Documentary
Affected tells the story of a small business owner who lost over 90% of his revenue in a matter of months after Covid-19 hit America. With much frustration and few options, Artem decided to embark on a journey to document the lives of others who have been impacted by the pandemic.
Throughout his journey, we explore the immeasurable gaps in society, race, education and medicine that have been exponentially magnified. A new divide is on the rise between those who think Covid-19 is a mere hoax that’s killing business, jobs and our economy, and those who think this is one of the biggest pandemics human beings have ever witnessed.
Will these differences cause us to grow further apart or will we manage to come closer together in the face of a new adversary? This documentary doesn’t focus on dates and numbers but instead explores the human aspect of a pandemic that has become as polarizing as it is deadly.
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FEATURES & PUBLICATIONS: 15
FESTIVAL AWARDS & NOMINATIONS: 15
During the last few centuries, a majority of scientists believed in materialism -- the view that matter is the only reality & that the mind is nothing but the physical activity of the brain.
In this movie, we discover the new science of consciousness which shows that the old materialist worldview is erroneous. We also discover the emerging post-materialist paradigm. This paradigm is leading us to the next great scientific revolution. Interviews with visionary scientists from a variety of fields (physics, neuroscience, biology, medicine, psychiatry, psychology, psi research) represent a central element of this documentary.
The combination of the conversations intertwined with the colors, effects and music produces a very uplifting experience that leads to an expansion of our consciousness, our perception of life, and our sense of reality. By the end of the documentary, we realize that we are much more than matter & that we are connected with the Universe as a whole.
A tale of perseverance and discovery.
Setting out on a two-month expedition to the Congo rainforest, the Healing Seekers Team quickly realizes why the region, regarded as one of the most pristine, bio-diverse treasures on Planet Earth, has remained unexplored. With the mission to film indigenous healing practices and natural remedies as well as the natural environments of flora and fauna for educational purposes, the team embarks on a journey to discover the unknown swath of forest.
Before permits are finalized, the team is arrested and charged with espionage for flying a drone. Later released, they would find themselves arrested one more time before the expedition is over.
In the jungle, their flesh is ripped by thorns and briars while dense foliage impeded their progress, requiring considerable time to slash through with machetes as they are constantly surrounded by swarms of bees and colonies of ants. Their struggles escalate when water supplies become depleted.
Leaving the nearly impenetrable southern region, they make their way to the northern region where they discover small indigenous communities and learn about natural remedies, which have been used for generations, the preparation of food, and dwelling structures. In the northern region, they also film the stunning, second largest fresh water swamp forest in the world.
The team meets several healers, including a unique Baka healer (known locally as a Pygmy) who has been blind since birth. Amy sits with the healer as he explains many of the natural treatments used by his village for many generations, yet never shared with the outside world.
Throughout it all, the team overcomes life-threatening obstacles and various challenges through their perseverance, positive attitudes and teamwork… and with the help from their Congolese friends. In the end, the team is not only able to explore a one of the world’s undocumented regions of the Congo jungle with its purity and rawness, but capture it to share with the rest of the world.
It was becoming clear in 1939 that direct U.S. involvement in World War Two was only a matter of time. Training approximately 500 to 750 pilots a year, the United States Army Air Corps was severely outmatched by the warring powers of Europe and Asia. What could be done to ramp up U.S. air power and train two hundred thousand pilots to take on the Axis powers? The answer was sixty primary flight schools positioned throughout the United States, one of which was located in Corsicana, Texas. This documentary provides a great insight on how an old tank farm could become a Field of Valor at a time when America and much of the world needed it the most.
An atypical pizza-at-home experience guaranteed to make you hungry.
Living in Prague, Frankie begins making Neapolitan pizza at home, using a tiny electric oven, to the delight of his friends. After some months, what was a passion-fueled pastime, turns into an actual business. Thanks to word of mouth and social networks, clients buy his pizza every week and his apartment turns into a social hub for pizza lovers.
ONE WOMAN, ONE CITY, NO FEAR, 42 YEARS
JEWEL’S CATCH ONE documents the oldest African-American owned disco in America and establishes the legacy of businesswoman, activist, and healer, Jewel Thais-Williams, who stood up against hate and discrimination for 42 years.
The story of Jewel and “The Catch” celebrates four decades of music, fashion, celebrity, and activism that helped change the course of our country by breaking down racial, social, and cultural barriers. One of the original safe spaces for both the LGBT and African-American communities, The Catch also served as a refuge for many during the AIDS crisis. As her club grew to become known as the “unofficial Studio 54 of the West Coast,” Jewel became a national model for how to combat discrimination and serve the less fortunate.
