Eldest Among the Seven

Gifted and Challenged: The Making of 'Shortbus'

March 2007 •English

A look at the unusual process used in the making of the film Shortbus (2006) featuring interviews, behind the scenes footage and clips from the feature film. Director John Cameron Mitchell starts with the concept of using real sex in a film with a positive message. The cast of unknowns is selected from homemade audition tapes and then a callback audition workshop. More acting workshops are used to develop the characters and script. The project overcomes a number of obstacles and the rest of the film's development is followed up until its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.

The Assemblage of the Crystal Sphere: A D&D Story

January 2008 •English

In this Mockumentary, a film crew follows and documents a group of Dungeons and Dragons players in the last 3 months of their five year adventure campaign.

Heavy Metal in Baghdad

September 2007 •English

The story of Iraq's only heavy metal band and their fight to play music.

Standing in the Shadows of Motown

November 2002 •English

In 1959, Berry Gordy Jr. gathered the best musicians from Detroit's thriving jazz and blues scene to begin cutting songs for his new record company. Over a fourteen year period they were the heartbeat on every hit from Motown's Detroit era. By the end of their phenomenal run, this unheralded group of musicians had played on more number ones hits than the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, Elvis and the Beatles combined - which makes them the greatest hit machine in the history of popular music. They called themselves the Funk Brothers. Forty-one years after they played their first note on a Motown record and three decades since they were all together, the Funk Brothers reunited back in Detroit to play their music and tell their unforgettable story, with the help of archival footage, still photos, narration, interviews, re-creation scenes, 20 Motown master tracks, and twelve new live performances of Motown classics with the Brothers backing up contemporary performers.

Outrage

April 2009 •English

An indictment of closeted politicians who lobby for anti-gay legislation in the US.

The Horse Boy

November 2009 •English

Filmmaker Michel Orion Scott captures a magical journey into a little-known world, in a documentary which chronicles Rupert Isaacson and Kristin Neff's personal odyssey to make sense of their child's autism, and find healing for him and themselves in the unlikeliest of places.

Neither Old Nor Traitors

January 2006 •French

Pierre Carles and Georges Minangoy go to meet former French and Catalan partisans engaged in the anti-Franco anarchist struggle of the 1970s.

Appointment in Tokyo

December 1945 •English

Produced by the Army Pictorial Service, Signal Corps, with the cooperation of the Army Air Forces and the United States Navy, and released by Warner Bros. for the War Activities Committee shortly after the surrender of Japan. Follow General Douglas MacArthur and his men from their exile from the Philippines in early 1942, through the signing of the instrument of surrender on the USS Missouri on September 1, 1945. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2013.

WISHBONER: Making an Awkward Thanksgiving

August 2016 •English

A feature length documentary look at the making of the independent comedy Awkward Thanksgiving. See the trials and tribulations of making a no-budget independent comedy in a 5 day shooting schedule! Lot's of laughs ensue. A must have for fans of the infamous indy comedy favorite!

Trio

April 2020 •German

Beyond the scheduled programme of a school trip, three teenagers find ways to pass the time. Between tenderness, boredom and rejection they all try to find their own place in the group.

The Wild Blue Yonder

September 2005 •English

An alien narrates the story of his dying planet, his and his people's visitations to Earth and Earth's self-made demise, while human astronauts in space are attempting to find an alternate planet for surviving humans to live on.

Ciclo da Reciclagem

January 2019 •Portuguese

The U.S. vs. John Lennon

September 2006 •English

A documentary on the life of John Lennon, with a focus on the time in his life when he transformed from a musician into an antiwar activist.

The Devil and Daniel Johnston

March 2006 •English

This 2005 documentary film chronicles the life of Daniel Johnston, a manic-depressive genius singer/songwriter/artist, from childhood up to the present, with an emphasis on his mental illness and how it manifested itself in demonic self-obsession.

Why Didn't Anybody Tell Me It Would Become This Bad in Afghanistan

April 2007 •Dutch

Near-silent and shot via a cell phone, a war veteran observes the world which has been colored by his experiences in Afghanistan.

Man on Wire

August 2008 •English

On August 7th 1974, French tightrope walker Philippe Petit stepped out on a high wire, illegally rigged between New York's World Trade Center twin towers, then the world's tallest buildings. After nearly an hour of performing on the wire, 1,350 feet above the sidewalks of Manhattan, he was arrested. This fun and spellbinding documentary chronicles Philippe Petit's "highest" achievement.

Your Mommy Kills Animals

January 2007 •English

Who Killed the Electric Car?

August 2006 •English

In 1996, electric cars began to appear on roads all over California. They were quiet and fast, produced no exhaust, and ran without gasoline... Ten years later, these cars were destroyed.

Fuel

November 2008 •English

Record high oil prices, global warming, and an insatiable demand for energy: these issues define our generation. The film exposes shocking connections between the auto industry, the oil industry, and the government, while exploring alternative energies such as solar, wind, electricity, and non-food-based biofuels.

Into Great Silence

September 2005 •German

An intimate portrayal of the everyday lives of Carthusian monks of the Grande Chartreuse, high in the French Alps (Chartreuse Mountains). The idea for the film was proposed to the monks in 1984, but the Carthusians said they wanted time to think about it. The Carthusians finally contacted Gröning 16 years later to say they were now willing to permit Gröning to shoot the movie, if he was still interested.