Toccata and Fugue

The ABCs of Book Banning

February 2024 •English

In recent years, more than 2,500 books have been removed from school districts around the US, labeled as banned, restricted, or challenged, and made unavailable to millions of students. By no accident, the themes targeted are the usual scapegoats of the American Right—LGBTQ+ issues, Black History, and women’s empowerment—impeding the power of future generations to develop their own thoughts and opinions on critical social issues. By weaving together a lyrical montage of young readers and authors, THE ABCs OF BOOK BANNING reveals the voices of the impacted parties, and inspires hope for the future through the profound insights of inquisitive youthful minds.

Entheogen: Awakening the Divine Within

January 2006 •English

A feature length documentary which invites the viewer to rediscover an enchanted cosmos in the modern world by awakening to the divine within. The film examines the re-emergence of archaic techniques of ecstasy in the modern world by weaving a synthesis of ecological and evolutionary awareness,electronic dance culture, and the current pharmacological re-evaluation of entheogenic compounds.

Rock School

February 2005 •English

It is about a music school in Philadelphia, The Paul Green School of Rock Music, run by Paul Green that teaches kids ages 9 to 17 how to play rock music and be rock stars. Paul Green teaches his students how to play music such as Black Sabbath and Frank Zappa better than anyone expects them to by using a unique style of teaching that includes getting very angry and acting childish.

Teach Me If You Can

April 2021 •French

The three teachers Svetlana, Sandrine and Taslima teach children and young people in places that are hardly accessible for “normal” lessons - in a nomad tent under the snow cover of Siberia, in a hut in the bushland of Burkina Faso and on a school boat in Bangladesh. They share a common goal: to enable their students to have a better future through education.

This Is It

October 2009 •English

A compilation of interviews, rehearsals and backstage footage of Michael Jackson as he prepared for his series of sold-out shows in London.

Who Cares About Kelsey?

March 2012 •English

Kelsey Carroll has one goal--to graduate from high school--and plenty of reasons why she shouldn't. She attends a school with one of the highest dropout rates in New Hampshire and has dealt with homelessness, abuse, and ADHD. As a freshman, she didn't earn a single academic credit, but she did get suspended for dealing drugs. 'Who Cares About Kelsey?' is the story of Kelsey's transformation from a defiant and disruptive 'problem student' to a motivated and self-confident young woman. Along the way, critical figures in her personal and educational life shape her coming of age and play important roles in an education revolution that's about empowering--not overpowering--our most emotionally and behaviorally challenged youth.

The Hobart Shakespeareans

September 2005 •English

Rafe Esquith, 1992 American Teacher of the Year and National Medal of Arts recipient, teaches 5th-grade children whose parents don't speak English at a school in a dangerous, poor, drug-infested 100% Latino/Asian neighborhood in Los Angeles.

Berkshire Goes Balearic

April 2014 •English

Charting the untold story of the Balearic sound, and how hedonism gripped the hearts, minds and dance floors of the English Home Counties, fueled by the freewheeling party island of Ibiza.

Never Stop: A Music That Resists

January 2017 •English

Featuring the pioneers of techno music Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Carl Craig, and Jeff Mills, Never Stop takes us into the fascinating universe of techno labels in Detroit. This film highlights the deep roots of the creation, more than thirty years ago, by each of the African-American pioneers of techno music, of their own record labels.

Sparni

December 2023 •English

It’s the second semester of junior year for Pierce “Sparni” Sparnroft, a gifted jazz vibraphonist studying at Montclair State University in New Jersey. Sparni’s prospects on the vibes were rejuvenated by their new professor, the world-renowned Steve Nelson, and are to be showcased during a student-driven recital in May 2023. But all the while, Sparni must face a crisis within.

Dance for All

September 2007 •English

Rise Above the Mark

December 2012 •English

The purpose of Rise Above the Mark, narrated by Peter Coyote, is to educate the general public about the “corporate takeover” of Indiana public schools and what parents, community members and educators can do to protect their local public schools. Legislators are calling the shots and putting public schools in an ever-shrinking box. WLCSC Board of School Trustees and Superintendent of Schools, Rocky Killion, want to secure resources and legislative relief necessary to achieve the school district’s mission of creating a world-class educational system for all children. The school district’s strategic plan will introduce a model of education that puts decision making back into the hands of local communities and public school teachers, rather than leaving it in the hands of legislators and ultimately lining the pockets of corporations.

Modulations

September 1998 •English

Less a documentary than a primer on all electronic music. Featuring interviews with nearly every major player past and present, as well as a few energetic live clips, Modulations delves into one of electronica's forgotten facets: the human element. Lee travels the globe from the American Midwest to Europe to Japan to try to express the appeal of music often dismissed as soulless. Modulations shows that behind even the most foreign or alien electronic composition lies a real human being, and Lee lets many of these Frankenstein-like creators express and expound upon their personal philosophies and tech-heavy theories. Lee understands that a cultural movement as massive and diverse as dance music can't be contained.

Italo Disco: The Sparkling Sound of the 80s

October 2021 •German

The history of italo disco, a musical genre that conquered the world during the incredible eighties, the most cybernetic decade; a style that was not just another kind of dance-pop music, but also the origin of an aesthetic, a true social phenomenon and the creative center of a very profitable industry.

D.A.F.T.

November 1999 •English

A strange combination of techno and New Wave music, the French duo Daft Punk caused an international dance sensation with their catchy hit "Around The World." This fantastic French import showcases the fact that the duo's innovation carries over to the video realm from the musical one. D.A.F.T. features their first four famous videos -- "Da Funk," "Around The World," "Burnin," and "Revolution 909."

Classroom 8

August 2023 •Spanish

From his modest apartment in Lima, a teacher gives virtual classes, seeking to reflect with his young students with low socio-economic backgrounds on racism, politics and inequality: issues that resonate in an increasingly fractured country.

Married to the Music

Invalid date •English

Led by her burning passion for music and dance, Sam Divine – the first lady of British House Music – opens up about her love of clubbing, her rise to fame in the face of inequality and misogyny, personal addictions to drugs and drink and struggles with mental health in a relentless and unforgiving industry.

Ali's Story

Invalid date •English

Living as listening: For DJs, life revolves around records. Around sounds. Every life is a story, every DJ is a narrator. Every stack of records is an endless collection of stories, of myths, of memories. Can we know someone’s life through their records? For some, we can even know their impact. These records changed Ali Coleman’s life. This is Ali’s Story.

A Passage from Burnt Islands

March 1992 •English

In his crusade for literacy, principal Ray Brown enlisted the help of the community and broke through the cycle of illiteracy in a small Newfoundland fishing village. He turned the struggling elementary school into a place where students were eager to learn and instilled in parents a sense of hope for their children's future.

And Those Who Dance it Surrender Their Hearts to Each Other

October 2017 •English

And Those Who Dance it Surrender Their Hearts to Each Other is a portrait of Lone Piñon, a Northern New Mexican string band celebrating their region’s cultural roots. With fiddles, upright bass, accordions, vihuela, mandolin, guitars, jarana huasteca, and vocals in Spanish, English, Nahuatl and P’urepecha, they play a wide spectrum of the traditional music that is at home in New Mexico. The musicians have learned from elder musicians (such as Antonia Apodaca) who instilled in them a respect for continuity of the community based social and dance music. Noah Martinez, Jordan Wax, Leticia Gonzales and Greg Glassman have brought the language of New Mexico traditional music and related regional traditions back onto the modern stage, back onto dance floors, and back into the ears of a young generation.