1. Abortion: Stories Women Tell
A thought-provoking look at the subject of abortion today, told through the stories of women struggling with unplanned pregnancies, abortion providers and clinic staff and activists on both sides of this contentious debate.
It has an average vote of 6.7 on TMDB.
2. haveababy
Some think an in vitro fertilization contest sounds crazy, but countless Americans desperate to start a family believe this social media experiment is their only hope. Vegas Baby is a profile of patients of a Las Vegas fertility clinic. Each year, the clinic hosts a YouTube-based competition called “I Believe,” which gives one lucky couple a shot at an in vitro fertilization treatment they could not otherwise afford. Hundreds of couples apply, yet there can be only one winner.
It has an average vote of 7.2 on TMDB.
3. Neither Allah, Nor Master! (Laïcité, Inch'Allah!)
Filmmaker Nadia el Fani explores secularism in the predominantly Muslim country of Tunisia before and after the fall of Ben Ali.
It has an average vote of 3.5 on TMDB.
4. Banaz: A Love Story
This is a documentary film chronicling the brutal Honour Killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British Kurdish woman in London, killed by her own family for choosing a life for herself.
It has an average vote of 6 on TMDB.
5. The Education of Auma Obama
The Education of Auma Obama is a captivating and intimate portrait of the U.S. president's older half-sister, who embodies a post-colonial, feminist identity.
6. The Battle for Christianity
Professor Robert Beckford looks at how immigration, radical social action, conservative morality and charismatic worship are all transforming the face of the faith, and asks what that might mean for the future in an increasingly secular society. Some academics are warning that popular churches who take a firm line on issues like gay marriage, abortion and euthanasia are pushing Christianity farther away from the attitudes of mainstream society. Others believe that the fervour of charismatic faith is attracting large numbers, but ignoring a quiet exodus out of the back door. Robert Beckford speaks to church leaders in the UK, including the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, about how they see the future. This revealing film gets to the heart of what’s changing within Christianity in the UK. It will show how the faithful are kicking back against the steady decline in church attendance, and provide evidence of a more committed, but potentially divided, future.
It has an average vote of 6 on TMDB.
7. The Man Behind the Mask (El hombre detrás de la máscara)
The 70th anniversary of the birth of El Santo and the wrestling debut of his son mark the starting point for which El Hijo del Santo will take us into his story. His family history goes beyond the ring through personal memories and records, and brings us closer to his childhood with a father who had a double identity, to the discovery of the hero at home, and the reasons for wanting to continue this legacy.
It has an average vote of 7.5 on TMDB.
8. Bad Rap
The lives and careers of four Asian-American rappers trying to break into a world that often treats them as outsiders. Sharing dynamic live performance footage and revealing interviews, these artists will make the most skeptical critics into believers.
It has an average vote of 6.3 on TMDB.
9. Check It
Fed up with being pushed around, a group of gay and trans teens of color form a gang and fight back on the brutal streets of Washington D.C. They call their gang ‘Check it’ and this group of one-time victims of bullying, rape and abuse have turned the tables on anyone trying to hurt them. The group formed to provide its members safety in numbers and let people know that if they jump a queer kid in D.C., they may get beaten into a coma. This raw and intimate portrait follows three childhood friends as they struggle to survive and claw their way out of gang life through an unlikely avenue: fashion.
It has an average vote of 5 on TMDB.
10. Enlighten Us: The Rise and Fall of James Arthur Ray
The self-help industry is worth $11 billion dollars a year. It’s an industry that captivates those seeking happiness, release from suffering and those longing for a path and a leader to follow. James Arthur Ray for many who followed him was that leader to guide his flock. But as the story unfolds, as told by Ray himself and also by his followers, we learn that that path was fraught with danger and perhaps even greater suffering.
It has an average vote of 6.3 on TMDB.
11. Tempest Storm
The controversial life story of America's greatest exotic dancer, who at 87 years old is preparing for her final and most important act: to repair her broken relationship with her daughter Patricia, who she walked away from fifty years ago.
