Unustatud rahvad (1970 - 1989) by Estonian composer Veljo Tormas is based upon six Balto-Finnic peoples traditions. Collegium Musicale choir brought the songs to different sides of Baltic coasts to liven current citizens connections for fleeting past and strengthen their identity.
Does Europe also have its own animistic heritage, like Pachamama in South America and Shinto in Japan? If so, which one? In the Misty Lands, i.e. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, a sacred fire is lit on the winter solstice to celebrate the return of the sun and ancient beliefs that have been forgotten in the rest of Europe for thousands of years. Sophie Planque and Jérémy Vaugeois decided to take a journey on bicycles to experience the Baltic winter and meet the people who keep their ancestral culture alive. A unique heritage that reinforces a deep relationship with nature.
After the end of the Cold War, the Baltic was viewed almost as a quiet backwater. A nice place to visit to see charming Hanseatic cities and sandy beaches. But since the war in Ukraine the Baltic sea, bordered by eight European Union countries as well as Russia, has become a hot spot of world geopolitics. And tensions are high.
The War Diary is a contemporary road movie that confronts history with the current reality of Russia, Ukraine, Armenia and Georgia. An extraordinary document leads Hakob Melkonyan to undertake the journey of a lifetime:
DocuDrama about 13th century pre-Christian culture. Danish spy Lars enters the tribal lands of the Baltic peoples, where he takes part in religious rites, cruel forays, gets high during the Summer Solstice, becomes slave to the Couronians and even fights the crusaders. Who were the last pagans of Europe and how did they live? It is a unique trip into the textures of the past and into the unknown lands of the Baltic Tribes.
Located on the shores of the Baltic Sea, between Poland and Lithuania, Kaliningrad is a piece of Russia in the heart of Europe. A curious territory, isolated from Moscow after the fall of the USSR, today transformed into a military fortress facing NATO. In Kaliningrad, headquarters of the Russian Baltic fleet, there are 30,000 soldiers, hypersonic missiles and nuclear capability.
On the verge of retirement, Commissioner Gintas must undertake the investigation of a series of heinous murders, a dangerous task that could expose the many dirty secrets of several prominent members of the social elite of a small Lithuanian town.
The film tells the story of the events during the night of January 19 to 20, 1990, when the Soviet Army invaded Baku and its surroundings and killed many civilians.
Three years before the end of the Soviet occupation, a new juvenile inspector arrives in a small, quiet Estonian town. With each step, the town's secrets and hidden tensions begin to unravel, and it's clear that this place holds more than meets the eye.
Set at the backdrop of the colonization of pre-Hispanic Philippine, this historical epic revovles around the story of Ramir, a half-caste warrior falls in love with Princess Mahalina. Ramir has to reckon with another brave native, Kiram.
Just in time for the early-summer thaw comes Shaft, a 45-minute wakeboard video "incident" that features some of the top riders in wakeboarding, both on and off the water. You may have seen parts of this video already: You know, the one with Shaun and Parks dressed up like Beastie Boys'-style undercover cops a la "Sabotage" video. Well, the cops are back with more riders playing undercover including Darin, Brannan, Tara, the Heaneys and more. It almost seems as though way more time was spent making the "cops" scenes than actually filming the riding. Shot entirely on 16-mm film, Shaft has a smooth, fluid look. It was filmed on location in Oregon, northern California and Florida, providing a variety of backdrops. Although it boasts a long list of riders, it mainly features Necrason, Murray, Shapiro, Bonifay, Lavelle, Johnson and Siebring with a cameo by Randy Harris and a nice introduction to Shawn Watson.
Bump Films followed up Shaft, with another 16mm wakeboard masterpiece called "SHAFTED - The Saga Continues." Bringing you the top pro riders from around the world, with helicopters, 25 foot sliders, double-ups and triple-ups, along with groundbreaking technical tricks. SHAFTED contains one of the most memorable segments of all time as Parks Bonifay blows up your screen not once, but twice with an amazing technical display of including 900s, Double Half Cab Rolls, and more handle-pass inverts than you can shake a wakeboard rope at! FEATURED RIDERS Shaun Murray Parks Bonifay Darin Shapiro Rob Struharik Shawn Watson Brannan Johnson Shane Bonifay.
Filmmaker Martin Bell chronicles the life of Erin Blackwell, mother of 10 children, from the time she was a 14-year-old prostitute through her battle with drug addiction, poverty and parenting.
Free4All may be the best video yet to come out of the editing bay of Mark Bame and his crew at Bump Films. This release, shot almost entirely on 16mm film, features today's best riders doing some of the most technical riding seen to date. Almost every section was solid from beginning to end, with crisp, clean images leaping off the screen. Memorable moments come from Brian Grubb's wakeskating section, Parks Bonifay's always impressive wakeboarding section, and the craziest and most dangerous wakeboard stunt performed to date; the U-Haul gap where a few riders gap a road by riding on top of a huge U-Haul truck! That section alone is worth the price of buying this DVD! This gap was so nasty Kyle Schmidt tore his knee upon impact to the water after jumping off the roof of the truck!
Delta Sessions is a video put together by WestsideConnection.net that highlights the best riders on the Delta waterways in North Central California. The Delta is a huge set of waterways that were built for the purpose of farming and are fed by rivers on their way to the ocean. The waterways are narrow channels that are usually protected by large banks or bushes that block he wind making the Delta a great place to find endless smooth water. While you may have not heard of some of the riders in this video, the Delta is an area rich in style and wakeboarding talent, and this video seeks to showcase that talent. It's a high energy video that really gets you going.
West Side Connection delivers again with a Wake-flick worthy of a sequel! Delta Session II (produced by Jason Buffalow and Sean Branecki) surpasses your expectations with professional level talent and big-budget quality in a regional video. Every aspect Delta Sessions has improved this time around starting with film quality, inspiring camera angles, fantastic cinematography, and most importantly, the stepped-up technical riding! DS2, The Summer of Style, has something for everyone. The West Side Connection team brought the regional riders you would expect, with the addition of a few Florida guests back to the Delta.
The incredible story of the Italian Emilio D'Alessandro, personal driver of the great director Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999), who met Emilio by chance in London in 1971 and hired him, thus establishing a deep friendship that lasted thirty years and helped create four masterpieces of cinema. A moving tale about two seemingly opposing people who found their ideal travel companion far away from home…
Alfred Brendel, one of the greatest of all pianists, plays and reflects on Franz Schubert’s last three piano sonatas. As he points out, Schubert can’t have known that he was soon to die, so they probably do not embody the air of resignation and finality future generations have sentimentally insisted they bear. They were however long neglected, all but forgotten, and only in more recent times have they come to be treasured and performed. The repose and wisdom of the maestro, together with the patient observation of one who is no stranger to the idea of the irrevocably lost, of the erasures of history, and of the value of fragile objects passed carefully from generation to generation, is a joy.