Discard Records

“Discard Records [is] a cumulative work responding to my experience as the Artist in Residence at the NY Department of Sanitation. Coupling my experiential research in the agency and my revitalization of their TV studio, this film is a very personal response to a treasure trove of historical material about waste in our current era of the climate crisis. It is not only the preservation of a long lost archive but a contemporary activation that is to be shared as a public artwork in this moment of ecological awareness. Adapting the aesthetics and recycling the materials of the sanitation department, Discard Records is a remixed historical film that is intended to spark new conversations that explore the intimate but often ignored relationship between the public and their waste.” - sTo Len, Director

Beerput Nederland

The Story of Stuff

For most of the world, consumption has been the unquestioned duty of every individual. Then garbage activist Annie Leonard brought her two-hour lecture to Free Range who helped her turn it into a 20-minute animated revolution. Shown in thousands of classrooms, endlessly blasted by Fox News, viewed more than 10 million times, The Store of Stuff finally opens the door to a serious cultural dialog about the costs of consumption.

Daredevil

A man blinded in a childhood accident fights crime using his superhumanly-elevated remaining senses.

Galtha

After the dumping of waste in their area causes the death of many due to mosquitoes and unknown viruses, a brave individual steps up to fight against the system and incite a change for the well-being of his people.

The Disposal

A real estate agent must clean a property before his client arrives.

Deadly Game

A military convoy is transporting something apparently for disposal. They pass by Sheriff Abel Marsh's town and they are passing by property that's owned by Amy Franklin who is the girlfriend of Abel's deputy, Malcolm. Before they know it, everything around the property is uninhabitable. The army returns to clean things up and make restitution. But there is one nagging question, was this an accident or was it deliberate? That is something Abel is most interested in finding out.

China Villager Documentary Project: China Village Self-Governance Film Project

Filmmakers Wu Wenguang and Jian Yi trained 10 villagers from across China to make films documenting electoral processes in their home villages. Pursuing the ideal that anyone can become a documentary filmmaker, this project sparked a new model of Chinese participatory documentary, with community members depicting their own lives. The resulting works—surprisingly humorous, and filled with their own local flavor—vividly reveal the realities of village life and democracy in action.

New Castle

New Castle is a remote rural village where houses and mountains have been distorted due to excessive mining. Under the "New Village" campaign, all the villagers will be moved into the nearly completed Luxury Buildings. The documentary depicts the life of two groups of people, miners and villagers. The miners who are from all over the country, lost their jobs because of the Olympic Games in Beijing - the mine was shut down to make the air less polluted. The villagers had no better luck. Granny Fan lost two sons and two grandsons in a mining accident. Old Han and Old Wang are still farming. Some youngsters are gambling in the house of Han Bin, who was crippled in another mining accident. In the film, you can also see the village election, the service of local Christians, and people worshipping for a better year to come.

Treatment

Treatment is one of two films Wu Wenguang released in 2010 after a 5-year absence. The film deals with Wu’s memories of his deceased mother and his search for emotional healing.

Napoli: City of the Damned

When thinking of devastated cities in the Second World War, Naples is often forgotten, but when it was liberated by the Allies it was on its last legs, with 200,000 homeless and no power, transport, food or running water. The Allies quickly brought food to the starving population and medicine to the sick, but the introduction of many troops and lots of supplies led to the creation of a huge black market involving almost the entire population. One third of women became prostitutes as Naples became a kind of Sodom and Gomorrah, a city of vice, crime and chaos where everything that could be sold and stolen was sold and stolen. Perplexingly, the Americans decided to introduce Italo-American criminals into positions of power in southern Italy, such as Vito Genovese, a gangster escaping a murder rap in New York. Genovese began setting up a crime empire in Naples - after Mussolini had effectively suppressed organised crime in Italy, the Allies brought it back. (Storyville)

The Genius and the Boys

D Carleton Gajdusek won the Nobel Prize for the discovery of Prions - the particles that would emerge as the cause of Mad Cow disease - while working with a cannibal tribe on New Guinea. He was a star of the scientific world. Over his years working amongst the tribes of the South Seas, he adopted 57 kids, bringing them to a new life in Washington DC. His adoptions were hailed as wonderful fatherly beneficence. But, at the height of his career, rumours began to spread he was a paedophile. Gajdusek would argue that if sex with children was okay in their own cultures, he wasn't wrong to join in. How could a great mind like Gajdusek's lose insight so totally, and why would the scientific community to which he was a hero be so quick to leap to his defence and dismiss the allegations? (Storyville)

Wish You Were Here

Phone and video camera footage of Jane's lonely family trip to Europe. Takes place months before certain events take place.

Lara

Lara, a German au pair, recently arrived in Marseille, where a new life is beginning for her. Being an introverted young girl, she nevertheless throws herself into the unknown, into the twists and turns of a city whose codes she still does not know.

Fiona Has Wings

The soul behind an artist who gave us so many unique songs.

The Cooking Show

The cooking show is as old as television itself. But why do we like watching the making of a meal that most of us will never cook, let alone eat? Dirty Furniture’s jam-packed video essay is a rollercoaster ride through the history of the genre, at once a staple of television viewing and a hotpot of shifting perspectives and sociocultural values.

The Astors: High Society

The very name conjures up images of the good life black tie affairs and high society balls. Yet their long saga proves that money is no guarantee of happiness or stability. John Jacob Astor built an empire by parlaying a job in the fur business into a real estate empire so vast he became the richest man in the world. Follow the fortunes of five generations of Astors in this special BIOGRAPHY. From John's son William, who doubled the family fortune and earned the nickname "the landlord of New York," to the astounding charitable contributions of the Astor Foundation, the incredible story of the famed family comes to life through interviews with family members, archival footage and period accounts. Trace the feud and reconciliation that led to the creation of the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, and find out how the Titanic disaster forever transformed the Astors and their reputation.