It has an average vote of 8 on TMDB.
12. Obit
How do you put a life into 500 words? Ask the staff obituary writers at the New York Times. OBIT is a first-ever glimpse into the daily rituals, joys and existential angst of the Times obit writers, as they chronicle life after death on the front lines of history.
It has an average vote of 6.4 on TMDB.
13. The Ride
The end of the Indian Wars in the US concluded with the horrific events at Wounded Knee in December, 1890. After Custer's defeat at Little Big Horn and Chief Sitting Bull's subsequent surrender and execution, the Lakota Sioux set out on a 300-mile walk southward through South Dakota. Along the way they were joined by Chief Big Foot's band of Minneconjou Lakota and pursued by the Calvary, ending up at Wounded Knee where 350 Lakota were massacred. In The Ride we are witness to the annual Chief Big Foot Memorial Ride, a tradition since 1986 where young Lakota retrace part of the route on a 300-mile horse ride in late December.
It has an average vote of 8.5 on TMDB.
14. Solitary
There are 100,000 US citizens in solitary confinement across the country, a staggering number prompting comment from both President Obama and the Pope. Situated in rural Virginia, 300 miles from any urban center, Red Onion State Prison is one of over 40 supermax prisons across the US built to hold prisoners in eight-by-ten-foot cells for 23 hours a day. Filmed over the course of one year, this eye-opening film braids stark prison imagery, stories from correction officers, and intimate reflections from the men who are locked up in isolation. The inmates share the paths that led them to prison and their daily struggles to maintain their sanity.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
15. Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four
In 1994, four women were accused, tried, and convicted of the heinous sexual assault of two young girls—as one newscaster puts it, “the modern version of the witchcraft trials.” Twenty years later, the four women have maintained their innocence, insisting that the accusations were entirely fabricated, and borne of homophobic prejudice and a late-’90s mania about covens, cults, and child abuse.
It has an average vote of 5.7 on TMDB.
16. À ciel ouvert (À ciel ouvert)
On the Franco-belgian border, there's a unique place that takes in children with mental and social problems. Day after day, the adults try to understand the enigma that each one of them represents and, without ever imposing anything on them, invent the solutions that will help them to live in peace, case by case. Through their stories, 'Like an Open Sky' reveals their singular vision of the world to us.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
17. Damage Done: The Drug War Odyssey
After 30 years of the War on Drugs, illegal narcotics have gone down in price, up in purity and availability, and way way up in demand. The heroes of this film are veterans of the Drug War, and they urge us to consider ending drug prohibition both at home and around the world. They have had a complete revolution in their thinking: now they are working to end the War on Drugs. Find out what happened to change their minds and how they became truly radical cops.
18. Snow Beard
A moving tribute to New York icon Mike Kuchar, filmed on his last day before leaving Manhattan to relocate to San Francisco
19. Memories of a Penitent Heart
Twenty five years after Miguel died from AIDS, his niece, filmmaker Cecilia Aldarondo, embarks on an excavation into a quagmire of unresolved family drama. Like many gay men in the 1980s, Miguel moved from Puerto Rico to New York City; he found a career in theater and a rewarding relationship. Yet, on his deathbed he grappled to reconcile his homosexuality with his Catholic upbringing. Now, decades after his death, Cecilia locates Miguel’s lover Robert, who has been shunned and demonized by the family, in order to understand the whole story.
It has an average vote of 5.6 on TMDB.
20. The Return
In 2012, California voters approved Proposition 36, effectively repealing the state's notoriously harsh three-strikes law that had sentenced thousands of nonviolent offenders to a lifetime behind bars. But what does it mean to be released from prison after being sentenced to life? How does one begin to reintegrate into society? The Return depicts the struggles of two newly released former lifers as they deal with restoring relationships, avoiding personal triggers, finding meaningful employment, and managing the mental health problems which had previously contributed to their imprisonment.
It has an average vote of 5.7 on TMDB.
