Black Box Diaries

In 1977, a book of photographs captured an awakening - women shedding the cultural restrictions of their childhoods and embracing their full humanity. This documentary revisits those photos, those women and those times and takes aim at our culture today that alarmingly shows the need for continued change.

A candid journey into the world of 4 young Canadian women who work as well-paid hostesses in exclusive Japanese nightclubs. Lured by adventure and easy money, these modern-day geisha find themselves caught up in the mizu shobai—the complex "floating water world" of Tokyo clubs and bars. Drawn by fast money, some women become consumed by the lavish lifestyle and forget why they came; one hostess calls this "losing the plot." With a pulsating visual style, Tokyo Girls captures the raw energy of urban Japan and its fascination with the new.

Bianca Charamsa made her way to Japan during this year's cherry blossom season to get to grips with the country's character through conversations with some of its artists. Although two violent atomic catastrophes - the bombing of Hiroshima and the Fukushima nuclear disaster - have shaken and shaped modern-day Japan, the artist Takahiro Iwasaki believes that memory of 6th and 9th August 1945 is slowly fading, despite all the folded cranes left by visitors to the memorial sites. Natural catastrophes like sea- and earthquakes also rock Japan time and time again; perhaps this explains why the Japanese aesthetic Wabi Sabi incorporates both beauty and decay...much like the beauty of the cherry blossom as it withers during the annual festival of Hanami

Christmas Island, Australia is home to one of the largest land migrations on earth—that of forty million crabs journeying from jungle to sea. But the jungle holds another secret: a high-security facility that indefinitely detains individuals seeking asylum.

Comic Russell Brand uses drugs, sex and fame in a quest for happiness, only to find it remains elusive. As he explores iconic figures such as Gandhi, Malcolm X, Che Guevara, and Jesus, he transforms himself into a political antagonist.

A documentary following the inspiring journey of 25 yr old, 58 pound Lizzie from cyber-bullying victim to anti-bullying activist

A look at the life and music of legendary singer and civil rights activist, Mavis Staples.

Mauricio, a lifeguard on a Chilean beach, considers himself to be a model of efficiency and professionalism. His colleagues, however, think otherwise, and speculate on why he never goes into the water. Maite Alberdi's visually gorgeous feature documentary debut has the intensity of a short story; beginning as a quirky character study of lifeguards and beachgoers, it becomes something altogether darker and more shocking when events take a dramatic turn.

In a small Ukrainian town, Olga Nenya, raises 16 black orphans amidst a population of Slavic blue-eyed blondes. Their stories expose the harsh realities of growing up as a bi-racial child in Eastern Europe.

United in Anger: A History of ACT UP is an inspiring documentary about the birth and life of the AIDS activist movement from the perspective of the people in the trenches fighting the epidemic. Utilizing oral histories of members of ACT UP, as well as rare archival footage, the film depicts the efforts of ACT UP as it battles corporate greed, social indifference, and government negligence.

Documentary depicting the lives of child prostitutes in the red light district of Songachi, Calcutta. Director Zana Briski went to photograph the prostitutes when she met and became friends with their children. Briski began giving photography lessons to the children and became aware that their photography might be a way for them to lead better lives.

A dual portrait of young drifters on the streets of Odessa, where every day seems the same and the future keeps getting further away.

The film describes the microcosmos of the small village Wacken and shows the clash of the cultures, before and during the biggest heavy metal festival in Europe.

She has been called the world's oldest blogger. This film is about a very energetic 103-year old, Dagny Carlsson.

A humorous and heartwarming documentary feature, CYBER-SENIORS chronicles the extraordinary journey of a group of senior citizens as they discover the world of the Internet through the guidance of teenage mentors. Their exploration of cyberspace is catapulted to another level when 89 year-old Shura decides to create a YouTube cooking video. A spirited video competition for the most “views" evolves as the cyber-seniors’ hidden talents and competitive spirits are revealed. CYBER-SENIORS provides insight into the wonderful things that can happen when generation gaps are bridged, proving you are never too old to get "connected."

Over twenty years, the Russian documentary filmmaker Marina Goldovskaya interviewed pioneers of American documentaries, such as Richard Leacock, Robert and Anne Drew, Albert Maysles, D.A. Pennebaker, Jonas Mekas, among others. In long conversations, they discuss the elaboration of titles that are now fundamental to the genre’s world history, commenting on the introduction of new light and portable cameras that allowed the advent of Cinema Verite, in addition to sharing the fundamentals and principles of the art of capturing life. The sum of these parts corresponds to a singular opportunity of re-encounter with the thinking of these masters, even those that have already passed away.

The short history of a room and the fiction born in it.

Archival film maestro Göran Hugo Olsson has assembled—from a vast catalogue of footage in the vaults of Sweden’s national television service SVT—accounts of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as witnessed and represented by Swedish journalists. Stories of the beginning of the Israeli state interwoven with the Palestinian struggle for independence. News coverage with Yasser Arafat and interviews with Israeli foreign minister Abba Eban during a visit to Sweden unseen since first broadcast. From the tenth anniversary of Israel’s founding to the First Intifada, perspectives and encounters with statesmen, civilians, revolutionaries, and intellectuals tell the story from myriad angles of an evolving media landscape, revivifying a history of the ongoing conflict.

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On June 10, 1944, the SS murdered nearly the entire population of the French village of Oradour. The ruins still stand, the population is buried in the cemetery. Only one person has ever been convicted of this crime: the former SS-Obersturmführer Heinz Barth.