Synopsis

After catching her husband in a Cambodian brothel, a Parisian photographer negotiates for the life of a young girl and risks great danger to help two more stowaways return home.

THE GIRL FROM THE BROTHEL was originally released on the international film festival circuit as TALKING TO THE TREES (as a Director's cut) where it was an official selection and won several awards and the support of NGO's working to end child sex trafficking including SIGNIS, UNICEF France and CARITAS. It was screened at the United Nations in Geneva and for King Albert and Queen Paola of Belgium at the European Parliament. After some editing, it was released on over 200 screens in Italy and France in 2016.

Info:

• Director: Ilaria Borrelli
• TRT: 91 mins

Synopsis

The Greek box-office megahit of 2016 stars Academy Award winner J.K. Simmons ("Whiplash") and weaves together three separate tales of romance that blossom during a time of socio-economic crisis in Europe.

When college student Daphne is rescued by Farris, a refugee from Syria, the two fall blissfully in love. Corporate manager Giorgos, whose marriage and job are both facing collapse, has a one-night stand which turns into far more than just a lustful affair, with Swedish businesswoman Elise. And Maria, a dispirited housewife struggling under economic strain, is renewed by a romantic spark between herself and Sebastian, a German expat who has come to Greece to spend the autumn of his life.

Written and directed by acclaimed actor Christopher Papakaliatis ("What If..."), WORLDS APART is a film about people embracing each other's differences, not fearing them. It is about second chances. It is about the timeless, universal force that flows through all human beings: the capacity to love.

Info:

• Director: Christopher Papakaliatis
• TRT: 113 mins

Synopsis

A cheesemaker, a biker, a farmer, a model, a prince. They're not all one person, but they all do have one thing in commo--they are Sikhs. Originating nearly 500 years ago, Sikhism is now the world's fifth largest religion, with many of its 25 million members choosing to express their commitment to their faith and culture by wearing a very recognizable piece of clothin--the turban. But who are these people, where do they live, and for what do they stand? Or, put simply, what makes one a Sikh?
When nine-year-old Zara Garcha asks such a question, her family decides to answer it in a most extraordinary manner--by embarking on an international journey to learn about their heritage from modern day Sikhs. From Italy to India to Great Britain, Argentina, Canada, and the United States, Zara and her family traverse the globe and meet some of the most interesting, generous, and compassionate people on Earth. And in so doing, they remind us that, to fully understand our fellow human beings, we must judge not solely by what is on one's head, but by what is in one's heart.

Info:

• Director: Satinder Garcha, Michael K. Rogers, Meghan Shea
• TRT: 89 mins

Synopsis

Ukraine's 2014 Maidan Massacre helped oust President Yanukovych with Russia painted as the perpetrator. Oliver Stone interviews Russian President Vladimir Putin, Yanukovych and others exposing the role the U.S. played in destabilizing the region.

Info:

• Director: Igor Lopatonok
• TRT: 94 mins

Synopsis

More than five years in the making, Giuliani Time investigates the stories behind the "new" New York City that Giuliani laid claim to. From "quality of life" policing to welfare reform, and First Amendment related debacles, the feelings about the Giuliani years largely depended on where you stood. Giuliani Time is the story of the effect this former Reagan administration official and high profile federal prosecutor had on what he called the 'Capital of the World.' It is a wild ride of political ambition and public amnesia, alternate realities, wars of perception and dramatic, even cataclysmic, events.

Info:

• Director: Kevin Keating
• TRT: 130 mins

Synopsis

Humans are not the only ones in need of rescuing and in the city of Los Angeles, the members of SMART (Specialized Mobile Animal Rescue Team) have stepped up to save lives. Led by Armando Navarrete, this division of trained and passionate animal lovers risks life and limb to rescue every kind of creature in need, from horses to mountain lions to cats and dogs!

Follow Armando as he struggles to get his team off the ground, survives death-defying rescues and finds love, all in the midst of LA’s heartbreaking animal shelter system. Never giving up, Armando and his team have saved over 1000 lives and created new tactics, technology, and inspiration for similar programs to develop in more cities.

Shot over the course of three year, SMART is a great example of how a team of passionate and dedicated people can become real-life superheroes.

Info:

• Director: Justin Zimmerman
• TRT: 74 mins

Synopsis

When Donald Trump says, "This election is rigged"—he should know. His buddies are rigging it.
Rolling Stone investigative reporter Greg Palast busted Jeb Bush for stealing the 2000 election by purging Black voters from Florida’s electoral rolls. Now Palast is back to take a deep dive into the Republicans’ dark operation, Crosscheck, designed to steal a million votes by November.
Crosscheck is controlled by a Trump henchman, Kris Kobach, Kansas Secretary of State who claims his computer program has identified 7.2 million people in 29 states who may have voted twice in the same election--a felony crime. The catch? Most of these "suspects" are minorities—in other words, mainly Democratic voters. Yet the lists and the evidence remain "confidential".
Palast and his investigative side-kick Badpenny do what it takes to get their hands on the data, analyze it and go find some of these 7.2 million Americans tagged "suspects" and "potential duplicate voters" whose votes are threatened this November.
They hunt down and confront Kobach with the evidence of his "lynching by laptop." Then they are off to find the billionaires behind this voting scam. The search takes Palast from Kansas to the Arctic, the Congo, and to a swanky Hamptons dinner party held by Trump’s sugar-daddy, John Paulson, a.k.a. "JP The Foreclosure King." Palast and Badpenny stake out top GOP donors, the billionaire known as "The Vulture" and the Koch brothers, whom Palast nails with a damning tape recording.
This real life detective story is told in a film noir style with cartoon animations, secret documents, hidden cameras, and a little help from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit detectives, Ice-T and Richard Belzer, Shailene Woodley, Rosario Dawson, Willie Nelson and Ed Asner, Palast and his associates expose the darkest plans of the uber-rich to steal America's democracy.

Info:

• Director: Greg Palast & David Ambrose
• TRT: 111 mins

Synopsis

As tradition requires, on his 25th birthday, Tom must choose the girl of his dreams, eyes shut, by the sound of her voice alone. Now, he must find her, guided solely by the memory of her voice. During his quest, Tom pictures her vividly and names her Jeanne. One evening after returning home from another fruitless search, he is surprised by a party and revelation: if he hasn’t found his voice after thirty days, she will come to him. However, the young woman that reveals herself, Lea, is not the one he pictured; she is not the one he loves. Tom rejects Lea but his father assures him that she is indeed the one he chose on his birthday. He must marry Lea.

Jeanne continues to appear to Tom when he closes his eyes, only now more vividly. Who is Jeanne? Does she exist, or is she a fantasy? Will Tom ever find her?

From acclaimed French writer-director Thibault Arbre, comes a very poetic film about a young man facing an impossible quest – and an impossible love. Selected in several major festivals including the prestigious Cleveland International Film Festival and Montreal World Film Festival, Now We’re Alive is produced by Giles Daoust (Starry Eyes, Soulmate, Forest Man) .

Info:

• Director: Thibault Arbre
• TRT: 97 mins

Synopsis

Glen Dunzweiler was faced with the threat of losing his home. Suddenly, a life that seemed reserved only for the mentally ill and drug addicted felt closer than he had ever imagined. This realization led him to question, what is it like to be homeless in the United States?

With only his production equipment, a car, and some bare essentials, Glen set out across America to discover what led people to a life on the street, what daily life was like for them, and what they had to do to survive. In order to better understand the homeless and the service providers he would interview, Glen chose to live virtually down-and-out by sticking to a minimal budget and sleeping only in his car or on a friendly couch when he could find one. Glen quickly experienced the desperation, irritability, and the instability that comes from going without the things we take for granted.

Glen discovers that homelessness is unbiased and could happen to anyone without a support network to fall back on. By traveling the country and speaking with destitute men and women, Glen confirms that homeless people are people first, and deserve not our pity, but our respect and our help.

Info:

• Director: Glen Dunzweiler
• TRT: 87 mins

Synopsis

In 2013, biologist Dr. Brian Hooker received a call from a Senior Scientist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who led the agency’s 2004 study on the Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine and its link to autism.
The scientist, Dr. William Thompson, confessed that the CDC had omitted crucial data in their final report that revealed a causal relationship between the MMR vaccine and autism.
Over several months, Dr. Hooker records the phone calls made to him by Dr. Thompson who provides the confidential data destroyed by his colleagues at the CDC.
Dr. Hooker enlists the help of Dr. Andrew Wakefield, the British gastroenterologist falsely accused of starting the anti-vax movement when he first reported in 1998 that the MMR vaccine may cause autism. In his ongoing effort to advocate for children’s health, Wakefield directs this documentary examining the evidence behind an appalling cover-up committed by the government agency charged with protecting the health of American citizens.
Interviews with pharmaceutical insiders, doctors, politicians, and parents of vaccine-injured children reveal an alarming deception that has contributed to the skyrocketing increase of autism and potentially the most catastrophic epidemic of our lifetime.

Info:

• Director: Andrew Wakefield
• TRT: 91 mins
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Synopsis

Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Sandy. The increasing frequency of such devastating weather events demonstrates the realities of climate change and rising seas. For many coastal communities the impacts will be devastating. They have been fighting against vanishing coastlines for years with mixed results; often having no choice but to abandon properties and move buildings. Adding to this conversation are the conservationists and scientists who feel the coastlines should be left alone for a multitude of different reasons.

Rising Tides explores the topic of coastline erosion, showing what has been done in the past, what is being done now, what worked, what didn’t and what the coastal areas can expect in the future. Through interviews with scientists, experts, nonprofits, homeowners, government officials, and other groups offering possible solutions, Rising Tides covers all angles of this life-threatening issue.

This award winning documentary offers an interesting and educational perspective so that the viewer can decide what should or should not be done to combat this global threat in our very near future.

Info:

• Director: J. Lazarus Auerbach & Scott Duthie
• TRT: 89 mins
• Trailer

Synopsis

After suffering a heart attack, retired General José Mendieta (Damián Alcázar) is haunted by his dark past as an officer in Operation Condor, the CIA-backed campaign of political repression in Latin America that was responsible for executions, torture, and imprisonments in the 1970’s. It is estimated that over 400,000 people were imprisoned and 30,000 forcibly disappeared as a result of these government actions. In a letter to his son Pablo (Bernardo Peña), Mendieta confesses the role he played in the abduction, persecution, and execution of countless men and women during his posting to Chile. Journalist Marco (Carlotto Cotta) and his pregnant wife Luciá (Carla Ortiz) are among those who were arrested, along with their activist friend Antonio (Tomás Fonzi) and revolutionary Andrea (Ana Calentano). They suffer terribly under Mendieta and his cohort Sanera (Rafael Ferro, Guapas), which leads to a cascade of betrayals, secrets, and stolen lives that spans generations.

