Checks & Balances

Stop for Bud(da)

Stop for Bud is Jørgen Leth's first film and the first in his long collaboration with Ole John. […] they wanted to "blow up cinematic conventions and invent cinematic language from scratch". The jazz pianist Bud Powell moves around Copenhagen -- through King's Garden, along the quay at Kalkbrænderihavnen, across a waste dump. […] Bud is alone, accompanied only by his music. […] Image and sound are two different things -- that's Leth's and John's principle. Dexter Gordon, the narrator, tells stories about Powell's famous left hand. In an obituary for Powell, dated 3 August 1966, Leth wrote: "He quite willingly, or better still, unresistingly, mechanically, let himself be directed. The film attempts to depict his strange duality about his surroundings. His touch on the keys was like he was burning his fingers -- that's what it looked like, and that's how it sounded. But outside his playing, and often right in the middle of it, too, he was simply gone, not there."

Never a Backward Step(en)

This feature documentary is a profile of Canadian press tycoon Roy Thomson, whose single-minded attention to business brought him riches, power, and even a baronetcy in England. A native of Timmins, Ontario, Thomson had a tremendous career as publisher, television magnate, financier, and owner of many newspapers, including leading London dailies. The film is a frank study of an equally frank man.

Princess Diana: The Mourning After(en)

In "Diana: The Mourning After" Christopher Hitchens sets out to examine the bogusness of "a nation's grief", tries to uncover the few voices of sanity that cut against the grain of contrived hysteria. His findings suggested that the collective hordes of emotive Dianaphiles sobbing in the streets were not only encouraged but emulated by the media. In the aftermath of Diana's death a three-line whip was enforced on newspapers and on TV, selling the sainthood line wholesale. The suspicion was that journalists, like the public, greeted the death as a chance to wax emotional in print, as a change from the customary knowing cynicism, to wheel out all those portentous phrases they'd been saving up for the big occasion. Sadly, they just seemed to be showboating; the eulogies, laments and tear-soaked platitudes ringing risibly hollow.

Augusta(en)

This short documentary is the portrait of an 88-year-old woman who lives alone in a log cabin without running water or electricity in the Williams Lake area of British Columbia. The daughter of a Shuswap chief, Augusta lost her Indian status as the result of a marriage to a white man. She recalls past times, but lives very much in the present. Self-sufficient, dedicated to her people, she spreads warmth wherever she moves, with her songs and her harmonica.

Giscard, de vous à moi : Les Confidences d'un président(fr)

On dirait Nino Ferrer(fr)

Nino Ferrer has had several lives: hits that made him famous; a dark but artistically fruitful period; a hidden life -of his own making- breaking away from showbiz. All these facets are concentrated in a brilliant, complex, skinned character. "It looks like Nino Ferrer" is a film rich in international archives (TSR, RTSI, Rai...), rare documents (Super 8 films of the Ferrer family) and even unpublished films (Nino Ferrer as an actor in an advertisement for Italian cheese). The film is also punctuated by the memories of famous musicians such as Manu Dibango as well as by the singer's successes and his live performances (L'Olympia, L'Arche de Noé).

Nana(es)

Laurent Ruquier, on ne demande qu'à le connaître(fr)

The Corporation(en)

Since the late 18th century American legal decision that the business corporation organizational model is legally a person, it has become a dominant economic, political and social force around the globe. This film takes an in-depth psychological examination of the organization model through various case studies. What the study illustrates is that in the its behaviour, this type of "person" typically acts like a dangerously destructive psychopath without conscience. Furthermore, we see the profound threat this psychopath has for our world and our future, but also how the people with courage, intelligence and determination can do to stop it.

La Plata Rugby Club(it)

An historical documentary that rereads the recent death of Jorge Videla, bloodthirsty dictator of Argentina in the 70’s, telling the disappearance, one by one, of the members of La Plata Rugby club. A tragic and compelling story where the passion for politics and sport is opposed to a fascist - military regime.

