Kelly Finger-McNeela was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis her freshman year of high school. The only thing on her mind was living a "normal" life. Her disease threatened to make that impossible.
Social & External
The people behind it
Kelly Finger-McNeela
Self
Rylee McNeela
Linda Cameron
Ron Finger
Judy Finger
Brian McNeela
Ruth Nelson
Doreen Rademacher
Traci Machinchick
Amy Dykstra
Rena is on the threshold of adulthood. For her and her mother, the Internet is a form of escape from their humdrum everyday lives. In the world of talent shows, Facebook and YouTube, the keyboard seems to be a gateway to fame and love. Yet the border between fantasy and reality is quickly obliterated.
Coffee is the second most important commodity in the world after oil. The drink has a long history and what's more, its effect seems to be stimulating in two senses.
An immersive documentary about four nurses working in retirement houses in Alzheimer units. Near to Claire, Luca, Antoinette and Lika, we discover how the nurses work, how the care is possible, with patience, ability, intelligence, tenderness and love.
Filmed in the white working-class suburbs of Detroit, Spook House reveals a community reveling in the macabre. Front lawns are transformed into cemeteries, kitchens become mausoleums and dismembered ‘bodies’ are prepared for cannibal feasts. Cameron Jamie’s camera tracks the celebrants as the nights become longer and darker.
In a nursing home, a young man visits his grandmother. As she constantly repeats that she wants to go home, his grandson visits her now empty apartment, seeking to capture memories of a fading past.
Inside Belgrade's home for elderly people, couple of grandmas made a band. As the days go by, practices are getting harder and it makes them evaluate their lives. They have a tour for elderly people's homes across Serbia and one bigger concert with guest star drummer.
Filmmaker Stephanie Wang-Breal sets out to cross the generational divide, confronting long-simmering tensions with her Chinese immigrant mother by literally becoming her. Dressing in her mom’s iconic St John Knit power suits and re-creating her 1980s local TV cooking show, Stephanie becomes Beta-Florence, a radical reinterpretation of Asian-American identity.
Caroline Darian, Gisèle Pelicot's daughter, looks back on the tragedy that shook her family: for ten years, her father drugged her mother to subject her to rapes committed by strangers recruited on the Internet. This case exposes the scandal of chemical submission, a practice where attackers, generally close to the victims, use prescription or over-the-counter medications to commit their crimes. This phenomenon, far from being marginal, affects victims with varied profiles...
A moving portrait of traditional Finnish American culture in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, highlighting that fragile community of memory connecting ourselves with parents and grandparents. It uses the “biographical model” of folklore filmmaking to tell the story of Erikki Vourenmaa, a 92-year-old Finnish immigrant, and his family living near Ironwood, Michigan. This three-generation farm family works, celebrates, reflects, and grieves together. The film explores the meaning of family, ethnic history, aging and intergenerational bonds. It contrasts between the immigrant elder, his American-born son and the partially assimilated grandchildren to illustrate change and continuity in the "sauna belt" of the Lake Superior Region. As Dr. Sharon Sherman concluded, “Loukinen’s focus on the bonds between generations will strike emotional chords about family relationships and ethnic identity for numerous cultural groups.”
This report was broadcast on ARD in 1993. In 43 minutes, the development of psychiatry "in the third year after reunification" is shown using two institutions in the new federal states as examples. A touchstone for all of psychiatry and disability care to this day. The film shows a shocking way in which disabled people are treated. The commentary uses the perspective of those affected. 50 years after euthanasia in Germany, this documentary reminds us of this once again.
Swim Sistas follows the swimming journeys of three very different Black girls/women as barriers are broken down in the water.
Antônio Tenório and the Brazilian Paralympic Team are invited to a rare training camp in Japan. Passing through the main temples of Judo, our visually impaired athletes face the many challenges of training in an unknown country. The encounter with their Japanese hosts generates strangeness and difficulties, but also discoveries and joys. Step by step, these situations strengthen our athletes, who find themselves increasingly united. Led by the charisma and sensitivity of champion Tenório, a new generation of judo is revealed and inspired.
An exploration of how the once taboo art form has become socially acceptable.
Intoxicants offered Pinja a connection to her mother. What will their lives be based on when they both decide to get sober?
A short documentary on jazz trombonist, Ryan Porter.
More and more doctors and surgeons are using hypnosis as a supplement to anesthesia during surgery. Hypnosis is also gaining increasing recognition among conventional physicians, especially for anesthesia and pain treatment. Can it also help with psychological stress disorders such as trauma, phobias, addiction, depression or burnout?
A stark and graphic portrayal of the conditions that existed at the State Prison for the Criminally Insane at Bridgewater, Massachusetts, and documents the various ways the inmates are treated by the guards, social workers, and psychiatrists.
