The Meerkats is a feature-length 2008 British nature documentary film which reveals the daily struggles of a clan of meerkats in the Kalahari Desert. It was produced by BBC Films and the The Weinstein Company, and filmed by the award-winning BBC Natural History Unit. It is the debut directorial feature of James Honeyborne, previously a producer of natural history programmes for television.
An inspiring look at how one family’s connection to each other and their surroundings is a model of resilience and fortitude for us all. The story features the coming of age of a young meerkat pup, Kolo growing up in the Kalahari desert. Shot using ground-breaking techniques, this dramatised documentary is a one-of-a-kind presentation from The Weinstein Company and the BBC, the world’s pre-eminent nature filmmakers.
Beyond the hysteria of Reefer Madness and past the deceptive lessons of "Just Say No", HIGH exposes the true story of America's war on drugs. Using government statistics, expert interviews and a large dose of humor, HIGH takes a fresh look at this hot button issue and asks just how much this "war" costs Americans in money, stress, and even lives. There's a violent drug treatment program that tortured children; an overbearing drug czar that doesn't care for the people he hurts in his quest; patients who are being denied the medications they need; doctors being prosecuted for trying to help them; and a substance that we all know of, but nobody wants to talk about.
Wars of the future will be fought over water as they are over oil today, as the source of human survival enters the global marketplace and political arena. Corporate giants, private investors, and corrupt governments vie for control of our dwindling supply, prompting protests, lawsuits, and revolutions from citizens fighting for the right to survive. Past civilizations have collapsed from poor water management. Can the human race survive?
The lives of homeless people are changed forever through an international soccer competition. This film follows six players as they set off for Cape Town, South Africa to play in the Homeless World Cup.
Follows the plight of real-life dancers as they struggle through auditions for the Broadway revival of "A Chorus Line". Also investigates the history of the show and the creative minds behind the original and current incarnations.
Amidst the American hunger for instantaneous news and up-to-date "facts," this unflinching film uncovers the vast, invisible world of government secrecy.
A visual stunning, spellbinding spiritual journey to a world rarely seen by outsiders. The Buddhist concept of reincarnation, while both mysterious and enchanting, is hard for most Westerners to grasp. UNMISTAKEN CHILD follows the 4-year-search for the reincarnation of Lama Konchog, a world-renowned Tibetan master who passed away in 2001 at age 84. The Dalai Lama charges the deceased monk s devoted disciple, Tenzin Zopa (who had been in his service since the age of seven), to search for his master s reincarnation, a child who may be anywhere in the world. Tenzin sets off on foot, mule and even helicopter, through breathtaking landscapes and remote traditional Tibetan villages. He listens to stories about children with special characteristics, performs rituals and rarely seen tests designed to determine the likelihood of reincarnation, and eventually presents his chosen one to the Dalai Lama, who will make the final decision.
Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore investigates and compares the American health care system with that of other countries around the world, aiming to expose the shortcomings and corruption that flourishes in the system.
The shocking, heart-wrenching story of British-Canadian engineer William Sampson who lived a privileged life in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia until he was kidnapped, locked up and tortured by Saudi thugs for almost three years.
In the summer of 2006, Sigur Rós returned home to play a series of free, unannounced concerts for the people of Iceland. This film documents their already legendary tour with intimate reflections from the band and a handful of new acoustic performances.
An excellent documentary movie for the whole family tells the story of two remarkable inhabitants of the Arctic — a polar bear and an arctic walrus. It chronicles the lives of Nanu, a baby polar bear, and Seela, a walrus calf, from birth through adolescence, and finally parenthood, depicting the problems the two species must contend with, living in one of the coldest places on Earth.
"It all started when I Googled my name" said Killeen of his movie. And who in today's day and age hasn't engaged in just such an activity in a moment of idle "webbing." The difference here that the filmmaker actually followed up on his findings by not only contacting his namesakes but also traveling to whatever remote location called for to meet and interview the subjects of his search, even discovering (and verifying through genetic testing) a long-lost cousin. Jim Killeen the filmmaker in Los Angeles found, among others, Jim Killeen the priest in Cobh, Ireland, Jim Killeen the retired cop in New York, Jim Killeen the CEO in Melbourne, Australia and Jim Killeen the sexual swinger in Denver. "Google Me" has not only been given the search engine's blessing, but even features Google's VP of Engineering, Douglas Merrill, in an insightful interview voicing his sentiments on the subject. Whether an effort to defeat the innumerable self-imposed social barriers erected since the advent of the Internet or out of sheer and simple curiosity, the result is nevertheless telling and enormously entertaining - as well as a provoking commentary on today's society and how technology has transformed our lives. Due to the premise of the film, Jim Killeen is likely to become a household name. By employing the single yet powerfully intimate common denominator of a person's name, "Google Me" succeeds in exploring the philosophical subject of identity itself as well as the underlying human conditions that unite us all.
Hoop Reality is the sequel to the 1995 documentary "Hoop Dreams" and explores what happened during the last decade from where "Hoop Dreams" left off. It follows the original basketball hero past his dream and into reality, examining where life has carried him over the decade, and taking a look at where he is today, as the torch gets passed to the next dream seeker. Along the way he mentors and inspires the up-and-coming basketball star, Patrick Beverly, who leads his team, the Marshal Commandos, for the first time since the original "Hoop Dreams", to the State Finals.
The documentary movie follows the exciting history of the creation of the first superhero, Superman, and his evolution from comic books to television, and finally to the silver screen. The amazing story is told through archival footage and various interviews with actors and directors involved in the Superman films and television shows.
This engrossing docudrama follows three young British Muslims Shafiq Rasul (Riz Ahmed), Rhuhel Ahmed (Farhad Harun) and Asif Iqbal (Afran Usman) who travel to Pakistan for a relative's wedding. By a strange quirk of fate they find themselves mistaken for Taliban and Al-Qaeda operatives and captured by U.S. forces, while crossing the Afghanistan border. As a result, they are transported and held for three years in the prison camp at the Guantanamo Bay base in Cuba.
The thought-provoking documentary follows Richard Ogust, a kind-hearted, nature-loving writer who sacrifices his life's work to preserve rare and endangered turtle species from extinction. He spends years sharing his New York City apartment with hundreds of turtles until his population of turtles and tortoises amounts to 1,600. Ogust finds it necessary to relocate the animals to a warehouse in New Jersey. The movie depicts various trials the man goes through for the sake of turtles.
In the gathering dusk of 18 August 1966, 108 young, inexperienced Australian and NZ soldiers are separated and surrounded, fighting for their lives, holding off an overwhelming force of 2,500 battle-hardened Viet Cong and North Vietnamese soldiers. And, in the pouring rain, amid the mud and shattered trees of a rubber plantation called Long Tan, with their ammunition running out and another Vietnamese battalion massing for the final assault, the digger's situation seemed hopeless. Long Tan is the true story of ordinary boys who became extraordinary men.