Tabloid Workers(cs)

This documentary study of the mechanisms that turn the gears of the tabloids is conducted by the unique figure Pavel Novotný. This editor-in-chief of one of the most widely read Czech media outlets of the time, providing news from the world of show business and human misfortune, gets straight to the point. Readership is a fetish, an absolute alibi for all invasions of privacy and every transgression of good ethics. Seen up close, the whole cluster of disreputable reports looks like a staged tableau. Before the eager eyes of an anxious public, celebrities willingly or unwillingly perform acts that the scrutiny of the all-powerful tabloid workers attributes racy significance to.

Seven Years-Journalism without Journalist(ko)

A total of 17 journalists have been fired since 2008, the beginning of LEE Myung-bak’s presidential term. They fought against the companies that they worked for succumbing to power and are now frustrated at reality where censorship of the press by authority has now become a norm. Can they continue their activities as journalists?

Scars(fr)

We admire beauty; we recoil from bodies that are marred, disfigured, different. Didier Cros’ moving, intimate film forces us to question what underlies our notions of beauty as we join a talented photographer taking stunning portraits of several people with profound visible scars which have dictated certain elements of their lives but have not come to define their humanity. The subjects' perceptions of themselves are dynamic, unexpected, and even heartwarming. This is an unforgettable journey to be shared with the world.

Countdown(lt)

Portrait of Augustinas Baltrušaitis, film and theatre director, as well as actor, who fell into obscurity and has now been relegated to the margins of society, as a result of specific political circumstances. Countdown is a film about the limits of memory, the effects of the implacable passage of time, and a hope that surpasses time.

Silo(es)

The best kept secret of The Andes will be revealed… For some, he is the thinker that set in motion a spiritual and political movement that passed through borders and extended from Argentina to India. For other, he is the leader of a sect, a skillful manipulator and demagogue. For most, he is still a mystery. Through this feature length documentary film we try to tell the life and work of this extraordinary person, posing a disturbing question: Who is Silo?

Planet Mokka(en)

Portrait of swiss based Club "Café Mokka" and its club manager MC Anliker

The Valley of the Jato(en)

In the heart of Sicily, where the Mafia still rules, one man and his family-run TV station, has become the lone voice against corruption and organized crime.

Int.Anouchka-Night(fr)

Anouchka is a 30 year old screenwriter who works in a wine bar for a living. She traces her last 15 years of alcoholism thanks to a screenplay she wrote.

Ines, Memories of a Lifetime(en)

When Ines died, she left a very particular legacy, 10 books that read 'For my children'; it was the story of her life. Marked by a youth idyllic love, Ines was forced to marry a violent and womanizer man with whom she had 20 children. In the 50s, she managed to get divorce and 20 years after her death, Luisa, great-granddaughter of INES, reads, rescues and makes visible her history.

Serbia, Year Zero(fr)

Documentary that follows events after the fall of Slobodan Milosevic, while looking back on the previous fifteen years, tracing his rise to power. Personal testimony alternates with analysis of a disintegrating society.

Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream(en)

From 1970-1977, six low budget films shown at midnight transformed the way we make and watch films.

Disney Presents: Main Street Electrical Parade - Farewell Season(en)

Catch the spark after dark at Disneyland Park. And say farewell to one of the Magic Kingdom's most celebrated traditions - The Main Street Electrical Parade. Where else, but in The Main Street Electrical Parade, could you see an illuminated 40-foot-long fire-breathing dragon? And hear the energy of its legendary melody one last time? It's unforgettable after-dark magic that will glow in your heart long after the last float has disappeared.

Liberation: Direction of the Main Blow(ru)

This five part epic war drama gives a dramatized detailed account of Soviet Union's war against Nazi Germany during world war two. Each of the five parts represents a separate major eastern front campaign.

Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara(hi)

Once known for his intellectual prowess, a retired professor (Anupam Kher) begins experiencing memory gaps and periods of forgetfulness. But while he tries to laugh it off, it soon becomes clear that the symptoms are a sign of a more serious illness, prompting his grown daughter (Urmila Matondkar) to move in as his caretaker. Meanwhile, as his mind regresses, he recalls a traumatic childhood memory involving the death of Mahatma Gandhi.

