In this sprawling 33-part epic, Dianetics therapy and the effects it has on human minds are explored.
Social & External
The work of Leiden professor Bastiaans on dealing with the trauma of war victims attracts the attention of filmmaker Louis van Gasteren. He decides to make a film about the psychotherapeutic treatment with LSD of a former concentration camp prisoner in the clinic of Bastiaans. Patient Joop is arrested in September 1941 and begins a long hellish journey through various camps, until he is liberated by the Russians. When he returns to his wife, he has become a completely different man. Joop suffers from nightmares and is incapable of normal human contact. With two cameras, Van Gasteren records approximately six and a half hours of the first treatment that Joop undergoes with Bastiaans (four more will follow later). Special attention is paid to details: Joop's hands, the sweat on his forehead, a tear running slowly down his cheek. Van Gasteren reduces the recordings to more than an hour.
Nazi propaganda film contrasting Germany in the days before Adolf Hitler became Chancellor with the Germany of "today" and how much better it is.
Scientologists at War examines the independent Scientology movement and the high level defectors who have publicly renounced their membership from the Church of Scientology. Marty Rathbun is one of the most senior defectors in Scientology's history. As the former Inspector General of Ethics in the organisation that was created by science fiction writer L Ron Hubbard, Rathbun worked closely with its leader, David Miscavige, and celebrity follower Tom Cruise. The film provides a rare insider view of the Church of Scientology.
Roughly chronological, from 3/96 to 11/96, with a coda in spring of 1997: inside compounds of Aum Shinrikyo, a Buddhist sect led by Shoko Asahara. (Members confessed to a murderous sarin attack in the Tokyo subway in 1995.) We see what they eat, where they sleep, and how they respond to media scrutiny, on-going trials, the shrinking of their fortunes, and the criticism of society. Central focus is placed on Hiroshi Araki, a young man who finds himself elevated to chief spokesman for Aum after its leaders are arrested. Araki faces extreme hostility from the Japanese public, who find it hard to believe that most followers of the cult had no idea of the attacks and even harder to understand why these followers remain devoted to the religion, if not the violence.
Nazi propaganda film about the Condor Legion, a unit of German "volunteers" who fought in the Spanish Civil War on the side of eventual dictator Francisco Franco against the elected government of Spain.
Chelsea Bledsoe and her husband Graig throw a surprise intervention for her old high school boyfriend, Henry, with a mismatched group of acquaintances from back in the day to fill out the guest list.
Based on the book by Major Alexander de Seversky's about his theories of the practical uses of long range strategic bombing. Using a combination of animation humorously telling about the development of air warfare, the film shows de Seversky illustrating his ideas of how air power could win World War II for the Allies.
There were two wars in Iraq--a military assault and a media war. The former was well-covered; the latter was not. Until now... Independent filmmaker, Emmy-award winningTV journalist, author and media critic, Danny Schechter turns the cameras on the role of the media. His new film, WMD, is an outspoken assessment of how Pentagon propaganda and media complicity misled the American people...
A disturbing collection of 1940s and 1950s United States government-issued propaganda films designed to reassure Americans that the atomic bomb was not a threat to their safety.
Thanks to an embarrassing stand-up routine promoting Christian intelligent design, Ray Comfort was dubbed "Banana Man" by Professor Richard Dawkins and mocked by an entire generation of atheists. But Ray's gotten used to it. In fact, he’s been using his banana-based infamy as a way to evangelize even more. Last year, he wrote a book, hoping that would provide some much needed context to his banana bit — it didn’t — and now he’s made this movie documenting the same thing. The problem with the entire routine, though, is that taking an hour to explain a horrible analogy doesn’t work when your starting point is a horrible analogy.
After the capture of Shanghai, Japanese soldiers make a trip to Suzhou.
Propaganda short film depicting the rise of Nazism in Germany and how political propaganda is similarly used in the United States. The film was made to make the case for the desegregation of the United States armed forces.
