In World War II. African-American GIs liberate Germany from Nazi rule while racism prevailed in their own army and home country. Returning home they continue fighting for their own rights in the civil rights movement.
52 Blocks: Show and Prove (2007)
As beautiful and sleek as it is deadly, 52 Blocks merits special conservation efforts as the United States' only existing native martial culture, as it is indeed, the jazz of the martial arts world. Across the African diaspora, there are manifestations of African-derived warrior-dances, capoeira in brazil, mani in Cuba, ladja in Martinique, pinge in Haiti- yet the US offshoot has remained esoteric, because it was suppressed throughout slavery, Reconstruction and Jim Crow and then obscured in the criminal justice system. The history, interviews and training of the martial arts style that created Breakdance and boxing greats like Mike Tyson.
The Red Elvis (2007)
A documentary on the late American entertainer Dean Reed, who became a huge star in East Germany after settling there in 1973.
The Issue of Mr. O'Dell (2020)
A documentary examining the life of civil rights organizer, Jack O'Dell, a close colleague of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and a force in his own right.
Spies of Mississippi (2014)
Spies of Mississippi tells the story of a secret spy agency formed by the state of Mississippi to preserve segregation and maintain white supremacy. The anti-civil rights organization was hidden in plain sight in an unassuming office in the Mississippi State Capitol. Funded with taxpayer dollars and granted extraordinary latitude to carry out its mission, the Commission evolved from a propaganda machine into a full blown spy operation. How do we know this is true? The Commission itself tells us in more than 146,000 pages of files preserved by the State. This wealth of first person primary historical material guides us through one of the most fascinating and yet little known stories of America's quest for Civil Rights.
The Second Largest Minority (1968)
Documentary short documents the “Reminder Day Picket” at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, on July 4, 1968.
Gay and Proud (1970)
1970 short documentary covering the first New York gay pride parade celebrating one year after Stonewall.
Maria Luiza (2019)
Maria Luiza da Silva is the first transgender in the history of the Brazilian Armed Forces. After 22 years of work in the military, she retired due to disability. The film explores the complex barriers she faced and her path of affirmation as a trans, military and Catholic woman.
Freedom Isn't Free — The Freedom Charter Today (2018)
Since its adoption in June 1955 by the Congress movement, the Freedom Charter has been the key political document that acted as a beacon and source of inspiration in the liberation struggle against Apartheid. It was reputedly the main source that informed democratic South Africa’s liberal constitution and a constant reference point for the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and rival political parties that it spawned since 1994, all claiming the Freedom Charter’s legacy. Freedom Isn’t Free assesses the history and role of the charter, especially in relation to key political and socio-economic aspects of developments in South Africa up to the present period. It includes rare archival footage with interviews of a cross-section of outspoken influential South Africans.
When We Were Kings (1996)
It's 1974. Muhammad Ali is 32 and thought by many to be past his prime. George Foreman is ten years younger and the heavyweight champion of the world. Promoter Don King wants to make a name for himself and offers both fighters five million dollars apiece to fight one another, and when they accept, King has only to come up with the money. He finds a willing backer in Mobutu Sese Suko, the dictator of Zaire, and the "Rumble in the Jungle" is set, including a musical festival featuring some of America's top black performers, like James Brown and B.B. King.
Ich. Immendorff (2007)
Documentary film about the painter and sculptor Jörg Immendorff who ranks among the most important German artists. The filmmakers accompanied Immendorff over a period of two years – until his death in May 2007. The artist had been living for nine years knowing that he was terminally ill with ALS. The film shows how Immendorff continued to work with unabated energy and how he tried not to let himself be restrained by his deteriorating health.
Harlem Diary: Nine Voices of Resilience (1995)
A feature length documentary that tells the story of nine young men and women constructing positive lives as they face the challenges of growing up poor in one of America's most famous African American communities.
Germany: A Regional Geography (1964)
A BAFTA award nominated documentary intended for secondary schools exploring the three distinct geographical regions of Germany from a British perspective.
From the West (2016)
A film essay investigating the question of what “the West” means beyond the cardinal direction: a model of society inscribed itself in the Federal Republic of Germany’s postwar history and architecture. The narrator shifts among reflections on modern architecture and property relations, detailed scenes from childhood, and a passed-down memory of a “hemmed-in West Germany,” recalling the years of her parents’ membership in a 1970s communist splinter group.
Night and Fog (1959)
Filmmaker Alain Resnais documents the atrocities behind the walls of Hitler's concentration camps.
Master of the Universe (2013)
He was one of Germany's leading investment experts with an income of several million Euros per day. Now, he sits on one of the upper floors of an empty bank building in the middle of Frankfurt, overlooking a skyline of glass and steel. And talks. In an extended mix of a monologue and an in-depth interview, which is as frightening as it is fascinating, he shares his inside knowledge from a megalomaniac parallel world where illusions are the market's hardest currency. Marc Bauder's 'Master of the Universe' is based on meticulous research and provides us with geniune insight into the notoriously secretive and self-protective 'universe' of which our nameless protagonist experiences himself a master. Where other films on the financial meltdown have focused on the epic nature of larger-than-life business, Bauder probes the mentality that made it possible in the first place. A tense drama where psychology meets finance - two things that are more closely linked than you would like to believe.
Germany: A Summer's Fairytale (2006)
A documentary of the German national soccer team’s 2006 World Cup experience that changed the face of modern Germany.
Ghosts of Ole Miss (2012)
In the fall of 1962, a dramatic series of events made Civil Rights history and changed a way of life. On the eve of James Meredith becoming the first African-American to attend class at the University of Mississippi, the campus erupted into a night of rioting between those opposed to the integration of the school and those trying to enforce it. Before the rioting ended, the National Guard and Federal troops were called in to put an end to the violence and enforce Meredith's rights as an American citizen.
Lord of the Toys (2019)
Max "Adlersson" Herzberg, 20 years of age, from Dresden decided not to spend his life working. Ever since, he reviews knives and other products, unboxes limited fan editions of mainly gangsta rap albums, gives talks about himself, drinks, swears and bawls in town, humiliates others, cracks borderline jokes and crosses every boundary he sees - Max is a YouTube creator and makes a decent living off of it. Most of Max's friends have their own channels on YouTube, some even quite successfully. Max and his gang are dubious role models but without a doubt, they are celebrities of their generation having more than 300.000 active fans. Is Max a violence-glorifying influencer with far-right tendencies or a usual adolescent, just trying to find himself and happens to be born into a time where the lines between private life and public self-display are blurring? He might be both, possibly without being overly aware of it.
White Man with Black Bread (2007)
Christof Wackernagel, best known in Germany as an actor and former member of the Red Army Faction ("RAF") lives in Mali. In his compelling portrait, Jonas Grosch shows a man who simply cannot stand still if he senses injustice. The courage to stand up for one’s beliefs coupled with vanity? However one chooses to look at it, it is easy to imagine what made him connect with the "RAF". With his irrepressible will for freedom, Christof Wackernagel gets entangled in the horrors of day-to-day life in Africa.
The Dangerous Servant (2009)
This program consists of unedited responses to questions presented to G. Edward Griffin by a camera crew creating a documentary on the U.S. Constitution. In this session, he answers the most difficult questions imaginable in the fields of political and social science. The depth and clarity of his response is amazing, especially considering he is speaking extemporaneously without benefit of script or notes. In an era when many people are just now waking up to the WHAT of current events, here are issues for the brain that go far beyond that shallow pool into the deep water of WHY and HOW.