Shoshana Damari was the first Israeli diva. She graced local and international stages, stirring millions with her beguiling voice and spectacular performance. Yet behind the larger-than-life persona and her memorable songs was a woman about whom we know little. She didn’t like to be interviewed and never volunteered details about herself and her family. Hers was the life of a Hollywood legend and she paid the price for it. This is a story about fame and loneliness, acclaim and loss, daring and compromise. For the first time, the woman behind the crown, the cloak and the palace will come to light.
One Chance (2013)
This film follows the remarkable and inspirational true story of Paul Potts, a shy, bullied shop assistant by day and an amateur opera singer by night.
Walk the Line (2005)
A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.
Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing (2006)
Shut Up and Sing is a documentary about the country band from Texas called the Dixie Chicks and how one tiny comment against President Bush dropped their number one hit off the charts and caused fans to hate them, destroy their CD’s, and protest at their concerts. A film about freedom of speech gone out of control and the three girls lives that were forever changed by a small anti-Bush comment
A Very English Genius (2002)
The work and unexplained death of Michael Ventris, the English architect, classicist, and philologist who deciphered the ancient Mycenaean Greek script Linear B, are portrayed.
Věra 68 (2012)
Vera Cáslavská, the most successful Czechoslovak sportswoman and the fourth most successful Olympic sportswoman globally, won seven gold and four silver medals. After her 1968 Mexico City Olympics victory, she became the second most popular woman after Jacqueline Kennedy. In 1968, she signed the 2000 Words Manifesto, which she never retracted. Despite her fame, she faced a troubled life due to political issues, marriage, and family tragedy. Her story reflects Czech society during both communist and democratic regimes, where she was active in the civil sphere. She views her sports career as fleeting fame compared to her challenging life. Now 68, 42 years after her sports career, she remains admired in the Czech Republic and Japan. Her life is a unique chapter in Czech history.
The Man Who Was There (2013)
The Spanish journalist Manuel Chaves Nogales (1897-1944) was always there where the news broke out: in the fratricidal Spain of 1936, in Bolshevik Russia, in Fascist Italy, in Nazi Germany, in occupied Paris or in the bombed London of World War II; because his job was to walk, see and tell stories, and thus fight against tyrants, at a time when it was necessary to take sides in order not to be left alone; but he, a man of integrity to the bitter end, never did so.
Blues Run the Game: The Strange Tale of Jackson C. Frank (2023)
The untold story of Jackson C Frank, an American folk legend. His tragic life produced some of the most timeless folk music of our time.
Adam Jacobs - Behind the Curtain (2021)
Adam Jacobs was the original "Aladdin" in Disney's smash Broadway musical, with a list of other hits like Les Miserables and Something Rotten, but this docu-concert – filmed as a special one-night-only performance – explores his emotional personal journey, from growing up as a Filipino American in California to landing the role of a lifetime.
Chita Rivera: A Lot Of Livin' To Do (2015)
A retrospective of Chita Rivera's film, television and stage career, including interviews with Dick Van Dyke, Ben Vereen, Carol Lawrence and others. Originally aired as Episode 2 of Season 43 of the PBS series Great Performances.
Woodstock (1970)
An intimate look at the Woodstock Music & Art Festival held in Bethel, NY in 1969, from preparation through cleanup, with historic access to insiders, blistering concert footage, and portraits of the concertgoers; negative and positive aspects are shown, from drug use by performers to naked fans sliding in the mud, from the collapse of the fences by the unexpected hordes to the surreal arrival of National Guard helicopters with food and medical assistance for the impromptu city of 500,000.
The Harmonists (1997)
Comedian Harmonists tells the story of a famous, German male sextet, five vocals and piano, the "Comedian Harmonists", from the day they meet first in 1927 to the day in 1934, when they become banned by the upcoming Nazis, because three of them are Jewish.
Notes on Blindness (2016)
After losing sight in 1983, John Hull began keeping an audio diary, a unique testimony of loss, rebirth and renewal, excavating the interior world of blindness. Following on from the Emmy Award-winning short film of the same name, Notes on Blindness is an ambitious and groundbreaking work, both affecting and innovative.
McCarthy (2020)
"McCarthy" chronicles the rise and fall of Joseph McCarthy, the Wisconsin senator who came to power after a stunning victory in an election no one thought he could win. Once in office, he declared that there was a vast conspiracy threatening America — emanating not from a rival superpower, but from within. Free of restraint or oversight, he conducted a crusade against those he accused of being enemies of the state, a chilling campaign marked by groundless accusations, bullying intimidation, grandiose showmanship and cruel victimization. With lawyer Roy Cohn at his side, he belittled critics, spinning a web of lies and distortions while spreading fear and confusion. After years in the headlines, he was brought down by his own excesses and overreach. But his name lives on linked to the modern-day witch hunt we call “McCarthyism.”
Dreamgirls (2006)
A trio of female soul singers cross over to the pop charts in the early 1960s, facing their own personal struggles along the way.
Aimé Césaire: A Voice for History (1995)
A three-part study that introduces audiences to the celebrated Martinican author Aimé Césaire, who coined the term "négritude" and launched the movement called the "Great Black Cry".
Ray (2004)
Born on a sharecropping plantation in Northern Florida, Ray Charles went blind at seven. Inspired by a fiercely independent mom who insisted he make his own way, He found his calling and his gift behind a piano keyboard. Touring across the Southern musical circuit, the soulful singer gained a reputation and then exploded with worldwide fame when he pioneered coupling gospel and country together.
Sam Cooke: Legend (2003)
Singer, songwriter, business man, family man, civil rights activist: Sam Cooke transcends all barriers of race, faith and talent. This first-ever biography of the definitive soul singer looks at his extraordinary career and personal life - from his gospel-singing roots through his R&B and pop music career.