10 Questions for the Dalai Lama

How do you reconcile a commitment to non-violence when faced with violence? Why do the poor often seem happier than the rich? Must a society lose its traditions in order to move into the future? These are some of the questions posed to His Holiness the Dalai Lama by filmmaker and explorer Rick Ray. Ray examines some of the fundamental questions of our time by weaving together observations from his own journeys throughout India and the Middle East, and the wisdom of an extraordinary spiritual leader. This is his story, as told and filmed by Rick Ray during a private visit to his monastery in Dharamsala, India over the course of several months. Also included is rare historical footage as well as footage supplied by individuals who at great personal risk, filmed with hidden cameras within Tibet.

China vs USA: Empires at War

China keeps claiming sovereignty over Taiwan. The USA believes the Tech industry of the island nation needs to be protected. Prominent international experts from both sides, China vs. USA, Empires At War explores all the issues that could lead to war.

Beijing Spring

The documentary film of the brief window of artistic freedom and democracy movement 1978 - 1982 following China's brutal cultural revolution.

I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story

A documentary about Caroll Spinney who has been Sesame Street's Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch since 1969. At 78-years-old, he has no intention of stopping.

World War C

It's war. War against an invisible enemy that is not as deadly as we are told. The world is changing rapidly. Disproportionate measures are taken worldwide that disrupt society as a whole. A dichotomy in society forced vaccinations and restrictions on freedom. Have we had the worst? Or is there something more disturbing to awaiting us.

Jia Zhangke, A Guy from Fenyang

Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke returns to the shooting locations of his films, along with his actors, friends and close collaborators. Jia recalls the inspiration sources for his movies, such as Platform, Still Life and A Touch of Sin. The film is the memory of a filmmaker and of a country in convulsion, China, which reveals itself little by little.

China's Lost Pyramids

In China, there exists an astonishing place. A burial ground to rival Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, where pyramid tombs of stupendous size are full of astonishing riches. In 221 BC, China's first Emperor united warring kingdoms into a nation that still exists today. To memorialise this achievement, he bankrupted the national treasury and oppressed thousands of workers to build one of the world’s biggest mortuary complexes. China's second dynasty, the Han, inherited the daunting challenge of building larger tombs to command respect and establish their right to rule without running the nation into the ground. Although no Han emperor's tomb has been opened, the tombs of lesser Han aristocrats have revealed astonishing things: complete underground palaces (including kitchens and toilets) and at least one corpse so amazingly well-preserved some believe Han tomb-builders knew how to "engineer immortality".

The China Hustle

An unsettling and eye-opening Wall Street horror story about Chinese companies, the American stock market, and the opportunistic greed behind the biggest heist you've never heard of.

Please Vote for Me

At Evergreen Primary School in Wuhan, China, a Grade 3 class learns what democracy is when an election for class monitor is being held. Three children are chosen by the teacher as candidates and they have a few days to campaign and convince their classmates to vote for them. The little candidates are seen at school and at home, where their parents do their best to make sure their child will win the election.

Ascension

The absorbingly cinematic Ascension explores the pursuit of the “Chinese Dream.” Driven by mesmerizing—and sometimes humorous—imagery, this observational documentary presents a contemporary vision of China that prioritizes productivity and innovation above all.

Forbidden City: The Great Within

Amidst the grand walls of the Forbidden City, the film takes us on a deep journey through the ceremonial life of the Chinese emperor, unveiling the secrets and intrigues of concubines, eunuchs, and palace maids. As the West begins to influence China in the late 19th century, the dynamics within the city shift dramatically. The film highlights the preservation and restoration of invaluable treasures and paintings, culminating in the creation of the Palace Museum. With insights from renowned China scholar, Jonathan Spence, this is an intimate exploration of the rich cultural and historical tapestry that makes up the heart of ancient China.

Le Baron et l'Empereur : Japon, la voie de la guerre

Little Richard: I Am Everything

The story of the black, gay origins of rock n' roll. It explodes the whitewashed canon of American pop music to reveal the innovator – the originator – Richard Penniman. Through a wealth of archive and performance that brings us into Richard's complicated inner world, the film unspools the icon's life story with all its switchbacks and contradictions.

