A 30-minute documentary on book banning and censorship that follows author Dave Eggers as he investigates why a Rapid City, SD school board wanted to ban his book.
Social & External
Self
The highly anticipated follow-up to their critically acclaimed VIDEO NASTIES: MORAL PANIC, CENSORSHIP & VIDEOTAPE documentary, director Jake West and producer Marc Morris continue uncovering the shocking story of home entertainment post the 1984 Video Recordings Act. A time when Britain plunged into a new Dark Age of the most restrictive censorship, where the horror movie became the bloody eviscerated victim of continuing dread created by self-aggrandizing moral guardians. With passionate and entertaining interviews from the people who lived through it and more jaw dropping archive footage, get ready to reflect and rejoice the passing of a landmark era.
Spain, 1975. Franco's death opens the door to the possibility of uncensored cinema. After two years of relaxed censorship, it is abolished in 1977, and the “S” rating is created to protect viewers from films that may “offend their sensibilities.”
Peer through the lens of a high profile political dissident, banished from the online world. After introducing the viewer to each of the five characters, the film recounts how each individual then came to lose their access to social media and the affect it had on them at the time, and since the event. With their stories told, they present the broader issues raised by their media de-platforming and what they foresee in their future in media and the whole of Western Culture at-large.
The National Library of France is the guardian of priceless treasures that tell our history, our illustrious thinkers, writers, scholars and artists. Telling the story of the exceptional treasures of the National Library of France is like opening a great history book rich in many twists and turns. Without the love of the kings of France for books and precious objects, this institution would never have seen the light of day. The story begins in the 14th century under the reign of a passionate writer, Charles V, who set up a library in his apartments in the Louvre. But it was not until the 17th century, and the reign of Louis XIV, a lover of the arts and letters, that the royal library took over its historic quarters in the rue Vivienne in Paris, which it still occupies.
In 2001, Jimmy Wales published the first article on Wikipedia, a collaborative effort that began with a promise: to democratize the spreading of knowledge, monopolized by the elites for centuries. But is Wikipedia really a utopia come true?
A retrospective documentary about the groundbreaking horror series, Friday the 13th, featuring interviews with cast and crew from the twelve films spanning 3 decades.
OBAIDA, a short film by Matthew Cassel, explores a Palestinian child’s experience of Israeli military arrest. Each year, some 700 Palestinian children undergo military detention in a system where ill-treatment is widespread and institutionalized. For these young detainees, few rights are guaranteed, even on paper. After release, the experience of detention continues to shape and mark former child prisoners’ path forward.
A documentary analyzing the furore which so-called "video nasties" caused in Britain during the 1980s.
When a small Utah-based edited movie company is caught sanitizing Hollywood's copyrighted material, the film industry strikes back with a devastating blow.
A documentary about the making of the controversial Life of Brian and the surrounding accusations of blasphemy.
In 1950, America was in a state of panic. Juvenile delinquency was destroying the very fabric of society. Ninety percent of all children were reading comic books. In 1954, psychiatrist Dr. Fredric Wertham wrote a scathing indictment of comics called Seduction of the Innocent. Its central premise: Comic books were the leading contributing factor to juvenile delinquency. That same year, Dr. Wertham testified at special hearings on comic books at the Senate Subcommittee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency in the United States. Comics were on trial. Diagram for Delinquents captures the zeitgeist of late 1940s and early 1950s America and investigates how the funny books found themselves on the fire. Using expert and comic book insider interviews, never seen before historical photographs and films, and animation, DIAGRAM goes further than any previous comic book documentary to explore and understand the controversial figure at the center of this American tale: Fredric Wertham.
The story of the sexual memoirs of a Victorian gentleman who revealed himself as Walter. He documented his liaisons in a frank series of journals which ran to eleven volumes and 1.5 million words, titled 'My Secret Life'. Within the journals he documented details of his liaisons, the names of the women, their social standing, and their conversation. For a century, this material was considered obscene, its publication illegal. Today, however, it's seen as a unique insight into Victorian social and sexual mores, providing valuable information on class, gender, marriage, fidelity and morality. This film looks at the dark life of 'Walter', and examines the way his journals have shaped contemporary understanding of Victorian society. The film also examines the mystery that has surrounded this story - who exactly was 'Walter'? The film asks whether he could have been Henry Ashbee, a wealthy London gentleman who was obsessed with sex and attained a pornographic library of over 15,000 volumes.
A sex education film dedicated to all forms of human sexuality.
The story of iconic Spanish artist Susana Estrada's struggle against censorship and sexual repression during the turbulent years following the death of dictator Francisco Franco.
A look at the forces that shaped Pre-Code Hollywood and brought about the strict enforcement of the Hays Code in 1934.
