As Australian cinema broke through to international audiences in the 1970s through respected art house films like Peter Weir's "Picnic At Hanging Rock," a new underground of low-budget exploitation filmmakers were turning out considerably less highbrow fare. Documentary filmmaker Mark Hartley explores this unbridled era of sex and violence, complete with clips from some of the scene's most outrageous flicks and interviews with the renegade filmmakers themselves.
Prisoner of Her Past (2010)
Sonia Reich- who survived the Holocaust as a child by running and hiding, suddenly believes that she is being hunted again, 60 years later.
The Donner Party (1992)
Doomed attempt to get to California in 1846. More than just a riveting tale of death, endurance and survival. The Donner Party's nightmarish journey penetrated to the very heart of the American Dream at a crucial phase of the nation's "manifest destiny." Touching some of the most powerful social, economic and political currents of the time, this extraordinary narrative remains one of the most compelling and enduring episodes to come out of the West.
For All Mankind (1989)
A testament to NASA's Apollo program of the 1960s and '70s. Composed of actual NASA footage of the missions and astronaut interviews, the documentary offers the viewpoint of the individuals who braved the remarkable journey to the moon and back.
Detection (2012)
DETECTION. Consideration of past, present and future of a small village in Germany. For over a century — wars and states went by — the military is the largest employer. The everyday life of the community is inextricably linked to the events on the nearby military training area. Diaries, daily instructions, petitions, letters and photos tell about daily life at different times.
Columbus's Cursed Colony (2010)
In Columbus' Cursed Colony join two scientific expeditions on a journey that takes you beneath the waters of La Isabela Bay in Dominican Republic to search for the lost fleet of Christopher Columbus.
The Voynich Code: The World's Most Mysterious Manuscript (2014)
It is the world’s most mysterious manuscript. A book, written by an unknown author, illustrated with pictures that are as bizarre as they are puzzling — and written in a language that even the best cryptographers have been unable to decode. No wonder that this script even has a part in Dan Brown’s latest bestseller “The Lost Symbol”.
April 1, 2000 (1952)
It is the year 2000 and the World Global Union is in charge, although other countries are allowed to elect their own government leaders, as long as they support the Union. When Austria's newly-elected president, played by Josef Meinrad, makes his inauguration speech he declares Austria independence and issues an edict ending Austria's financial support for the Global Union.
Goody Goody Gumdrops (2021)
Set over three days, Goody Goody Gumdrops is an absurd, comic observational musical documentary cum live album launch for Tropical Fuck Storm’s new album Deep States. Situated deep in Central Victoria on the banks of the Goulburn River at TFS HQ, we follow the band as they prepare for a rock show in their barn. Referencing the feel of the Australian Western and Australian Gothic (see Wake in Fright, The Cars That Ate Paris and Picnic at Hanging Rock) we travel with the band through their abject, weird and beautiful space. The weekend starts as the band welcomes you into their studio/cocktail lounge and teach you how to make their signature drink, The Tropical Fuck Fizz, then entertain you, Rat Pack style.
Mad and Bad: 60 Years of Science on TV (2010)
From Raymond Baxter live on Tomorrow's World testing a new-fangled bulletproof vest on a nervous inventor to Doctor Who's contemporary spin on the War on Terror, British television and the Great British public have been fascinated with the brave new world offered up by science on TV. Narrated by Robert Webb, this documentary takes a fantastic, incisive and funny voyage through the rich heritage of science TV in the UK, from real science programmes (including The Sky At Night, Horizon, Tomorrow's World, The Ascent of Man) to science-fiction (such as The Quatermass Experiment, Doctor Who, Doomwatch, Blake's 7, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), to find out what it tells us about Britain over the last 60 years.
The History of the Pit Stop: Gone in Two Seconds (2015)
The mavericks who pioneered the modern pit stop made it a raceday staple that takes less than two seconds.
In the Interstices of Reality or The Cinema of António de Macedo (2016)
Feature documentary about ex-maverick filmmaker António de Macedo.
Nikola Tesla: The Genius Who Lit the World (1994)
Nikola Tesla is considered the father of our modern technological age and one of the most mysterious and controversial scientists in history.
The Sterilization of Leilani Muir (1996)
The life and times of Leilani Muir, the first person to file a lawsuit against the Alberta provincial government for wrongful sterilization under the Sexual Sterilization Act of Alberta.
Firestorm (2003)
After suffering heavy losses of aircraft during attacks on German factories, Winston Churchill orders cities to be targeted in order to smash German morale and reduce the number of workers available for the Nazi war machine. Hundreds of thousands of German civilians are killed as incendiary bombs turn the center of cities like Hamburg and Dresden into tornados of fire. Sixty years later, a new debate is underway over the reasons for this lethal bombing campaign. Were these relentless aerial attacks on German cities, which killed so many and destroyed so much, a necessary tactic in the war against Hitler? Or was it an act of revenge by the British and Americans? Using rare film footage (much of it in color) and stirring interviews with historians, former bomber pilots and survivors of the destruction, this extraordinary film brings to light the devastating allied air campaign against Nazi Germany.
Jingle Bell Rocks! (2013)
In JINGLE BELL ROCKS!, director Mitchell Kezin delves into the minds of some of the world’s most legendary Christmas music fanatics and hits the road to hang with his holiday heroes – including hip hop legend Joseph “Rev Run” Simmons of RUN-D.M.C., The Flaming Lips’ frontman Wayne Coyne, filmmaker John Waters, bebopper Bob Dorough, L.A. DJ and musicologist Dr. Demento, and Calypso legend The Mighty Sparrow. In his search for the twelve best, underappreciated Christmas songs ever recorded, Kezin both asks and answers the question, “Why, when Christmas rolls around, are we still stuck cozying up with Bing Crosby under a blanket of snow?”
Treasures From The Past (1987)
Restore a piece of the past with talented artisans, collectors, and dreamers who restore masterpieces of a bygone era. You will fly the skies in a WW I bi-plane, drive in the glamorous Duesenberg automobile, ride a turn-of-the-century carousel, sail aboard a magnificent tall ship, and finally, promenade through the halls of a breathtaking Russian palace. Saved from obscurity, these priceless TREASURES FROM THE PAST bring history to life once more.