Smiling in a War Zone (2006)
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ARMADILLO is an upfront account of growing cynicism and adrenaline addiction for young soldiers at war. Mads and Daniel are on their first mission in Helmand, Afghanistan. Their platoon is stationed in Camp Armadillo, right on the Helmand frontline, fighting tough battles against the Taliban. The soldiers are there to help the Afghan people, but as fighting gets tougher and operations increasingly hairy, Mads, Daniel and their friends become cynical, widening the gap between themselves and the Afghan civilisation. Mistrust and paranoia set in causing alienation and disillusion. Armadillo is a journey into the soldierâs mind and a unique film on the mythological story of man and war, staged in its contemporary version in Afghanistan.
220 million years ago dinosaurs were beginning their domination of Earth. But another group of reptiles was about to make an extraordinary leap: pterosaurs were taking control of the skies. The story of how and why these mysterious creatures took to the air is more fantastical than any fiction. In Flying Monsters 3D, Sir David Attenborough the worldâs leading naturalist, sets out to uncover the truth about the enigmatic pterosaurs, whose wingspans of up to 40 feet were equal to that of a modern day jet plane.
Part drama, part documentary, The Road to Guantánamo focuses on the Tipton Three, a trio of British Muslims who were held in Guantanamo Bay for two years until they were released without charge.
This documentary on the effect the talent competition "Afghan Star" has on the incredibly diverse inhabitants of Afghanistan affords a glimpse into a country rarely seen. Contestants risk their lives to appear on the television show that is a raging success with the public and also monitored closely by the government.
Julian Assange. Bradley Manning. Collateral murder. Cablegate. WikiLeaks. These people and terms have exploded into public consciousness by fundamentally changing the way democratic societies deal with privacy, secrecy, and the right to information, perhaps for generations to come. We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks is an extensive examination of all things related to WikiLeaks and the larger global debate over access to information.
In 1948, a group of World War II pilots volunteered to fight for Israel in the War of Independence.
FOO FIGHTERS BACK AND FORTH chronicles the 16 year history of the Foo Fighters: from the band's very first songs created as cassette demos Dave Grohl recorded during his tenure as Nirvana's drummer, through its ascent to their Grammy-winning, multi-platinum, arena and stadium headlining status as one of the biggest rock bands on the planet.
Unlike the films "World Trade Center" and "United 93", which are dramatizations of the events of September 11, this is an on-the-scene documentary following the events of September 11 from an insider's view, through the lens of two French filmmakers who were in Manhattan on that fateful day. Filmmakers James Hanlon and Jules and Gedeon Naudet were filming a documentary about a rookie New York City firefighter when they noticed a plane fly overhead and hit the World Trade Center. Being with those firefighters who where the first to respond to the tragedy, James Hanlon and the Naudets accompanied them and continued filming from the firemen's perspective. It later became known that their presence allowed them to capture the only known footage of the first plane strike, and from inside the Twin Towers.
A documentary about how the airplane has changed history.
June 27, 1980, an Italian DC 9 flying from Bologna to Palermo falls in the sea close to the Ustica island. 81 people die. The official version is "structure failure" of the airplane, but a number of clues lead the journalist Rocco Ferrante toward a different truth. Thanks to his perseverance against the invisible wall erected by air force officers, politicians, judges, secret agents, we come to know that, with all probability, the DC 9 has been mistakenly shot by a missile during a sort of air fight among U.S., French and Libyan top guns.
Documentary about the 25th and last bombing mission of a B17, the "Memphis Belle". The "Memphis Belle" took part in a great bombing raid on sub-pens in Wilhelmshafen, Germany. If she makes it back from this one, she'll be retired from combat and sent home. That is, if she makes it!
Fly with the brave men of The Great Flying Fortress on this genuine combat mission! The true story of the real plane and the real crew - actually filmed as it was happening!
The story of João "Jango" Goulart, the Brazilian left-wing president deposed by the military.
