Presented by Jamie Foxx, THUNDER SOUL follows the extraordinary alumni from Houston’s storied Kashmere High School Stage Band, who return home after 35 years to play a tribute concert for the 92-year-old “Prof,” their beloved band leader who broke the color barrier and transformed the school’s struggling jazz band into a world-class funk powerhouse in the early 1970s. (Source)
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As the owner of legendary hotspots like Limelight, Tunnel, Palladium, and Club USA, Peter Gatien was the undisputed king of the 1980s New York City club scene. The eye-patch-sporting Ontario native built and oversaw a Manhattan empire that counted tens of thousands of patrons per night in its peak years, acting as a conduit for a culture that, for many, defined the image of an era in New York. Then years of legal battles and police pressure spearheaded by Mayor Giuliani’s determined crackdown on nightlife in the mid-’90s led to Gatien’s eventual deportation to Canada, and the shuttering of his glitzy kingdom. Featuring insider interviews with famous players in the club scene as well as key informants in Gatien’s high-profile trial, Billy Corben’s (Cocaine Cowboys) exuberant documentary aims to set the record straight about Gatien’s life as it charts his rise and fall against the transformation of New York, offering a wild ride through a now-closed chapter in the history of the city’s nightlife. (Source)
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Nick Broomfield’s quest for the real Sarah Palin. A journey across the icy snows of Alaska in mid winter, to meet the school friends, family, and Republican colleagues that in previous days gave their heart, and souls to the charismatic, charming, intoxicating ex hockey mum. But it’s not all plain sailing. People are frightened to talk, Wasilla makes Twin Peaks look like a walk in the park. It’s a devout evangelical community – 76 churches with a population of only 6 thousand, and the Crystal meth capitol of Alaska. Who are the flying monkeys, the enemies, the friends, and most importantly – are you with her or against her? Join the quest and for Christ’s sake buy some thermals! (Source)
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Decades ago, the Salton Sea, two hours outside Los Angeles, was a tourist hotspot and a symbol of 1950s-era American optimism. Now, a victim of environmental decline, it stands mostly abandoned, its boomtown communities now decaying relics of a bygone era. Visionary filmmaker Alma Ha’rel investigates one such town – Bombay Beach – and weaves together the stories of its inhabitants with surreal poetry and beauty. Set to the music of Bob Dylan and Beirut, this is the story of a place where the American dream has faded, but where the dreams of those that stayed behind are alive and well. Winner of the Tribeca Film Festival 2011 Documentary Prize. (Source)
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Sarah Palin is a galvanizing political force in America’s deepening cultural rift. While her missteps are lambasted by critics and satirists, her base of support only grows. After her defeat as a Vice Presidential candidate and her resignation as Alaska’s governor, she retains a red-hot following stoked by her bestselling book Going Rogue: An American Life and the TV series Sarah Palin’s Alaska . She assiduously avoids taking questions from reporters, preferring to communicate with her fans via Facebook and Twitter. Filmmaker Nick Broomfield has never been fazed by uncooperative subjects, conducting his pursuits like a vigilante armed with a boom pole, frequently backed by his collaborator Joan Churchill behind the camera. His past documentary targets include Margaret Thatcher, Courtney Love and Heidi Fleiss. When headline makers block his access, he brings them down to a human scale by exploring their milieu.
For Sarah Palin – You Betcha!, that means travelling to Alaska. Broomfield makes several trips to interview Palin’s parents, neighbours and former colleagues. They trace her values to her upbringing in the Pentecostal faith. One memorable archival clip shows a church ceremony in which she is being exorcised of witches. An Alaskan pastor characterizes her faith as “apocalyptic Christian” and elaborates, “She has no hesitancy to use violence against evil…Until you understand that, I don’t think you understand Sarah Palin.”
Can she rise to a higher office? Several former allies describe Palin throwing them “under the bus” when they got in the way of her ambition. John McCain’s senior strategist tells Broomfield that she’s “deeply dishonest,” describing her aspiration to be President as “spine-chilling.”
Broomfield brings a wry humour to his quest, but also draws out the serious implications of Palin’s political future. Is this worthy of your concern? You betcha.(Source)
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It was the 1970s, and charismatic band leader, Conrad “Prof” Johnson, made history at an inner-city Houston high school. Johnson took the school's mediocre jazz band and turned them into a legendary funk powerhouse. Now, 35 years later, his students plan to pay a tribute to their now 92 year old Professor. Some of these past students have not played their instruments in decades yet they are determined to take the stage to show Johnson and the world that they have still got it. (Source)
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An epic 12-year journey into the brutal and secretive world of Irish Traveler bare-knuckle fighting. Residing in Ireland and parts of the United Kingdom, the Travelers are a nomadic ethnic group with their own customs and a deep sense of clan pride, despite being interrelated by marriage within their small population. When conflicts arise between rival clans, arguments are often settled through ritualized, bare-knuckle fighting. (Source)
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As the debate over the state of America’s public school system rages on, one thing everyone agrees on is the need for great teachers. Yet, while research proves that teachers are the most important school factor in a child’s future success, America’s teachers are so woefully underpaid that almost a third must divide their time between a second job in order to make a living. Chronicling the stories of four teachers in different areas of the country, American Teacher reveals the frustrating realities of today’s educators, the difficulty of attracting talented new teachers, and why so many of our best teachers feel forced to leave the profession altogether. But this wake-up call to our system’s failings also looks at possibilities for reform. Can we re-value teaching in the United States and turn it into a prestigious, financially attractive and competitive profession? With almost half of American teachers leaving the field in the next five years, now is the time to find out. (Source)
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In 1987, Eddie and Mitch moved into a low-rent apartment in San Francisco where, through paper-thin walls, they were informally introduced to their middle-aged alcoholic neighbors, Raymond (a raging homophobe) and Peter (a flamboyant gay man). For 18 months, they hung a microphone from their kitchen window to chronicle the bizarre relationship between their borderline-insane neighbors, accidentally creating one of the world’s first “viral” counter-culture sensations on the underground tape market. Revisiting these events through interviews and reenactments with the key players in the phenomenon’s development, director Matthew Bate has concocted a darkly comic exploration into the blurred boundaries between art and exploitation. (Source)
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From the shifting faultlines of Hollywood fantasies and the economic and racial tensions of Reagan’s America, Fishbone rose to become one of the most original bands of the last 25 years. With a blistering combination of punk and funk they demolished the walls of genre and challenged the racial stereotypes and political order of the music industry and the nation. Telling it like it is, the iconic Laurence Fishburne narrates EVERYDAY SUNSHINE, a story about music, history, fear, courage and funking on the one. (Source)
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