Winner of the Berlin Film Festival’s top prize, the Golden Bear, Fire at Sea takes an observational look at the waves of refugees landing on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa. Renowned filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi has long been celebrated in Europe (winning the Venice Film Festival for his film Sacro GRA) and his reputation is […]
Having previously investigated rape in the military in the Oscar-nominated The Invisible War, Kirby Dick turns his attention to another insidious bastion of sexual assaults: the college campus. While 20 percent of female college students experience sexual violence, few report the crime, and their perpetrators typically suffer no consequences. The Hunting Ground lays bare the […]
Years in the making, this film delivers an in-depth portrait of the Nirvana singer-songwriter like nothing before. Oscar-nominated director Brett Morgen (On the Ropes, The Kid Stays in the Picture) gains access to personal archives of art, music and never-before- seen home movies, interwoven with animation and candid interviews with his closest friends and family. […]
Malala Yousafzai gained world attention at age 15 when she spoke out for girls’ education from her home in Pakistan’s Swat Valley and survived being shot in the head by Taliban militants. Oscar-winning filmmaker Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth) gives a close-up portrait of this strong-willed teenager and her family. The title’s “he” refers to […]
Based on Lawrence Wright’s book of the same name, Alex Gibney’s latest film is a provocative exposé of the inner workings of the Church of Scientology. Balancing insightful history – including the origins of the controversial organization and a profile of its founder, science fiction author L Ron Hubbard – with revelatory interviews with former […]
A candid portrait of a woman’s redemptive fight against sexual exploitation, Kim Longinotto’s masterful observational film follows Brenda, a charismatic former drug addict and prostitute who, having turned her life around, has made it her mission to give hope to women and girls in need. Through her Dreamcatcher Foundation, she reaches out to sex workers, […]
Unwilling to become a victim of Mexico’s notorious drug cartels, a small-town physician organizes a grassroots civilian defense force to combat the danger and instability they’ve wrought. On the other side of the border, a veteran fearful that the violence will cross into America sets up his own paramilitary group. Director Matthew Heineman embeds himself […]
Director Joshua Oppenheimer continues the masterful exploration of Indonesia’s legacy of violence that began with his Oscar-nominated documentary The Act of Killing. This new work stands on its own. The key figure is Adi, whose older brother was murdered five decades ago. As a village optometrist, Adi uses his profession to confront the families of […]
Seymour Bernstein is a hidden treasure of New York City. He gave up a promising career as a concert pianist to teach music, leaving an indelible influence on his students. Among his admirers is Ethan Hawke, the versatile actor/director/writer, who allows us to experience Seymour’s gift for storytelling as he circles the question of why […]
Popularly known as the “high priestess of soul,” Nina Simone was a singular talent. A classically trained pianist whose Carnegie Hall aspirations were thwarted by the prevailing prejudices of the 1950s, she instead triumphed with a singing career that blended gospel, pop and folk with classical music and songs that made her a civil rights […]