The dynamic meeting of solid science and futuristic simulation culminates in a dramatic exploration to another inhabited planet seven light years away. Alien Planet creates a realistic depiction of creatures on another world, where life is possible, if not provable, according to scientists' theories. Take this fascinating journey created by state-of-the-art animation and photo-realistic effects.
Okjabre was supposed to create a film about the tenth anniversary of the Russian October Revolution yet he created a lot more than just that; through historical montages Director Eisenstein created a part documentary part intellectual film.
Hugo Chavez, Elected president of Venezuela in 1998, is a colorful, unpredictable folk hero, beloved by his nationâs working class â and a tough-as-nails, quixotic opponent to the power structure that would see him deposed. Two independent filmmakers were inside the presidential palace on April 11, 2002, when he was forcibly removed from office.
When a Mongolian nomadic family's newest camel colt is rejected by its mother, a musician is needed for a ritual to change her mind.
Shot around the world in 2010 and 2011, 'FASTEST' distills the thrilling, terrifying reality of the MotoGP world championship into a maximum-speed, full-length documentary feature film. 'FASTEST' captures a pivotal moment in the sport. Chasing his tenth world title, the legendary Valentino Rossi runs into the toughest challenge of his life: a wave of ferociously fast young riders, a horrific, leg-shattering crash at the Italian grand prix, an agonizing comeback forty-one days later in Germany, and the question every rider â even the greatest of all time â must face. Who's fastest now? In 2010, Jorge Lorenzo stole the MotoGP crown. But is Rossi still the king?
With aerial footage from 54 countries, Home is a depiction of how the Earth's problems are all interlinked.
The story of the Great War told from a unique new aerial perspective. Featuring two remarkable historical finds, including a piece of archive footage filmed from an airship in summer 1919, capturing the trenches and battlefields in a way that has rarely been seen before. It also features aerial photographs taken by First World War pilots - developed for the first time in over ninety years - that show not only the devastation inflicted during the fighting, but also quirks and human stories visible only from above.
Documenting Taiwan from an aerial perspective offering a glimpse of Taiwan's natural beauty as well as the effect of human activities and urbanization on our environment.
An exhilarating documentary film that celebrates the unsung hero of aviation - the local airport - by tracing the life, history,and struggles of an airport icon: Southern California's Van Nuys Airport. Featuring thrilling aerial photography and a sweeping original score, the film dispels common misconceptions and opposes criticism of General Aviation airports. Through the love story of one airport
Devil at Your Heels, traces the trials of stuntman Ken Carter who attempts a death defying aerial jump in a car. Not content with a normal jump, Ken Carter attempts a jump from Canada to the USA.
Each of the twelve 50-minute episodes features a different aspect of the journey through life, from birth to adulthood and continuation of the species through reproduction.
Recorded live at the sold-out 2003 Paramount Comedy Festival in Brighton, stand-up comedian Robert Newman performs From Caliban To The Taliban - 500 Years of Humanitarian Intervention; a painstakingly researched tale of capitalist expansion and Americaâs global terror campaign waged âwith goodwill to all.â Few stand-ups have attempted to create causal links between a 1609 Bermuda shipwreck and US adventures in Guatemala, via Shakespeare and Sir Francis Bacon. Hardly a laugh a minute you might think, but Newman has managed to pepper this unlikely comic dish with the endearing gags that made him famous.
Documentary showing the life of children of the Afghan villages bordering Iran, and how their life and culture were affected by Taliban regime.
Afghanistan's film history might well have have been lost forever, if not for the brave custodians who risked their lives to conceal films from the Taliban regime. This is a chronicle of their attempts to preserve and restore thousands of hours of film.
Michael Moore's view on what happened to the United States after September 11; and how the Bush Administration allegedly used the tragic event to push forward its agenda for unjust wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
In Iran, since the 1979 Islamic revolution, women are no longer allowed to sing in public as soloists - at least in front of men. Defying censorship and taboos, the young composer Sara Najafi is determined to organize an official concert for solo female singers. In order to support their fight, Sara and her friends invite three French female singers, Elise Caron, Jeanne Cherhal and Emel Mathlouthi, to join them in Tehran and collaborate on their musical project, re-opening a musical bridge between Europe and Iran. Are they going to succeed and finally be gathered in Tehran, sing together, on stage and without restrictions, and to open a door towards a new freedom of women in Iran ?
