
For the last half century, the little town of Luling, Texas has held an annual Watermelon Thump Festival – and its own world championship watermelon seed spitting competition. This short documentary is about both the contest and the chief seed spitting judge, Phil, an underemployed, over-stimulated, former expatriate, who’s come home after years abroad in Europe.

For the last half century, the little town of Luling, Texas has held an annual Watermelon Thump Festival – and its own world championship watermelon seed spitting competition. This short documentary is about both the contest and the chief seed spitting judge, Phil, an underemployed, over-stimulated, former expatriate, who’s come home after years abroad in Europe.
2001-06-02
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0.0A year in the life of an underdog competitive high school mariachi band in the Texas borderlands.
7.6Filmmaker S.R. Bindler profiles Texas contestants trying to win a truck by keeping one hand on it longer than everyone else.
7.0Using two separate filmmaking teams (an all-white crew filming white residents and an all-black camera crew filming black residents), TWO TOWNS OF JASPER captures very different racial views by townsfolk in Jasper, Texas, the location for a racially motivated murder of an African American man in 1998.
7.3The corruption runs deeper than you'd ever imagine. A multi-billion dollar industry you've never heard of. This is the world Patent Trolls thrive in: A world created for them by our own U. S. Patent system. You can be sued for clicking on a hyperlink, using your own scanner, or sharing your Wi-Fi! It sounds insane, but the reality is even crazier. Patent Trolls look for obvious ideas, patent them, and then sue anyone they claim is infringing on their idea. People's lives and businesses are being destroyed.. and they have no way out. “The Patent Scam” exposes the underbelly of this system, and the people that commit this practice.
THE BIKINI OPEN is a special-event, retro series featuring the best swimsuit, fitness, bikini, and modeling competitions from the early 90s.
6.8Filmmaker Jonathan Caouette's documentary on growing up with his schizophrenic mother -- a mixture of snapshots, Super-8, answering machine messages, video diaries, early short films, and more -- culled from 19 years of his life.
8.0Roam the Wild West frontier land of the Rio Grande’s Big Bend alongside its iconic animals, including black bears, rattlesnakes and scorpions.
7.6This unique documentary dramatically re-enacts the crime scene and investigation of a police officer's murder in Dallas.
10.0Satellites in Texas is a feature documentary following musician Boome as he copes with his brothers sudden death. It follows his humble beginnings as he climbs the ladder of the music industry. Raised by a single immigrant mother Boome defies the odds and starts to scratch the surface of success. Faced by hard decisions to continue to pursue his dream, Boome takes us on the road.
8.0"This Is What Trans Punk Looks Like" is a documentary about the transgender punk culture in Texas and the beauty of community. It features several interviews with trans individuals within the scene, talking about their childhood experiences, Texas' political climate, and what punk means to them.
0.0Kapwa, a Filipino term that means "togetherness" or "neighbor", is a recognition of a shared identity; an inner self that is shared with others. WHO WE BECOME is a story of kapwa and follows three Filipino women each coming into their political consciousness and discovering themselves during a pivotal moment in their lives.
6.3This documentary on the effect the talent competition "Afghan Star" has on the incredibly diverse inhabitants of Afghanistan affords a glimpse into a country rarely seen. Contestants risk their lives to appear on the television show that is a raging success with the public and also monitored closely by the government.
8.0Grand Saline, Texas, was a sleepy, unremarkable town—until a white preacher lit himself on fire to protest the town's racism in 2014. The subject of this film is deceptively straightforward: A minister commits suicide by setting himself on fire. He leaves behind a letter that frames his decision as a religious response to the intolerable racism of America's past and present, particularly in his Texas hometown. The aftermath is befuddling: There are townspeople who can recall incidents of racial violence and hate speech, and those who have never seen anything of the kind. Black folk in surrounding towns who share rumors and fears about acts of violence, and white folk who say you can't believe everything you hear. Fellow ministers who share the desire to be liberated from a racist past, and churchgoers who believe only mental illness could explain such a suicide.
0.0Rae Ripple, a welder from the outskirts of West Texas transforms neglected metal into works of art and in the process finds healing from her traumatic past.
6.9From the masters who create the mind-bending diversions to the tense competition at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, Patrick Creadon's documentary reveals a fascinating look at a decidedly addictive pastime. Creadon captures New York Times editor Will Shortz at work, talks to celebrity solvers -- including Bill Clinton and Ken Burns -- and presents an intimate look at the national tournament and its competitors.
This documentary is about the "World's Largest Trivia Contest" held in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Eight questions per hour are asked over 90FM, the student radio station at the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, for 54 hours straight. This film highlights several trivia teams and how very differently they play the contest from the more serious teams to the teams who just get together to party. For most teams, Trivia is like an annual reunion where they can get together with family and friends and have fun doing something they all love.
0.0For the three-channel video Salidas y Entradas Exits and Entrances, artists Jessica Hankey and Erin Johnson worked with applied theatre facilitator Gina Sandi Diaz to offer performance workshops at public daytime senior centers managed by the city of El Paso’s Parks and Recreation Department. With the senior center as a stage, the elders who participated in the workshops enacted social, political and geographical imaginaries for the camera. Through improvisation and performance exercises drawn from the work of Viola Spolin and Augusto Boal, themes emerge: the dynamics of the U.S.- Mexico border, the desire to be seen, the role of musical storytelling as a soundtrack to daily life, power dynamics, and gender as performance. As the boundaries between rehearsal, improvisation, and performance blur, the ways in which individual lives and sociopolitical realities merge together are foregrounded.
6.0While filming professional bullriders for a commercial at the national rodeo in Houston, Texas, Spike Jonze befriended two suburban teenagers who aspired to be cowboys. The documentary chronicles an afternoon in their lives.
6.8Sandra Bland was a bright, energetic activist whose life was cut short when a traffic stop resulted in a mysterious jail cell death just three days later.
Stay calm. You’ve spent your whole life practicing and preparing yourself for this moment of truth, and now it has finally arrived. The Cliburn, or more properly, the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, held every four years in Fort Worth, Texas, is about to begin. Pressure? What pressure? Running 17 days, with three grueling rounds, The Cliburn invites 30 of the world’s finest pianists to battle it out for top honors. At stake are prizes worth millions, but more than money, the winner is practically guaranteed a performing career. Did we mention you’re playing not just for the judges, but for a live audience of thousands and a webcast of 170,000 viewers throughout the world? Pressure? What pressure? Just sit back, relax and enjoy the show. No pressure.