High Performance Imports: Volume 6

A documentary about Cairo Jazz Festival's Amr Salah and his struggle every year to bring people and arts together in a country where 70% of people are under 30 and the Officials do not care about culture too much.

In 1934, the celebrated Austrian engineer Ferdinand Porsche was commissioned to create a car for the German people which could be manufactured by the state and sold for less than a thousand Reichsmarks. In the 1990s, the familiar style of the car originally known as the KdF-Wagen "Strength through Joy" car remains virtually unchanged... and in terms of popularity, still remains its special role as 'the people's car'. Now, the makers of Mini Magic, GTi Magic and MG Magic take you deep into the heart and soul of ageless VW Beetle territory for a fascinating exploration of Beetle 'magic'.

In this Traveltalk short, the symbolic role of cherry blossoms in Japanese culture is explored as well as the traditional Japanese religions of Shintoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism.

This Traveltalk series short showcases the Mexico City police department's various units as they participate in a yearly festival. Included are a marching band, a parade of patrol cars, the motorcycle unit, equestrian unit, and the department's pistol team.

This is a silent film, with a musical soundtrack, shot during a boat journey along the waterways of Kashmir that took him to the festival. Using the simplest equipment, a Super-8-camera with a special lens, and directing his attention at simple things--the rhythmic splashing of a heart-shaped oar, the sparkle of evening sun on still waters--Albert Falzon has captured the timeless slow motion of Northern India.

A visually stunning narrative documentary, NAKED GARDENS immerses audiences in the complex, unseen world of a family nudist resort in the Florida Everglades. Filmed over one season at this lush tropical campsite, the film follows the stories of individuals drawn to an unusual community, which promises both non-conformist values and, more importantly for some, a cheap place to live. As aging owner Morley and his residents prepare for the largest gathering of nudists in the US, the Mid-Winter Naturist Festival, they are faced with challenges both as a community and as individuals.

"If drifting is your religion and Keiichi is your god, then this video is your bible. If you seek the truth, you must go directly to the source. This video is it." Edward Loh, Editor, Drifting Magazine

State of Bacon tells the kinda real but mostly fake tale of an oddball group of characters leading up to the annual Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival. Bacon-enthusiasts, Governor Branstad, a bacon queen, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, members of PETA, and an envoy of Icelanders are not excluded from this bacon party and during the course of the film become intertwined with the organizers of the festival to show that bacon diplomacy is not dead.

The documentary focuses on the annual Mani Rimdu festival of Tibet and Nepal, an event which encapsulates the Himalayan Buddhist experience.

A behind-the-scenes documentary about the 41st Paléo in Nyon (Switzerland) in 2016, with a selection of the best parts of the concerts and interviews with the artists and volunteers who organize the festival.

Chicano is an exploration between the similarities and differences between Chicano culture in America and Japan, and how the scene is not all about gang culture, but has a deep-seated root in family values.

Follows the behind-the-scenes work of Studio Ghibli, focusing on the notable figures Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, and Toshio Suzuki.

On December 20, 2023, at the age of 84, Jack Lang was reappointed for a fourth term as head of the Arab World Institute. Proof, if any were needed, of the incredible longevity of a man who has embodied culture in motion for more than sixty years. From the creation of the Nancy Festival in 1963 to his legendary tenure as Minister of Culture on Rue de Valois, Jack Lang has moved through the decades without ever stopping. Professor, mayor, deputy, minister in all Mitterrand governments... he has remained a central figure in cultural and political life, always in action. Jack Lang tells his story, recounting his decisive encounters, his great achievements, his failures, and his personal dramas.

The jaw-dropping story of the spectacular rise and dramatic fall of British music and festival company Pollen. The company was launched in 2014 by two young British brothers, Callum and Liam Negus-Fancey. Riding the wave of the tech boom which saw start-ups like Deliveroo, Airbnb and Uber become ‘unicorn’ giants valued at $1bn or more, the brothers created a simple idea that soon attracted huge investment. Beginning as a ticketing platform – giving festivals goers the chance to earn VIP rewards for selling tickets to their friends – the company tapped into a lucrative area when music festivals and Instagram influencing were flourishing. They promised their customers a ‘bigger life’, gave staff a glamorous, party-fuelled workplace and soon went global.