BHUTTO is the definitive documentary that chronicles the life of one of the most complex and fascinating characters of our time. Hers is an epic tale of Shakespearean dimension. Itâs the story of the first woman in history to lead a Muslim nation: Pakistan. Newsweek called it the most dangerous place in the world, and the home of nuclear war heads and the Taliban.
The mission: Capture U.S. and NATO forces on camera giving food, water, clothing, blankets, and medical supplies to widows and orphans in refugee camps and villages. Most of the relief aid comes from a grassroots effort in America during the past five years by a courageous Air Force intelligence officer, Col. Victor Kuchar, who is the highest ranking officer to regularly travel into the tribal regions. Col. Kuchar, a Catholic from a small Michigan parish, has captured the hearts and minds of the youngsters, as well as the respect of the elders, mostly Pashtun, or Sunni Muslims, who call him "Mullah" (a local leader). The interaction between U.S. Forces and these forgotten family members of fighters killed or maimed helping drive out the Taliban, post 9/11, and who continue at our side in the war on terror against Al-Qaeda and other Muslim extremist groups, is both heartbreaking and heartwarming.
A look at the events leading up to the Taliban's attack on the young Pakistani school girl, Malala Yousafzai, for speaking out on girls' education and the aftermath, including her speech to the United Nations.
Music elates, touches the soul and bypasses reason. Music is magic. But precisely this magic can turn it into an insidious weapon for music and violence belong together. The brutal power of African war dances, the ferocity of Maori Hakas, the earth-shattering roar of US sound guns blasting Metallica at Taliban hideouts the principle is always the same: Aggressive sounds demoralise the enemy and whip the allies into a frenzy. In Songs of War, director Tristan Chytroschek explores the extraordinary harmony between music and violence. Sesame Street composer, Christopher Cerf, always wanted his music to be fun and entertaining. But then he learned that his songs had been used to torture prisoners in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. He is stunned by this abuse of his work and wants to find out how this could happen.
What will it really take, to transition from oil and coal, to the energies of tomorrow? SWITCH goes where no film has gone before, deep into the world's most restricted energy sites, to depoliticize competing power sources, make the technical accessible, and discover the truth of our energy future. Test audiences have raved, calling it, 'The most important energy film since An Inconvenient Truth.'
The film tells a very personal story from two perspectives: our protagonist is both doctor and patient. As a patient, he has struggled with recurring depression for years, and as a doctor he wants to find out why. The search for the origins of his illness leads him into the realm of his own genes and casts light on the fundamental changes facing modern society as a result of the tremendous progress being made in the field of genetic sequencing. Along the way, he meets a host of people â researchers, artists, visionaries â who have developed their own very individual approach to genetic coding and are drawing attention to the social significance of genetic technology. The film does not restrict itself to a scientific view of the subject but also makes use of artistic visions and more playful approaches to genetic blueprints.
From 2011 to 2013, hundreds of regulations were passed restricting access to abortion in America. Reproductive rights advocates refer to these as âTRAPâ laws, or Targeted Regulations of Abortion Providers. TRAP laws have swept across the country, especially the South, where most clinics are in a desperate battle for survival. In the trenches of this war on womenâs rights are the doctors, clinic owners, and resolute staff who refuse to give up. Trapped interweaves the personal stories of a fearless physician who crisscrosses the country assuring that medical services are available, the stalwart women and men who run the clinics, the lawyers leading the charge to eradicate these laws, and ultimately to the women they are all determined to help
After 81 days of solitary detention world famous Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is put under house arrest. He suffers from sleeping disorder and memory loss, 18 cameras are monitoring his studio and home, police agents follow his every move, and heavy restrictions from the Kafkaesque Chinese authorities weigh him down. Journalists, the art world and his family all want a piece of him and on top of that he is met with a gigantic lawsuit from the Chinese government, soon to be named 'The Fake Case'. Ai Weiwei is shaken, but during the year on probation he steadily finds new ways to provoke and challenge the mighty powers of the Chinese authorities in his fight for human rights. Ai Weiwei strongly believes that China is ready for change. And he will do everything to make it happen.