Jay Mandao is not your average hero. He’s an astral projecting time traveler who spends his days hanging with his adult nephew Jackson, crashing on his scheming cousin Andy’s couch, and riding with his cabbie friend Fer. In the days leading up to Christmas, Jay tries to make contact with his deceased father Raymond, but ends up contacting the ghost of B-movie star, Aura Garcia. Aura enlists the gang to astral project back in time to prevent her death. Jay quickly finds out that the more he messes with time, the more he falls down a rabbit hole of cults, conspiracies, and death. This Christmas is gonna kick astral! The sequel to Mandao of the Dead.
A collection of death scenes, ranging from TV-material to home-made super-8 movies. The common factor is death by some means.
Depictions of famous Biblical stories as well as the end times accompany an overarching plot of a man who continues to avoid church even as the end of the world draws closer.
Two space cadets crash-land on a desert planet, where an evil wizard seeks the ultimate power to take over the world. Although the movie borrows some background footage from Star Wars, the plot is mostly unrelated.
A dying professor leaves his great-nephew a collection of documents pertaining to the Cthulhu Cult. The nephew begins to learn why the study of the cult so fascinated his grandfather. Bit-by-bit he begins piecing together the dread implications of his grandfather's inquiries, and soon he takes on investigating the Cthulhu cult as a crusade of his own.
It was the biggest escape in the history of the Berlin Wall: in one historic night of October 1964, 57 East-Berliners try their luck through a tunnel into West Berlin. Just before the last few reach the other side, the East German border guards notice the escape and open fire. Remarkably, all the refugees and their escape agents make it out of the tunnel unscathed, but one border guard is dead: 21-year-old officer Egon Schultz.
Documentary made by the U.S. Army Signal Corps after the North African campaign.
GOING CLEAR intimately profiles eight former members of the Church of Scientology, shining a light on how they attract true believers and the things they do in the name of religion.
An experimental documentary that explores Saudi Arabia's relationship with the U.S. and the role this has played in the war in Afghanistan.
Unravel the case of Utah therapist Jodi Hildebrandt, whose child abuse arrest with parenting YouTuber Ruby Franke exposed a twisted tale of manipulation.
A documentary shot by filmmakers all over the world that serves as a time capsule to show future generations what it was like to be alive on the 24th of July, 2010.
After being denied access to the Church of Scientology's headquarters, documentarian Louis Theroux teams up with ex-Scientology official Marty Rathbun to stage re-enactments of alleged abuses within the organization. Theroux soon discovers that the church is watching his every move.
A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.
A documentary on Al Gore's campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide.
Alexander McQueen's rags-to-riches story is a modern-day fairy tale, laced with the gothic. Mirroring the savage beauty, boldness and vivacity of his design, this documentary is an intimate revelation of McQueen's own world, both tortured and inspired, which celebrates a radical and mesmerizing genius of profound influence.
In this genre-bending tale, Errol Morris explores the mysterious death of a U.S. scientist entangled in a secret Cold War program known as MK-Ultra.
Interviews with leading authors, philosophers and scientists, with an in-depth discussion of the Law of Attraction. The audience is shown how they can learn and use 'The Secret' in their everyday lives.
The Captains is a feature-length documentary film written and directed by William Shatner. The film follows Shatner as he interviews the other actors who have portrayed starship captains in the Star Trek franchise.
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.
With unprecedented access, this documentary follows the extraordinary journey of “Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently”—a group of anonymous citizen journalists who banded together after their homeland was overtaken by ISIS—as they risk their lives to stand up against one of the greatest evils in the world today.
We live in a world where the powerful deceive us. We know they lie. They know we know they lie. They do not care. We say we care, but we do nothing, and nothing ever changes. It is normal. Welcome to the post-truth world. How we got to where we are now…
Based on real near-death experiences, the afterlife is explored with the guidance of New York Times bestselling authors, medical experts, scientists and survivors who shed a light on what awaits us.
Documentary about the making of American Pie (1999), American Pie 2 (2001) and American Wedding (2003).
A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.
Offbeat documentarian Chris Smith provides a behind-the-scenes look at how Jim Carrey adopted the persona of idiosyncratic comedian Andy Kaufman on the set of Man on the Moon.
Just two years away from turning 30, participants in Michael Apted's documentary series are facing serious questions of identity and purpose, wondering whether they've found their place in the world.
A documentary about ten very different lives connected by having appeared onscreen wearing masks or helmets in Star Wars.