"Lights! Camera! Fatwa!"
When an American filmmaker is commissioned to make a film for a Middle East Biennial on the theme of 'art as a subversive act,' his film is banned for blasphemy, he is asked to destroy every copy, and threatened with arrest.
Social & External
The people behind it
Caveh Zahedi
Self
Beckett Zahedi
ZuZu Snyder
Amanda Field
Colin Nusbaum
Michael Patten
Actor and writer Stephen Fry explores his passion for the world's most controversial composer, Richard Wagner. As a life-long fan can Stephen, who is Jewish and lost family in the Holocaust, salvage Wagner's music from its dark associations with anti-Semitism and Hitler?
College student Beca knows she does not want to be part of a clique, but that's exactly where she finds herself after arriving at her new school. Thrust in among mean gals, nice gals and just plain weird gals, Beca finds that the only thing they have in common is how well they sing together. She takes the women of the group out of their comfort zone of traditional arrangements and into a world of amazing harmonic combinations in a fight to the top of college music competitions.
A nostalgic, informative history of drive-in movie theaters, featuring extensive archival photographs and interviews with Leonard Maltin, John Bloom, Samuel Z. Arkoff, Barry Corbin and many others... Drive-In Movie Memories is a film celebration of America's greatest icon of youth, freedom and the automobile. What began as an auto parts owner's business venture to make some easy money accidentally became a magical place where romance, fun and a sense of community flourished. This film chronicles the drive-in's birth and development, its phenomenal popularity with audiences of all ages, its tragic decline, and its inevitable comeback as a classic form of Americana.
Since the moment they met at age 5, Rosie and Alex have been best friends, facing the highs and lows of growing up side by side. A fleeting shared moment, one missed opportunity, and the decisions that follow send their lives in completely different directions. As each navigates the complexities of life, love, and everything in between, they always find their way back to each other - but is it just friendship, or something more?
Documentary about the early career of Charlie Chaplin.
After a prosecution lawyer is framed and convicted for murder, he tries to catch the real murderer from jail with the help of a con artist.
Han Gil-ho wants to become a public servant, but so far has failed the civil service exam. His real interest is writing a kung-fu comic book which he has titled I'm a Public Official, featuring a crime-fighting bureaucrat and his two nerdy friends (based on himself and his slacker friends Min-gu and Park). Gil-ho then meets Kim Jung-sook, when he tags along to a meeting where she berates Min-gu into taking responsibility for her pregnant best friend Seung-hee. Gil-ho and Jung-sook realize that they knew each other years ago in college, when she was geeky and similarly hot-tempered and Gil-ho couldn't stand her. After unexpectedly sleeping together after a party, the two begin dating and eventually move in together, with Jung-sook having a regular job as a manager at a water-purifying company. Gil-ho gets an offer from a comic book publisher, but his lack of ambition and inability to commit to anything start to take their toll on their relationship.
A home movie by Adolfas Mekas and wife Pola Chapelle on their travels to Lithuania and Europe. It was filmed concurrently with the more highly regarded “Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania” by Jonas Mekas, brother to Adolfas.
This documentary, filmed over a 10-year period, centers on the debate over censorship as it follows Vancouver's Little Sister's Bookstore and its 20-year struggle with Canada Customs over the seizure of books. In the face of bigotry, bombings and repeated book seizures, it wages the most important legal battle in history against Canada Customs.
Documentary about the making of 20th Century Fox's 1963 film "Cleopatra," then the most expensive film of all time.
Released two years after James Dean's death, this documentary chronicles his short life and career via black-and-white still photographs, interviews with the aunt and uncle who raised him, his paternal grandparents, a New York City cabdriver friend, the owner of his favorite Los Angeles restaurant, outtakes from East of Eden, footage of the opening night of Giant, and Dean's ironic PSA for safe driving.
A short documentary exploring the ongoing relevance and power of 'Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma'.
"Do you think I have a cute bottom?" From Brigitte Bardot's cult line in "Le Mépris" (Contempt), to Mireille Darc's iconic lower back, bottoms have long been the subject of every fantasy. And have often been represented in art! A story of eroticism, but also of censure
When a Conservative TV crusader threatens to shut down beloved brothel The Chicken Ranch, proprietress Miss Mona Stangley and her girls won't go down without a fight.
