Category: Film & Video

"Sicko," "Side Effects," "Money Talks: Profits Before Patient Safety": Three films prompt change

The pharmaceutical industry dominates television's small screen with its parade of beautiful drug ads, but the big screen has become the medium of choice for those working to prompt change during the nation's health care crisis. Maverick filmmakers Michael Moore and Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau are among the health advocates leading this charge. Their films expose the issues American consumers are facing today as they navigate the broken health care system.

The Canadian premiere of the film documentary, "Out & About with Brewer & Berg - A Multidimensional Travelogue" to be celebrated at the 3rd annual ReelHeART International Film Festival in Toronto, Canada, June 18 - 23, 2007.

The voices of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons are often lacking in discussions of spirituality, religion and faith. While in recent years a new level of visibility has been achieved in many places, gay people remain excluded from most organized religions, if not outright condemned and even persecuted. The film documentary "Out & About with Brewer & Berg" follows two gay men on an odyssey to confront established religion and reclaim their spiritual identities.

Last year's politically charged indie feature, "Maple Palm," sneaks across the border from theaters to home video when it's released on DVD July 3. Set in California's idyllic Marina del Rey, the film's dramatic subject matter exposes the one arena in which gay relationships are a felony, and in the process, challenges our stereotypes of what it means to be an immigrant, and an American.

Art not only imitates history but current events in last years limited theatrical release Maple Palm, set to be released on a Collector's Edition DVD July 3. Maple Palm dramatizes the story of a lesbian couple of fifteen years concealing the secret that one is an illegal immigrant. As seen in the film's movie trailer and exclusive clips, Maple Palm offers an intense dramatization of what it means to be an illegal immigrant facing deportation. At times, the film is raw and disturbing, depicting the harsh and sometimes violent truth of these difficult circumstances. Yet the filmmakers insist that, at its core, Maple Palm is a love story, albeit a tragic one.

Laurence Berkley, who has worked with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, incorporates Tai Chi, Yoga and martial arts in his DVD "A Samurai Workout."

A gateway to wellness and personal growth, Laurence Berkley’s invigorating mind-body-spirit techniques are gaining a national audience via DVD. After catching up with a few of his students, one understands why these ancient practices help to cultivate a balanced lifestyle, especially for baby boomers looking for a gentler exercise plan.

Superheroes sing "Heroes of America" - an anti-war anthem protesting the war in Iraq and lamenting the loss of America's moral compass.

Singer-songwriter August Bullock loved comic books as a child. Superman, Batman, and other heroes he admired never tortured their victims, never struck the first blow, and always adhered to the highest ethical standards.

Cinema Libre Studio announces release of social issue titles and new blog.

Interest in social issue documentaries as a tool for advocacy is seemingly on the rise. Online sales and submissions to film distributors is on the rise while festivals such as SilverDocs and Full Frame are including panel discussion focused on social activism and marketing. Cinema Libre Studio, a leader in the distribution of social issue titles, is currently in production on a feature length documentary on the true roots of poverty. To begin building its coalition building, the company will launch an interactive blog, calling it: "CinemActivist."

Mississippi Queen, a new documentary by filmmaker and producer Paige Williams, will begin production in Mississippi, Alabama, Missouri, Memphis and Louisiana May 14 - 31st. The film explores the complex and unique relationship between the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) community and the ex-gay ministry in the South. Mississippi Queen provides two compelling views of the controversial topic of homosexuality and Christianity.

Do you wait for the State of the Union Address to find out where our country stands? Would you believe them anyway? According to its makers, the recently released documentary One Nation Under Siege discloses all.

To ancient Mayans, the monstrous jungle caves known as Actun Tunichil Muknal represented the underworld.

But to a group of videographers and archaeologists who visited the caves in modern-day Belize last December, it was just another day at the office. They were there for a week to shoot the latest segment of the Inner Earth Film Project, a work in progress documenting the most spectacular, unusual and remote caves on Earth.

From Brooklyn, New York, Cameroon (West Central Africa), to Kwazulu-Natal (South Africa), African documentary filmmaker, Boniface Ndemping Wewe, aka The Ngonyama "Lion" of Brooklyn, and his co-narrator Barbara Temfack Wewe peruse some of the ills (ritual murders and body part extraction for different macabre purposes, rape of little girls as an erroneous cure for AIDS) and stereotypes about contemporary Africa.