Columbia Revolt (Newsreel #14)

In April 1968, black and white students rebelled against the university administration, occupying five buildings, including the president's office in one of the first campus revolts of the Civil Rights/Vietnam War era. The revolt began as a protest against university expansion into neighboring communities and its role as a slum lord. After five days of student control, the administrators and trustees ordered the police to clear the buildings. What resulted was an unprecedented display of brutality and repression. Narrated by one of the student rebels, the detailed eyewitness account of this event galvanized other campus revolts around the country.

Detroit Rock City

In 1978, a Kiss concert was an epoch-making event. For the three teen fans in Detroit Rock City getting tickets to the sold-out show becomes the focal point of their existence. They'll do anything for tickets -- compete in a strip club's amateur-night contest, take on religious protesters, even rob a convenience store!

Bugsy Malone

New York, 1929, a war rages between two rival gangsters, Fat Sam and Dandy Dan. Dan is in possession of a new and deadly weapon, the dreaded "splurge gun". As the custard pies fly, Bugsy Malone, an all-round nice guy, falls for Blousey Brown, a singer at Fat Sam's speakeasy. His designs on her are disrupted by the seductive songstress Tallulah who wants Bugsy for herself.

Die Menschenfischer

Sweet and Lowdown

In the 1930s, jazz guitarist Emmet Ray idolizes Django Reinhardt, faces gangsters and falls in love with a mute woman.

Lou Reed: Walk on the Wild Side

Written 30 years earlier, Lou Reed’s hymn celebrates five flamboyant characters, each one a fragile icon from Andy Warhol’s Factory: Holly Woodlawn, Candy Darling, Joe Dalessandro, Joe Campbell (aka Sugar Plum Fairy) and Jackie Curtis. Over five delicate tableaux Stéphane Sednaoui films these young people proudly displaying their sexuality and creativity, each one dreaming of becoming a star on the New York scene.

Dream City

This film is a portrait of New York in the 1980s by famed photographer Steven Siegel, including footage of the subways, the parks, Times Square and other neighborhoods. The film is narrated by teenagers of that era.

Glory Daze: The Life and Times of Michael Alig

A review of the wild New York City nightlife of the 90s. The cast of characters who made up the infamous Club Kids speak candidly about that era, culminating with Alig's release from incarceration.

The Society of the Spectacle

Guy Debord's analysis of a consumer society.

Not For Sale: Feminism and Art in the USA during the 1970s

Orchard Street

This short film documents the daily life of the goings-on on Orchard Street, a commercial street in the Lower East Side New York City.

The Rocker

In the 1980s, a drummer is abandoned by his band just before they become rock superstars. Twenty years later, the drummer sees his second chance at stardom arise when he is asked to perform with his teenage nephew's high school rock band.

The Fall of Cannonsville

Throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s the communities of Cannonsville, Granton, Rock Rift, Rock Royal, Johnny Brook and Beerston, NY were destroyed to make way for the Cannonsville Reservoir. The reservoir would serve as the last piece of New York City’s growing water infrastructure in a battle of upstate versus downstate. 60 years after vacating or moving their homes, former residents gather at their annual town reunion to reflect and reminisce on their memories and the collective trauma that they share.

Center Stage

A group of 12 teenagers from various backgrounds enroll at the American Ballet Academy in New York to make it as ballet dancers and each one deals with the problems and stress of training and getting ahead in the world of dance.

Maria Bethânia: Música é Perfume

Brazilian singer Maria Bethania has a 40-year singing career. A documentary shows her concerts and famous family.

Storm