Great Directors

In Complete World(en)

in complete world is a feature-length documentary made up of street interviews done throughout NYC. Mixing political questions (Are we responsible for the government we get?) with more broadly existential ones (Do you feel you have control over your life?), the film centers on the tension between individual and collective responsibility. The film can be seen as a user's manual for citizenship in the 21st century, as well as a glimpse into the opinions and self-perceptions of a diverse group of Americans. It is a testament to the people of NYC in this new millennium, who freely offer up thoughtful, provocative and at times tender revelations to a complete stranger, just because she asked.

After the Rape: The Mukhtar Mai Story(ur)

In 2002, a woman from the Pakistani countryside named Mukhtar Mai made world headlines. After the rumour that her 12-year-old brother was having a relationship with a woman from another clan, Mukhtar was gang-raped by order of the village council. Instead of committing suicide, she spoke out and the six men were sentenced to death, although five of them were eventually acquitted. Against all the codes of her society, Mukhtar took her case to the Supreme Court. After the Rape doesn't comment on the outcome of her case. What the film does show is the environment that the assertive Muhktar managed to create in the wake of the incident.

The Masters of Disaster(en)

Documentary about an unlikely youth chess team from Indianapolis who went on surprise the chess world with their success. The team, made up of young African Americans with no previous experience and led by their devoted teacher, went on to win the United States elementary school chess championship.

Young at Heart(en)

Filmmakers Sue Marx and Pamela Conn document the romance between Sue's father Louis Gothelf and Reva Shwayder, each in their mid-80s. Both artists and residents of the Detroit suburbs, they met on a group tour of England after being widowed, and quickly formed a strong connection over shared interests. The two discuss concerns over living together without being married; Louis also talks about his caring for his first wife during her ten-year struggle with Alzheimer's disease, while Reva talks about the deaths of two sons several years after her husband's death.

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.

Portrait of Imogen(en)

Photographer Imogen Cunningham presents her own work in this Academy Award-nominated documentary.

Little Girl Blue(fr)

In 2016, French writer and photographer Carole Achache took her own life. After Carole's death, her daughter Mona Achache, a film director, discovers thousands of photos, letters and recordings that Carole left behind, but these buried secrets make her disappearance even more of an enigma. Through the power of filmmaking and the beauty of incarnation with the help of actress Marion Cotillard, the director brings her mother back to life to retrace her journey and find out who she really was.

Deadly Deception: General Electric, Nuclear Weapons and Our Environment(en)

This 1991 Academy Award®-winning documentary uncovers the disastrous health and environmental side effects caused by the production of nuclear materials by the General Electric Corporation.

Educating Peter(en)

A young boy with down syndrome attends his first year in a "regular" classroom. This documentary traces that year and the changes that take place for Peter, his teacher, and the other students. Oscar-winning documentary short from 1992.

Defending Our Lives(en)

Documentary about the magnitude and severity of domestic violence. This film features four women imprisoned for killing their batterers and their terrifying personal testimonies. It won an Oscar at the 66th Academy Awards in 1994 for Documentary Short Subject.

Straight from the Heart(en)

Parents talk about their gay and lesbian children, and how they came to accept their lifestyle.

Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien(en)

Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien is a 1996 American short documentary film directed by Jessica Yu. Mark O'Brien was a journalist and poet who lived in Berkeley, California. The documentary explored his spiritual struggle coping with his disability; he had to use an iron lung much of the time due to childhood polio. O'Brien died on 4 July 1999, from post-polio syndrome. It won an Oscar at the 69th Academy Awards in 1997 for Documentary Short Subject.

A Story of Healing(en)

In January, 1997, a team of five nurses, four anesthesiologists, and three plastic surgeons arrive in Vietnam from the United States for two weeks' of volunteer work. They operate on 110 children who have various birth defects and injuries. They also talk to the film crew about why they've made this trip and what it means to them. We watch them work, and we see the children, their families, and their surroundings in the Mekong Delta. Over the closing credits, Dionne Warwick sings Bacharach and David's "What the World Needs Now Is Love".

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.

The Personals: Improvisations on Romance in the Golden Years(en)

Documentary about a Jewish senior citizens' acting group on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The film covers both the progress and impediments of a play the group is mounting about senior citizens looking for love and the life/love stories (past, present, and predictions) of the players.

Big Mama(en)

Eighteen months in the life of 89 years old Viola Dees as she tries of persuade Los Angeles authorities that she can care for her grandson, 9-year-old Walter.

Sing!(en)

Sing! is a 2001 American short documentary film about the Los Angeles Children's Chorus, directed by Freida Lee Mock. How do squeaky-voiced 8 year olds become amazing singers? Sing! tells the story of how a community group, amid severe cutbacks in the arts, is able to develop a children's chorus that is one of the best in the country. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short.

The Collector of Bedford Street(en)

The Collector of Bedford Street is a 2002 documentary film about director Alice Elliott's neighbor, Larry Selman, a community activist and fundraiser who had an intellectual disability. When Larry's primary caregiver becomes unable to care for him, his New York City neighborhood community rallies together to protect his independent lifestyle by establishing an adult trust fund in his behalf. The film was nominated for the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject.

Asylum(en)

Baba, a young Ghanaian woman, goes in search of her father for his blessing on her impending marriage. This turns to a nightmare as he insists she a different man, and that she undergo female genital mutilation as is the custom in his tribe. She is forced to flee her father's village, seeking refugee status in the U.S. Instead she becomes enmeshed in the U.S. immigration system.