Olvidados (Forgotten), Bolivia’s Foreign Language Film submission for the 87th Academy Awards®, stars renowned actors from five countries, and was filmed in Bolivia, Argentina, and New York. It is the first film to specifically address the horrors perpetrated under Operation Condor, which was responsible for: 50,000 deaths; 30,000 'disappeared'; and 400,000 arrested and imprisoned in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

Info:

• Director: Carlos Bolado
• TRT: 68 mins
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Synopsis

In Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood, the Vida/SIDA Cacica Pageant brings together members of the Puerto Rican community to celebrate its transgender participants. I Am The Queen follows Bianca, Julissa and Jolizza as they prepare for the pageant under the guidance of Ginger Valdez, an experienced transgender mentor from the neighborhood. These trans women share stories of their transition, their relatives’ varying reactions, and how they find support from within the community. Family dynamics, cultural heritage, and personal identity all play a part in how the contestants face the daily struggle that comes from being true to themselves.

Info:

• Director: Henrique Cirne-Lima & Josue Pellot
• TRT: 75 mins
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Synopsis

After a viral epidemic eliminated 90% of the world’s population, survivors struggle to rebuild and reconnect with the world they’ve lost. Autonomous drones, originally meant to deliver vaccinations for the deadly disease, now wander aimlessly through the sky and are hunted for their parts and power sources.
But when a 16-year-old boy named Kitch stumbles on a peculiar drone named DR1, clues about his long-lost father begin to surface. As Kitch defends his new drone from the local crime syndicate, he befriends a young female member named Maya. With Maya’s encouragement and DR1 leading the way, the three travelers set out on a journey to find Kitch’s father. With potential enemies around every corner, Kitch, Maya and DR1 must work together to navigate the unknown and find the answers they seek."

Info:

• Director: Henrique Cirne-Lima & Josue Pellot
• TRT: 99 mins
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Synopsis

At the age of six, Dusty Brandom was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a degenerative disease that affects 1 in every 3,500 boys born. While life expectancy varies in each case, those with the disease rarely live past their 20s.
Dusty’s family realized that their happy and playful child would suffer a long, progressively weakening condition until his heart and breathing muscles ceased to function. As a family, they united to learn as much as they could about the disease and to enjoy every moment in life, which eventually led Dusty to ask the question “how come there are no old people with Duchenne?” This inspired Dusty’s mother, Catherine Jayasuriya, to form Coalition Duchenne in order to spread global awareness and raise funding for research and a cure. With the support of other affected families, they decide to scale Mt. Kinabalu, a sacred 13,455-foot high mountain, on the Malaysian island of Borneo. This is their journey.

Info:

• Director: Catherine Jayasuriya
• TRT: 65 mins
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Synopsis

Frankie (Diana DeGarmo, American Idol) is as headstrong about her rock band, The Altos, as she is about her Italian-American heritage. She has her life planned down to the last cannoli, including being engaged to a good Italian man, until she discovers a corpse in the trunk of her rental car. Convinced it was a mob hit, her sister, Heather, persuades Frankie to attend the funeral. There they meet Nicolette (Natalie Knepp), the daughter of the new Brooklyn mafia don. When Nicolette shows up at Frankie’s gig, it triggers a cascade of events that take Frankie towards an unexpected romance. Also starring Lin Tucci (Orange is the New Black), David Valcin (Person of Interest), Billy Wirth (The Lost Boys), and Annabella Sciorra (The Hand That Rocks the Cradle).

Info:

• Director: Mikki Del Monico
• TRT: 101 mins
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Synopsis

Narrated by George Takei, Message From Hiroshima provides an inside look at life and culture in the city before the first atomic bomb was dropped. Today, where the Hon and Motoyasu Rivers meet, stands the Peace Memorial Park – the former location of the Nakajima district, which was once home to thousands of people and hundreds of businesses. When the first atomic bomb was detonated 2,000 feet above Hiroshima’s city center on August 6, 1945, all of that vanished. Seventy years later, Director Masaaki Tanabe makes it his mission to revive the memory of what once was by interviewing hibakusha (survivors) and former residents. These heart-wrenching testimonials, along with computer -generated recreations of restaurants, shoe stores, cinemas, and the famous Industrial Promotion Hall, recreate the sights, sounds, and smells of a lost culture and people.

Info:

• Director: Masaaki Tanabe
• TRT: 52 mins
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Synopsis

Based on the acclaimed memoir by renowned guitarist Andy Summers, Can’t Stand Losing You: Surviving The Police follows Summers’ journey from his early days in the psychedelic ‘60s music scene, when he played with The Animals, to chance encounters with drummer Stewart Copeland and bassist Sting, which led to the formation of a punk trio, The Police.

The band’s phenomenal rise and its highly publicized dissolution at the height of their fame in the early ’80s was captured by Summers’ camera.

Utilizing rare archival footage, Summers’ photos, and insights from the guitarist’s side of the stage, Can’t Stand Losing You brings together past and present as the band members prepare to reunite for the first time in two decades for a global reunion.

Info:

• Director: Andy Grieve & Lauren Lazin
• TRT: 83 mins
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Synopsis

Generation Baby Buster is a documentary film that explores the reason why so many women are just saying no to procreation. Armed with insight from those who write and think about the current state of affairs for mothers, the director confronts her own ambivalence towards children and motherhood, offering up some baby food-for-thought to a new generation of women: the baby busters.

Info:

• Director: Terra Renton
• TRT: 90 mins
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Synopsis

Corruption, kidnapping and vigilante justice fuel this explosive debut by Mexican filmmaker Everardo Gout. Set in Mexico City during three consecutive World Cup tournaments, three lives impacted by kidnappings, intersect. Lupe, an idealistic cop, is tasked to investigate a crime ring and finds that justice has no place when a human life has a price. When Susana’s businessman- husband Arturo is kidnapped, she must go outside the law to fight for his release. And Iguana dreams of becoming a boxer even as he is drawn into a lifestyle that finds him guarding kidnap Victim X and facing down a kidnapping mastermind.

The multi Ariel Award winning film features music by Atticus Ross, Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, and Shigeru Umebayashi and features Scarlett Johansson on vocals in ‘Summertime.’

Info:

• Director: Everardo Gout
• TRT: 121 mins
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Synopsis

A Second Knock at the Door is an award-winning documentary that offers a rare glimpse into the lives of military families dealing with the loss of loved ones due to friendly fire. Through interviews and investigative reports, this film explores key incidents that forced families of the fallen to embark on individual, but integrally linked quests for the truth after the Army attempted to bury the truth within the "fog of war."
Unwilling to allow these soldiers to be defined by their death, A Second Knock at the Door explores the men outside of their uniforms through the eyes of the communities that saw them not only as heroes, but as son, husbands, fathers, fiancés and friends.

Info:

• Director: Christopher E. Grimes
• TRT: 92 mins
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Synopsis

This is the epic story of Afghanistan seen through the eyes of an Afghan warrior, independent filmmakers and a small group of independent journalists, two who died covering the story. The filmmakers spent more than 20 years capturing the Soviet occupation, the exile of millions of refugees maimed by Soviet mines, a violent civil war, the fatal alliance of the Taliban with al-Qaeda, the invasion by United States forces and people still determined to survive to this day.

Filmmakers Jim Burroughs and Suzanne Bauman have a wealth of footage from more than 20 years of following this story, as well as compelling footage from the 1950’s and ‘60’s showing life in Afghanistan before the war. The witnesses recall events and tell the story over time – they grow older through the film.

“We have been struck by how little of the history behind the terrorist headlines is finding its way to American audiences, “ says Burroughs. American television is seduced by the ever-changing present, but no insight comes without understanding the past. A history that is not understood is one that will come back to cast a long shadow.

Director Jim Burroughs wrote a memoir on the making of the film entitled BLOOD ON THE LENS.

Info:

• Director: Jim Burroughs
• TRT: 90 mins
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Synopsis

When Astrid, a professional therapist struggling to find meaningful friendships, starts having an affair with her patient Céline’s husband, it puts a strain on an already difficult relationship with her son, David. Meanwhile, Céline, a former prostitute content with her domesticated life, befriends David when he tries to run away from home by booking a flight through her travel agency. When David discloses the affair to Céline, she must decide how to deal with the betrayal and lies.

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• Director: Pierre-Loup Rajot
• TRT: 89 mins
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Synopsis

When Edmond (Michel Bouquet), a man quickly facing the loss of his independence, is placed in a care facility after taking a bad fall, he discovers that his son has sold his apartment. Determined to reclaim his autonomy, he leaves the care facility with Rose (Florence Loiret Caille), an empathetic nurse still suffering from the loss of her unborn child. She takes him into her home to allow him the measure of freedom he deserves. Through this new living situation they develop a bond, which helps them move forward with their lives. However, the unlikely friends must face the consequences when Edmond is reported missing.

Info:

• Director: Stéphanie Chuat and Veronique Réymond
• TRT: 87 mins
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Synopsis

Allen, a documentary filmmaker, scores the story of his life when Mark Chambers, a former pro football star with a lot of financial baggage, agrees to be the subject of a movie; he unwittingly becomes an accomplice to Mark’s efforts to turn his life around. As the film crew records Mark’s daily activities—from selling his championship ring and confronting drivers of suspiciously parked vehicles to riding a roller coaster and gambling at an underground fight club—Allen discovers a whole new dimension to his childhood hero. However, when Mark’s impulsive decisions begin to affect everyone’s safety, Allen must figure a way to prevent his new friend from traveling down a dark path.

Info:

• Director: Eddie Conna
• TRT: 94 mins
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Synopsis

Citizen Autistic offers an inside look at the activists on the frontlines of the autism war—the fight for human rights and self-advocacy. Featuring interviews with Ari Ne'eman, President of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, Landon Bryce, founder of thAutcast.com, artist Robyn Steward, Clarissa Kripke, MD, and activist Zoe Gross, who discuss how Autism Speaks, one of the largest organizations in America, relies on propaganda to raise funds for genetic research without considering families touched by autism. Directed by William Davenport (Too Sane for this World), Citizen Autistic seeks to expose the controversies provoked by the organization's so-called advocacy by giving voice to some of the most articulate members of the communities it claims to represent.

