"A Small Man with a Big Dream for the Big Top"
An intimate look at the extraordinary life of Master Lu Yi, hailed as the father of modern acrobatics, and the vast community of big-top lovers who share his dream of a thriving US circus industry.
Social & External
The people behind it
Lu Yi
Self
Joe Dieffenbacher
Self - Professional Clown
Xia Ke Min
Self - Master Clown, Acrobat, Juggler
Harriet Heyman
Self - Journalist, Author
Judy Finelli
Self - Master Juggler
Elena Panova
Self - Master Aerialist
Joan Mankin
Self - Professional Clown, Actress
Abigail Baird
Self - Aerial Animation
Andy Cook
Haley Viloria
Self - Professional Contortionist and Aerialist
Following Israeli author Amos Oz over two years, as he meets readers and discusses the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Along the way, Oz offers advice to Israeli president Shimon Peres, and is seen with fellow writers Salman Rushdie, Paul Auster and Nadine Gordimer, and the Palestinian intellectual Sari Nusseibeh.
All the cool kids were wearing it. This documentary explores A&F's pop culture reign in the late '90s and early 2000s and how it thrived on exclusion.
Born in 1975, Marinette Pichon was a born soccer player. Raised by a courageous mother who had to deal with an abusive husband, she overcame difficulties and developed unwavering determination. While juggling odd jobs and her sporting career, she was selected for the French national team and then spotted by a major American club. Marinette then moved to the United States with her mother, pursuing her dream of becoming the best player in the world.
In 1990, seven young male dancers joined Madonna on her most controversial world tour. Their journey was captured in Truth or Dare. As a self-proclaimed 'mother' to her six gay dancers plus straight Oliver, Madonna used the film to make a stand on gay rights and freedom of expression. The dancers became paragons of pride, inspiring people all over the world to dare to be who you are. 25 years later, the dancers share their own stories about life during and after the tour. What does it really take to express yourself?
Unseen footage from the British Deaf Association archives is used to tell the story of the Deaf community's fight for civil rights.
Last Harvest follows the journey of an elderly Chinese farming couple as they are being relocated by the government's mammoth and controversial South-to-North Water Diversion Project.
Six life stories of German, Austrian and Ashkenazi Jews which intersect in exile in Shanghai. Out of narratives, photographs, documents and new images of the biggest and most contradictory metropolis of the Far East an entity develops in which the historic exile takes and turns on a completely current power and appeal.
Every year they gather from tiny subsistence villages on Alaska’s Bering Sea Coast, traveling hundreds of miles on bush planes to compete on the biggest stage they will ever know — the All-Native District Basketball Tournament. The hope of Toksook Bay is Byron Nicholai, a 16-year-old Yup’ik eskimo who is determined to lead his village to the championship. Byron’s father abandoned him when he was 14 and never taught him how to hunt in the traditional Yupik way. For Byron, this tournament isn’t just about basketball—it’s a way to bring pride to his family and community.
Documentary about two resilient twenty-somethings who reached adulthood in a strange world. Mariwan is standing still, but wants to get a move on, whereas Bushra can finally get started, but clings to her past. Both arrived in the Netherlands alone when they were seventeen. The tough circumstances and absence of their family forced them, earlier than expected, to stand on their own two feet. Bushra and Mariwan candidly talk about their future dreams and memories. Now that they can stay in the Netherlands, they wonder: Who am I, what do I want and what am I going to do?
Haunted by his violent past, the ambitious lawyer Anuol returns to his homeland, South Sudan, committed to serve his country and hold accountable those who are responsible. But his quest, led by the rules of law, hits a wall when he is confronted with his countrymen’s reluctance to reconcile with history.
Simon debates whether to end his life after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
An experimental film poem in celebration of life and visions. Techniques include live action, animation, montage and found images. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2011.
A film poem using found film and stock footage altered by printing, home development and solarization. It is a film using visual relationships to invoke a feeling of flow and movement. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with National Film Preservation Foundation in 2011.
The panoramic shots are breathtaking: a majestic mountain landscape in winter, flat-roofed tin shacks cowering next to one other, women perched on steep slopes using primitive tools to break through pieces of rock. La Rinconada is situated over 5,000 meters high in the Peruvian Andes, on the edge of a gold mine. This 21st century El Dorado is an inhospitable place, where untold numbers of people live and work in the most precarious of conditions, hoping both for gold and a better life. Salomé Lamas has constructed a cinematic diptych to convey the extremity of this situation and the dimensions of its misery without having to resort to graphic images.
Development in long-range travel and the growing importance of the Arctic and Antarctic regions make it necessary to understand how maps may be misleading. Experiments with a grapefruit illustrate the difficulty of presenting a true picture of the world on a flat surface and it is concluded that the globe is the most accurate way of representing the earth.
Four female friends from Egypt with opposing religious, social, and political views listen to one another's perspectives and argue openly, without ever breaking the bond that unites them.
