Ashes

Aftermath: Beyond Black Saturday

Ten years after Black Saturday, the traumatised survivors reveal how they found the strength to recover from the worst bushfire disaster in Australian history.

Uncrushable

The story of a series of wild fires that ripped through California's Wine Country on October 8, 2017 burning 250,00 acres, 9,000 homes and businesses and leaving 44 dead. The story is told through the people who survived. Fire Fighters, Local Residents, Wine Makers, Chefs, Musicians and the community of the Bay Area came together to lift one another up from the ashes and show the world their spirit remains Uncrushable.

Mr. Christmas

Every Christmas, Bruce Mertz lights up the neighborhood with the 50,000 lights covering his house. For decades he's obsessively added to his display, creating beautiful, towering fixtures that people travel across the country to see. In this offbeat, touching portrait, we learn what drives him, and discover how a kid who grew up on a farm with no electricity became Mr. Christmas.

The Way of the Psychonaut

The Way of the Psychonaut explores the life and work of Stanislav Grof, Czech-born psychiatrist and psychedelic psychotherapy pioneer. Stan’s quest for knowledge and insights into the healing power of non-ordinary states of consciousness, influenced the discipline of psychology and profoundly changed many individual lives. One of those transformed by Stan is filmmaker Susan Hess Logeais. The documentary utilizes Susan’s personal existential crisis as a gateway to Grof’s impact, from the micro to the macro.

Auto Conduct - The Story

A documentary short telling the story of Ezekiel Wheeler, a car enthusiast working to grow the first "car culture sanctuary" in Downtown Los Angeles. His business, Auto Conduct, serves to not only store some of LA's rarest cars, but to also provide a place for events, exhibition, and culture.

Feet in Water, Head on Fire

Date palms imported and cultivated decades ago flourish in the Coachella Valley in Southern California. A cacophony of voices from across generations reflect on the shifting landscape of the region; some remember the first few acres that were planted, while others enjoy the luxuries of new golf courses. Feet in Water, Head on Fire is a sensorially vibrant 16mm experience that takes us on a journey of past, present, and future. Director Terra Long hand-processed the footage utilizing leftover dates and native plants intertwining the environment into the fabric of the film. Through complex and nuanced scenes, non-sync interviews blossom into a wonderfully gentle but memorable portrait of a community in flux.

The Beach Boys - California Surfin

Hot Tubs

1973 was a turbulent time. The world was overcome with war and social change. Yet on Mountain Drive, deep in the hills of Santa Barbara, California- the good times were rollin'. The redwood tub was in and clothes were out. Author, publisher, Noel Young, was there to document it in Hot Tubs, the book that launched a movement. Come steam a while...dream a while- with the group that revolutionized the way we relax and gave birth to the modern day spa. This is the story of....Hot Tubs.

The Second Wave

Spring 2012 the Swedish band La Fleur Fatale embarked on a journey to and through California. During two weeks they played with legendary psych musicians and met people who was part of making the 60's into what it later became both musically and spiritually, connecting the past with the present both musically and politically. What is the difference between then and now? Is the Anonymous movement now what 60's anti war movement was back then? The band themselves only knew about the shows they are supposed to play on the trip through California, they are lead on the journey by their manager that call in the next destination. In The Second Wave we find people and bands like La Fleur Fatale of course, Ebbot Lundberg (TSOOL), Strawberry Alarm Clock, James Lowe(Electric Prunes), Duncan Faure(Bay City Rollers, Rabbit), Patrick Campbell-Lyons (Original Nirvana) and more. The people behind this documentary have been working pro bono, by love to the band and the project itself.

The Saga of Macrame Park

Alexandra Jackonetti recounts the building of a children's playground of macrame in Bolinas, Calif., including her conception of the project and the process of obtaining community financial support, knotting of macrame, and erection of the structure.

Desert Utopia: Mid-Century Architecture in Palm Springs

Southern California’s Coachella Valley, including the communities of Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Desert Hot Springs, boasts hundreds of extraordinary midcentury modern homes, public buildings and commercial structures. Modern designers such as William F. Cody, Albert Frey, William Krisel, John Lautner, Richard Neutra, R.M. Schindler, Donald Wexler, E. Stewart Williams left their collective mark on this desert paradise. Desert Utopia: Mid-Century Architecture in Palm Springs traces the history of modern architecture in Palm Springs from the first bold forays into modernist design to the preservation challenges facing the region today. Director Jake Gorst’s film features rare archival images and footage as well as interviews with historians, homeowners and the architects who helped create this mecca of modernism.

Last Men Standing

“Last Men Standing,” the first feature-length documentary from The San Francisco Chronicle, Northern California’s largest newspaper was selected for entry into a series of prestigious LGBT festivals being held in the U.S. and Canada this spring. One of the few newspapers to write, direct and produce a feature-length documentary, this film follows the lives and experiences of eight long-term AIDS survivors.

Riding Giants

Riding Giants is story about big wave surfers who have become heroes and legends in their sport. Directed by the skateboard guru Stacy Peralta.

Harmonium in California

Through concerts and interviews, folk-progressive group Harmonium takes Quebec culture to California. This documentary full of colour and sound, filmed in California in 1978, recounts the ups and downs of the journey of the Quebec musical group Harmonium, who came to feel the pulse of Americans and see if culture, their culture, can succeed in crossing borders.

The Sparks Brothers

Take a musical odyssey through five weird and wonderful decades with brothers Ron & Russell Mael, celebrating the inspiring legacy of Sparks: your favorite band’s favorite band.