Info:

• Director: William Davenport
• TRT: 68 mins
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Synopsis

In the remote Northern Territory of Australia, the Galpu clan, an Aboriginal family led by renowned didgeridoo master craftsman, Djalu Gurruwiwi, struggles to maintain its ancestral traditions in the face of modern societal, economic, and environmental pressures. When the Galpu youth display little interest in maintaining the clan’s legacy and the impact of the nearby Rio Tinto mine begins to take its toll, the clan elders must devise a strategy to preserve their way of life and cultural identity.

Narrated by Emmy® Award winner and Academy Award® nominated actor & activist, James Cromwell, IN BETWEEN SONGS captures the global imperative to preserve a priceless culture and its musical legacy.

Info:

• Director: Joshua Bell
• TRT: 86 mins
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Synopsis

When Samantha, a bright-eyed graduate who plans to live in the city with her best friend, Victoria, can’t find employment due to lack of experience, she is forced to move back home and take a job at an ice cream parlor, where she is further demoralized by old classmates. Meanwhile, feeling abandoned by her friend, Victoria struggles to find a suitable replacement roommate, while enduring corporate life and her boss’ egomaniacal demands. But when Samantha convinces Victoria to use her corporate position as part of a shady business opportunity to solve their problems, the strain on their friendship comes to a head. Now, Samantha must figure out how to get her friend back, while still searching for a way to get her life on track.

Info:

• Director: Sloan Copeland
• TRT: 88 mins
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Synopsis

When Joey Thurmond, a former professional wrestler and rodeo cowboy, quits the police force to realize his dream of performing as a clown full time, he recruits his family and puts his life’s savings into the show. However, pressures mount while on the road when his acrobat is threatened with deportation and the 24/7 schedule puts a strain on his relationship with his co-star and son. Can Joey keep NoJoe’s Clown Circus going until the end of the season?

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• Director: Daniel Espeut
• TRT: 84 mins
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Synopsis

Mike Bauer was born to be fast and chased his dreams – from acting and singing to motor sports – until a tragic motorcycle accident left him paralyzed and on the verge of suicide. When he meets Dr. Scott Falci, a rehabilitative neurosurgeon and an amateur racing enthusiast who recognizes Mike’s potential as a driver, they venture into the uncharted territory of designing a race car with adaptive controls designed for the paraplegic driver. Will climbing behind the wheel of this new race car be enough to bring mike back from the brink?

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• Director: Brian Malone
• TRT: 55 mins
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Synopsis

When filmmakers Tiernan Turner and Matt Kendall decide to go to the world famous Carnaval, they embark on a 10,000 mile, cross-continental road trip of a lifetime – from Las Vegas to Rio de Janeiro – on nothing but Suzuki motorcycles and the help of the burgeoning, international social network of adventure riders and couch-surfers. Along the way they make life-changing connections with strangers and fellow travelers, proving despite all of our fears, the world is filled with kind and generous people. But as they encounter dangerous terrain, mechanical failures, and logistical problems, they must find their strength in order to make it to the festival on time.

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• Director: Tiernan Turner, Matt Kendal
• TRT: 90 mins
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Synopsis

Adopting a child means undergoing rigorous assessment marked by bureaucracy, paperwork and, often, an outlay of cash. Filmmakers Michael Dudko and Olga Rudnieva ask themselves if they are fit for parenthood after they personally witness Sir Elton John and David Furnish’s failure to adopt. Their investigation of the regulations, cultural prejudices, and child trafficking policies behind the process takes them from the slums of Ukraine, through China, and the US. They speak with prospective parents, social workers, lawyers, psychologists, and adoption agencies to find a flawed system that allows millions of orphans to languish in foster care and learn that children lack the most basic human rights.

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• Director: Michael Dudko, Olga Rudnieva
• TRT: 94 mins
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Synopsis

After being jilted by her fiancé, Margaret manages her loneliness by obsessively and compulsively organizing her already perfect home. But when her older sister, Josephine, and ten-year-old niece, Hannah, arrive unexpectedly for what seems an indefinite visit, Margaret’s carefully structured life is thrown into disarray, forcing her to adapt to the duo’s free-spirited lifestyle and to confront the years of estrangement. Weighed down by guilt for abandoning her sister after their parents’ death and questioning her parenting skills, Josephine does her best to reconnect with Margaret by including her in family activities with Hannah – truth or dare games, backyard movie nights, and upside-down floating heads. Initially resistant, Margaret slowly opens herself to the mess of family emotions and realizes a new definition of family while learning that the bonds of sisterhood can be reestablished with time. But just as Margaret begins to embrace her new family, she discovers the truth behind Josephine’s visit.

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• Director: Nikki Braendlin
• TRT: 91 mins
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Rhona, a yoga instructor committed to a vegan lifestyle, must entertain Leo, her red meat-loving, blue collar father-in-law, as she waits for her husband to join them for dinner. When Leo attempts to apologize for a past insult, he instead opens up a debate that challenges her belief system. Their conversation quickly escalates into a heated argument that scrutinizes animal cruelty, climate change, health, morality, and spirituality.
Endorsed by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and reminiscent of the classic film My Dinner With Andre, Living Things presents a compelling dialogue about humanity and the benefits of a healthier, environmentally-conscious lifestyle.

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• Director: Eric Shapiro
• TRT: 75 mins
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Too Sane for This World explores the challenges, gifts, and distinct perspectives of 12 adults on the autism spectrum. Featuring an introduction by bestselling author, Dr. Temple Grandin, and interviews designed by adults with high-functioning autism, the film discusses many of the problems facing the autism community – from bullying to marginalization and discrimination. A unique collaboration between neurotypical and atypical individuals, men and women living on the spectrum speak candidly about defining and coming to terms with their autism, difficulties they’ve faced, and the experiences that have shaped their lives, illustrating the neurodiversity of the mind and it’s limitless potential.

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• Director: William Davenport
• TRT: 63 mins
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The ancient city of Akka, along the northern coast of Israel, is the home to a melting pot of Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Baha’i. For centuries, its surrounding forty-foot sea wall has protected its citizens and repelled invaders. As the Old City endures harsh economic pressures and vast social changes, Palestinian families who have lived here for generations are being pressured to leave.
Despite the daily challenges they face, the city’s youth – sons and daughters of fishermen, school teachers, and artists – continue a perilous inter-generational rite of passage expressing individuality and the right to control their destiny: jumping from the high wall into the tempestuous sea below.
IT’S BETTER TO JUMP captures the spirit of Akka’s Arab residents and the leap of faith they make towards self-determination and a better future.

Info:

• Director: Patrick Stewart, Mouna Stewart, Gina Angelone
• TRT: 73 mins
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Caught in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, Patrick Lovell, one of 10 million people who lost their homes, finds himself asking why he and so many Americans were blindsided by the economy's implosion. How could his pursuit of the American Dream – starting a business, providing for his new family, and owning a home – drive him to financial ruin?

Coinciding with the exponential growth of the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement, Lovell embarks on a cross-country journey to discover what happened to the America originally founded to be free from tyranny. Conversations with a broad spectrum of energy and political academics, OWS protestors, professional developers, real estate agents, and attorneys all lead to the same conclusion: the system is broken.

FORWARD 13: WAKING UP THE AMERICAN DREAM provides a fresh, personal perspective on the mortgage crisis and its ties to big government. And while the road to recovery is a long and difficult one, there are clear, sustainable methods to revive the American Dream.

Info:

• Director: Patrick Lovell
• TRT: 97 mins
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Synopsis

Hilarious Performance Artist Kristina Wong vows that at the end of her 85 minute one woman show, she will save all Asian American women from the inexplicably high rates of suicide and depression affecting them. How is she so qualified? Because she’s has never been depressed herself. Really! She even says that any autobiographical reference she makes to having been depressed is totally fictional. Because what Chinese American family isn’t perfect? Certainly not the Wongs!
Irreverent, clever, and insanely meta-theatrical, Wong’s attempts at playing savior unravel faster than the nest of yarn she’s perched on. She descends quickly into the divide between Asian porn stars and the impossibly perfect.
Along the way she becomes a hysterical living commentary on the cultural and societal pressures that may be creating depression in the first place.
Wong’s Tour De Force performance played over seven years to 50 venues across the US.

Info:

• Director: Michael Closson
• TRT: 81 mins
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The soulful journey of a professional street dance company, Versa-Style, as they create an inspired theatrical stage show in Los Angeles. Led by Jackie “Miss Funk” Lopez, a single Latina mother, and her partner Leigh “Breeze-Lee” Foaad, they pull together a dance company with young people from the street scene and the yards of Los Angeles’ public schools, infusing in them a sense of discipline and commitment. A community develops where people of all races and creeds are able to express themselves, turning their fears and desperation into performance art. More than a dance troupe, Versa-Style becomes a family and serves to upend prejudice about the hip hop lifestyle.

Info:

• Director: Calvin Leung
• TRT: 88 mins
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As children, British actor Paul Blackthorne and Australian photographer Mister Basquali both fell in love with America. Later they each fulfilled their dream to live there, but after two wars, a near economic collapse, and uncertainty about the country's direction, these two expats began to have doubts—was America still the great place they once dreamed of?

They drive across America to find out, interviewing random people about issues that affect and confront us all. From the ghetto to the gun show, the courthouse to the cattle yard, they are touched by the wisdom and insight of the people they meet.

This American Journey is a cinematic postcard from the people to the people, teaching us that hearts can be healed at the most unexpected times and in the most unexpected places.

Info:

• Director: Paul Blackthorne
• TRT: 91 mins
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As an architect begins renovations to convert an old castle to a hotel, he uncovers more than he was expecting. He and his team of contractors experience hauntings and find what could be a portal to the afterlife.

Info:

• Director: Brian Higgins
• TRT: 76 mins
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Red Reign examines the shocking evidence of forced organ harvesting of China’s prisoners of conscience, the practitioners of Falun Gong. Falun Gong, a spiritual practice rooted in the Buddha school and introduced to the public in 1991, was banned by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1999. Hundreds of thousands of practitioners were arrested, imprisoned and brutally tortured if they did not recant their beliefs of 'truthfulness, compassion and forbearance.' In 2006, a report by human rights lawyer David Matas, as well as David Kilgour, a former member of the Canadian Parliament, alleged that Falun Gong prisoners were being killed in order to harvest their organs for the lucrative government-run transplant business.
Filmmaker Masha Savitz zeroes in on the efforts of the Nobel Prize nominee David Matas, who wrote the book ‘Bloody Harvest: The Killing of Falun Gong.’ Featuring interviews with Matas, David Kilgour, victims of the Falun Gong persecution and several doctors who share chilling transplant testimonies, as well as a filmmaker whose film on the topic was effectively quashed by the CCP in Canada, Europe, and the US, Red Reign makes a stunning case. An international story of tangled politics and economics which is intentionally suppressed by the Chinese, Red Reign shows how a large scale persecution of a minority people can still happen in our modern day society.