They loved each other with the ardor of thirteen-year-old boys. Rebellion and curiosity, hopes and doubts, girls and dreams of glory – they shared it all. Paul was rich, Emile poor. They went skinny-dipping, drank absinthe, starved, only to overeat. Sketched models by day, caressed them by night... Now, Paul is a painter and Emile a writer. Glory has passed Paul by. But Emile has it all: fame, money, the perfect wife, whom Paul once loved. They judge each other, admire each other, confront each other. They lose touch, meet up again, like a couple who cannot stop loving each other.
When President Abdoulaye Wade wanted to run for office yet again in 2011, a resistance movement formed on the streets. Shortly afterwards, a group of school friends, including rappers Thiat and Kilifeu, set up "Y'en a marre" ("We Are Fed Up"), with filmmaker Rama Thiaw soon coming on board to start documenting events – meetings, campaigns, arrests, concerts, states of exhaustion, trips – from an "insider" perspective. Over several years, a stirring portrait emerged of a youth protest movement to whom independent observers were not the only ones to ascribe the role of "kingmaker" in the last elections. Rama Thiaw shows the rappers and their environment with an intimacy whose cinematographic finesse provides space and context for the thorny conflicts between music and politics, street and state.
Money & Life is an inspirational essay-style documentary that asks a provocative question: can we see the economic crisis not as a disaster, but as a tremendous opportunity? This cinematic odyssey connects the dots on our current economic pains and offers a new story of money based on an emerging paradigm of planetary well-being that understands all of life as profoundly interconnected.
Aztec romance and the dream of love. The anthropologist’s most human desire, the ultimate contact with the informant. The denial of intellectualism and the acceptance of the romantic heart, and a soul without innocence. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2011.
In an intimate and joyful story of love in the face of loss, celebrated poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley find strength—and unexpected hilarity—in what might be their final year together.
From its distinctive neighborhoods to its architectural homes, Los Angeles has been the backdrop to countless movies. In this dazzling work, Andersen takes viewers on a whirlwind tour through the metropolis' real and cinematic history, investigating the myriad stories and legends that have come to define it, and meticulously, judiciously revealing the real city that lives beneath.
Alexander McQueen's rags-to-riches story is a modern-day fairy tale, laced with the gothic. Mirroring the savage beauty, boldness and vivacity of his design, this documentary is an intimate revelation of McQueen's own world, both tortured and inspired, which celebrates a radical and mesmerizing genius of profound influence.
An unprecedented and intimate look at the life, work and enduring legacy of British actress Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993).
Global superstar Jennifer Lopez reflects on her multifaceted career and the pressure of life in the spotlight in this intimate documentary.
A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.
A string of threatening emails escalates into a revenge plot involving a newly married US marshal and his ex-girlfriend.
In 1972, a seemingly typical shoestring budget pornographic film was made in a Florida hotel: "Deep Throat," starring Linda Lovelace. This film would surpass the wildest expectation of everyone involved to become one of the most successful independent films of all time. It caught the public imagination which met the spirit of the times, even as the self-appointed guardians of public morality struggled to suppress it, and created, for a brief moment, a possible future where sexuality in film had a bold artistic potential. This film covers the story of the making of this controversial film, its stunning success, its hysterical opposition along with its dark side of mob influence and allegations of the on set mistreatment of the film's star.
Witness the never-before-seen footage and true story behind the John Wick phenomenon – from independent film to billion-dollar franchise.
Home movies, photographs, and recited poetry illustrate the life of Tupac Shakur, one of the most beloved, revolutionary, and volatile hip-hop MCs of all time.
The life and career of one of comedy's most inimitable modern voices, Mr. Gilbert Gottfried.
A tribute to Italian filmmaker Sergio Corbucci (1926-90), presented by American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino.
Police pull over a woman who claims she just gave birth. But the baby — and the blood — aren't hers. Twisted lies unravel in this true-crime documentary.
Unravel the case of Utah therapist Jodi Hildebrandt, whose child abuse arrest with parenting YouTuber Ruby Franke exposed a twisted tale of manipulation.
A subjective documentary that explores various theories about hidden meanings in Stanley Kubrick's classic film The Shining. Five very different points of view are illuminated through voice over, film clips, animation and dramatic reenactments.
After years in the limelight, Selena Gomez achieves unimaginable stardom. But just as she reaches a new peak, an unexpected turn pulls her into darkness. This uniquely raw and intimate documentary spans her six-year journey into a new light.
Documentary about legendary Paramount producer Robert Evans, based on his famous 1994 autobiography.
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.
He's devoted his career to uncovering stories the powerful want buried. From My Lai to Abu Ghraib, dig into the life's work of journalist Seymour Hersh.
From a prolific career in film and television, Anton Yelchin left an indelible legacy as an actor. Through his journals and other writings, his photography, the original music he wrote, and interviews with his family, friends, and colleagues, this film looks not just at Anton's impressive career, but at a broader portrait of the man.