The earliest surviving motion-picture film, and believed to be one of the very first moving images ever created, was shot by Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince using the LPCCP Type-1 MkII single-lens camera. It was taken on paper-based photographic film in the garden of Oakwood Grange, the Whitley family house in Roundhay, Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire (UK), on 14 October 1888. The film shows Adolphe Le Prince (Le Prince’s son), Mrs. Sarah Whitley (Le Prince’s mother-in-law), Joseph Whitley, and Miss Harriet Hartley walking around in circles, laughing to themselves, and staying within the area framed by the camera. Roundhay Garden Scene is often associated with a recording speed of around 12 frames per second and runs for about 2 to 3 seconds.
Doug and his pal Skeeter set's out to find the monster of Lucky Duck Lake. Though things get really out of hand when some one blurts out that the monster is real.
After being dumped by her boyfriend just before their 100-day anniversary, Ha-young meets a college guy named Hyung-joon when she kicks a can that accidentally hits him in the face and causes him to scratch his Lexus. He demands she pay him $3000 on the spot.
A documentary on kids who attend a summer camp hoping to become the next Billy Graham.
In Germán Araujo, director Aldo Novick revives the memory of a journalist who defied censorship during one of Uruguay's darkest periods. Through previously unseen archival footage, testimonies, and music, the film honors the courage of those who reported the truth when it was risky. This powerful documentary is shaping up to be one of the most important Uruguayan film releases of the year.
An examination of why the James Bond films have proved so popular including a discussion between the four actors who have played Bond, an interview with Cubby Broccoli and contributions from the directors, production designers, special effects and stuntmen.
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.
A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.
In the world of stand-up comedy in South Africa, Trevor Noah uses his childhood experiences in a biracial family during apartheid to prepare for his first one-man show.
When indie comic character Pepe the Frog becomes an unwitting icon of hate, his creator, artist Matt Furie, fights to bring Pepe back from the darkness and navigate America's cultural divide.
Vulgar, taunting texts blow up the phones of a teen and her boyfriend. Who's sending them — and why? This twisty documentary reveals the shocking answer.
Unravel the case of Utah therapist Jodi Hildebrandt, whose child abuse arrest with parenting YouTuber Ruby Franke exposed a twisted tale of manipulation.
Forging his own comedic boundaries, Anthony Jeselnik revels in getting away with saying things others can't in this stand-up special shot in New York.
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.
Richard Pryor's stand-up act includes his frank discussion about his freebasing addiction, as well as the infamous night on June 9, 1980 that he caught on fire.
Kevin Hart serves up laughs and brick oven pizza from the comfort of his home, and dishes on male group chats, sex after 40 and life with COVID-19.
Bad Grandpa .5 gives you a whole new perspective on the world of Irving Zisman with bonus scenes and pranks also featuring Spike Jonze as "Gloria" and Catherine Keener as Irving's wife "Ellie", plus a look at the evolution of Johnny Knoxville's naughty alter-ego, the makeup effects, and a behind-the-scenes peek at the idiocy it takes to make a hidden camera movie in public.
Patton Oswalt, despite a personal tragedy, produces his best standup yet. Focusing on the tribulations of the Trump era and life after the loss of a loved one, Oswalt continues his journey to contribute joy to the world.
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.
The story of The Satanic Temple, a controversial movement that combines religion and activism with the apparent purpose of questioning the basic foundations of US society.
With rare access and no holds barred, the acclaimed documentarian investigates a growing ultra-masculine network and its controversial influencers.
Comedian Kevin Hart performs in front of a crowd of 50,000 people at Philadelphia's outdoor venue, Lincoln Financial Field.
Armed with boyish charm and a sharp wit, the former "SNL" writer offers sly takes on marriage, his beef with babies and the time he met Bill Clinton.
A documentary about the closure of General Motors' plant at Flint, Michigan, which resulted in the loss of 30,000 jobs. Details the attempts of filmmaker Michael Moore to get an interview with GM CEO Roger Smith.
A teen slams her car into a building, killing her boyfriend and his friend. What seems like a tragic accident becomes a murder case.
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.