What Is a Cat?

Presents the history of the domestic cat, tracing the animal as a house pet and as a symbol of mystery and worship from ancient Egypt to the present day. Offers hints on the care and treatment of cats in homes of today.

Yooper Creoles: Finnish Music in Michigan's Copper Country

When the immigrants came to America, their cultures entered the "great melting pot." In Michigan's Upper Peninsula Finnish immigrants mixed their musical traditions with many other cultures, creating a sound that was unique to the "Copper Country."

Rave On for the Avon

Fall in love with our Avon and the people fighting to protect it, the Bristol way! Rave On For The Avon is a feature-length documentary film that follows campaigners and river lovers through six seasons: their highs and lows, love and loss.

March of the Penguins

Every year, thousands of Antarctica's emperor penguins make an astonishing journey to breed their young. They walk, marching day and night in single file 70 miles into the darkest, driest and coldest continent on Earth. This amazing, true-life tale is touched with humour and alive with thrills. Breathtaking photography captures the transcendent beauty and staggering drama of devoted parent penguins who, in the fierce polar winter, take turns guarding their egg and trekking to the ocean in search of food. Predators hunt them, storms lash them. But the safety of their adorable chicks makes it all worthwhile. So follow the leader... to adventure!!

Festa - Hamilton

By the late 1960's, people living in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada with a direct connection to Racalmuto, Sicily, outnumbered the total population of Racalmuto. Since 1990, The Fratellanza Racalmutese Club of Hamilton celebrate Festa Maria SS. Del Monte, mirroring the festival held annually in Racalmuto for over 500 years. Filmed over three days in June 2018, Filmmaker Terrance Odette, with a camera, microphone and life-long fascination for culturally significant parades and ceremonies, captures a people’s commitment to community, rain or shine. Through food, play, and religious ceremony the film celebrates the value of cultural performance within the fabric of Canada’s multiculturalism.

Sesame Street- Do you know where Ernie lives?

Behind the scenes footage of Sesame Street and The Muppet Workshop.

Reila

Black Holes: The Edge of All We Know

Black holes stand at the limit of what we can know. To explore that edge of knowledge, the Event Horizon Telescope links observatories across the world to simulate an earth-sized instrument. With this tool the team pursues the first-ever picture of a black hole, resulting in an image seen by billions of people in April 2019. Meanwhile, Hawking and his team attack the black hole paradox at the heart of theoretical physics—Do predictive laws still function, even in these massive distortions of space and time? Weaving them together is a third strand, philosophical and exploratory using expressive animation. “Edge” is about practicing science at the highest level, a film where observation, theory, and philosophy combine to grasp these most mysterious objects.

The Shelter

It is winter at an emergency shelter for the homeless in Lausanne. Every night at the door of this little-known basement facility the same entry ritual takes place, resulting in confrontations which can sometimes turn violent. Those on duty at the shelter have the difficult task of “triaging the poor”: the women and children first, then the men. Although the total capacity at the shelter is 100, only 50 “chosen ones” will be admitted inside and granted a warm meal and a bed. The others know it will be a long night.

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.

Kekaiulu Hula Studio

Kekaiulu Hula Studio follows the Proclaimed Hula Halau of the same name, showcasing their twist on what the real reason for hula is and what life as a dancer in the halau is really like. Something previously unseen in the public eye.

Time is the Thief of Memory

A meditation on memory around Iceland's famous Ring Road.

Mr. Cao Goes to Washington

U.S. Rep. Joseph Cao of New Orleans confronts the realities of racial and partisan politics in the South, while serving two years as a Louisiana congressman.

Inggi: The Soul of Kaliuda Weaving

Rambu Merti (22), the youngest daughter in a family of traditional weavers in the village of Kaliuda, East Sumba, stands at a crossroads. On one hand, she feels a deep responsibility to carry on the legacy of Inggi Kaliuda, a woven tradition passed down through generations. On the other hand, she harbors a strong desire to pursue higher education and carve out a different path for herself. Accompanied by her mother, Yustina (64), Merti goes from house to house, seeking handwoven cloths to sell. Through each conversation—about motifs, life stories, and cultural values—emerge questions of identity, sacrifice, and hope. Amid uncertainty, Merti chooses to stay with her mother, while quietly searching for new ways to find meaning in the place she calls home.

Takumi: A 60,000 Hour Story on the Survival of Human Craft

There is a popular theory that it takes at least 10,000 hours of focused practice for a human to become expert in any field. In Japan, there are craftspeople who go far beyond this to reach a special kind of mastery. These people are called Takumi and they devote 60,000 hours to their craft. That's 8 hours a day, 240 days a year, for over 30 years. It's an almost superhuman level of dedication to a life of repetition and no shortcuts. This film asks the question: Will human craft disappear as artificial intelligence reaches beyond our limits?

The World Twice Around

In 1519, the Portuguese captain Fernão de Magalhães ventured to travel and ended up proving that the Earth was round. In 1997, the Schürmann family decided to travel around the world again along this path.

Ordinary Things

A short documentary about everyday objects, the people who used them, and the beauty of that use. From the video description: "An encounter with the past. The introductory film for visitors to the National Museum of Ireland (NMI) - Country Life. It tells a story about Irish traditional folk life, the self-sufficiency and community spirit by which people's lives were played out against a challenging physical environment. That environment quite often dictated the materials, crafts and traditions by which lives were lived. The museum's collection of 'ordinary things', on display in Turlough Park, illustrate these stories." Written and narrated by Irish writer and broadcaster Theo Dorgan. Made in association with the NMI — Country Life. Available online on the Youtube channel of the NMI — Country Life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCYrq8yWSSQ

Pico Sacro [The Holy Mountain]

In a leafy forest, a Galician sovereign who longs to attain wisdom meets a sorcerer, who tells him: “Go back to your country and study the Earth and the Stars in the sky; anywhere in the world reflects an image of it. You will ride on this arrow, which you must keep for a hundred years and a day. After this time, stick it in the widest valley of all those you possess, with the tip facing the sky. Then the Moon will come and, just as it exerts its action on the waters of the sea, it will act on the arrow, turning it into a holy mountain." - Legend about the Pico Sacro Inspired by Hokusai's views of Mount Fuji and Cézanne's paintings of Mont Sainte-Victoire, "Pico Sacro [The Holy Mountain]" aims to reveal the mystery and the magic that underlie reality.

In Three Acts

When an 80 year old intellectual is confronted with issues of old age and death, she reminisces the death of her mother that happened 30 years earlier. With dialogue inspired by Simone de Beauvoir mixed with contemporary dance, the cycle of life is exposed in a poetic manner.

Off The Beaten Path

At Olivet, some students don’t meander past the Dairy Queen near the stoplight..but those who make the trek to the Sims Building are creative minds who are bursting with ideas. Purpose Productions presents a film that leads you through a journey of inspiration, color, and heart. All you have to do is go off the beaten path.