A journey through six different countries and characters into a world where chemistry is the ultimate response to human pursuits of well-being.
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.
Unravel the case of Utah therapist Jodi Hildebrandt, whose child abuse arrest with parenting YouTuber Ruby Franke exposed a twisted tale of manipulation.
Over 35 years after Bob Lazar's revelations, this documentary exposes secrets of a facility the government still denies. Featuring Lazar's testimony, recreations, and new evidence, it reopens a case that continues to spark global curiosity
A raw and honest behind-the-scenes look at the iconic superstar's struggle with a life-altering illness. Serving as a love letter to her fans, this inspirational documentary highlights the music that has guided her life while also showcasing the resilience of the human spirit.
Nine filmmakers each profile a young girl from a different part of the world to weave a global tapestry of youth in the 21st century.
A short kid from a Canadian army base becomes the international pop culture darling of the 1980s—only to find the course of his life altered by a stunning diagnosis. What happens when an incurable optimist confronts an incurable disease?
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.
Follow the Indianapolis Star reporters that broke the story about USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar's abuse and hear from gymnasts.
In 2001, Andrew Bagby, a medical resident, is murdered not long after breaking up with his girlfriend. Soon after, when she announces she's pregnant, one of Andrew's many close friends, Kurt Kuenne, begins this film, a gift to the child.
British documentarian Nick Broomfield creates a follow-up piece to his 1992 documentary of the serial killer Aileen Wuornos, a highway prostitute who was convicted of killing six men in Florida between 1989 and 1990. Interviewing an increasingly mentally unstable Wuornos, Broomfield captures the distorted mind of a murderer whom the state of Florida deems of sound mind -- and therefore fit to execute. Throughout the film, Broomfield includes footage of his testimony at Wuornos' trial.
Follow Aisholpan, a 13-year-old girl, as she trains to become the first female in twelve generations of her Kazakh family to become an eagle hunter, and rise to the pinnacle of a tradition that has been typically been handed down from father to son for centuries.
An in-depth investigation into the private world of the American writer J. D. Salinger (1919-2010), who lived most of his life behind the impenetrable wall of a self-imposed seclusion: how his dramatic experiences during World War II influenced his life and work, his relationships with very young women, his obsessive writing methods, his many literary secrets.
A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.
Canadian actress and filmmaker Sarah Polley investigates certain secrets related to her mother, interviewing a group of family members and friends whose reliability varies depending on their implication in the events, which are remembered in different ways; so a trail of questions remains to be answered, because memory is always changing and the discovery of truth often depends on who is telling the tale.
An astonishing journey revealing the awesome power of the natural world. Over the course of one single day, we track the sun from the highest mountains to the remotest islands to exotic jungles.
For a year, acclaimed British filmmaker Jeanie Finlay was embedded on the set of the hit HBO series “Game of Thrones,” chronicling the creation of the show’s most ambitious and complicated season. Debuting one week after the series 8 finale, GAME OF THRONES: THE LAST WATCH delves deep into the mud and blood to reveal the tears and triumphs involved in the challenge of bringing the fantasy world of Westeros to life in the very real studios, fields and car-parks of Northern Ireland. Made with unprecedented access, GAME OF THRONES: THE LAST WATCH is an up-close and personal portrait from the trenches of production, following the crew and the cast as they contend with extreme weather, punishing deadlines and an ever-excited fandom hungry for spoilers. Much more than a “making of” documentary, this is a funny, heartbreaking story, told with wit and intimacy, about the bittersweet pleasures of what it means to create a world – and then have to say goodbye to it.
Under pressure to continue a winning tradition in American tennis, Mardy Fish faced mental health challenges that changed his life on and off the court.
Giving fans unprecedented access to the real life of the music sensation, Katy Perry: Part of Me exposes the hard work, dedication and phenomenal talent of a girl who remained true to herself and her vision in order to achieve her dreams. Featuring rare behind-the-scenes interviews, personal moments between Katy and her friends, and all-access footage of rehearsals, choreography, Katy’s signature style and more, Katy Perry: Part of Me reveals the singer’s unwavering belief that if you can be yourself, then you can be anything.
Follows the story of "Grizzly Man" Timothy Treadwell and what the thirteen summers in a National Park in Alaska were like in his attempt to protect the grizzly bears. The film is full of unique images and a look into the spirit of a man who sacrificed himself for nature.
When Harvard PhD student Jennifer Brea is struck down at 28 by a fever that leaves her bedridden, doctors tell her it’s "all in her head." Determined to live, she sets out on a virtual journey to document her story—and four other families' stories—fighting a disease medicine forgot.