God Sleeps in Rwanda(en)

A powerful documentary about five women whose lives have been irrevocably altered by the Rwandan genocide. With the country left nearly 70% female in the wake of the massacres, "God Sleeps In Rwanda" is a lucid portrait of the much larger change affected by women in the East African country.

Return to Horror Hotel(en)

Return to Horror Hotel is an anthology feature with 4 segments. One is about giant a bedbugs, one is about a magical charm that turns girls beautiful, one is about a WWII sailor who hasn't aged and one is about a terrorizing severed hand.

UFC 21: Return Of The Champions(en)

UFC 21: Return of the Champions was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on July 16, 1999 at the Five Seasons Events Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The event was seen live on pay per view in the United States, and later released on home video.

RETURN(ja)

8mm work directed by Norihiko Morinaga.

Kamen Rider W Returns: Kamen Rider Accel(ja)

While settling into married life with Akiko, Ryu is brought into a case involving a woman named Katsuragi Aoi, a member of a pickpocketing ring with most of her teammates murdered from unknown masked vigilantes that Ryu fought as Accel. As the details of the case begin to unravel, Ryu is framed and Akiko believes that he may not be faithful to her. As the clock ticks down, Ryu must solve the case, clear his name, and save his marriage before everything comes to an explosive end!

Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler(ja)

Cooler has resurrected himself as a robot and is enslaving the people of New Namek. Goku and the gang must help.

Bonanza: The Return(en)

A man with a grudge against the late Little Joe seeks revenge on the Cartwrights and attempts to take over the Ponderosa.

Return(en)

Static images of an old country house are combined with voices of the past to evocative effect. Haunting and nostalgic, 'Return' conveys the life that exists in old, abandoned places.

Return(en)

Owen, a young man is dissatisfied with his life. He heads into the forest to escape and learns a lot during his time there.

Return(fr)

Jackpot Island - Kumanthong Returns(vi)

The "Jackpot Island - Kumanthong Returns" continues to spread obsession and doubts about one of Southeast Asia's most terrifying divinities. Who is really hiding behind the evil, monstrous face and holding terrifying secrets? What does a deadly island and the terrifyingly mysterious appearance of monstrous mermaids have to do with this brutal and terrifying spell?

Return to Nim's Island(en)

Fourteen year old Nim, more determined than ever to protect her island and all the wildlife that call it home, faces off against resort developers and animal poachers. Soon she realizes she can’t depend on her animal cohorts alone and must make her first human friend – Edmund, who’s run away to the island from the mainland – to save her home.

The Return of Ringo(it)

Once again billed as Montgomery Wood, Giuliano Gemma plays a civil war soldier who returns to his family land to find his family decimated, his property taken over by a family of Mexican bandits and his fiancee about to marry the Mexican gangster behind all this. Bent on revenge, he goes undercover disguised as a Mexican and discovers he has a daughter!

Gulliver Returns(en)

World traveler and adventurer Gulliver is invited to return to Lilliput, the town he previously saved from the enemy fleet of the neighboring Blefuscu.

Return(en)

RETURN tells the story of a retired Green Beret who embarks on a healing journey from Montana to Vietnam. There he retraces his steps, shares his wartime experiences with his son, treats his Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and seeks out the mountain tribespeople he once lived with and fought alongside as a Special Forces officer.

Return(en)

A young woman was buried alive with the intention of killing, but she survived by chance. hears the cries of her little girl and fights to stay alive for her daughter. But this incident will enlighten a new worldview for her.

Maroun Returns to Beirut(ar)

2023 marked the thirtieth anniversary of Maroun Baghdadi’s sudden and tragic death. Maroun was a Lebanese filmmaker who wrote and directed films during the Lebanese civil war and contributed to documentary and fiction filmmaking from 1973 up until his death in 1993. In this film, Feyrouz Serhal embarks on a day trip in Beirut and navigates the city that profoundly shaped Maroun’s journey in life and cinema. Here she encounters individuals who were close to him and who shared his experiences. And as she traverses Maroun’s life and career, the social and political backdrop moves to the foreground. The film reflects on the last fifty years of the history of the country from a present standpoint. Through Maroun’s story, we perceive how cinema can, beautifully and dramatically, portray our stories and discourse our life events..

Bloody Chainsaw Girl Returns: Revenge of Nero(ja)

Giko Nokomura is a female student at Nightingale Academy, who carries around her very own chainsaw. One day she begins to be attacked by modified corpses created by one of her classmates, Nero Aoi . She tears her way through the corpses and busts into Nero's hideout. Why is Nero so intent on attacking Giko?! The reason will shock you!After her battle with Nero, she encounters a new enemy. It's the leader of the Nightingale Academy Student Council Guardians, Nemesis.

The Return(en)

Two young children and an adult in a small town have an encounter with an alien spaceship. 25 years later the children are reunited as adults in the same town which is now beset by strange cattle mutilations. Matters become worse when the cattle mutilations are joined by human murders and mutilations.

Kingdom IV: Return of the Great General(ja)

Depicts a continuation of the "Battle of Mayang", an all-out war against the neighboring country Zhao that Shin and Wang Ki fought in in the previous work "Flame of Fate".

House II: The Second Story(en)

Jesse moves into an old family property where his parents were mysterious murdered years before. He soon finds himself with unexpected guests in the form of his mummified great-great grandfather, a mystical crystal skull, and a zombie cowboy.