In Praise of Action

Inside Red China

August 1958 •English

October 1st, 1957. Dusk descends on Tiananmen Square, Peking. Fireworks crackle light across the night sky, above a city alive with National Day festivities and celebrations. Two intrepid New Zealand film-makers - Rudall and Ramai Te Miha Hayward - are there, documenting the life and times of communist China. The distinction of being the first English speaking foreigners to film unfettered in communist China was significant. The invitation to visit China was facilitated through the New Zealand China Friendship Society. They filmed in Canton, Shanghai, Peking (Beijing) and Wuhan. It was a small window of opportunity for Westerners to gaze on a country that was largely a mystery to the outside world since 1949. The unfortunate irony was that two of the documentaries; “Wonders of China”, and “Inside Red China”, were considered to be communist propaganda, and were not distributed outside of New Zealand.

The Choice 2024: Harris vs. Trump

September 2024 •English

The documentary investigates the lives and characters of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump as they seek the presidency. In a historic election, those who know the candidates best reveal key moments that shape how they would lead America. Award-winning filmmaker Michael Kirk and his team sat down with Trump and Harris’ friends, advisors and critics, as well as authors, journalists and political insiders to present deeply reported narrative arcs of both candidates’ lives, going all the way back to their childhoods. What emerges in FRONTLINE's "The Choice 2024: Harris vs. Trump" is the story of two fighters: One seeking vindication and promising a return to greatness, and the other seeking to move beyond the past and promising a greater future.

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.

Objectified

May 2009 •English

A feature-length documentary about our complex relationship with manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them.

This Much We Know

November 2023 •English

While investigating the suicide of Las Vegas Teenager Levi Presley, a filmmaker uncovers a story of a city with the highest suicide rate in the country, and a nation scrambling to bury decades of nuclear excess in a nearby mountain.

Crusty Demons of Dirt

December 1995 •English

In 1994 filmmakers Jon Freeman and Dana Nicholson had been accumulating footage to showcase a behind the scenes expose of the lifestyle of an American pro motocross rider in action, 145ft plus jumps, 45ft high in the air soaring over sand dunes, mountains, houses, buses and anything else secure and steep enough to hold the weight of bike and rider. The end result was Fleshwound Films and the first video Crusty Demons of Dirt. The launch of this video was to change the face of motocross and create Freestyle Motocross (FMX). For over a decade, they took their dirtbikes around the world in search of unique locations and ultimately experienced the most ridiculous adventures. Exotic locations in nineteen countries : the ruins of Machu Picchu, packed arenas in Australia, the mysterious Easter Island, wild deserts in Africa no matter where we go, nothing is ever left the same.

Reggie

March 2023 •English

One of sport’s first and most influential megastars, beloved baseball icon and 5-time World Series champion Reggie Jackson contemplates his legacy as a trailblazing Black athlete fighting for dignity, respect, and a seat at the table in this intimate and revealing documentary exploring his life and barrier-busting career.

India Cabaret

January 1985 •Hindi

A documentary exploring the "respectable" and "immoral" stereotypes of women in Indian society told from the point of view of 2 strip-tease dancers in a cabaret house in Bombay.

Mole Man

November 2017 •English

MOLE MAN follows RON, a 66-year-old autistic man who has spent the last five decades building a 50-room structure in his parents' backyard. Using no nails or mortar, Ron instead creates perfectly balanced structures from scavenged materials he finds in the woods outside his Western Pennsylvania home. When Ron's father passes away, leaving him living alone with his 90-year-old mother, Ron's siblings are left to figure out what's best for Ron - who has never been officially diagnosed with autism - when his mother can no longer care for him. In an effort to find the money to keep Ron in his home, his friends team up in search of a mythical mansion Ron insists lays abandoned in the forest. But will they be able to find it? And, more importantly, does it even exist? This is the story of an extraordinary life, a family, and the beauty of thinking differently.

Capitalism: A Love Story

September 2009 •English

Michael Moore comes home to the issue he's been examining throughout his career: the disastrous impact of corporate dominance on the everyday lives of Americans (and by default, the rest of the world).

Pinnernation The Movie

August 2008 •English

This audio and visual catastrophe will leave you permanently disturbed. Staring the likes of Crazy ass Pinner doing slip n' slides on fire and burning bibles, Hank Williams III Live in Solana Beach, Dan G. self mutilating himself like no other. Music and appearances from Lamb of God. Evil Webby with his pyrotechnics and acrobatics. Plenty of ear trauma provided by Asesino Live and the only Action Launching Point-X on his B.M.X. long before X-Games while doing it illegally and in only two tries.

Fuck

November 2006 •English

A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.

CKY2K

May 2000 •English

The second entry in the CKY series of skateboarding programs and extreme stunts: it includes a very chaotic trip to Iceland, some rather disgusting fecal footage, some furniture surfing on the highway, and a demonstration of how to destroy a rental car and get off scot free.

CKY 3

February 2001 •English

The third entry in the CKY series of extreme stunts and skateboarding programs. Directed by and featuring Bam Margera and Brandon DiCamillo, starring Margera, DiCamillo and the rest of the CKY crew.

CKY 4: The Latest & Greatest

November 2002 •English

Fourth and final entry in the CKY series, directed by Bam Margera, featuring the CKY crew and the Margera family.

Les dents de la mer: Un succès monstre

December 2024 •French

In the summer of 1975, the young director Steven Spielberg set new standards for cinema worldwide with an oversized shark bite, a plastic shark fin and an unmistakable two-note main theme composed by John Williams. With the horror from the deep, a man-eating, gigantic great white shark, the film of the same name became a similarly traumatic reference as Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho": it triggered lasting primal fears across generations. On the beaches of the world, there was clearly a "before" and an "after". Steven Spielberg, who was only 28 at the time, not only set new standards for the thriller genre, but also hid his biting criticism of US capitalism in the 1970s behind it.

Another Body

October 2023 •English

A college student searches for justice after she discovers deepfake pornography of herself circulating online.

Can i Die on Camera?

March 2024 •German

Bertrand's Farm

January 2024 •French

1972 in Haute-Savoie (France) : the Bertrand's farm, with a hundred dairy cows owned by three bachelor brothers, is filmed for the first time. In 1997, they were the subject of Gilles Perret's first movie, as they let their farm to their nephew Patrick and his wife Hélène. Nowadays, 25 years later, Gilles Perret take another look at this farm, managed by Hélène who will step down. Through their words, an intimate, social and economic history of the rural world.

VHS Revolution

August 2017 •French

Using testimonies by pioneers and witnesses of the times, delve into the feverish visual culture the media generated – with far-fetched examples of canine television games, seduction manuals, aerobics class while holding a baby, among others.