Las alas de la vida

The Cost of Cobalt

March 2021 •English

In the cobalt mining areas of Katanga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), babies are being born with horrific birth defects. Scientists and doctors are finding increasing evidence of environmental pollution from industrial mining which, they believe, may be the cause of a range of malformations from cleft palate to some so serious the baby is stillborn. More than 60% of the world’s reserves of cobalt are in the DRC and this mineral is essential for the production of electric car batteries, which may be the key to reducing carbon emissions and to slowing climate change. In The Cost of Cobalt we meet the doctors treating the children affected and the scientists who are measuring the pollution. Cobalt may be part of the global solution to climate change, but is it right that Congo’s next generation pay the price with their health? Many are hoping that the more the world understands their plight, the more pressure will be put on the industry here to clean up its act.

The First Wave

November 2021 •English

When Covid-19 hit New York City in 2020, filmmaker Matthew Heineman gained unique access to one of New York’s hardest-hit hospital systems. The resulting film focuses on the doctors, nurses, and patients on the frontlines during the “first wave” from March to June 2020. Their distinct storylines each serve as a microcosm to understand how the city persevered through the worst pandemic in a century

JFK: What The Doctors Saw

January 2023 •English

Unsettling medical details on the JFK assassination are disclosed by seven doctors who were in the ER during a futile effort to save his life in 1963.

Bethune

January 1964 •English

A film biography of Dr. Norman Bethune, the Canadian doctor who served with the loyalists during the Spanish Civil War and with the North Chinese Army during the Sino-Japanese War. In Spain he pioneered the world's first mobile blood-transfusion service; in China his work behind battle lines to save the wounded has made him a legendary figure. This hour-long documentary film pieces together his remarkable career.

Sicko

May 2007 •English

A documentary about the corrupt health care system in The United States who's main goal is to make profit even if it means losing people’s lives. "The more people you deny health insurance the more money we make" is the business model for health care providers in America.

Der lange Weg ans Licht

February 2008 •German

Edeltraut Hertel - a midwife caught between two worlds. She has been working as a midwife in a small village near Chemnitz for almost 20 years, supporting expectant mothers before, during and after the birth of their offspring. However, working as a midwife brings with it social problems such as a decline in birth rates and migration from the provinces. Competition for babies between birthing centers has become fierce, particularly in financial terms. Obstetrics in Tanzania, Africa, Edeltraud's second place of work, is completely different. Here, the midwife not only delivers babies, she also trains successors, carries out educational and development work and struggles with the country's cultural and social problems.

Predator on the Reservation

February 2019 •English

FRONTLINE and The Wall Street Journal investigate the decades-long failure to stop a government doctor accused of sexually abusing Native American boys for years, and examine how he moved from reservation to reservation despite warnings.

Stalin's Last Plot

August 2011 •French

January 1953: On the eve of his death Stalin finds himself yet another imaginary enemy: Jewish doctors. He organizes the most violent anti-Semitic campaign ever launched in the USSR, by fabricating the "Doctors' Plot," whereby doctors are charged with conspiring to murder the highest dignitaries of the Soviet Regime. Still unknown and untold, this conspiracy underlines the climax of a political scheme successfully masterminded by Stalin to turn the Jews into the new enemies of the people. It reveals his extreme paranoia and his compulsion to manipulate those around him. The children and friends of the main victims recount for the first time their experience and their distress related to these nightmarish events.

Rok konopí

April 2012 •Czech

Sick: The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist

January 1997 •English

The story of Robert Flanagan, a man who was born with cystic fibrosis and told he wouldn't live past 20, who through a unique odyssey of masochism, art and love found a way to live decades past his expiration date.

Operation T4: A Doctor Among the Nazis

February 2016 •French

A reckoning of Nazi Germany’s planned execution of its own citizens with physical and mental disabilities whom they deemed useless to their society.

Create or Die

January 2024 •English

In an industry that is becoming increasingly competitive, what drives indie filmmakers to keep creating their art, even when there is no promise of money or fame? CREATE OR DIE explores the insatiable passion to create despite the overwhelming odds through the lens of South Carolina writer and filmmaker David Axe, as he and his band of cast and crew head out into the backwoods of Georgia to shoot his low budget passion project ACORN. But when tragedy strikes on set, doubt and tension threaten to bring an end to their production and their dreams.

Eating Well for Optimum Health

July 2000 •English

Andrew Weil, M.D., program director of integrated medicine at the University of Arizona, teaches doctors and the public about nutrition, In this video, he describes good eating habits, nutritional health, and cooking. He also shares some cross-cultural perspectives on these fundamental topics.

Dr. Andrew Weil's Guide to Eating Well

June 2007 •English

One of America's best-known and most respected doctors offers a sensible approach to eating: He emphasizes enjoyment over deprivation, and long-term health benefits over short-term weight loss. Dr. Weil assures us that there is no confusion among nutrition experts about the optimal diet for health, body weight, and longevity. Understanding inflammation to be the root cause of many chronic illnesses, he gives science-based recommendations to help combat specific health concerns, all as part of an anti-inflammatory diet. On the subject of dietary supplements, he talks about what's perilous and what can help.

The Knowledge of Healing

May 1997 •German

A documentary film about Tibetan traditional medicine.

Il dottore – Ein Arzt fürs Leben

January 2023 •German

Doctor Stephan von Arx, MD, is retiring. As a family doctor, he has cared for his patients from the working class over generations. He was a factory doctor in the middle of the industrial district of Zuchwil. What will happen without him?

Echo Of The Past: The Terrence Tower

June 2012 •English

A historical documentary documenting the rise, function, and abandonment of a 17 story building that once housed The Rochester Psychiatric Center. This film tells the story of the building through historical footage, interviews of former staff and patients who recount their memories of the behemoth facility while also exploring the abandoned building as it is today.

Beats4Tanner

September 2015 •English

Tanner Seebaum aka DJ Seebaum is a 16 year old DJ with terminal brain cancer that has come out of remission and is only given months left to live. His last wish is to DJ in Las Vegas at the world famous Rehab pool party. The film documents his courageous journey.

Albert Schweitzer

November 1957 •English

This biographical docudrama traces the life of Dr. Albert Schweitzer, from his birth in Alsace, up to the age of 30 when he made the decision to go to French Equatorial Africa and build his jungle hospital. The latter half of the film encompasses a full day in the hospital-village, following the octogenarian Samaritan in his daily rounds.

Trinidad

June 2008 •English

Fascinating documentary examination of a small Colorado town’s transformation from Wild West outpost to “sex-change capital of the world” which follows three transgender women who may steer the rural ranching town toward becoming the “transsexual mecca.”