Bird Thongchai Concert #1/1988 Kaolao ThongChai (Mai-Ngok)(th)

Relive the magic of Thongchai "Bird" McIntyre's captivating performance at Bangkok Youth Center in 1988

Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar(hi)

To earn extra cash, Mickey helps couples break up — but life gets complicated when he falls for Tinni, a career woman with an independent streak.

Main Krishna Hoon(hi)

In answer to an orphan boy's prayers, the divine Lord Krishna comes to Earth, befriends the boy, and helps him find a loving family.

East of Main Street: Asians Aloud(en)

In celebration of Asian Heritage Month, HBO presents a collection of perspectives from a diverse group of Asian Americans.

Main Street(es)

A small town in Spain, October 1955. Isabel, a 35-year-old dreamer who feels like a failure because she is not married yet, becomes the new target of a group of soulless pranksters.

Main Atal Hoon(hi)

Statesman and poet Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee's eloquence and vision shaped India's destiny. A look at his remarkable life as he led his country through a challenging period of change and development as the 10th Prime Minister of India.

Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya?(hi)

Dr Samir is an absolute charmer when it comes to women, but he poses as a married man to keep them at bay. Love becomes a three-ring-circus for him after he ends up tangled in his web of lies with his girlfriend Sonia and pretend wife Naina.

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal the Movie Part 2(ja)

While under the care of the Outer Sailor Guardians, Hotaru begins to age rapidly. Then, the time comes for all the Sailor Guardians to reunite!

Maine-Ocean Express(fr)

"Maine-Ocean" is the name of a train that rides from Paris to Saint-Nazaire (near the ocean). In that train, Dejanira, a Brazilian, has a brush with the two ticket inspectors. Mimi, another traveler and also a lawyer, helps her. The four of them will meet together later and live a few shifted adventures with a strange-speaking sailor (Mimi's client).

Day of the Fight(en)

'Day of the Fight' shows Irish-American middleweight boxer Walter Cartier during the height of his career, on the day of a fight with black middleweight Bobby James, which took place on April 17, 1950.

Painting for the main bedroom(el)

A man is painting a landscape. A woman is holding two cups. What can go wrong? A nightmare in pink.

State and Main(en)

A movie crew invades a small town whose residents are all too ready to give up their values for showbiz glitz.

The Shop on Main Street(sk)

In a small town in Nazi-occupied Slovakia during World War II, decent but timid carpenter Tono is named "Aryan comptroller" of a button store owned by an old Jewish widow, Rozalie. Since the post comes with a salary and standing in the town's corrupt hierarchy, Tono wrestles with greed and guilt as he and Rozalie gradually befriend each other. When the authorities order all Jews in town to be rounded up, Tono faces a moral dilemma unlike any he's known before.

The Fourth King(it)

Alazar, a simple farmer who is also a beekeeper, meets the Three Wise Men Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar, who have set off to celebrate the arrival on earth of the Messiah. Alazar's magic bees become magically transformed into the tail of the bright comet which leads the four of them to the manger. At first, the brave young farmer's son is on the point of leaving the Wise Men to their fate because he has been forced against his will by their magic powers to leave his pregnant wife Izirah behind. He only very reluctantly agrees to the Kings' request to accompany them. Although the Three Wise Men make it very clear to him how important the Messiah's arrival on earth is, the relationship between the four men remains very tense. Nevertheless, despite all disagreements, our travelling companions soon become firm friends -and after several exciting adventures they finally succeed in locating the manger. The Three Kings then allow Alazar to return home to his loving wife.

The Seventh Company Outdoors(fr)

The third part of Seventh Company adventures.

Main Ladega(hi)

A young boy escapes his troubled home, finding solace I in boxing at an army hostel, where he channels his pain into strength to protect his family.