Info:

• Director: Masha Savitz
• TRT: 61 mins
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‘After the End’ is a documentary film about the effect of loss in each of our lives. Following the stories of people who have each experienced the death of a loved one, the film explores what it means to lose someone without losing ourselves in the process.
Guided by Andrew Morgan, who lost his father in a cycling accident, the filmmakers journey across America speaking with families who have recently experienced a loss, sharing their heartfelt stories about working through the experience. Through interviews with hospice coordinators, bereavement specialists and experts on grief counseling, including Alan D. Wolfelt (author, educator and founder of Center For Loss & Life Transition), Rev. David M. Smith and Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (via archival video), the author of the seminal work on grief issues, “On Death and Dying,” we are reminded that by sharing our pain, we allow ourselves to heal.

Info:

• Director: Andrew Morgan
• TRT: 79 mins
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Lucky Express: India’s Forgotten Train Kids crisscrosses India’s railways with the desperate children who have made this vast network their home. Lucky, a former train kid with dreams of becoming a filmmaker serves as the guide, allowing intimate access to the children who share their astonishing life stories, hopes, and dreams. Criss crossing the plains of India all the way to Nepal, the film follows Lucky, as he returns to the Himalayan foothills to search for the family he left at the age of five years old. With over 11 million passengers, 39,450 miles of tracks, 15,000 trains, and 7,000 stations, Indian Railways, India’s train system, is a universe unto itself. Each year over 120,000 destitute children, with nowhere else to go, arrive at the platforms and join a gang in order to survive. Depending on their gang leader, some pick rags, serve tea or collect water bottles. Others turn to pick-pocketing or worse, glue-sniffing and prostitution.

Info:

• Director: Anna Fischer
• TRT: 86 mins
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Robert Williams was an artist in search of a movement. A prolific oil painter, whose painstakingly detailed work often featured naked women, death, destruction, booze and clowns, he didn’t quite fit the fine art mold. In the early 1960s he was confronted with trendy abstraction and superficial pop art. Schooled in the Hot Rod Culture of Ed “Big Daddy” Roth and Von Dutch, he emerged as a leader in the Underground Comic revolution along with R. Crumb, contributing regularly to Zap Comix. His antisocial paintings of an alternative reality were marginalized by the art world for decades although he became a hero of sorts for underground artists. His notoriety exploded when his painting Appetite for Destruction was used (and much vilified) as the cover for that 1987 Guns N’ Roses’ album.
When he started Juxtapoz Magazine in 1994, his movement found him. Legions of artists looking for a place within the contemporary art world for their cartoonish realism identified with his “LowBrow” aesthetic. At the time, Williams predicted that, “Low brow and alternative art are the crack in the dam and with this leak the art world will never be the same.” By 2010 the art world could ignore him no longer and he was included in the prestigious Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. ROBERT WILLIAMS MR. BITCHIN documents this influential artist as he rises to the top of the art world, always an outsider.

Info:

• Director: Mary Reese CO-DIRECTORS: Nancye Ferguson, Michael LaFetra; Stephen Nemeth; Doug Blake
• TRT: 89 mins
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THE HAPPY POET is an all-organic, mostly vegetarian comedy about Bill, a struggling poet who pours his heart, soul, and last few dollars into starting a healthy food stand, surprising friends and customers with his dry wit and offbeat passion. Motivated by help from a rag-tag group of supporters and a budding romance with a poetry-loving customer, Bill strives to make a difference in the world, until surprising complications jeopardize his new friendships and threaten Bill’s dreams for a hot dog-free future. THE HAPPY POET cleverly re-works the classic American film story of the underdog struggling against the system, adding a dose of deadpan humor and a fresh take on a young generation’s interest in the intersection of a social conscience and the food we eat.

Info:

• Director: Paul Gordon
• TRT: 85 mins
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In May 2011, the State of California announced plans to close one quarter of its 278 parks. The closure list included thousands of acres of park land, recreation areas, wildlife reserves, and 50% of the state's historic parks.

Upon learning that the state would save merely $22 million with these closures--while undermining local economies--three young filmmakers set out to visit the first 70 parks that were doomed to close. Along the 3,000 mile trek, they capture both the majesty of the state’s parks and the outrage of local community members, park rangers and environmental activists who are confounded by the State’s financial logic, yet determined to keep these wondrous expanses of beauty open to the public.

The First 70 is an awe-inspiring journey through California’s most historic natural treasures that highlights the ongoing fight to keep them open for future generations.

Info:

• Director: Jarratt Moody
• TRT: 30 mins
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SAVE THE FARM tells the story of the largest urban farm in the United States, a 14-acre organic farm sitting right in the middle of South Central Los Angeles. Over 350 farmers cultivated this farm, which fed their families and community and created an urban oasis for more than 14 years. But when the city sells this public tract of land to a developer in a closed door session, activists and celebrities stage an 11th hour tree sit to try and save the farmers from eviction.

Although this film depicts one local story, filmmaker Michael Kuehnert demonstrates that protecting green spaces and urban farming is a successful solution for local, affordable organic food in cities everywhere and an important building block for a sustainable future.

Info:

• Director: Michael Kuehnert
• TRT: 31 mins
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The California Condor neared extinction in the 1980s until biologists nurtured the population and saw their numbers grow upward to 160. However, these noble birds face a grave threat which prevents them from flourishing further: lead poisoning. SCAVENGER HUNT chronicles the battle between bird and man, as the birds, which mostly reside in Northern Arizona, are coming down with lead poisoning which they contract from eating the flesh of buckshot deer. Filmmaker Matthew Podolsky finds the one person who understands all sides of the issue: Chris Parish, the Condor Program Director charged with protecting the birds who is also a lifelong hunter. Parish is the link to reconciling the card-holding NRA with the EPA activists to ban lead-based ammunition.

Info:

• Director: Matthew Podolsky and Eddie Chung
• TRT: 56 mins
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SUPERPOWER goes behind the scenes of America’s national security apparatus and military operations to illustrate America’s quest for global dominance through economic and military strategy. Framed by dozens of interviews with notable experts like historian Noam Chomsky, Commander Eric Haney (founder of Delta Force, the Army’s counter-terrorist arm), and Dr. Sergei Khrushchev, son of Nikita Khrushchev, who offer analysis of U.S. foreign policy, SUPERPOWER exposes this quest with a comprehensive review of historical events and archival footage. What emerges is a view of U.S. international policy in stark contrast to that depicted by mainstream media and U.S. heads of state.

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• Director: Barbara-Anne Steegmuller
• TRT: 118 mins
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On April 20th, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded off the Gulf of Mexico, killing eleven BP workers and spewing 200 million barrels of oil into the ocean. DIRTY ENERGY brings to light the personal stories of the Louisiana fishermen and local residents directly impacted by the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. Filmmaker Bryan D. Hopkins gains intimate access to the lives and homes of these people, as they struggle to rebuild their lives and contend with emerging health crises related to the toxic dispersants used to clean up the spill. DIRTY ENERGY paints a poignant portrait of the human cost of the calamity, and the systematic failure by BP and the U.S. Government to effectively and transparently manage the environmental impact.

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• Director: Bryan D. Hopkins
• TRT: 94 mins
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Twenty-six year old charmer Daniel Dembélé is equal parts West African and Italian, and looking to make his mark on the world. Seizing the moment at a crossroads in his life, Daniel returns to his impoverished homeland in Mali to start a micro business building recycled solar panels from scraps – the first of its kind in this tiny sun drenched nation in the Sahara Desert. Daniel’s goal is to electrify the households of rural communities, 99% of which live without power. BURNING IN THE SUN is Daniel’s journey to grow his idea into a viable company, and see his dream of improving the lives of his countrymen realized, beginning with the small village of Banko. With controversial stances on sustainable energy, poverty, and African self-sufficiency, the documentary explores what it means to become your own man and the small steps that can change the destiny of a nation.

Info:

• Director: Cambria Matlow, Morgan Robinson
• TRT: 85 mins
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Playa Pal Pueblo is the name given to a small circle of tents on the beach in Carolina, Puerto Rico, where a handful of environmental activists have lived for six years, weathering mosquitoes, hurricanes and heat, to protest the development of a Marriott hotel. United by their belief that that this unassuming beach belongs to the people, this tenacious ‘band of brothers’ have held off construction of the new hotel -- despite constant pressure from Marriott managers -- and the Puerto Rican tourism board. Filmmaker Juan C. Davila moves into the camp and explores the unique personalities, deep passions and determination of the people who are fighting to protect the beach. In the shadow of a multi-million dollar construction project, a rag tag group of concerned activists come together and show how the power of the people can defeat a giant.

Info:

• Director: Juan C. Davila
• TRT: 58 mins
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CELEBRITY TRIALS IN THE MEDIA confronts one of the most pressing issues facing the modern television news business today -- the need to deliver big ratings that drive advertising revenue – and a new definition of ‘news.’ Celebrity trials are big business, and when the news media comes to town to cover sensational cases, lives are changed and ethical barriers are shattered. If a celebrity is involved, an otherwise unnoticed case of drunk driving, insider trading, rape, or even murder gets more national and local coverage than the real news of the day.

Director Brian Malone was granted unprecedented access to the journalists scrambling to cover the rape trial of Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant in 2004. From his behind-the-scenes vantage point in the tiny town of Eagle, Colorado where the trial took place, Malone captures a pivotal moment in the news-gathering business -- when celebrity justice became a staple of reality television. The same year, the child molestation trial of singer Michael Jackson in Santa Maria, California, saw 1,800 journalists take extraordinary efforts to report on little but the screaming throngs of fans and footage of Jackson and his entourage entering and leaving the courthouse.

In CELEBRITY TRAILS IN THE MEDIA, notable news reporters candidly share the challenges and ethical dilemmas that arise when the camera lights go on and the deadline to deliver a compelling news story, nearly 24 hours/7 days a week, arrives.

Info:

• Director: Brian Malone
• TRT: 83 mins
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A three-time felon and one-time Tony Award winner, Lemon Andersen’s deeply personal art reflects his rough upbringing on the streets of Brooklyn. After losing both parents to drugs and eventually AIDS, Lemon discovered poetry while serving time. Through raw talent and unstoppable drive, he found himself on Broadway, starring in Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Jam. But when the show closed, he lost everything and moved his wife and two small daughters back to the projects to live with thirteen family members.