Redefining China's Family: Women

10 May 2007 - China's staggering economic growth has overshadowed a more subtle shift in Chinese society. In domestic life, many women are now ignore the advice of their mothers and grandmothers, turning instead to counselling hotlines and, increasingly, divorce.

Secrets of the Forbidden City

The Forbidden City is the world’s biggest and most extravagant palace complex ever built. For five centuries, it was the power center of imperial China and survived wars, revolution, fires, and earthquakes. How did the Ming Emperor’s workforce construct its sprawling array of nearly 1,000 buildings and dozens of temples in a little over a decade?

Tea War: The Adventures of Robert Fortune

In the 19th century, China held the monopoly on tea, which was dear and fashionable in the West, and the British Empire exchanged poppies, produced in its Indian colonies and transformed into opium, for Chinese tea. Inundated by the drugs, China was forced to open up its market, and the British consolidated their commercial dominance. In 1839, the Middle Empire introduced prohibition. The Opium War was declared… Great Britain emerged as the winner, but the warning was heeded: it could no longer depend on Chinese tea. The only alternative possible was to produce its own tea. The East India Company therefore entrusted one man with finding the secrets of the precious beverage. His mission was to develop the first plantations in Britain’s Indian colonies. This latter-day James Bond was called Robert Fortune – a botanist. After overcoming innumerable ordeals in the heart of imperial China, he brought back the plants and techniques that gave rise to Darjeeling tea.

Last Train Home

A family embarks on an annual tormenting journey along with 130 million other peasant workers to reunite with their distant family, and to revive their love and dignity as China soars as the world's next super power.

Jackie Chan Edition: Seine spektakulärsten Kämpfe

Manufactured Landscapes

MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES is the striking new documentary on the world and work of renowned artist Edward Burtynsky. Internationally acclaimed for his large-scale photographs of “manufactured landscapes”—quarries, recycling yards, factories, mines and dams—Burtynsky creates stunningly beautiful art from civilization’s materials and debris.

Mrs. Fang

In a quiet village in southern China, Fang Xiuying is sixty-seven years old. Having suffered from Alzheimer's for several years, with advanced symptoms and ineffective treatment, she was sent back home. Now, bedridden, she is surrounded by her relatives and neighbors, as they witness and accompany her through her last days.

How I Stole a Painting

The story of one of the most radical performances in art history told by German artist Ulay, who in 1976 decided to steal Hitler's favorite painting from Berlin's national museum and hang it in the home of a Turkish immigrant family. "This particular painting you could say was a German identity icon." In 1976 Ulay decided to steal the painting 'Der arme Poet' (The Poor Poet) (1839) by Carl Spitzweg, which was said to be Hitler's favorite painting. By stealing the painting from the Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery) in Berlin, Ulay broke away from what he had done previously, aiming "to give a strong signal about what I was about as an artist at the time."

Calculating Ada: The Countess of Computing

Ada Lovelace was a most unlikely computer pioneer. In this film, Dr Hannah Fry tells the story of Ada's remarkable life. Born in the early 19th century, Ada was a countess of the realm, a scandalous socialite and an 'enchantress of numbers'. The film is an enthralling tale of how a life infused with brilliance, but blighted by illness and gambling addiction, helped give rise to the modern era of computing.

We Are Not Alone

Eddie is a lonesome young man who works as a security guard at a big shopping mall. Eddie strongly believes in an old prophecy predicting the very near end of all human civilization. Just as he is getting ready to embark on a carefully planned escape journey, Eddie meets May, a very intelligent yet anti-social young woman, with a dubious past. As the last days before the fateful date go by, May gradually insert herself into Eddie's life and heart until finally Eddie must choose whether to stay and abandon his hope to escape the upcoming apocalypse, or leave and lose his chance for intimacy and real love.

FF

A short film made “for fun” that plays with surreal and evocative imagery

The Man Who Killed James Bond

Fabrizio, a poor thief from the Roman suburbs, finally has in his hands the man who ruined his life: James Bond.