The film is a lush visual and musical journey highlighted by exclusive interviews with Sharon Stone, Madonna, Thelma Houston, Evelyn “Champagne“ King, Sandra Bernhard, Thea Austin, Jenifer Lewis, Representative Maxine Waters and Bonnie Pointer. CCH Pounder narrates this historically important film.
Laugh Loud, Laugh Proud.
Laugh Proud is Emmy® 2024 qualified for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-recorded) and Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special.
Taped on July 1, 2023, eight diverse LGBTQ+ comedians take the stage, including pioneer gay stand-up comedian Jason Stuart. Local trans drag activist legend, Jazzmun Nichcala Crayton, is the hostess with the mostest.
This is the true and inspiring story of modern-day cowboys, professional bull riders on the rodeo circuit, traveling from small town to smaller town in pursuit of a common goal – making it to the International Pro Rodeo finals in Oklahoma City.
The road to the championship is a grueling, yearlong journey paved with incredible challenges, painful sacrifice, and extreme danger each time a rider gets on the back of a bull. In the end, determination and the support of family and fellow riders will guide one cowboy to a historical world championship title.
Shut Up & Ride takes a unique look at the American West and its most cherished icon, the Cowboy, offering a true tale beyond racial or conventional stereotypes. It is narrated by the distinguished Keith David.
In this series of interviews, survivors from World War Two tell their stories. All escaped, some went back to fight, one got on a ship to Israel after the war to fight in the 1948 War of Independence. All have a unique story that history should not forget.
Episode 1: Dr. Lotte Marcus tells her story of being a Jewish girl in Vienna just as Hitler takes over Austria. She managed to escape to Shanghai. Others in her family were not so lucky. After World War Two, she emigrated to Hollywood, then Carmel, California where she raised a family and became a doctor.
Episode 2: Dr. George Hahn was born in Vienna. As a Jewish teenager, he was lucky enough to escape just as the Nazis were taking over Austria. He managed to get to the United States and, when he became old enough to enlist, he joined the American Army and went back to Europe to fight in World War Two. After the war, he graduated from UC Berkeley and became a doctor at Stanford University.
Episode 3: Tom Tugend was able to leave Berlin months before World War Two began, joined the American Army once he became old enough to enlist and fought with the Allies. After the war, he came back to the States but soon found himself taking a ship to Israel to fight in the 1948 War of Independence.
The Crooked Tune follows Fiddler Dave Bing over eight years from the hills of West Virginia to the pubs in England as he performs and teaches the old-time tunes that he learned from elders who have long passed. By following Dave, we see performers young and old as well as how the Celtic tradition work with the West Virginia style. We also see how Bing struggles with preserving the music but wonders if the context of old time is getting lost in a digital modern world.
Immersed in the colorful and vibrant setting of Dharamsala (India), four individuals from very different backgrounds come together to face their deepest fears as they approach the transformational power of the Kalachakra initiation, led by the Dalai Lama and followed by millions. Through this film, we enter and discover an ancient yet unknown dimension where death meets life, a dimension that changes someone forever. This film brings to the viewer a deep sense of peace and sends a beautiful message out into the world.
Available in French & English.
Subtitles in French, Italian & English.
Susan Oliver is most famously known as Star Trek's first iconic Green Orion Slave Girl in the original 1964 pilot. One of the most recognizable women of the 1960’s, she was a highly prolific actress who worked frequently from the 1950's until well into the 1980's. Susan was also a record-setting female aviator who won five world records for light planes and eventually became one of the first women qualified to fly the Lear Jet.
The 1970’s saw her interests turn largely towards writing and directing. An original member of the AFI Directing Workshop for Women in 1974, she fought Hollywood’s entrenched “boy’s club” mentality to eventually become one of the only women directing major TV shows in the early 1980's, including M*A*S*H.
Tragically taken by cancer in 1990 at just 58 years old, Susan Oliver has been inexplicably forgotten by many in the industry to which she gave so much of herself. This documentary chronicles and celebrates the remarkable achievements of her enigmatic and all-too-short life.
In 1918, the U.S. Army Signal Corps sent 223 women to France as telephone operators to help win the Great War. They wore Army uniforms and swore Army oaths. They were intrepid, united in a common cause. Like Joan of Arc before them, they wanted to save France. By war’s end, these women, known affectionately as the Hello Girls, had connected over 26 million calls.
They served during the occupation of Germany and the Paris Peace Conference. The last of the Hello Girls returned home in 1920, only to told they were never soldiers after all. For 60 years, they fought the U.S. government for recognition. In 1977, they won. Only 33 were still alive.
Told through 100-year-old letters, photos, rare archival footage, the only known audio of a real Hello Girl, and interviews with family and historians, this documentary brings to life a story that was almost entirely unknown.
In 2018, U.S. Senators Jon Tester from Montana and Dean Heller from Nevada introduced legislation to award the women the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation’s highest civilian honor.