The story of four Senegalese youths from the suburbs of Dakar who are about to set their country ablaze in 2011, via the grassroots movement called Y’en a marre (We’re fed up).
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Keur Simbara is an intimate, lyrical short documentary that follows a group of women community organizers in a rural Senegalese village as they build and sustain systems of health, finance, agriculture, and domestic infrastructure. Amid water scarcity and environmental challenges, they articulate their hopes for the future and the legacy they wish to leave behind. Keur Simbara is a tribute to communal wisdom and the power of local organizing.
A short documentary exploring how the ocean is an empowering space for women to connect. Told through the personal story of Deguene, a 17 year old surfer, from Dakar, Senegal. She leads us on a journey through the waves of her familial past which is deeply connected to the spirit of the ocean. This powerful story explores the symbiotic relationship between women, the ocean, community and sport.
Senegalese director Djibril Diop Mambéty, one of the greatest figures in all of African film, died in 1998. In this behind-the-scenes documentary, shot during the making of his final work, The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun / La petite vendeuse de soleil, Mambéty speaks with his technicians, prepares the actors, talks with his young star, and, in voiceover, shares his thoughts on cinema and life.Mambéty doesn't differ significantly from the stock "behind-the-scenes" documentaries that adorn most DVDs nowadays, except that Mambéty's films have scenes you actually want to be taken behind. Because of the kind of attention that gets paid to African cinema, there's an initial intrigue to Mambéty, but that interest is sustained by Mambéty's own lyrical insights into his aesthetics.
This is the story of Africa's first Boxing World Champion, Battling Siki. Who was this boxer born in Senegal, decorated for Bravery in World War I? Why do so few know that he fought and won the World Light Heavyweight Title aged 25, only to lose it controversially six months later? And why was his life cut short on a New York Street aged 28?
The James Brown Story
In the Serere village of Khombole, Senegal, the inhabitants organize an old man's funeral and take part in wrestling competitions held in arenas.
Mère-Bi is a 2008 documentary film about Annette Mbaye d'Erneville by her son, director Ousmane William Mbaye. The first Senegalese female journalist, she was deeply involved in the development of her country. Both an activist and a non-conformist, she fought for the emancipation of women from the beginning.
In 1986, during the Paris-Dakar rally, singer Daniel Balavoine, who was leading a humanitarian operation, was killed in a helicopter crash alongside Thierry Sabine. Nicolas Mathieu, his assistant, Léo Missir, his artistic director, HSH Albert of Monaco, and Charles Belvèze discuss the artist's career and his political and humanitarian commitments. Pierre Fauque and Anne Amado retrace the last moments of his life, from his arrival in Tamanrasset on January 6 to the day of his death in the desert, in the midst of a storm.
Through Daniel Balavoine's greatest songs, which have become cult classics, this documentary traces the dazzling career of a free-spirited singer, driven by an urgent need to speak out, denounce injustice, and love, whose lyrics continue to touch several generations. Rare archives, testimonials from those who knew him, expert analysis and insights from today's musicians highlight the enduring modernity of his work and examine the legacy he left to French music.
The rules are simple in Senegalese wrestling: First man down, loses. The sport derives from ritual manhood trials and has developed into a national sport with packed stadiums and huge prizes. Today, the fight is supplemented with bare knuckle boxing but without any protection. The 22-year-old cattle herder Ndoff has been chosen to compete in an annual talent event in Dakar, and faces a possible breakthrough as a pro wrestler. LAAMB is the story of a sport filled with myths and extreme voodoo rituals, and a modern tale about fighting one’s way out of poverty.
Senegal is a country in transition, with increasing education and economic growth and a burgeoning art scene. It is customary that its culture, stories, and history have been kept alive and transmitted by their traditional singers called griots. Message by Music introduces us to Awadi, a renowned rapper with Pan-Africanist sensibilities and juxtaposes his political message with the more old-school griots. Transitions in society are reflected in the arts but also the arts can be the catalysts to move society.
Each year, the pilgrimage of the Muslim brotherhood of the Mourides takes place in Touba. From all over Senegal (and even from all over the world) pilgrims flock to take part in this religious event which will last three days and two nights. Grand Magal in Touba evokes the black Islam, promotes peace and tolerance, born of syncretism between Islam and the blackness of the Sufi brotherhoods in Senegal.
When Lena and Ulli start the engine of their old Land Rover, Lady Terés, they have a plan: to drive from Hamburg to South Africa in six months. What they don't know yet is that they won't ever get there. Two totally different characters, jammed together in two square meters of space for almost two years, they experience what it really means to travel: leaving your comfort zone for good.
African Underground: Democracy in Dakar is a groundbreaking documentary film about hip-hop youth and politics in Dakar Senegal. The film follows rappers, DJs, journalists, professors and people on the street at the time before, during and after the controversial 2007 presidential election in Senegal and examines hip-hop’s role on the political process. Originally shot as a seven part documentary mini-series released via the internet – the documentary bridges the gap between hip-hop activism, video journalism and documentary film and explores the role of youth and musical activism on the political process.