J. Pierpont Morgan: Emperor of Wall Street

He single-handedly saved the United States from bankruptcy on two occasions, but was often accused of being a monopolist. He wielded as much power as the president and turned Wall Street into his personal playground. John Pierpont Morgan had an aptitude for acquisition. He assembled one of America's largest fortunes and purchased an art collection to rival any in the world. BIOGRAPHY tells the complete, compelling story of the celebrated deal maker and money man. See rare footage of the financier in his element on Wall Street, and trace his rise to power and prominence through interviews with biographers and historians. Hear how he brokered an agreement between two competing railroads by inviting both presidents for a cruise on his yacht and refusing to let them off until they came to terms! And get a privileged look at his private life.

J.W. Marriott: Host to the World

J.W. Marriott features informative interviews with his sons J.W. Marriott, Jr. and Richard Marriott, granddaughter Debbie Harrison, friends the Reverend Billy Graham and Sterling Colton, a former employee and others.

Timkat

A dive into the heart of Timkat, a fascinating purification ritual in which moments of joy, trance and religious devotion reveal a certain pride in national identity.

Sherman's March

Ross McElwee sets out to make a documentary about the lingering effects of General Sherman's march of destruction through the South during the Civil War, but is continually sidetracked by women who come and go in his life, his recurring dreams of nuclear holocaust, and Burt Reynolds.

I Want to Return Return Return

A depiction of the Wrangelkiez neighbourhood in Berlin. The people portrayed tell their life stories. One woman came to the neighbourhood a decade ago to work in Berlin’s still unfinished Brandenburger Airport, one man reminisces his childhood on a Tobacco farm in Kentucky, another speaks of an exceptional day in an otherwise monotonous workplace. These portraits are interwoven with the story of Elpi, a Greek woman who is waiting for the long overdue visit of an old important friend. The outcome of this mixture is a film which captures the lives and perspectives of some of Wrangelkiez’s most commanding citizens, while at the same time evoking the loss that change and time passing means for places and for people.

A Plastic Ocean

A documentary focused on plastic pollution in the world's oceans.

Rich Hill

If you ever find yourself traveling down Interstate 49 through Missouri, try not to blink—you may miss Rich Hill, population 1,396. Rich Hill is easy to overlook, but its inhabitants are as woven into the fabric of America as those living in any small town in the country. This movie intimately chronicles the turbulent lives of three boys living in said Midwestern town and the fragile family bonds that sustain them.

One of Us

Penetrating the insular world of New York's Hasidic community, focusing on three individuals driven to break away despite threats of retaliation.

Lake of Fire

An unflinching look at the how the battle over abortion rights has played out in the United States over the last 15 years.

(T)ERROR

This real-life look at FBI counterterrorism operations features access to both sides of a sting: the government informant and the radicalized target.

Fat Head

A comedian replies to the "Super Size Me" crowd by losing weight on a fast-food diet while demonstrating that almost everything you think you know about the obesity "epidemic" and healthy eating is wrong.

Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction

An impressionistic portrait of the iconic actor Harry Dean Stanton comprised of intimate moments, film clips from some of his 250 films and his renditions of American folk songs.

Heart of a Dog

Lyrical and powerfully personal essay film that reflects on the deaths of her husband Lou Reed, her mother, her beloved dog, and such diverse subjects as family memories, surveillance, and Buddhist teachings.

Downloaded

A documentary that explores the downloading revolution; the kids that created it, the bands and the businesses that were affected by it, and its impact on the world at large.

My Kid Could Paint That

A look at the work and surprising success of a four-year-old girl whose paintings have been compared to the likes of Picasso and has raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Fuck

A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.

The Cheshire Murders

In the early-morning hours of July 23, 2007, in Cheshire, Conn., ex-convicts Steven Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky broke into the family home of William Petit, his wife, Jennifer, and their daughters, Michaela, 11, and Hayley, 17. Dr. Petit was beaten and tied to a pole in the basement. The three women were bound in their bedrooms while the men ransacked the house. The brutal ordeal continued throughout the morning, ending with rape, arson and a horrific triple homicide.

East of Main Street: Asians Aloud

In celebration of Asian Heritage Month, HBO presents a collection of perspectives from a diverse group of Asian Americans.

Tabloid

A documentary on a former Miss Wyoming who is charged with abducting and imprisoning a young Mormon Missionary.

One Life

One Life captures unprecedented and beautiful sequences of animal behaviour guaranteed to bring you closer to nature than ever before, as well as a second disc packed full of never before seen extras including an exclusive making of featurette narrated by Daniel Craig.

Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country

Going beyond the occasional news clip from Burma, the acclaimed filmmaker, Anders Østergaard, brings us close to the video journalists who deliver the footage. Though risking torture and life in jail, courageous young citizens of Burma live the essence of journalism as they insist on keeping up the flow of news from their closed country.

Window Water Baby Moving

On a winter's day, a woman stretches near a window then sits in a bathtub of water. She's happy. Her lover is nearby; there are close ups of her face, her pregnant belly, and his hands caressing her. She gives birth: we see the crowning of the baby's head, then the birth itself; we watch a pair of hands tie off and cut the umbilical cord. With the help of the attending hands, the mother expels the placenta. The infant, a baby girl, nurses. We return from time to time to the bath scene. By the end, dad's excited; mother and daughter rest.

Champs

A documentary about the sport of boxing, as seen through the eyes of champions Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Bernard Hopkins.