It was the year 1984 when a group of architects decided to organize a one night music band as a New Year's party joke in Kaunas, Lithuania. The joke proved to be so good that rumors about the new exciting rock band spread from lips to lips and soon their intellectual circus grew into the Rock Marches - massive events involving thousands of people - that transformed into the big meetings for Lithuanian Independence later named the Singing Revolution. This is the story about the people who raised their independence with the smiles and songs regardless of the danger of the situation.
Finns have a quirky sense of humour - and are a bit shy. But: Tango is THE folk music of the Finns. The documentary discovers the Finnish tango from the viewpoint of the singer Chino Laborde, the guitarist Diego "DIPI" Kvitko and the bandoneonist Pablo Greco. The three Argentine musicians travel to Finland to find out whether Aki Kaurismäki is telling the truth when he asserts that tango music was invented in Finland.
Filmmaking icon Agnès Varda, the award-winning director regarded by many as the grandmother of the French new wave, turns the camera on herself with this unique autobiographical documentary. Composed of film excerpts and elaborate dramatic re-creations, Varda's self-portrait recounts the highs and lows of her professional career, the many friendships that affected her life and her longtime marriage to cinematic giant Jacques Demy.
Documentarians Justine Shapiro and B.Z. Goldberg traveled to Israel to interview Palestinian and Israeli kids ages 11 to 13, assembling their views on living in a society afflicted with violence, separatism and religious and political extremism. This 2002 Oscar nominee for Best Feature Documentary culminates in an astonishing day in which two Israeli children meet Palestinian youngsters at a refugee camp.
Savanyú and his friend work at a plant. After the monotonous shifts they engage in the pleasures of the afternoon and the night, i.e. parties and concerts. Savanyú dates Juli, they are already engaged. The young men live as sub-tenants, the young women in workers' hostels. None of these places are suited for spending time together. They are in need of an apartment. Out of the ruinous apartment which they lay siege on, however, they are sent away by the otherwise friendly policeman. At a concert held in the Park of Youth, Juli gets to know Géza. They flirt, then go to the country with a pop-group. Savanyú and his friends follow them. A minor fight cools the atmosphere.
To overcome the emotional scars of her own past, Vanessa Fullerton recounts her mother Serena's extraordinary life - and tragic death. Serena marries a dashing U.S. colonel, relinquishing her family's fortune. When her husband dies, an impoverished Serena struggles to care for her young daughter until noted photographer Vasili catapults Serena to fame. But Vasili hides a dangerous secret, a secret that leaves a painful legacy.
Julia Sweeney's third autobiographical monologue, Letting Go of God takes the audience through her Catholic upbringing and how personal events in her life and that of her family led her to a disbelief in a personal universal deity.
Paris To Kyiv’s Fragmenti recording was originally released in 2005, a sonic tapestry of ancient Ukrainian song fragments and contemporary sounds. Nearly 11 years later, after circulating throughout the roster of artists on Balanced Records, a remix album has been compiled featuring electronic and avant garde interpretations by Ken Gregory, Joe Silva, Rise Ashen, Kasm, J57, Solidaze, Cayetano, Miguel Graça, Trevor Walker and Anders Peterson. This film accompanies the remix by Joe Silva.
Female boxer Diana Prazak always want to fight the best in her league, therefore she accepts the invitation by the number one in the world Frida Wallberg to fight her for the WBC world title in Stockholm. Lucia Rijker, former 6x world champion, coaches Diana to prepare her physically and mentally for the toughest fight of her life and her biggest and most paralyzing fear: losing. In Stockholm they are confronted with the picture-perfect Frida and her glamorous and extended entourage. The brutal fight however, takes a dramatic turn. Diana is left to consider if she truly got what she wished for.
Unprecedented access to Muhammad Ali's personal archive of "audio journals" as well as interviews and testimonials from his inner circle of family and friends are used to tell the legend's life story.
In June 2013, Laura Poitras and reporter Glenn Greenwald flew to Hong Kong for the first of many meetings with Edward Snowden. She brought her camera with her.