Through the conversation with Yugoslav film authors and excerpts from their films, this documentary film tells a story of a film phenomenon and censorship, and its focus is, in fact, a painful epoch of Yugoslav film called “a Black Wave”, which was the most important and artistically strongest period of Yugoslav film industry, created in the sixties and buried in the early seventies by means of ideological and political decisions. The film tells a great “thriller” story of the ideological madness which characterised the totalitarian psychology having left multiple consequences felt up to our very days. It stresses similarities between totalitarian regimes defending their taboos on the example of the persecution of the most important Yugoslav film authors. Those film authors have, however, made world careers and inspired many later authors. The film is the beginning of a debt pay-off to the most significant Yugoslav film authors.
Released in 1796 posthumously, The Nun, a novel that Diderot did not dream of publishing during his lifetime, as he knew it to be revolutionary, caused the same explosion in the 19th century France as in that of the 1960s, when Jacques Rivette decided to adapt it, with Anna Karina in the title role. “This film is banned and it will remain so!” said the General de Gaulle. Exploration of an indictment of incredible modernity which, through the tragedy of the young Suzanne, locked up in the convent against her will, denounces the inequity of a society denying women all moral, political and sexual freedom.
More Dangerous Songs: And the Banned Played On features previously banned songs by the BBC including "Lola" by the Kinks, "Jackie" by Scott Walker and "(We Don't Need this) Fascist Groove Thang" by Heaven 17.
"Impressões" rescues the history of the Brazilian press since 1808, when the "Correio Brasiliense" clandestinely reached Rio de Janeiro after being edited in London by Hipólito José da Costa, and spans until 1986. It's the first documentary to depict the history of the Brazilian journalistic press.
In Germán Araujo, director Aldo Novick revives the memory of a journalist who defied censorship during one of Uruguay's darkest periods. Through previously unseen archival footage, testimonies, and music, the film honors the courage of those who reported the truth when it was risky. This powerful documentary is shaping up to be one of the most important Uruguayan film releases of the year.
Taking inspiration from Peter M. Bracke's definitive book of the same name, this seven-hour documentary dives into the making of all twelve Friday the 13th films, with all-new interviews from the cast and the crew.
Those who knew iconic funnyman John Candy best share his story, in their own words, through never-before-seen archival footage, imagery, and interviews.
Lyrical and powerfully personal essay film that reflects on the deaths of her husband Lou Reed, her mother, her beloved dog, and such diverse subjects as family memories, surveillance, and Buddhist teachings.
A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.
Unravel the case of Utah therapist Jodi Hildebrandt, whose child abuse arrest with parenting YouTuber Ruby Franke exposed a twisted tale of manipulation.
This essential new documentary pays tribute to the legacy of the late, legendary casting director Marion Dougherty and shines a light on one of the most overlooked and least understood crafts in filmmaking.
From the heights of her modeling fame to her tragic death, this documentary reveals Anna Nicole Smith through the eyes of the people closest to her.
When Allied forces liberated the Nazi concentration camps in 1944-45, their terrible discoveries were recorded by army and newsreel cameramen, revealing for the first time the full horror of what had happened. Making use of British, Soviet and American footage, the Ministry of Information’s Sidney Bernstein (later founder of Granada Television) aimed to create a documentary that would provide lasting, undeniable evidence of the Nazis’ unspeakable crimes. He commissioned a wealth of British talent, including editor Stewart McAllister, writer and future cabinet minister Richard Crossman – and, as treatment advisor, his friend Alfred Hitchcock. Yet, despite initial support from the British and US Governments, the film was shelved, and only now, 70 years on, has it been restored and completed by Imperial War Museums under its original title "German Concentration Camps Factual Survey".
Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.
Using the book 'Fragments', which collects Marilyn Monroe's poems, notes and letters, and with participation from the Arthur Miller and Truman Capote estates who have contributed more material, each of the actresses will embody the legend at various stages in her life.
Diaries, audiotapes, videotapes and testimonials from friends and colleagues offer insight into the life and career of Gilda Radner -- the beloved comic and actress who became an icon on Saturday Night Live.
An inside look at one of the most anticipated movie sequels ever with James Cameron and cast.
Alex Gibney explores the charged issue of pedophilia in the Catholic Church, following a trail from the first known protest against clerical sexual abuse in the United States and all way to the Vatican.
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.
A subjective documentary that explores various theories about hidden meanings in Stanley Kubrick's classic film The Shining. Five very different points of view are illuminated through voice over, film clips, animation and dramatic reenactments.
A purely observational non-fiction film that takes viewers into the ethically murky world of end-of-life decision making in a public hospital.
Vulgar, taunting texts blow up the phones of a teen and her boyfriend. Who's sending them — and why? This twisty documentary reveals the shocking answer.
This revealing documentary honors the legendary Sidney Poitier—iconic actor, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. Featuring interviews with Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Halle Berry, and more.
A filmmaker who grew up alongside Chucky the killer doll seeks out the other families surrounding the Child's Play films as they recount their experiences working on the ongoing franchise and what it means to be a part of the, "Chucky" family.