The Body Heals(2016)

Beijing 2008: Games of the XXIX Olympiad(en)

Here's a Special Edition DVD that captures the most dramatic and exciting moments from the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. Officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, the competition was held in Beijing, People's Republic of China from August 8 to August 24, 2008. Ten thousand five hundred athletes competed in 302 events in 28 sports. The 2008 Summer Olympics did bring athletes from around the world together as they competed for the bronze, silver and gold medals. More importantly, television coverage united citizens from all nations, who rooted for their own countrymen as well as the world's best athletes. These games were the first to be produced and broadcast entirely in high definition, and did garner upwards of four billion viewers. This exclusive highlights DVD features the greatest athletes in the world, united in the most important competition of their lifetimes.

Carving Thy Faith(tl)

A five-year visual ethnography of traditional yet practical orchestration of Semana Santa in a small town where religious woodcarving is the livelihood. An experiential film on neocolonial Philippines’ interpretation of Saints and Gods through many forms of rituals and iconographies, exposing wood as raw material that undergoes production processes before becoming a spiritual object of devotion. - A sculpture believed to have been imported in town during Spanish colonial conquest, locally known as Mahal na Señor Sepulcro, is celebrating its 500 years. Meanwhile, composed of non-actors, Senakulo re-enacts the sufferings and death of Jesus. As the local community yearly unites to commemorate the Passion of Christ, a laborious journey unfolds following local craftsmen in transforming blocks of wood into a larger than life Jesus crucified on a 12-ft cross.

The Codes of Gender(en)

Arguing that advertising not only sells things, but also ideas about the world, media scholar Sut Jhally offers a blistering analysis of commercial culture's inability to let go of reactionary gender representations. Jhally's starting point is the breakthrough work of the late sociologist Erving Goffman, whose 1959 book The Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life prefigured the growing field of performance studies. Jhally applies Goffman's analysis of the body in print advertising to hundreds of print ads today, uncovering an astonishing pattern of regressive and destructive gender codes. By looking beyond advertising as a medium that simply sells products, and beyond analyses of gender that tend to focus on either biology or objectification, The Codes of Gender offers important insights into the social construction of masculinity and femininity, the relationship between gender and power, and the everyday performance of cultural norms.

Jisoe(en)

A year in the life of troubled Australian graffiti artist Justin Hughes.

Gen A: Do What You Love(cs)

Jakub Strach aka NobodyListen is a successful Czech DJ and music producer. A portrait of his life and work can be seen as a manifesto of the millennial club-going generation. After hundreds of shows and preparations for the upcoming, renowned Addict party, the DJ must deal with the consequences of inflicting a wound scarring his image. Footage from the club backstage mingles with scenes of everyday life in which NobodyListen ponders the dark sides of the club scene, like drugs and misogyny. During the shooting, the Covid pandemic strikes, revealing the insecurities of work in culture.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall(zh)

The life of Dr Han has become a permanent quest for perfection. From the livestreamed operating theatre to art fairs via fashion shows, the famous Chinese plastic surgeon has only one aim: beauty. Through the implacable portrait of this character, the film questions beauty as a simultaneously essential yet vain element of society in the era of selfies.

Metamorphic(es)

Octavio Ocampo is the creator of the metamorphic style painting technique, a technique of overlapping and juxtaposing realistic and figurative details within the images he creates. This is his story.

Beauty Refugee(sv)

Twenty-eight of my family members and relatives have been operated at least once by my brother who is a plastic surgeon in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Having grown up as a 'work-in-progress' where the premise, myself, was constantly questioned, as an adult I had to ask my family: could that premise be changed?

Olympia: Part One – Festival of the Nations(de)

Commissioned to make a propaganda film about the 1936 Olympic Games in Germany, director Leni Riefenstahl created a celebration of the human form. This first half of her two-part film opens with a renowned introduction that compares modern Olympians to classical Greek heroes, then goes on to provide thrilling in-the-moment coverage of some of the games' most celebrated moments, including African-American athlete Jesse Owens winning a then-unprecedented four gold medals.

Men: The Origins(it)

Sights(en)

A closer look at what people may see as nothing special, but actually hold some beautiful sights.

Tales from the Script(en)

Shane Black ("Lethal Weapon"), John Carpenter ("Halloween"), Frank Darabont ("The Shawshank Redemption"), William Goldman ("The Princess Bride"), Paul Schrader ("Taxi Driver"), and dozens of other Hollywood screenwriters share hilarious anecdotes and penetrating insights in "Tales from the Script," the most comprehensive documentary ever made about screenwriting. By analyzing their triumphs and recalling their failures, the participants explain how successful writers develop the skills necessary for toughing out careers in one of the world's most competitive industries. They also reveal the untold stories behind some of the greatest screenplays ever written, describing their adventures with luminaries including Harrison Ford, Stanley Kubrick, Joel Silver, Martin Scorsese, and Steven Spielberg. The film was produced in tandem with the upcoming HarperCollins book of the same name.

André and His Olive Tree(en)

Chef André Chiang is returning his Michelin stars, and has publicly declared that he is returning to his roots after 30 years. What would make him do so? How does the perfectionist define success? What haunts him at night? Following Chef André weeks before he officially closes his restaurant, we chart his emotional journey, and dive into nostalgic elements of his life. From how he first fell in love with cooking as a result of his mother’s influence, to the challenges that he faced when he first learnt cooking in France, we tell the story of a passionate and determined individual, now ready for the next season of his life.

Plastic Fantastic: Need for Perfection(en)

As doctors transform their patients, physical changes reveal deeper truths about insecurities and aspirations. From Botox to risky body-altering procedures, explore the need for perfection that drives $50 billion cosmetic surgery industry.

Deadly Gorgeous(pt)

Deadly Gorgeous is a documentary about the importance of beauty even after death. Mixing fiction and reality, the film explores the world of corpse makeup artists, cemeteries and a couple that need to think about how their own funerals would be like.

Passione(it)

John Turturro tells, shooting alleys and testimonies of real neapolitan people, the history and musical culture of Napoli, attending every event and tale with a song.

Boobs(en)

A documentary about British model Precious Muir as she moves to new York to become a fashion model, and undergoes breast enhancement surgery to make it in the industry.

Mabel(en)

Feisty, fiercely independent and firmly rooted in place, 90 year-old Mabel Robinson broke barriers back in the 40s when she became the first woman in Hubbards, Nova Scotia, to launch her own business—a hairdressing salon where she still provides shampoo-n-sets over 70 years later. Weaving animation and archival imagery with intimate and laugh out loud moments in the salon, the film celebrates the power of friendship, doing what you love and staying active. With no desire to retire anytime soon, Mabel gives voice to a generation who are not front and center of cinema or the pop hairstyles of the day, and subtly shifts the lens on our perception of beauty and the elderly.

Kanaka(jv)

Mikha is a nail artist who is very passionate about her work. She works so hard that she sometimes forgets to spend time with her family. She wishes her husband could have more time for the family, so that her child doesn't need to be taken care of by his mother all the time. They argued a lot about who should take care of their children. Mikha feels that her nail art studio is not suitable for her child's growth. She wanted her daughter's life to be better than the bitter stories of her clients.

Desire for Beauty(pl)

Four people turn to plastic surgery as the last resort in their search for perfection - their appearances will change, but will their lives?