Frontera

The theater group within the prison of Cuatro Caminos, which includes a total of six prisoners-eight volunteers, it was decided to stage the play "12 Angry Men". However, his dream will be lowered when a contagious infection forced to remain isolated inside. Fear and lack of information to jump trigger alarms and the group is consumed by stress. With the participation of real prisoners, this film is an innovative proposal to help them pass and live, while participating in a larger project.

Spring

This is a story about a city guy Nikolai, who will have to go instead of his friend on a rural business trip. A series of funny events, meetings and the beauty of the Yakut village encourage Nikolai to make an important decision in his life…

A French Mistress

The boys of Melbury Primary School are plunged into turmoil when the new French Master turns out to be a Mistress! Madelin Leforge's (the French Mistress) effect on the boys is swift and amazing. Suddenly everyone wants extra French Lessons just to glimpse the teacher in revealing shorts and bikinis. As discipline crumbles, a scandal explodes when the Head discovers the mademoiselle's mother was an old flame. Madeline must be dismissed to save further embarrassments.

Les Enfoirés 2013 - La Boîte à Musique des Enfoirés

Show recorded at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy on January 27 and 28, 2013 for the benefit of the Restos du Coeur.

The Wonderful Flight

The Mongolia of 1996 was a very different country to the Mongolia of 2015. The sudden transformation to a market economy left health services at breaking point. A mother learns that local doctors are unable to cure her young son’s sudden loss of hearing; and that her son will no longer be able to play his beloved Horse-Head Fiddle. This news does not stop the boy’s older brother trying, with the help of his best friends, to find a cure of their own – no matter how ambitious.

About Our Astronauts

Three cosmonauts bid farewell to their loved ones and embark on a journey into space, where they encounter discoveries in uncharted territory yet to be explored by humankind.

Emmylou Harris's Ten Commandments of Country

Live performance in which Emmylou Harris presents her ten rules of what makes a great country song, personally chosen from her own extensive repertoire. Filmed in Los Angeles in an intimate venue, the show features songs with Emmylou accompanied by her blue grass band. Each track illustrates one of her ten commandments, with a short introduction to explain why it was chosen and what element of country music it best represents.

The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy

A mad doctor builds a robot in order to steal a valuable Aztec treasure from a tomb guarded by a centuries old living mummy.

Ensamrummet

Emma's parents are going to divorce, but before that the family goes on holiday to the countryside. Emma is left alone when the parents just arguing and moving to another room. Soon she discovers that there is something mysterious about the room when a typewriter starts writing a message by itself...

Heat Spell

A hot summer day. A half-unpacked house. A mother who needs room to breathe, and a child who needs space to truly exist. As the afternoon heat turns oppressive, time seems to move entirely differently for each person.

Wishbone Ash: Live At Rockpalast 1976

This Rockpalast was recorded on 1st December 1976 in the Sporthalle Cologne and shows the inventors of the legendary "dual lead-guitar/twin guitar sound" with the classical line-up of the band from Andy Powell (guit., voc.), Martin Turner (bass, voc.), Steve Upton (dr.) and Laurie Wisefield (guit.) in captivating form and mood. In 1976 Wishbone Ash were at the zenith of their career. Their albums, from "Pilgrimage" to "New England", reached worldwide top positions in the album charts, were refined with silver and gold, the band was constantly on tour around the globe and tracks like "The King Will Come", "Warrior" or "Blowing Free" achieved cult status among fans of guitar-oriented progressive rock and are milestones in rock history. Characteristic of Wishbone Ash is their melodic, guitar-oriented rock, which is dominated by two electric guitars played in duet. In addition there is an almost ballad-like vocal style. This Rockpalast edition is a must for every Wishbone Ash fan!

1st Kiss

After losing her husband to death following a troubled marriage, a woman unexpectedly travels back to the moment before their first meeting, allowing them to reconnect and rekindle their romance.

Bring Me the Head of Antonio Mayans

Veteran Spanish actor Antonio Mayans is kidnapped by a director with whom he made a terrible film in the past, and whose career was destroyed by the failure of it. He seeks revenge and wants Mayans to act on his new project: a snuff movie.