Since the invention of cinema, the standard format for recording moving images has been film. Over the past two decades, a new form of digital filmmaking has emerged, creating a groundbreaking evolution in the medium. Keanu Reeves explores the development of cinema and the impact of digital filmmaking via in-depth interviews with Hollywood masters, such as James Cameron, David Fincher, David Lynch, Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, Steven Soderbergh, and many more.
Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill is pulled into an unexpected journey as he chases down the hidden truth behind America's expanding covert wars.
A documentary shot by filmmakers all over the world that serves as a time capsule to show future generations what it was like to be alive on the 24th of July, 2010.
Out of the grieving thousands left behind on September 11th, a small group of activist families emerged to demand answers. In '9/11 Press For Truth', six of them (including three of the famous "Jersey Girls") tell for the first time the powerful story of how they took on the powers in Washington and won! compelling an investigation, only to subsequently watch the 9/11 Commission fail in answering most of their questions.
"A Long Journey" tells the story of three siblings who reach adolescence in the late 1960's. The documentary's storyline follows the youngest brother's travels around the world. Worried that he would enter the struggle for freedom against the Brazilian dictatorship, his family sent Heitor to London. There however, he dives head on into the "Swinging London" and, just like the European and American youth of the time period, he experiments with drugs and the mystic allure of India. In the nine years he has traveled around the world, from 1969 to 1978, he has regularly written to his family. The documentary features interviews with Heitor today, his letters and off-screen comments of Heitor's sister, Lúcia Murat, the director of the movie.
Warcraft III is the most popular real-time strategy computer game, thrilling over 2.5 million North Americans and 10 million people worldwide everyday. The game creates an alternate universe, where players challenge each other with a mythically-charged online world of humans, orcs, the undead, knights, and elves. In Beyond the Game, we meet - in real life and within the game - two of the game's leading figures, known as Grubby and Sky. Acclaimed filmmaker Jos de Putter tracks these Kasparovs of a new generation and a new game across the world all the way to the world championships in Seattle. A fascinating, surprising, and genuinely touching portrait, Beyond the Game is a study of, and participation in, the reformation of our communities in the internet age.
A new breed of action sports film comes to life as Red Bull Media House, in association with Brain Farm Digital Cinema, present âThe Art of FLIGHTâ, a Curt Morgan Film. Two years in the making, âThe Art of FLIGHTâ gives iconic snowboarder Travis Rice and friends the opportunity to redefine what is possible in the mountains. Experience the highs, as new tricks are landed and new zones opened, alongside the lows, where avalanches, accidents, and wrong-turns strike. Immerse yourself in a cinematic experience as Brain Farm and their arsenal of filmmaking technology capture the culture, wildlife and scenic landscapes the riders take in along the way. Join in the ride as the creators of âThatâs It, Thatâs Allâ completely rewrite the formula for action sports cinema with âThe Art of FLIGHT.â
The history of the comic book superhero, Superman in his various media incarnations.
Whisky Romeo Zulu tells the story prior to the crash of LAPA Boeing 737 that on August 31, 1999, caught fire after hitting an embankment in the center of Buenos Aires, killing 67 people. The disaster changed the history of civil and commercial aviation in Argentina, and the film recounts, from the standpoint of the director, a former airline pilot-how in some countries the safety of the flight is incredibly precarious.