FENEEN is a journey into Senegal's urban music scene. This project was born from the meeting of Italian producer Frank Sativa with Senegalese pop-star Leuz Diwane G and Italian-Senegalese rapper F.U.L.A. This gave rise to a song, a video clip and a documentary with the same name (Feneen). Feneen portrays the current urban and music subculture of Dakar suburbs. The documentary highlights the fundamental rule of the urban subculture in debunking the stereotypical image of the African continent.
Two women and two men tell their stories of exile caused by being lesbian, transgender, bisexual and gay.
At Ngay Ngay, a village in northern Senegal, there are real natural evaporative basins in which depending on the year large or small quantities of sea salt dry out. Located 15 kilometres from Saint-Louis, the village is living around a complex community organisation: men divide the salt fields into plots, and women are those who harvest. In the end, the men receive a share of the crop, while women are those who took great pains over the harvesting.
A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.
This special explores the return of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker to the screen, as well as Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen to their classic roles. Director Deborah Chow leads the cast and crew as they create new heroes and villains that live alongside new incarnations of beloved Star Wars characters, and an epic story that dramatically bridges the saga films.
This revealing documentary honors the legendary Sidney Poitier—iconic actor, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. Featuring interviews with Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Halle Berry, and more.
An inside look at one of the most anticipated movie sequels ever with James Cameron and cast.
A compilation of over 30 years of private home movie footage shot by Lithuanian-American avant-garde director Jonas Mekas, assembled by Mekas "purely by chance", without concern for chronological order.
Stars of "The Walking Dead," Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira, walk down memory lane and visit iconic locations where pivotal moments between their characters, Rick and Michonne, were filmed.
In this documentary, recovering addict and amputee John Wood finds himself in a stranger-than-fiction battle to reclaim his mummified leg from Southern entrepreneur Shannon Whisnant, who found it in a grill he bought at an auction and believes it therefore to be his rightful property.
In the Realms of the Unreal is a documentary about the reclusive Chicago-based artist Henry Darger. Henry Darger was so reclusive that when he died his neighbors were surprised to find a 15,145-page manuscript along with hundreds of paintings depicting The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glodeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Cased by the Child Slave Rebellion.
Over seven decades, actor and activist George Takei journeyed from a World War II internment camp to the helm of the Starship Enterprise, and then to the daily news feeds of five million Facebook fans. Join George and his husband, Brad, on a wacky and profound trek for life, liberty, and love.
A chronicle of the production problems — including bad weather, actors' health, war near the filming locations, and more — which plagued the filming of Apocalypse Now, increasing costs and nearly destroying the life and career of Francis Ford Coppola.
This documentary focuses on the actors and their journey over two summers to create the remake to the original IT, by Stephen King. The documentary originally released as bonus material, bundled with IT: Chapter Two.
A documentary examining the decade of the 1970s as a turning point in American cinema. Some of today's best filmmakers interview the influential directors of that time.
Filmmaker Christopher Quinn observes the ordeal of three Sudanese refugees -- Jon Bul Dau, Daniel Abul Pach and Panther Bior -- as they try to come to terms with the horrors they experienced in their homeland, while adjusting to their new lives in the United States.
The Amazon rain forest, 1979. The crew of Fitzcarraldo (1982), a film directed by German director Werner Herzog, soon finds itself with problems related to casting, tribal struggles and accidents, among many other setbacks; but nothing compared to dragging a huge steamboat up a mountain, while Herzog embraces the path of a certain madness to make his vision come true.
In 1992, teenager Sandi Tan shot Singapore's first indie road movie with her enigmatic American mentor Georges – who then vanished with all the footage. Twenty years later, the 16mm film is recovered, sending Tan, now a novelist in Los Angeles, on a personal odyssey in search of Georges' vanishing footprints.
In Botswana's Okavango Delta, an ostracized lioness and her two cubs must fight alone to survive - overcoming all manner of hazards. Their only defense is to escape to Duba Island -- and with that, an unknown future. The setting for this epic tale is one of the last regions where lions can live in the wild. Faced with dwindling land and increasing pressure from hunting, lions - like our lone lioness and her cubs - are approaching the brink of extinction.
SEDUCED AND ABANDONED combines acting legend Alec Baldwin with director James Toback as they lead us on a troublesome and often hilarious journey of raising financing for their next feature film. Moving from director to financier to star actor, the two players provide us with a unique look behind the curtain at the world's biggest and most glamourous film festival, shining a light on the bitter-sweet relationship filmmakers have with Cannes and the film business. Featuring insights from directors Martin Scorsese, 'Bernando Bertolucci' and Roman Polanski; actors Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain and a host of film distribution luminaries.
From the heights of her modeling fame to her tragic death, this documentary reveals Anna Nicole Smith through the eyes of the people closest to her.
A love letter from a young mother to her daughter, the film tells the story of Waad al-Kateab’s life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, all while cataclysmic conflict rises around her. Her camera captures incredible stories of loss, laughter and survival as Waad wrestles with an impossible choice– whether or not to flee the city to protect her daughter’s life, when leaving means abandoning the struggle for freedom for which she has already sacrificed so much.
Documentary of the making of the sequel to the popular Schwarzenegger film, The Terminator.