Desperate for a way out, he turns to the only things he has left, his pen and his past. LEMON follows one man’s three-year journey to adapt his life story for the New York stage while battling his darkest demons. It brings to life the anguish of a generation of men clinging to the margins but fighting for something more. A beautifully crafted film that features a surprise turn by Spike Lee and music by hip-hop phenoms Kanye West, Mos Def, Talib Kweli and Aloe Blacc.

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• Director: Laura Brownson, Beth Levison
• TRT: 83 mins
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Songwriter Seth Swirsky grew up in the 1960s idolizing the Beatles –their songs, their sound and their style. In 2004, he set out, video camera in hand, to talk to people who had crossed paths with his heroes. From Sir Ben Kingsley to Sir George Martin, and Beach Boy Brian Wilson to astronomer Brian Skiff, Swirsky filmed hundreds of personal recollections from people who knew them well to those who just had an unforgettable encounter.

Others who shared their recollections of the Fabs include: actors Henry Winkler (aka “The Fonz”) and Jon Voight; former Beatles recording engineers Norman “Hurricane” Smith, Ken Scott, and John Kurlander; musicians Smokey Robinson, Jackie DeShannon, Graham Nash, Davy Jones, Susanna Hoffs and Art Garfunkel, among dozens of others.

Swirsky found stories in unexpected places getting Beatles intimates to open up–neighbors, tour mates, business associates, even former girlfriends–all telling stories you’ve never heard before! Longtime Beatles friend and personal assistant Tony Bramwell calls Beatles Stories, "A Magical Mystery Tour de Force!"

Info:

• Director: Seth Swirsky
• TRT: 85 mins
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Eugene Stimpson is a superhero. Or, at least he plays one at birthday parties. His career hasn’t helped much with the ladies, until he runs into an old school flame, Emily, who finds his career choice compelling. However, when Eugene’s high school nemesis, Todd, gets a job playing a rival superhero, Eugene must keep his true identity hidden and finds himself competing for the affections of the same girl. Can he keep his identity concealed long enough to make his move and defeat Todd, or will the mounting lies be too much for him to handle?

Info:

• Director: Jeremy M. Inman
• TRT: 84 mins
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When it comes to independent animators, Bill Plympton is the undisputed king. His illustrations have been featured in The New York Times, The Village Voice, Vogue, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Penthouse, and National Lampoon. Since 1981, when his political cartoon Plymptoons was syndicated nationally, he has become a major force and inspiration in the animation world. His work is recognized instantly: he's the guy behind the animated morphing heads, which became famous on MTV, as well as the opening credit sequence for “The Simpsons.”

Moving into motion pictures, Plympton earned two Academy Award® nominations, has directed and animated over sixty animation shorts, live action features, music videos, commercials and documentaries including: “One of Those Days,” “How To Kiss,” “25 Ways to Quit Smoking,” “Plymptoons,” “The Tune,” and “Mutant Aliens.” He’s the only artist who has animated six feature length films …all by himself.

Adventures in Plymptoons! goes deep inside the method and madness of America’s most independent animator, creatively incubated in his hometown of Portland, Oregon. Interviews with many of Plympton’s collaborators, such as Tom Kenny (voice of SpongeBob SquarePants), David Silverman (Director “The Simpsons Movie”), Terry Gilliam (Writer, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”), Martha Plimpton (“The Good Wife”), Matthew Modine (“Full Metal Jacket”), Ed Begley, Jr., Peter Jason, Moby and “Weird Al” Yankovic, offer candid and comic insights into the irreverent man who has become an international success by not selling out.

Info:

• Director: Alexia Anastasio
• TRT: 85 mins
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FIDEL provides a unique view of Cuba’s controversial and most polarizing leader. In 1968, Castro took filmmaker and activist Saul Landau on a weeklong jeep ride through the eastern mountains. There, he plays baseball with a group of peasants, visits his pre-school and trades jokes with a 98-year old man. Fidel also listens to the people’s concerns about food distribution, bad roads and transportation. Landau captures Cuba’s revolutionary chief early in the morning in his tent. The camera zooms in on his dirty and delicate fingernails holding his trademark cigar while he tells a story of Símon Bolivar and offers tactical advice to guerrilla warriors throughout the Third World.

The film contains rare and fascinating archive footage of the Bay of Pigs invasion and scenes of Che Guevara alongside interviews with political prisoners. Spectacular photography and editing with hot Cuban music provide the cinematic aesthetics that give this film beautiful form to accompany its exciting content.

Info:

• Director: Saul Landau
• TRT: 95 mins
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An eye-opening look at the world of genetically modified foods through the lens of New Mexico’s iconic chile pepper. The chile pepper defines New Mexican cuisine and is considered a sacred plant by many cultures. Despite overwhelming evidence of gene flow, persistent safety questions, predatory multinational agribusiness corporations and potential economic damage, the State of New Mexico funded research to produce a GMO chile. First time for a US state. Because the funding is public, filmmaker Chris Dudley, was able to force a rare interview with a genetic researcher at NMSU. This film is packed with information about the harmful use of GMO technology and the ignorance shown by the proponents of GMO crops.

Info:

• Director: Chris Dudley
• TRT: 61 mins
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Mary Pickford, The Muse of the Movies traces the life and work of this legendary silent film star, movie pioneer and keen businesswoman. Pickford’s life (1892-1979) also parallels an even larger story, telling of the “birth of the cinema” itself. She co-created United Artists, spearheaded the founding of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, as well as established the Motion Picture Retirement Home. Known as “America’s Sweetheart,” Pickford was the first actress to earn $1 million dollars and the only star to ever receive a 50% profit share of her movies. She was the first to win an Oscar® for Best Actress in a “sound” motion picture for her performance in the 1929 film “Coquette.” In this documentary, through restored vintage audio recordings, Pickford narrates her own story along with actor Michael York.

Classic film clips, rare home movies and cameo interviews with Adolph Zukor (founder of Paramount Studios), famed aviator Amelia Earhart, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Lillian Gish, Buddy Rogers (Pickford’s last husband), as well as the only interview ever given by Pickford’s daughter, Roxanne Rogers Monroe, give audiences an in-depth look into the early world of the American cinema.

Info:

• Director: Nicholas Eliopoulos
• TRT: 101 mins
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PTOWN DIARIES chronicles the amazing history of Provincetown, Massachusetts from its evolution as the pilgrim's landing to its progression as the first artist's colony in the in the US. Embracing Provincetown's eccentric and rich heritage, PTOWN DIARIES weaves the stories of the New England Yankees, Portuguese fishermen, bohemian artists into a single mesmerizing history the landscape known as "Lands End."

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• Director: Joseph Mantegna
• TRT: 89 mins
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A provocateur, a rebel, a performer, and a true American, Norman Mailer never stopped giving people something to talk about. This documentary goes beyond the Mailer of the bookshelves and looks into the life of a complex, intellectual, working class hero.

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• Director: Joseph Mantegna
• TRT: 85 mins
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Adam Schomer meets a modern guru, Anand Mehrotra, and they plan a motorcycle expedition on some of the most dangerous roads in the world - - to the highest pass of the Himalayas in Northern India. They convince a team of seven intrepid souls to join them and share in what will surely become the journey of a lifetime. These riders are guided by the inspired teachings of Anand, who himself bears the burden of a Vedic prophecy that predicts he will die in his late twenties in an accident. He is that age when he leads the group with fearlessness and wisdom reminding them that, “Only the one who dies, truly lives.” Over 21 days and up to an elevation of 18,000 feet along a winding road, they never let altitude sickness, snow-covered roads, icy edges, or “road killer” trucks dampen their spirits or, ultimately, their deeper selves.

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• Director: Jon Fitzgerald
• TRT: 89 mins
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Filmed on the gritty streets of Chicago’s south side, STONY ISLAND tells the story of Richie Bloom (Richie Davis), the only white kid on the block, as he forms an R&B band with his best friend, Kevin (Edward ‘Stoney’ Robinson). With the help of their mentor, aging sax legend Percy (Gene ‘Daddy G’ Barge), they pull together a funky supergroup, stealing practice time at night in the local funeral home. Despite few resources and heavy losses, this resilient group of dedicated musicians -- armed only with wit, sleight of hand and outrageous Chicago bravado -- must come together to finally make their smash debut.

Info:

• Director: Andrew Davis
• TRT: 95 mins
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In 2008 Neil Finn (Crowded House) gathered together musicians from across the globe in New Zealand: Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam), Johnny Marr (The Smiths), Phil Selway and Ed O’Brien from Radiohead, Sebastian Steinberg (Soul Coffin), Lisa Germano, KT Tunstall and Wilco to record an album of new songs in three weeks with proceeds going to Oxfam. The Sun Came out is a behind the scenes look as these amazing artists conceive, write, record, and perform the songs.

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• Director: Simon Mark-Brown
• TRT: 90 mins
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On the evening of February 9, 1964, Ed Sullivan introduced The Beatles to America. With their jaws still on the floor and inspiration stirring within, thousands of youngsters began creating new in their parents garages. Teen A Go Go is a rock and roll stomp providing nostalgic ride into the vibrant teen scenes of the 60's. Featuring original recordings, rare footage, photographs and interviews Teen A Go Go captures this historic burst of creativity that changed rock and roll forever.

Info:

• Director: Melissa Kirkendall
• TRT: 78 mins
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Set against the backdrop of the July 7th terrorist attacks in 2005, LONDON RIVER follows Elizabeth (BAFTA winner, Academy Award® nominee Brenda Blethyn) from a small farming community in Guernsey as she travels to London in the immediate aftermath of the bombings after failing to hear from her daughter. Elizabeth is disturbed by the confusion of the metropolis and above all, by the predominantly Muslim neighborhood where her daughter lived. Her fear and prejudice escalate when she discovers her daughter was converting to Islam as she keeps crossing paths with Ousmane (Berlin's Silver Bear winner, Sotigui Kouyaté), a West African who has come from France to find his missing son. Although they come from very different backgrounds, Elizabeth and Ousmane share the same hope of finding their children alive. Putting aside their cultural differences, they give each other the strength to continue the search and maintain their faith in humanity.

