documentaries

A documentary about two different searches conducted in the Chilean Atacama Desert: one by astronomers looking for answers about the history of the cosmos, and one by women looking for the remains of loved ones killed by Pinochet's regime.

The film explores the legacy of the influencial singer who came of age in time of social upheaval and her music served as platform as political activist. She had complicated with her country and intense relationship with her lifelong partner Erdem Buri, who was also politically persecuted. Using her own story as a parallel minor narrative, filmmaker Didem explores the themes of art, identity and politics. This is particularly timely approach given the social and economical turmoil the world is faced. DIdem's story serves as contemporary corollary, giving the viewer additional lens to view German's work and her continuing relevance.

Narrated by Sydney Pollack, film critic Richard Schickel's dazzling two-hour plus documentary to one of the towering figures in film: Charles Chaplin. Hardcore Chaplin fans may not find much new material here, but more unfamiliar admirers will gain some valuable information about one of the most famous personalities of the 20th century. Schickel has constructed the documentary as a chronological survey of Chaplin's work, starting with his most significant shorts and covering all of his features. Schickel supports his narration with testimony from artists familiar with Chaplin's work and family members who offer personal insights into the comedian's life. The documentary plays down but doesn't ignore the controversies that swirled around Chaplin's private life. But the main focus is on the films. They include some of the best-loved movies of all time. Clips from "Kid Auto Races at Venice," the 1914 Keystone short in which Chaplin first used his Tramp costume, reveal a startlingly modern technique and sensibility, as if the filmmakers were predicting and mocking reality TV. Subsequent shorts show Chaplin refining his 'Little Tramp' character while absorbing the essentials of filmmaking. By the time he made "Easy Street," in 1917, Chaplin had perfected a combination of knockabout farce and Victorian sentiment that still proves irresistible. Chaplin's early features, including "The Kid," "The Gold Rush" and "City Lights," were such blockbuster hits that he could essentially ignore the coming of sound for almost a decade. Those making appearances on the program include Woody Allen, Richard Attenborough, Jeanine Basinger, Claire Bloom, Geraldine Chaplin. Sydney Chaplin, Johnny Depp, Robert Downey Jr., Milos Forman, Bill Irwin, Norman Lloyd, Marcel Marceau, David Raksin, David Robinson, Andrew Sarris, Martin Scorsese and Jeffrey Vance.

A story of brotherhood and hope... The great Turkish poet of equality and freedom, Nazim Hikmet (1902-1963), had visited Cuba in 1961, due to the invitation of his friend and colleague Cuban poet Nicholas Guillen. After the attempt of the invasion of Bay of Pigs of the USA, Nazim went to Cuba for solidarity and also to observe the enthusiasm of the Cuban Revolution. Through the testimonies of Cuban intellectuals whom had met with Nazim in this joyous voyage and through the witnesses of the Revolution's history and actuality, the film discovers how the Cuban Revolution influenced Nazim and how Nazim influenced the Cuban intellectuals.

Archival footage and personal testimonials present an intimate portrait of the life and career of British singer/songwriter Amy Winehouse.

A documentary on the late Vivian Maier, a nanny whose previously unknown cache of 100,000 photographs earned her a posthumous reputation as one of the most accomplished street photographers.

The journey of the Romany people told through musicians and dancers of India, Egypt, Turkey, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, France, and Spain.

Villagers in Turkey's Black Sea village of Camburnu struggle with the government's decision to turn their community into a garbage dump.

Andy Warhol directs a single 35-minute shot of a man's face to capture his facial expressions as he receives the sexual act depicted in the title.

Two South Africans set out to discover what happened to their unlikely musical hero, the mysterious 1970s rock n roller, Rodriguez.

Aging Cuban musicians whose talents had been virtually forgotten following Castro's takeover of Cuba, are brought out of retirement by Ry Cooder, who travelled to Havana in order to bring the musicians together, resulting in triumphant performances of extraordinary music, and resurrecting the musicians' careers.

What happens when your child comes out to you? In this feature documentary, parents of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-gender individuals in Turkey intimately share their experiences with the viewer, as they redefine what it means to be parents, family, and activists in this conservative, homophobic, and trans-phobic society.

In this tour de force filmed lecture, Slavoj Zizek lucidly and compellingly reflects on belief - which takes him from Father Christmas to democracy - and on the various forms that belief takes, drawing on Lacanian categories of thought. In a radical dismissal of todays so called post-political era, he mobilizes the paradox of universal truth urging us to dare to enact the impossible. It is a characteristic virtuoso performance, moving promiscuously from subject to subject but keeping the larger argument in view. Based at Ljubliana University, Slavoj Zizek's main body of work includes Welcome to the Desert of the Real and, most recently, The Puppet and the Dwarf: The Perverse Core of Christianity.

Rithy Panh uses clay figures, archival footage, and his narration to recreate the atrocities Cambodia's Khmer Rouge committed between 1975 and 1979.

A film that excavates layers of myth and memory to find the elusive truth at the core of a family of storytellers.

This documentary narrates how people from very diverse lifestyles and ideologies fought together to convert the Gezi Park-the only remaining green area in the center of the city- into a model of the world they dreamed of.

"Fatma of the Forest" documentary, screened in 1979, International Year of Children, reflects life, longings and a major "fear" in her subconscious of an 12-years old "woodcutter" girl living under very hard conditions in the forests of Toros Mountains at an altitude of approximately 2000 mt. The documentary, aiming to symbolize a little-known but common practice of child labor with Fatma, accomplishes a dramatic portrayal of laborers who work for Ministry of Forestry in works of lumbering and logging, totally deprived of social security. In the documentary, alongside with the daily lives of the woodcutters, Semah Dance, one of the most important elements of the folklore of woodcutters, is the final act. The Semah Dance symbolizes a "resistance" that was started about 400 year ago by the famous folk poet Pîr Sultan Abdal.

Turkey in the 1960s and 70s was one of the biggest producers of film in the world even though its film industry did not have enough written material to start with. In order to keep up with the demand, screenwriters and directors were copying scripts and remaking movies from all over the world.

In 2004, 13 Indigenous Grandmothers from all four corners, moved by their concern for our planet, came together at a historic gathering, where they decided to form an alliance: The International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers. This is their story. Four years in-the-making and shot on location in the Amazon rainforest, the mountains of Mexico, North America, and at a private meeting with the Dalai Lama in India, For the Next 7 Generations follows what happens when these women unite. Facing a world in crisis, they share with us their visions of healing and a call for change now, before it's too late. This film documents their unparalleled journey and timely perspectives on a timeless wisdom.

A documentary about modern and creative forms of non-violent protest and civil disobedience.

Musician Cat Power narrates this documentary on Janis Joplin's evolution into a star from letters that Joplin wrote over the years to her friends, family, and collaborators.

Set in a leper colony in the north of Iran, The House is Black juxtaposes "ugliness", of which there is much in the world as stated in the opening scenes, with religion and gratitude.