Films can be Friends

Glimpses of Western Germany

This James A. FitzPatrick Traveltalks short visits the West German cities of Hamburg, Bremen, Munich, and Heidelberg. Included are scenes of World War II destruction that lingered at the time.

Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention - The Lost Broadcast: The Beat Club '68

This DVD contains a filmed rehearsal of Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention at the legendary Beat Club in Bremen, Germany, on 6th October 1968. The music is largely one long improvisatory continuous performance rather than a run-through of their greatest hits, but is punctuated by Zappa directing the band to play the opening themes of some of his more well-known pieces.

Schauburg Mon Amour

The Edge of Heaven

The lives of six German-Turkish immigrants are drawn together by circumstance: An old man and a prostitute forging a partnership, a young scholar reconciling his past, two young women falling in love, and a mother putting the shattered pieces of her life back together.

The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant

Petra von Kant is a successful fashion designer -- arrogant, caustic, and self-satisfied. She mistreats Marlene (her secretary, maid, and co-designer). Enter Karin, a 23-year-old beauty who wants to be a model. Petra falls in love with Karin and invites her to move in.

Das Gesetz sind wir

Maja Witt and Klaus Burck have been a well-rehearsed team for years, ensuring law and order as police officers in Bremen. At least that's what they try to do. Time and again, however, they are shown their limits. Criminals are set free again, and they themselves get no respect at all. When the arrogant teenager Ahmed Issa spits at Klaus during a mission, this finally goes too far: the two fight back and start to take the law into their own hands, using any means necessary. But the other side is not standing idly by...

Neue Vahr Süd

Frank Lehmann, 20, still lives with his parents in the dreary high-rise housing project "Neue Vahr" in Bremen. It's the year 1980 and Frank gets drafted to the army even though his friends assure him that "he's not really the guy for it". When he gets back home, after his first week at the army, his Dad has turned his room into a TV repair shop, so Frank has to move out. Luckily his old friend Martin is starting a commune with two other Punks in Bremens leftist borough "Viertel". Frank, without further ado rents the unlivable walk-through room. From now on Frank is a traveler between the Worlds. Each week he goes from the Army, with all the unconditional rules and regulations to the commune where his friends are preaching the world revolution. Frank is trying to avoid to stick out, but fails miserably, in both worlds.

The Fearless Four

Four aging animals, a dog, a cat, a donkey and a rooster escape from their former homes because they weren't as productive and useful for their owners as they used to be. To avoid death, they all move out on a musical journey to Bremen to find a better life.

Town Musicians of Bremen

Four farm animals, a donkey, a dog, a cat and a rooster, leave their home to become musicians in Bremen. Based on the tale of the Brothers Grimm.

The Bremen Town Musicians

"Is this all there is to life?" thought the donkey, who was working as a tourist attraction for in the "Animal-Adventure-Park ", after his boss kicked him out. And because people again and again told him that his voice sounded lovely, he decided to make a career as a musician and go to Bremen. On his way, he met a dog, whose fate was to spend the rest of his life in the animal asylum, because his old master had died. The dog was a great drummer, so the donkey asked him to come along with him. On their way they met a cock and a cat, who were also living in a desperate situation. Since they too were good musicians, it was only logical that they completed the band. And what nobody ever believed came true. After many adventures, they were finally on stage. Where? Of course in Bremen.

The Town Musicians of Bremen

An old donkey resolves to break away from the unbearable hardships of working for a fat miller. By and by, he recruits three more unsatisfied animals and convinces them to accompany him on his way to Bremen where they want to become musicians.

Pasta Mista

Refugee

'Refugee' tells the story of a West African woman who left her five children in 2003 in order to come to the US and provide them with a better future.

The Busing Battleground

The Busing Battleground pulls back the curtain on the volatile effort to end school segregation, detailing the decades-long struggle for educational equity that preceded the crisis. It illustrates how civil rights battles had to be fought across the North as well as the South and reckons with the class dimensions of the desegregation saga, exploring how the neighborhoods most impacted by the court’s order were the poorest in the city.

The Story of the Weeping Camel

When a Mongolian nomadic family's newest camel colt is rejected by its mother, a musician is needed for a ritual to change her mind.

Dogtown and Z-Boys

This award-winning, thrilling story is about a group of discarded kids who revolutionized skateboarding and shaped the attitude and culture of modern day extreme sports. Featuring old skool skating footage, exclusive interviews and a blistering rock soundtrack, DOGTOWN AND Z-BOYS captures the rise of the Zephyr skateboarding team from Venice's Dogtown, a tough "locals only" beach with a legacy of outlaw surfing.

A Brief History of Time

This shows physicist Stephen Hawking's life as he deals with the ALS that renders him immobile and unable to speak without the use of a computer. Hawking's friends, family, classmates, and peers are interviewed not only about his theories but the man himself.

Sea Tomorrow

Set on the arid seabed of the former Aral Sea, the documentary film "Sea Tomorrow" takes us on a journey into the world after the apocalypse.

Black Ballerina

BLACK BALLERINA tells the story of several black women from different generations who fell in love with ballet. Six decades ago, while pursuing their dreams, Joan Myers Brown, Delores Browne and Raven Wilkinson confronted racism, exclusion and unequal opportunity. Today, young dancers of color continue to face formidable challenges breaking into the overwhelmingly white world of ballet. Moving back and forth in time, this lyrical, character driven film shows how far we still have to go and stimulates a fresh discussion about race, inclusion and opportunity across all sectors of American society.