Info:

• Director: Rachid Bouchareb
• TRT: 88 mins
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They left one revolution behind only to create another. Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond filmed and survived the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, immigrated in poverty to America, helped each other up the ladder out of the underbelly of Hollywood all the while holding onto their dreams. After ten years of no-budget toil, Laszlo’s camera broke Hollywood’s rules with Easy Rider. Suddenly in demand, he recommended Vilmos to both Peter Fonda and Robert Altman where Zsigmond poured his “poetic realism” into The Hired Hand and McCabe & Mrs. Miller. They were the go-to camera guys of the New Hollywood.
Among their 140 credits, Laszlo shot Five Easy Pieces, Paper Moon, Shampoo, Frances and Mask. Vilmos lensed Scarecrow, The Sugarland Express, Cinderella Liberty, The Rose, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Blow Out, The Deer Hunter and Heaven’s Gate all the while elevating the visual style of our movies. This film has many threads: social, political and artistic. It is a Cold War story, an American immigrant story and a glamorous, Hollywood success story where dreams do come true. This is an intimate portrait of two giants of modern image-making and their deep bond of brotherhood that transcended every imaginable boundary.

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• Director: James Chressanthis
• TRT: 86 mins
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Hosted by the two-time Academy Award® nominated actor and activist Woody Harrelson, ETHOS lifts the lid on a Pandora’s box of systemic issues that has proven to have a negative impact in every aspect of our lives. From the environment, our democracy and our personal liberty to conflicts of interest in politics and unregulated corporate power, we cannot change our system until we know how it works. From director and activist Pete McGrain, ETHOS sheds light on how we can affect change. With interviews from influential thought- leaders including, author and activist Noam Chomsky (Manufacturing Dissent: The Politi- cal Economy of the Mass Media), Chalmers Johnson (Blowback: The Sorrows of Empire), Oscar® winning documentarian Michael Moore and Howard Zinn (A People’s History of the United States) to name a few, ETHOS will show you how to make meaningful and sustainable change in order to create a world where we can live harmoniously in a clean environment.

Info:

• Director: Pete McGrain
• TRT: 68 mins
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When the Cold War ended, the generations that lived through it were relieved to finally vanquish the specter of a mushroom cloud from their minds. But today, thousands of nuclear weapons in the United States and Russia remain on high-alert, still poised to destroy the planet. THE FORGOTTEN BOMB explores our pre-conceptions about nuclear weapons and their history, investigates how they inform our sense of identity and discovers what the Bomber can learn from the Bombed.

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• Director: Stuart Overby
• TRT: 94 mins
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When Rafael Correa, an established economist, entered politics, he was a man on a mission. Elected as Ecuador’s President in 2006, he quickly transformed a country with archaic structures into a social, independent, ecological and participative democracy. Ecuadoreans now have genuine reason to believe that the rigid structures of the past are no longer acceptable and that they have a voice.

From the Yasuni Initiative, by which the country would no longer rely upon the exploitation of its natural oil resources, to the analyzing of the IMF debt structure, hear from Correa and other Ecuadorean leaders as they present alternatives regarding their political, ecological and economic status in the global marketplace and how they will put their people and the planet before profits.

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• Director: Jacques Sarasin
• TRT: 72 mins
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When Christmas rolled around again after his father’s death, Jack Sanderson realized he was not looking forward to the holiday. It seemed to Jack that Christmas had become a burden. He had only two choices: avoid it entirely or dive into the deepest part of the Christmas pool. In such a commercial culture, avoiding it seemed impossible, so Jack decided the best way to get through Christmas was to be in the eye of the Christmas Season storm. Jack would become Santa Claus and do as many of the things Santa is asked to do as possible. For the documentary “Becoming Santa,” director Jeff Myers followed Jack on his journey to become Santa which entailed getting a custom Santa suit from Adele Saidy of ‘Adele’s of Hollywood,’ attending the ‘American Events Santa School’ taught by Susen Mesco in Denver and then Santa jobs. Along the way, Santa Jack rides in the 57th Annual Quincy Christmas Parade, rings a bell on a street corner in New York City for Volunteers of America and appears on the Susquehanna Railroad’s ‘Polar Express’ in Phillipsburg, New Jersey. Wrapped around Jack’s journey into Christmas, like the red stripe around a candy cane, are interviews with professional Santas, Santa aficionados and historians who provide the fascinating little known history of Santa Claus in America and how the Civil War helped to shape the Christmas holiday as we know it today.

Info:

• Director: Jeff Myers
• TRT: 93 mins
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Synopsis

Every year there are more than 400,000 American children who are torn away from their friends, schools and homes to pick the food we all eat. Zulema, Perla and Victor labor as migrant farm workers, sacrificing their own childhoods to help their families survive. THE HARVEST/LA COSECHA profiles these three as they journey from the scorching heat of Texas’ onion fields to the winter snows of the Michigan apple orchards and back south to the humidity of Florida's tomato fields to follow the harvest.

From the Producers of the Academy-Award® nominated film, WAR/DANCE and Executive Producer Eva Longoria, this award-winning documentary provides an intimate glimpse into the lives of these children who struggle to dream while working 12 – 14 hours a day, 7 days a week to feed America.

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• Director: Roberto Romano
• TRT: 80 mins
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Five children of UN ambassadors are called by the Earth to imagine a new sustainable future for our global society. From within the Earth's center (limbo space), they work together to reduce humanity's global carbon footprint by exchanging stories and experiences from their parents' world. Collectively they decide to scale back existing technologies and create sustainable designs that lead to a steady decline in global carbon. However, the Earth's systems have already reached a critical point which could result in an irreversible climate crisis. Can the children respond to the Earth's urgent message in time to prevent this catastrophe?

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• Director: Catherine Cunningham
• TRT: 45 mins
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When Pierre Mombin (Luc Saint-Eloy) travels to a remote African kingdom to claim an inheritance, he discovers, through the prophecy of the former king's preserved skull, that he is the last male descendant of the royal family. As he learns more about his lineage from the trickster witch doctor, it becomes clear there is a darker side to the prophecy that foretold his return. Meanwhile, in an attempt to secure peace between the northern and southern kingdoms, the northern king arranges a marriage between the princess and Mombin, but she has other plans. Will Mombin accept his heritage and the marriage proposal?

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• Director: Christian Lara
• TRT: 90 mins
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After many years as a tour guide in the slave museum in Senegal, Alloune, 65, a widower living alone, decides to go to America in search of his ancestors who were taken away from his village 200 years ago and sold as slaves in the New World.
From Charleston to Little Senegal in New York, he searches for his relatives and also for an ideal vision of an African family. He soon discovers the tensions between the African and the African-American communities embodied by his nephew Hassan, a cab driver, his girlfriend Biram, an African with modern views on love and marriage and Ida, an older woman faced with seeing her pregnant grand-daughter destroyed by hard life on the street.

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• Director: Rachid Bouchareb
• TRT: 93 mins
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Synopsis

Card Subject To Change profiles the lives of some of wrestling's most compelling personalities. From a talented up-and-comer, to a legend who has changed the scope of the industry. They all come together and perform in VFW halls, high school gyms, and Elk's lodges across the country. Card Subject To Change also features interviews with some of the most legendary names in the history of wrestling and classic footage that has never been seen before.

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• Director: Tim Disbrow
• TRT: 87 mins
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Django Reinhardt, the Roma genius, born to Gypsy parents in 1910, is considered by many to be the single most important guitarist in the entire history of jazz. To honor the 100th anniversary of Django's birth, one hundred of his disciples, including his grandson David Reinhardt, have gathered together for the “Django 100” Centennial Tour -- traveling the world to pay homage to this exceptional type-setter who marked the 20th century.

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• Director: Olivier Kowalski
• TRT: 54 mins
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NORML or National Organization of the Reform for Marijuana Laws has long advocated the decriminalization of cannabis for over 40 years. Its founder, current leaders and nationwide chapter representatives describe the patchwork of state and municipal laws that allow medical marijuana, while the federal government still regards cannabis as a dangerous narcotic. Voters in the US are increasingly recognizing the positive aspects of accepting and controlling medical marijuana in their communities for its medicinal benefits, as well as for its potential to generate needed tax revenue.

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• Director: Rod Pitman
• TRT: 60 mins
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Synopsis

Frankiei

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• Director: Brett Simmons
• TRT: 89 mins
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Synopsis

This film tells the story of fifty years of violent US-Cuba relations from the point of view of the actors in that real life historical drama – mostly now retired -- and through rare archival footage. Five Cuban intelligence agents sent as infiltrators into violent exile groups in Miami for the purpose of preventing bombings of tourist sites in the 1990s introduce the story. The Cuban Five, as they came to be known after the FBI arrested them in 1998, set up the film and reappear later in the story as key players in a series of events that involve assassination plots, the shooting down of civilian airplanes, a tightening of the US embargo on Cuba and worsening relations between the two nations. A Miami jury convicted them and a judge handed down draconian sentences,

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• Director: Michael Henning
• TRT: 78 mins
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HEMPSTERS follows seven activists as they fight to legalize industrial hemp in the United States. The plant is used in over 30 countries and is widely known to have numerous environmental benefits, including: less reliance on oil, more efficient use of energy, forest conservation, soil redemption and landfill use reduction. Over 25,000 products can be manufactured using industrial hemp. This is not an alternative, but the solution!

Featured in the film is award-winning actor and well-known hemp and environmental activist, Woody Harrelson, who challenged Kentucky State law when he planted four feral hemp seeds in 1996. His subsequent trial and acquittal brought the issue to the forefront of mainstream media more than ten years ago, but the fight continues on. Other activists featured are: Willie Nelson, Ralph Nader, Merle Haggard, Gatewood Galbraith, Stephan Jenkins and Julia Butterfly Hill.

HEMPSTERS is a thought-provoking and compelling documentary that will not only encourage all of us to take action, but move us one step closer towards a more sustainable planet.

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• Director: Michael Henning
• TRT: 78 mins
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Haskell Wexler, director of the classic MEDIUM COOL, presents his cut of LATINO: AMERICA’S SECRET WAR IN NICARAGUA. Shot during the Contra attacks on Sandinista Nicaragua, Eddie Guerrero (Robert Beltran) is a Chicano Green Beret officer who leaves his family in East LA to perform his duty as a Special Forces officer. His patriotic mission is complicated by his Latino pride, the necessity to be a part of a Secret War, and by his love for Marlena, a Nicaraguan woman (Annette Cardona).

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• Director: Haskell Wexler
• TRT: 98 mins
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Shortly after the Fall of Saïgon, internal disruption further destroys North and South Vietnam. Determined to change the Southern population, North Vietnamese Soldiers (Bo Doi) roam the streets picking up orphaned boys for transport to rehabilitation camps.

Living conditions at these camps are deplorable, especially for Bob, Son and Shrimp who are struggling to survive. They attempt to escape by building a raft and riding the rapids to freedom.