This documentary film is about the making of U2's Achtung Baby. In 2011, U2 returned to Hansa Studios in Berlin to discuss the making of Achtung Baby. This film is directed by Davis Guggenheim. Screened in the UK as part of the BBC's Imagine series, this film was the first ever documentary to open the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival. Included is bonus footage of "So Cruel," "Love is Blindness," and "The Fly" shot in May 2010 during the band's visit to Hansa Studios to mark the 20th anniversary of Achtung Baby. Also included is a Q&A with Bono, The Edge, and Davis Guggenheim filmed at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2011.
Paul Grignon's 47-minute animated presentation of "Money as Debt" tells in very simple and effective graphic terms what money is and how it is being created
Two young North Korean gymnasts prepare for an unprecedented competition in this documentary that offers a rare look into the communist society and the daily lives of North Korean families. For more than eight months, film crews follow 13-year-old Pak Hyon Sun and 11-year-old Kim Song Yun and their families as the girls train for the Mass Games, a spectacular nationalist celebration.
British historian and author Niall Ferguson explains how big money works today as well as the causes of and solutions to economic catastrophes in this extended version The Ascent of Money documentary. Through interviews with top experts, such as former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker and American currency speculator George Soros, the intricate world of finance, including global commerce, banking and lending, is examined thoroughly.
Ten easy steps show you how to make money from drugs, featuring a series of interviews with drug dealers, prison employees, and lobbyists arguing for tougher drug laws.
Letâs Make Money is an Austrian documentary by Erwin Wagenhofer released in the year 2008. It is about aspects of the development of the world wide financial system.
Sicko is a Michael Moore documentary about the corrupt health care system in The United States who's main goal is to make profit even if it means losing peoples lives. "The more people you deny health insurance the more money we make" is the business model for health care providers in America.
Still craving for the love of his life, ex-Air Force pilot Ted Striker follows Elaine onto the flight that she is working on as cabin crew. Elaine doesn't want to be with Ted anymore, but when the crew and passengers fall ill from food poisoning, Ted might be the only one who can save them.
Afghanistan. War correspondent Elsa Casanova is taken hostage by the Taliban. Faced with her imminent execution, a Special Forces unit is dispatched to free her. In some of the worldâs most breathtaking yet hostile landscapes, a relentless pursuit begins between her kidnappers who have no intention of letting their prey escape them and a group of soldiers who risk their lives in pursuit of their single aim â to bring her home alive. This strong, independent woman and these men of duty are thrown together and forced to confront situations of great danger that inextricably bind them â emotionally, violently and intimately.
The lifelong friendship between Rafe McCawley and Danny Walker is put to the ultimate test when the two ace fighter pilots become entangled in a love triangle with beautiful Naval nurse Evelyn Johnson. But the rivalry between the friends-turned-foes is immediately put on hold when they find themselves at the center of Japan's devastating attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
When legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, started rising from the sea, a war began that would take millions of lives and consume humanity's resources for years on end. To combat the giant Kaiju, a special type of weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On the verge of defeat, the forces defending mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroesâa washed-up former pilot (Charlie Hunnam) and an untested trainee (Rinko Kikuchi)âwho are teamed to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger from the past. Together, they stand as mankind's last hope against the mounting apocalypse.
While flying a routine reconnaissance mission over Bosnia, fighter pilot Chris Burnett photographs something he wasn't supposed to see and gets shot down behind enemy lines, where he must outrun an army led by a ruthless Serbian general. With time running out and a deadly tracker on his trail, Burnett's commanding officer decides to risk his career and launch a renegade rescue mission to save his life.
During World War II, an insubordinate fighter pilot finds the shoe on the other foot when he's promoted.
On a flight from Los Angeles to Paris, a mad scientist on the run from the CIA is transporting a coffin containing the body of a colleague infected with a genetically modified virus. While the 747 crosses a violent thunderstorm, the instability of the aircraft allows the corpse to get out of its container.
For Lieutenant Pete Mitchell and his friend and Co-Pilot Nick Bradshaw being accepted into an elite training school for fighter pilots is a dream come true. A tragedy, as well as personal demons, threaten Pete's dreams of becoming an Ace pilot.
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