arnold.

Women, Maasai and rangers - The lionesses of Kenya

Leah and Purity are rangers in the Kenyan bushland. They roam around Amboseli National Park every day to track down wildlife. The Maasai shepherds also have their villages here. Conflicts can hardly be avoided. The young women are often called to missions to mediate or comfort. The two Maasai women themselves have to fight against discrimination

Taiwan - Angst vor der Invasion

Marilyn Monroe: Death of an Icon

Documentary about Marilyn Monroe: 1962: America loses its blonde icon. Marilyn Monroe dies under mysterious circumstances. How did she die? The police report states: probable suicide. But there are many things that point to murder: a corpse draped too beautifully, an investigation that was cut short, evidence that disappeared. Plus Marilyn's affairs with the then US President John F. Kennedy and his brother Bobby. What really happened on that fateful summer night? After her housekeeper discovers the body, six hours pass before the police are called. She finds a beautifully draped corpse, sleeping pills in the blood but no pill residue in the stomach, witnesses who seem uncertain. The first investigator thinks about murder - and is taken off the case. Today no police files can be found.

Modern Life

For ten years, Raymond Depardon has followed the lives of farmer living in the mountain ranges. He allows us to enter their farms with astounding naturalness. This moving film speaks, with great serenity, of our roots and of the future of the people who work on the land. This the last part of Depardon's triptych "Profils paysans" about what it is like to be a farmer today in an isolated highland area in France. "La vie moderne" examines what has become of the persons he has followed for ten years, while featuring younger people who try to farm or raise cattle or poultry, come hell or high water.

The Cowboy Capital

Bandera, Texas (THE COWBOY CAPITAL OF THE WORLD) is a captivating documentary that explores the vibrant history, unique culture, and enduring values of the small town of Bandera, Texas.

A Guide to Love and Fighting Capitalism

Monique and Michel Pinçon-Charlot are a couple of French sociologists, famous for their work on the uber-rich. They have been in love for more than fifty years, and they enjoy a comfortable retirement in their lovely home in the Paris suburbs. They could live a quiet life, but how do you get some rest when there is capitalism to fight against?

Cannabis : Une enquête de Mathieu Kassovitz et Antoine Robin

Watermarks - Three Letters from China

Based on three different places, the film portrays the infractions to which people living in modern day China are subjected due to rapid developments: in the deceptively idyllic Yangshuo in the rainy south; in the apocalyptic coal mining site of Wuhai in the parched north; and in Chongqing, the urban behemoth on the Yangtze River. The protagonists give their accounts of the unsurmounted past, the precarious present and their tentative steps into the future. The film thus paints a complex image of the mental state of the people in this complicated country.