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• Director: Rachid Bouchareb
• TRT: 85 mins
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Mickey is looking to recover his losses from a botched counterfeiting transaction and has learned the coordinates of a looming drop by those who burned him. Now, he must persuade his best friend, Jasper, to help him under the ruse of meteorite hunting. But, Jasper has imperative issues of his own. His girlfriend’s pregnant and his job as a staff writer for the Los Angeles Chronicle is in peril. Eventually persuaded to hit the road, the pair stumbles onto a major find; a discovery thrusting each into immediate danger and threatening to radically transform the fabric of their friendship.

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• Director: Jeremiah Gurzi
• TRT: 78 mins
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Desperately seeking to save his marriage, Brendan goes to the nail salon every day where Tam does more than scrub his hands clean of the oil stains from working as a mechanic. She offers him advice on how win his wife's love again. But soon, they find themselves drawn to each other, an attraction which becomes harder and harder to resist.

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• Director: Minh Nguyen
• TRT: 110 mins
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Sex, politics and American culture are mixed into a combustible combination in Now & Later. Angela (Shari Solanis) is an illegal Latina immigrant living in Los Angeles who stumbles across Bill (James Wortham), a disgraced banker on the run. She takes him in. Through passionate sex, soul‐searching conversations ranging from politics to philosophy, and other worldly pleasures, Angela introduces Bill to another worldview. As their affair heats up, the course of Bill's life begins to take an abrupt and unexpected turn.

The film was conceived by the director in reaction to American’s penchant for violence in our culture and our puritanical censoring of anything involving sex. Familiar with philosopher Wilhelm Reich’s notion that a sexually repressed society turns into a violent one, Diaz makes an unabashedly sexual yet cerebral film that challenges the perception that sex in media is harmful.

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• Director: Philippe Diaz
• TRT: 99 mins
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Academy-Award® winning director, Oliver Stone delivers a candid, in-depth conversation with one of the most controversial world leaders of our time, Fidel Castro. Stone challenges Castro to explain actions following the execution of three political dissidents who attempted to hijack a ferry to the United States in April 2003. Castro's response and his actions were condemned worldwide, further isolating Cuba.

Stone was given unprecedented access, interviewing not only Castro, but many of the prisoners, their wives, leading dissidents and human rights advocates -- all of whom express their views forcefully in the emotionally charged environment of Cuba today.

Whether or not you accept Castro´s world view, Stone´s, tough but fair portrait helps to illuminate Cuba's unique and complicated place in the world.

Is Castro a moral leader defending his small island against a superpower or is he an ironfisted tyrant who tolerates no criticism? Or is the truth somewhere in between?

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• Director: Oliver Stone
• TRT: 63 mins
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What caused America to go from being a leading exporter of oil to the world’s largest importer? What are the economic and sociological forces that have contributed to that change and impede its solution?

Gas Hole is an eye-opening documentary about the history of oil prices and sheds light on a secret that the big oil companies don’t want you to know – that there are viable and affordable alternatives to fuel! It also provides a detailed examination of our continued dependence on foreign oil and examines various potential solutions -- starting with claims of buried technology that dramatically improves gas mileage, to navigating bureaucratic governmental roadblocks, to evaluating different alternative fuels that are technologically available now, to questioning the American Consumers’ reluctance to embrace alternatives.

Narrated by Peter Gallagher, hear from a wide range of opinions from representatives of the US Department of Energy Officials, Congressional leaders both Democrat and Republican, Alternative Fuel Producers, Alternative Fuel Consumers (including actor Joshua Jackson), Professors of Economics and Psychology and more.

Anyone who buys gas should see this film!

Info:

• Director: Jeremy Wagner and Scott D. Roberts
• TRT: 100 mins
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As autism has exploded into the public consciousness over the last 20 years, two opposing questions have been asked about the condition fueling the debate: is it a devastating sickness to be cured or is it a variation of the human brain – just a different way to be human? LOVING LAMPPOSTS: LIVING AUTISTIC takes a look at two movements: the “recovery movement,” which views autism as a tragic epidemic brought on by environmental toxins and the “neurodiversity movement,” which argues that autism should be accepted and that autistic people should be supported. After his son’s diagnosis, filmmaker Todd Drezner, visits the front lines of the autism wars to learn more about the debate and provide information about a condition that is still difficult to comprehend. This film is a great learning tool.

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• Director: Todd Drezner
• TRT: 83 mins
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The Cannes Film Festival. It's where deals get made, producers get laid, and stars get paid. It's where all the movie industry meets to buy and sell all the movies on the planet. And it's where the art of the deal can be filled with more laughs than the deal itself. Sy Lerner is the quintessential movie producer, when he makes a bet that he can take any kid off the street and turn him into a superstar overnight using the universal language of the festival: hype. He meets Frank Rhinoslavsky and turns him into 'Frank Rhino, one of the hottest screenwriters to hit Cannes since Faulkner and Hemingway.' It's not long before celebrities and producers are lining up to meet this hot young star. Dennis Hopper, Treat Williams, Johnny Depp, John Malkovich and more, all want to meet the 'next Quentin Tarantino.' Sy charms them with his own particular blend of hype and substance, and by the end of the festival, has lined up one of the great casts of all time. But Sy Lerner still has a few tricks up his sleeve for his wife, Frank Rhino and the myriad of people that have invested in this nonexistent, non-scripted film. He drops dead. And all the money the invested in his film goes up in smoke. But in the end, Sy Lerner has pulled the ultimate con, making him truly the one and only, 'Cannes Man.' Written by Clint Weiler

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• Director: Richard Martini
• TRT: 88 mins
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Born Jonathan French in Beverly Hills, California and orphaned at 3 months old, this young boy was adopted by his Mexican nanny (Lupe Ontiveros) and step-father (Danny Trejo) and raised to be a good, God-fearing Mexican with a love for ranchero music. At age 33, in his “Jesus Year,” and now known as Juan Francés, he is a gardener/janitor-by-day but has been blessed by the Virgin of Guadalupe with the talent to sing like the angels. He takes his ranchero act from the small, half-empty soccer bars in East L.A., to a larger music festival audience where he is discovered and quickly swept into Mexican pop stardom. Caught in the whirlwind of fame, Juan’s everyman appearance and musical style undergo a celebrity make-over. He changes his name to “El Guero” and his songs for the working man are transformed into heartless Reggaeton. When the dark truth about Juan’s history is revealed to him, he must ask himself: Will he choose the Mexican man in his heart, or the bald pink guy in the mirror?

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• Director: Amy French
• TRT: 90 mins
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Once relegated to the margins of society, pornography has become one of the most visible and profitable sectors of the cultural industries in the United States. It is estimated that the pornography industry's annual revenue has reached $13 billion. At the same time, the content of pornography has become more aggressive, more overtly sexist and racist. Going beyond the debate of liberal versus conservative, the film features the voices of consumers, critics, and pornography producers and performers. It paints a nuanced portrait of how pleasure and pain, commerce and power, and liberty and responsibility are intertwined in the most intimate parts of our sexual identities and relationships.

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• Director: Chyn Sun and Miguel Picker
• TRT: 56 mins
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THE BEST GOVERNMENT MONEY CAN BUY? is the first behind-the-scenes, comprehensive, non-partisan examination of the system of lobbying in Washington, DC.

The cost of election campaigns has spiraled out of control, to the extent that, on average, our representatives spend more than 25% of their time fund-raising.   Even our Presidents regularly interrupt the nation’s work in order to spend time fund-raising!

Veteran documentary film-maker, British-born Francis Megahy, makes a journey of discovery as he tries to answer some questions which puzzle him: who provides the money? What effect does it have? How is it connected to the financing of political campaigns?  And most crucial, is it in the public interest?

THE BEST GOVERNMENT MONEY CAN BUY? explores the issue through interviews with real Washington beltway insiders, key participants in the process – who often speak with surprising candor.

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• Director: Francis Megahy
• TRT: 76 mins
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There’s a revolution underway in South America, but most of the world doesn’t know it. Academy Award® winning director, Oliver Stone sets out on a road trip across five countries to explore the social and political movements, as well as the mainstream media’s misperceptions of South America, while interviewing seven of its elected presidents. In casual conversations with Presidents Hugo Chávez (Venezuela), Evo Morales (Bolivia), Lula da Silva (Brazil), Cristina Kirchner (Argentina), as well as her husband and ex-President Nestor Kirchner, Fernando Lugo (Paraguay), Rafael Correa (Ecuador) and Raúl Castro (Cuba), Stone gains unprecedented access and sheds new light upon the exciting transformations in the region.

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• Director: Oliver Stone
• TRT: 78 mins
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Featuring some of the world's most talented surfers, including Keith Malloy and 7-time Women's World Champion, Layne Beachely, combined with footage shot around the world, BLUEGREEN, examines the connection between humans and the ocean and explores this connection through thoughtful insight from scientists, activists, athletes and enthusiasts. From the physiological to the spiritual, filmmaker and surfer, Ben Keller explores the power of the ocean and how it affects our lives and why we are all attracted to it in one way or another.

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• Director: Ben Keller
• TRT: 78 mins
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The nation of Bangladesh is prey to every threat from water known to man. WATER WARS: When Drought, Flood and Greed Collide tells the story of this land at war with not only rising seas, but devastating floods and droughts -- from India's dams dumping their excess in the wet season and siphoning off river water in the dry season. And as Bangladesh sees less and less river water during the dry season, it is forced to dig deeper for more wells, encountering arsenic poisoning that is filling hospitals and graveyards.

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• Director: Jim Burroughs
• TRT: 55 mins
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Filmmaker, Andrew Krakower, was set to do a film about the successful reversal of AIDS infection rates in Uganda when locals began to tell him of a hidden battle raging in the North. Stories of unspeakable atrocities compelled Krakower to journey north despite warnings by the locals that it was far too dangerous. Along the way, he became aware of the Lord’s Resistance Army and the 24-year long rebellion led by cult rebel leader, Joseph Kony. As he learned more about the war, Krakower and his crew changed their focus and this film.

Hear the stories of the children who live in constant fear of kidnap, forced slavery and decimation of family. Listen to the children who escaped and survived in spite of their capture. Witness the only existing interview of Kony, who claims spirits have aided him throughout this fight. Discover how the Acholi people find a way of life among corrupt government soldiers whose protection from the rebels are accompanied by their own heinous abuses of power.

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• Director: Andy Krakower
• TRT: 64 mins
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Narrated by Catherine Keener, LOST ANGELS: SKID ROW IS MY HOME takes an uncompromising yet life-affirming look at the lives of eight remarkable individuals, people who have found a way to make a life for themselves within the community of homelessness. The film shows how their descent into society’s basement has been exacerbated by the forces of gentrification and the increasing criminalization of homeless people, while exposing the draconian changes to the mental health care system that have brought us here.

