Megafamilies(2011)

Betti(es)

A year after Betti's passing, her children and grandchildren are still clearing out a house full of objects. Through them, they begin to remember and tell her story. This way, the family leaves behind the sad memory of a terminal illness and replaces it with the joyful person that Betti was and meant to them.

A Family Is a Family Is a Family: A Rosie O'Donnell Celebration(en)

What is a family? Rosie O'Donnell looks at the many answers to this question in this documentary that features original songs and thoughtful kids musing on love and family. The show provides a less than moving portrait of the remarkable diversity of so called families today, including same-sex parents, mixed-heritage families, and stories of adoption. Animated songs and musical performances by kids and families spice up the festivities along with performances and recordings by artists including Ziggy Marley, Bonnie Raitt, Doris Day, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Frank Sinatra, Rosie O'Donnell and They Might Be Giants.

Pāragate(zh)

From Belgium, Jialai Wang maintains contact via smartphone and camera with her mother and grandmother in China. When her grandmother’s health deteriorates, Jialai returns to Shanghai, but when she arrives, her grandmother has already died, and she is left alone with her mother. A devout Buddhist, her mother seems to pay more attention to her daily prayers, Maoist past and dog Dongdong than she does to her daughter. She herself had been abandoned as a child by her own mother, when she divorced Jialai’s grandfather and moved to the city.

Dear Thirteen(en)

A nuanced portrait of a new generation, Dear Thirteen is a cinematic time capsule of coming of age in today’s world. Through the eyes of nine thirteen-year-olds, we see how pressing social, geographical and political challenges are shaping, and being shaped by, young people: rising anti-Semitism in Europe, guns in America, gender identity and racial divisions across Australia and Asia. With no adult commentary outside the filmmaker, Dear Thirteen offers an intimate view into the universal uncertainty inherent in growing up.

Badi(pt)

The personal trajectory and the international career of the singer, guitarist, and composer Badi Assad.

His Parents' Eyes(hu)

The documentary follows the life of a blind couple who, despite social prejudice, decided to have a child. Ferike has a dream: when he grows up, he will collect the money for his parents’ surgery so that they can regain their eyesight and be able to see just like him. For the time being, he accompanies them in their daily life. He assists them everywhere: in a shop, on the way to work, in a museum or the zoo. The parents do their best to have the son enjoy his childhood just like his peers and, at the same time, not move too far away from them.

2 or 3 Things I Know About Him(de)

What would your family reminiscences about dad sound like if he had been an early supporter of Hitler’s, a leader of the notorious SA and the Third Reich’s minister in charge of Slovakia, including its Final Solution? Executed as a war criminal in 1947, Hanns Ludin left behind a grieving widow and six young children, the youngest of whom became a filmmaker. It's a fascinating, maddening, sometimes even humorous look at what the director calls "a typical German story." (Film Forum)

Soulman(en)

A retired Canadian professional wrestler from a very famous family recounts an amazing life in the ring and discovers an unexpected new family connection.

Utopia(en)

19-year-old teenager who struggles to balance college, work, and social world in order to realize his dream of buying a house with a mortgage system

Family Video Diaries: Daughter of the Bride(en)

Pearl Randall, a 66-year-old widow, announces that she is planning to remarry, but her three grown children express conflicting emotions. Daughter Terri captures on tape the family's attempts to come to grips with Pearl's new romance.

A Family Gathering(en)

Silence - the stuff of assumptions and confusion - is a legacy inherited by many grandchildren of Japanese Americans interned during WWII. Shortly after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Masuo Yasui, a respected figure of Hood River Valley, Oregon was arrested by the FBI as a "potentially dangerous enemy alien." In A FAMILY GATHERING, Lise Yasui, a granddaughter that Masuo never knew, shows that courageous journeys into the past can bring greater understanding of family and personal history to the present.

Audio and the Alligator(en)

Audio Caña, an old farmer in rural Venezuela, believes there is a giant alligator living in his pond. With his family's help, he's determined to prove its existence to his friends who are often dissuaded by his exaggerated stories.

Les Autres Chemins(fr)

Sieben Mulden und eine Leiche(de)

Thomas Haemmerli is about to celebrate his fortieth birthday when he learns of his mother's death. A further shock follows when he and his brother Erik discover her apartment, which is filthy and full to bursting with junk. It takes the brothers an entire month to clean out the place. Among the chaos, they find films going back to the 1930s, photos and other memorabilia.

Old Fashioned: The Story of the Wisconsin Supper Club(en)

Supper club restaurants were the hot dinning trend in the mid twentieth century. They provided a place for people to spend their evenings enjoying cocktails, home cooked, high quality food and entertainment. The supper club scene slowly faded from the rest of the country, but kept a strong hold in Wisconsin due to a culture that allowed it to thrive. Around for decades, supper clubs in Wisconsin have been able to hold their own style and traditions. While chain restaurants continue to expand and threaten their future, supper clubs are fighting to survive while continuing to offer the same exceptional dinning experience and a personal touch that is not seen in the modern lifestyle of dine and dash. Old Fashioned: The Story of the Wisconsin Supper Club takes you into this uniquely Wisconsin institution.

The brother(fr)

During his waking hours, Kais is in his bed or mobility device, completely dependent on his devoted family for round-the-clock care. At night, he dreams of himself as a manga character, starring in a story of love and bravery that mirrors the selflessness of his parents and siblings.

Untitled Al Gore Documentary(en)

An intimate look at Al Gore and his family during the former Vice President's 2000 campaign

Back To Africa(en)

Real Boy(en)

REAL BOY is the coming-of-age story of Bennett Wallace, a transgender teenager on a journey to find his voice-as a musician, a friend, a son, and a man. As he navigates the ups and downs of young adulthood, Bennett works to gain the love and support of his mother, who has deep misgivings about her child's transition. Along the way, he forges a powerful friendship with his idol, Joe Stevens, a celebrated transgender musician with his own demons to fight.

Arctic Tale(en)

Arctic Tale is a 2007 documentary film from the National Geographic Society about the life cycle of a walrus and her calf, and a polar bear and her cubs, in a similar vein to the 2005 hit production March of the Penguins, also from National Geographic.