The Last of the Ski Bums

The Performers(en)

The story of five skiers, sponsored by K2, who tour the U.S. in a red, white and blue van that matched their skis. They travel like a pack of joyful wolves, devouring powder and looking for challenges. Just 26 minutes in length, the film offers ferocious detail, with ski footage that still holds up today. The film revealed the ski culture as a surrogate family. In an interview years later, skier Charlie McWilliams recalled how people came up to him to explain how they deeply identified with this happygo- lucky skiing clan. He saw the film as a groundbreaking portrayal of skiing as a tribal experience. “It was the first time anybody had gone out and made a film of a group of guys traveling around the country having a great time skiing.”

Olympic Holiday(en)

Known for his commentary-laden chronicles of key moments in winter sports history, the late John Jay is considered by many to be the founding father of the modern-day ski film. This installment of the "Classic Ski Films" series presents Jay's coverage of the 1960 Winter Olympic Games in Squaw Valley, Calif., which includes the opening and closing ceremonies, the 90-meter ski jump and the dramatic USA vs. USSR hockey game.

Ski Flight(en)

Famous skier Otto Lang is featured in a short documentary filmed at Mt. Whitney and Mt. Baker, and premiered on 4 February 1938 at Radio City Music Hall with NYC screenings of Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937).

Skifully Yours(en)

Skifully Yours by noted ski film director Otto Lang, offers a charming look at the Sun Valley, Idaho, ski scene of the late 1930s.

Winter Magic Around the World(en)

A breathtakingly beautiful film loaded with laughs. Travel from the American Rockies to the uniquely picturesque scenery of the European Alps. Catch scenes of the Bugaboo Mountains of British Columbia; Vail, Colorado; Switzerland; Japan; Australia; and Russia. Highlights include Stein Eriksen, Norwegian world Champion skier, performing among the gum trees and irrigation ditches of Australia as well as skiing among the crevasses of the Tasman Glacier in New Zealand.

Ski Down the Years(en)

Before the high-tech advancements of Fiberglas, aluminum poles, release bindings and artificial powder, it was a simpler time in the world of winter sports: It was just you, your skis and the snow that lay ahead. Rounding up works produced in the 1940s, '50s, '60s and '70s by iconic ski-film director John Jay, this retrospective sampler offers a nostalgic look at what's called "the golden age of American skiing."

The Best of John Jay(en)

Beginning in picturesque Taos, New Mexico in the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range Jay continues on a laugh a minute cruise through Vail and Aspen, Colorado; Klosters and Zermatt, Switzerland; Japan; Sun Valley, Idaho; Mount Snow, Vermont; Persia; and New Zealand. Highlights are numerous and include the daring race on an avalanche slope by world champion skier Helli Lantschner as well as the camel safari to ski the Atlas Mountains in Africa.

The Basic Principles of Skiing(en)

Shot in 1941, this black-and-white instructional film (featuring actor Alan Ladd) serves as a veritable time capsule on the history of the sport, with advice on ski design, schussing, lacquer, wax and toe plates.

IFO(en)

Historic UFO sightings over Mansfield, Ohio, are evoked through memory, report and gesture.

Ata Kak - Time Bomb(en)

After Awesome Tapes From Africa's Brian Shimkovitz found the energetic, ecstatic music of Ghanaian musician Ata Kak, the tunes became beloved around the world. It was all unbeknownst to the artist himself -- his music was even unknown to those living in his hometown in Ghana. Years of tireless searching ensued, and eventually the Los Angeles-based label owner found a lead. Ata Kak - Time Bomb follows the search that Shimkovitz undertook as well as the visit to Ghana that took place once he found him. It is a celebration of great tunes and how, when it hits the right audience at the right time, music can touch people in a way that you never imagined.

Überall ist Wunderland - Erinnerungen an Joachim Ringelnatz(de)

Vladimir Ilich Lenin(ru)

Deconstructing Supper - Is Your Food Safe(en)

Deconstructing Supper is a ride every contemporary eater will want to take, a thought-provoking and entertaining journey into the revolution in modern food production, and its effects on our lives.

Death Makes Life Possible(en)

Anthropologist Marilyn Schlitz explores the mysteries of death.

The Medicated Child(en)

Ten years ago, stimulants like Ritalin and Adderall were the drugs of choice to treat behavioral issues in children. Today children as young as four years old are being prescribed more powerful anti-psychotic medications that are much less understood. The drugs can cause serious side effects and virtually nothing is known about their long-term impact. As the debate over medicating children continues to grow, FRONTLINE confronts psychiatrists, researchers, and big pharma about the risks and benefits of prescription drugs for troubled children.

Untied(en)

A small portrait of the volatility of intimacy and of breaking free from abusive cycles: made in response to a year of collapsing relationships and violent accidents that left me broken, dislocated and stuck in my apartment.

Silica(en)

An unseen location scout explores an opal-mining town in South Australia in this sci-fi-laced essay film, which finds in this semideserted region both the traces of indigenous culture and remnants of cinema history

Urth(en)

The last woman on Earth: Filmed inside Biosphere 2 in Arizona, Urth forms a cinematic meditation on ambitious experiments, constructed environments and visions of the future. The film considers what an endeavor such as Biosphere 2 might mean today and in the near future, in terms of humankind’s relationship with the natural world.

If It Works It Was Made Too!(en)

A very challenging and thought provoking discussion about the alarmingly obvious evidence for creation and against limitless evolution. But does proving that God must be evil further prove that He cannot possibly exist? Leo Byrne challenges popular belief with science fiction illustrations and original suggestions and questions.

Wie werde ich Demokrat?(de)

Compilation film by Dieter Reifarth.