With the support of a vast array of advocates, especially the services of LAMP, the mission featured in the Jamie Foxx/ Robert Downey Jr. film, THE SOLOIST, many residents of Skid Row have found a way to stick together and fight back. Narrated by actress Catherine Keener, LOST ANGELS demonstrates how proactive approaches to homelessness–most specifically that of providing housing–are helping many to recover from mental illness and substance abuse and to find stability. For many, Skid Row is, improbably, the last place to find refuge and build a life of meaning, proving that sometimes home is where the help is.

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• Director: Thomas Napper
• TRT: 75 mins
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PATRIOCRACY IS A NON-PARTISAN EXAMINATION OF WASHINGTON DYSFUNCTION. Alan Simpson, Bob Schieffer, Eleanor Clift, Pat Buchanan, Senator Mark Warner and Senator Kent Conrad are just a few of the notable Washington personalities who offer their valuable perspectives. PATRIOCRACY drills down and illustrates the forces that drive a wedge into the middle ground of America and the solutions required to move forward. Americans are polarized and angry. In the crossfire, the loudest voices drown out reason and facts with fear and anxiety. PATRIOCRACY explores the extreme polarization in America that cripples our country’s ability to solve its most serious problems. Whether it’s the national debt, healthcare reform, the war on terror or illegal immigration, Americans are shouting at each other instead of listening to each other. As America enters the 2012 election season, more money than ever will be spent to manipulate and sway voters by fear and emotion. PATRIOCRACY sits in the dead center of this monumental tug-of- war, educating viewers so they do not fall victim to manipulation as they cast their ballots.

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• Director: Brian Malone
• TRT: 90 mins
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The End of Poverty? is a daring, thought-provoking and very timely documentary by award-winning filmmaker, Philippe Diaz, revealing that poverty is not an accident. It began with military conquest, slavery and colonization that resulted in the seizure of land, minerals and forced labor. Today, global poverty has reached new levels because of unfair debt, trade and tax policies -- in other words, wealthy countries exploiting the weaknesses of poor, developing countries.

The End of Poverty? asks why today 20% of the planet’s population uses 80% of its resources and consumes 30% more than the planet can regenerate?

The film has been selected to over 25 international film festivals and will be released in US theatres starting November 13, 2009. Directed by Philippe Diaz, produced by Cinema Libre Studio with the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation, 104mins, 2008, USA, documentary in English, Spanish, and French with English Subtitles.

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• Director: Philippe Diaz
• TRT: 104 mins
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As small children, Gabriel Bol Deng, Koor Garang and Garang Mayuol fled their villages in South Sudan due to civil war. They became a part of a group of thousands of other boys with a similar story, nicknamed “The Lost Boys” upon resettlement in the USA in 2001. Now in their twenties, they have embarked on a journey back to Sudan to discover whether their homes and families have survived, what the current situation is in South Sudan, and how they can help their community rebuild after the devastating civil war.

Along the way, these Lost Boys assess their hopes, dreams and fears of the Southern Sudanese people nearly three years after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. They explore the connections between the conflict in South Sudan to the conflict in Darfur, probing the larger questions of identity and ethnicity in their home country.

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• Director: Jen Marlowe
• TRT: 78 mins
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A heart-warming film by Heather E. Connell, who spent several years documenting the struggles of the street and garbage dump children of Cambodia. She brings the film to life through the sights and sounds of Phnom Pehn and gives the film its soul through the voices of these children as they share stories of their lives and their dreams for the future. They are the first generation of children born to survivors of the Khmer Rouge and have learned to survive in an economy and society struggling to rebuild itself.

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• Director: Heather E. Connell
• TRT: 83 mins
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Synopsis

A hard-hearted bachelor, working as a “relationship termination specialist,” fools his friends into believing he is capable of a relationship by enlisting the help of his charming and attractive cousin. Complications ensue.

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• Director: Amyn Kaderali
• TRT: 98 mins
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A RIVER OF WASTE: THE HAZARDOUS TRUTH ABOUT FACTORY FARMS exposes the truth behind our modern industrial system of meat and poultry production. From the dangerous use of arsenic, antibiotics, and hormones, to the massive dumping of sewage into fragile waterways, the film documents the vast catastrophic impact on the environment, health, and the individual lives damaged and destroyed.

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• Director: Don McCorkell
• TRT: 92 mins
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Chicago Nightclub – New Year’s Eve 1944. Lt. Mike Clarke is a fighter pilot and is celebrating the night before he is scheduled to ship out to Europe. After too many drinks, he meets a stranger, Vito Massucci, who suckers him into making a $1,000 bet. The terms dictate that Mike must become a “war ace” by shooting down at least five enemy aircraft. However, after sobering up Mike realizes the figure was changed to $10,000 and also that Vito’s uncle – who witnessed the contract -- is none other than the notorious Al Capone!

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• Director: Roger Tucker
• TRT: 83 mins
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DEFLATING THE ELEPHANT: FRAMED MESSAGES BEHIND CONSERVATIVE DIALOGUE teaches us how language impacts our lives and more significantly, our political discourse. Language is influenced by what is known as “framing,” meaning every word is connected to a concept. How those concepts are used and repeated have proven to shape ideology, behavior and thought-process. George Lakoff, author of Moral Politics: What Conservatives Know and Liberals Don’t and Don’t Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate, dissects the conservative dialogue and provides explanations and examples on how they have spent the last 35 years perfecting their ideas and their language. Framed messages is a system and strategy that works. The key is to understand why it works. Also featuring Academy Award® Winner, Sean Penn.

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• Director: Aldo Vidali
• TRT: 124 mins
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This feature length documentary explores the ravages of American suburban sprawl, what America has lost as a result, and the perils we face if we don't change the way in which we build our cities. Americans have been lulled into a false sense of security by cheap energy that has allowed us to spread endlessly into our landscape. We are trapped behind the wheels of our automobiles. With the demand for oil outpacing the Earth's ability to supply it, this suburban living arrangement will fail. America's love affair with the automobile is unsustainable and, like Nero, we are fiddling away, confident that tomorrow will be as promising as today. The wake up call is coming.

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• Director: David M. Edwards
• TRT: 82 mins
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THE LAST HURRAH is a comedy filmed in a single continuous shot. Set at a graduation party in Los Angeles, an eclectic group of brainy philosophy students, train-hopping hippies, aspiring prophets and drug-addled hipsters come together for one wild night.
At the eye of the storm are three best friends, all with the same problem -- women. Jason can't get enough of them, Steve can't let go of the one he's got and Will can't understand them at all. The brainy grad students will have to work through their issues fast, because tonight's house party is their last crack at the women of the philosophy department.
In the spirit of Richard Linklater and Woody Allen, THE LAST HURRAH is a smart, witty, ensemble-driven comedy that wonders if the over examined life is really worth living.

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• Director: Jonathan Stokes
• TRT: 88 mins
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American Scary is a look at the nation's tradition of horror hosting, from Ghoulardi to Ghoul-A-Go-Go. Follow this American folk art form from its glamorous beginnings through repeated waves of popularity, to its scrappy resurgence and survival in the age of cable access and the Internet.

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• Director: John E. Hudgens and Sandy Clark
• TRT: 92 mins
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Shanti Generation: Yoga Skills for Youth Peacemakers merges yoga exercises and mindfulness techniques for youth ages 7 to 16. Developed by renowned youth yoga expert, Abby Wills, MA, and created in collaboration with teens, the program integrates a series of movements, breathing techniques and practices that facilitate inner calm, positive attitude and a strong, healthy body. Practicing just two times per week cultivates body awareness, flexibility, concentration, stress reduction and self-expression. Exercises are demonstrated by Abby’s students and set to positive grooves created by 311 bassist, Aaron Wills (aka P-Nut).

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• Director: Michael Kuehnert, Jose Delgado, Abby Wills
• TRT: 90 mins
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The story of two brothers who are too often left to their own devices with an incarcerated father and a working mother. The younger brother Joey runs away to Coney Island when Lenny, his older brother, pulls a cruel prank that goes awry.

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• Director: Joanna Lipper
• TRT: 87 mins
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Synopsis

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez speaks about the advantages of socialism over capitalism and explains why true democracy cannot exist under the latter. Noting that the American empire’s practice of privatization, foreign intervention, and violence is not conducive to a humanistic society, Chavez instead offers that the healthiest government is one in which all of its citizens play a role in its construction and development.

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• Director: Philippe Diaz
• TRT: 52 mins
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Author of Blowback, The Sorrows of Empire, and Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic, Chalmers Johnson has literally written the book on the concept of American hegemony. A former naval officer and consultant to the C.I.A., he now serves as Professor Emeritus at UC San Diego. As the United States continues to expand its military force around the globe, the consequences are being suffered by each and every one of us.

Info:

• Director: Philippe Diaz
• TRT: 52 mins
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Synopsis

Silence is Deadly: Living with Hepatitis C is a documentary chronicling the lives of four people and their struggle with Hepatitis C, a potentially fatal liver disease. While exploring the nature of the virus, its treatments, prognosis, and global impact, this powerful documentary further explores what it is to live with a debilitating chronic illness and its stigma, as seen through the eyes of four characters, one being the filmmaker, Kindra Ruocco.

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• Director: Kindra Ruocco
• TRT: 48 mins
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Having Served as a CIA analyst for 27 years, Ray McGovern speaks candidly about the creation of the Agency, the deceit that lead to the invasion of Iraq, the questionable character of George Tenet, and more. Full of inside information you have never heard before aqbout the way in which our nation's most secretive agency operates.

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• Director: Philippe Diaz
• TRT: 52 mins
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Susan George reveals the truth behind the history of empire building, neo-colonialism, and the causes of poverty in our world today.

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• Director: Philippe Diaz
• TRT: 52 mins
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Synopsis

John Perkins on the issue of globalization from his uniquely informed perspective as a former "Economic Hit man".

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• Director: Philippe Diaz
• TRT: 52 mins
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Synopsis

Award winning doc on civil war in Sierra Leone and role of the international powers.

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• Director: Philippe Diaz
• TRT: 87 mins
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Synopsis

From a remote mountain village in Tunisia, Kalt, a female hacker hijacks the airwaves in Northern Africa and France to broadcast political messages.

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• Director: Nadia El Fani
• TRT: 99 mins
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Synopsis

Documentary about the experience of war through powerful images and the words of poets-unknown and world-famous.

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• Director: Rick King
• TRT: 74 mins
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Synopsis

Documentary on Ugandan soldier children

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• Director: Neil Abramson
• TRT: 55 mins
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