The Threatening Sky

Land Without Bread

December 1933 •Spanish

An exploration —manipulated and staged— of life in Las Hurdes, in the province of Cáceres, in Extremadura, Spain, as it was in 1932. Insalubrity, misery and lack of opportunities provoke the emigration of young people and the solitude of those who remain in the desolation of one of the poorest and least developed Spanish regions at that time.

Del mero corazón

January 1979 •English

A lyrical journey through the heart of Chicano culture as reflected in the love songs of the Tex-Mex Norteña music tradition. Performers include, Little Joe & La Familia, Leo Garza, Chavela Ortiz, Andres Berlanga, Ricardo Mejia, Conjunto Tamaulipas, Chavela y Brown Express and more.

Magic Muscle Moments

December 2020 •Finnish

The daily life of an ill man is constantly interrupted by television advertisements. They promise some change to his life. He finds himself as a part of the adverts, but soon the empty promises become demonically possessive. The truth sets in.

At the Beach

March 2015 •French

Burn victims get to enjoy a family day at the beach thanks to an outing organized by the Association des grands brûlés.

Find Fix Finish

January 2017 •German

Find Fix Finish delves into the stories of three US-Drone pilots revealing the clandestine operational strategies practiced by the US Government.

Wigstock: The Movie

January 1987 •English

The original documentary on the Wigstock festival, back in the day when it was a much smaller affair in Thompkins Square Park. A full day of peace, love, and wigs…

The Great Blizzard in the Baltics in December

January 1913 •Estonian

A series of short winter scenes.

Frenchball - Le Coup D'Envoi

October 2014 •French

Nascita di un culto

August 1968 •Italian

In the province of Salerno in Campania, a village is attracting more and more pilgrims, sometimes several hundred a day. Arriving by bus, car and even on foot, they pray to Saint Antony to protect them from demons and disasters. They do this through the intermediary of a certain Giuseppina who embodies the dead soul of young Alberto, the grandson of the former seminarian who died accidentally some ten years earlier.

Early One Morning

December 1937 •Swedish

A Swedish short film taking us inside Värmdö church for the Christmas holiday.

Dreams of the Past

October 2022 •Russian

Holkmannen

January 2014 •Swedish

A father tends to get obsessed with stuff. For a while he was all about Jujutsu. Then there was the period with macrobiotic cooking. Lately he only talks about bird houses.

Ride Around the World

May 2006 •English

Journey across Morocco, Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Patagonia, Texas and British Columbia, to meet vaqueros, gauchos, baqueanos and cowboys - all part of a single global horse culture, an unbroken trail stretching back 1,500 years.

A Safe Distance

January 1986 •English

The short documentary looks at some innovative approaches to providing services and accommodation for battered women in rural, northern, and Native communities. Filmed in Thompson and Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, and West Bay Reserve, Ontario, the film introduces the women who operate and use various types of accommodation such as transition houses, transition apartments, and safe houses. The shelter on West Bay Reserve is singled out as a project that was built by women for women to stand as a reminder that the Reserve will not tolerate violence against women. A Safe Distance is part of the The Next Step, a 3-film series about the services needed by and available to battered women.

Powder Keg

June 2001 •English

The Driver is drafted by the UN to rescue a wounded war photographer named Harvey Jacobs from out of hostile territory. While they are leaving Jacobs tells the Driver about the horrors he saw as a photographer, but he regrets his inability to help war victims. Jacobs answers the driver curiosity about why he is a photographer by saying how his mother taught him to see. He gives the Driver the film needed for a New York Times story and also his dog tags to give to his mother. When they reach the border, they are confronted by a guard who begins to draw arms as Jacobs begins taking pictures, trying to get himself killed. The Driver drives through a hail of gunfire to the border, but finds Jacobs killed by a bullet through the seat. The Driver arrives in America to visit Jacobs' mother and share the news of him winning the Pulitzer prize and hand over the dog tags, only to discover that she is blind.

Drone Strike

January 2013 •English

A day in the life of a devoted father and serving RAF drone pilot - juggling the normality of his domestic life with the warped reality of firing Hellfire missiles 4000 miles away in Afghanistan - and how one fateful decision shatters his conviction.

Wild Ocean

April 2008 •English

Wild Ocean is in an uplifting, giant screen cinema experience capturing one of nature's greatest migration spectacles. Plunge into an underwater feeding frenzy, amidst the dolphins, sharks, whales, gannets, seals and billions of fish. Filmed off the Wild Coast of South Africa, Wild Ocean is a timely documentary that celebrates the animals that now depend on us to survive and the efforts by the local people to protect this invaluable ecological resource. Hope is alive on the Wild Coast, where Africa meets the sea.

Chigh

June 1996 •Persian

A documentary of the epic story of the weaving Chigh. Chigh is a kind of texture made from wood and osier that is made in the ilats of the west of Iran and is used for covering around their Siah-chadors

Tarikhaneh

November 1975 •Persian

A documentary about the ancient Tarikhane Mosque of Damghan

Vowellet - An Essay by Sarah Vowell

March 2005 •English

This Pixar documentary short follows Sarah Vowell, who plays herself as the title character, on why she is a superhero in her own way. (This short piece is included on the 2-Disc DVD for "The Incredibles", which was released in 2005.