Black Tar Heroin: The Dark End of the Street

In Paradisum relates two disturbing stories simultaneously. The female narrator tells her personal tale of imprisonment as the wife of the notorious Estonian serial killer, Andreas Hanni. Although her story is bizarre, it touches familiar themes that run throughout modern life: the desire to be loved and the fear of being alone. Pille Hanni's tale unfolds over cinema vérité images of life in several Estonian prisons. At times the images reflect in a literary way the events of the narration, yet they are representations and impressions, rather than traditional documentary style footage of the people involved. This opens the story to a more general interpretation, often with unsettling results. The parallel contents reveal, at two levels of story and social organisation, how the bizarre and inhuman can be tolerable and even addictive in the face of our fears.

Two countries, two restaurants, one vision. At Gabriela Cámara's acclaimed Contramar in Mexico City, the welcoming, uniformed waiters are as beloved by diners as the menu featuring fresh, local seafood caught within 24 hours. The entire staff sees themselves as part of an extended family. Meanwhile at Cala in San Francisco, Cámara hires staff from different backgrounds and cultures, including ex-felons and ex-addicts, who view the work as an important opportunity to grow as individuals. A Tale of Two Kitchens explores the ways in which a restaurant can serve as a place of both dignity and community.

55 years ago, on October 1 1968, the first brand advertising spot appeared on the French television screen. Over the next three decades, thousands of creative little films would seduce and build our collective memory. Kitschy or cult spots, humor, slogans, music, stars, gimmicks, grand spectacle or sex appeal: during its golden age, how did advertising convince? Thierry Ardisson has brought together almost 400 advertising clips to relive the era of the conquest of minds and wallets.

Completely topless. Completely uninhibited. The craze that began in San Francisco is now exploding across the USA and Europe.

An intimate look at the human faces of America's current opioid epidemic. Seen through the eyes of a mother and the lens of a small town.

Henry Rollins narrates Lilly Scourtis Ayers' no-holds-barred profile of volatile Bay Area punk legend Marian Anderson, whose hypnotic beauty, devil-may-care rebellion and shocking sexual exploits onstage launched her to infamy before tragically dying of a heroin overdose at the tender age of 33.

In the 1980s, Algeria experienced a tumultuous social context which reached its peak during the riots of October 88. This wave of protest, with youth as its figurehead, echoed the texts of raï singers. Thirst for freedom, misery of life and the aspirations of youth are among the main themes of their works which will inspire an entire generation. More than music, raï celebrates the Arabic language and becomes a vector of Algerian culture, thus providing the cultural weapons of emerging Algerian nationalism With Cheb Khaled, Cheb Mami and Chaba Fadela as leaders of the movement, raï is also a way of telling and reflecting the essence of Algeria in these difficult times. While the threat weighs on artists in Algeria, their exile allows raï to be exported internationally and thus, to bring the colors of Algeria to life throughout the world.

A friendsbook was like Facebook during the Soviet times. Many had one. Russian kids called it a Form. Classmates were asked to write in it and say what they thought love is, what they wanted to be when they grow up, what their favourite food was. It was mostly girls who had friendsbooks, of course. Twenty-five years later, Alyona Surzhikova browses her 6th grade friendsbook and decides to go and find her then classmates to ask whether their dreams have come true. She travels to Russia and Germany and even Cambodia and puts together a thought-provoking aggregate portrait of the Russian generation that grew up during the restoration of Estonia’s independence. Many of them have left Estonia by now, with half of Surzhikova’s classmates living abroad. Why did they do that? What do they think about Estonia? And what would they write into the Form now?

A student's increasingly intimate line of questioning causes his interview with a local horror host to take a vulnerable turn.

The documentary follows one woman's quest to overcome anxiety, depression, and opioid addiction through the use of psychedelic medicines.

Whether famous or anonymous, stars or prisoners, models or sex workers, women have always been at the center of Bettina Rheims' photographic work since her debut in 1978. Both subversive and glamorous, trashy and sophisticated, her photographs mark and bear witness to the upheavals of the era, which this leading photographer both anticipated and accompanied.

In the winter of 2002-'03, as the US was building its case to attack Iraq, people around the world responded with a series fo the largest peace protests in history. Shutdown: The Rise and Fall of Direct Action to Stop the War, is an action-packed documentary chronicling how DASW successfully organized to shut down a major US city and how they failed to effectively maintain the organization to fight the war machine and end the occupation of Iraq. Created by organizers involved with DASW, Shutdown combines detailed information on organizing for a mass action, critical interviews on organizing pitfalls, and the wisdom of hindsight. It is a must-see film for those engaged in the continuous struggle toward social justice.

Grateful Dead celebrate their 60th Anniversary with a highly anticipated return to big screens for the annual theatrical event “Meet-Up At The Movies” in select territories worldwide on August 14. For a limited time only, this special cinematic event allows fans to come together and celebrate the enduring legacy of the Grateful Dead. THE GRATEFUL DEAD MOVIE follows the legendary band on what at the time was believed to be their final performances, a five-night run at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom in October 1974, the final night billed as “The Last One.” Featuring stellar live performances, mind-bending animation, interviews with band members and crew, the film has a rare focus on the band’s fans and their deep commitment to the Dead Head lifestyle. Be sure to stay till the end for the exclusive theatrical premier of “China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider”, a bonus live performance not included in the official release.

This documentary on the "youth movement" of the late 1960s focuses on the hippie pot smoking/free love culture in the San Francisco Bay area.

The voices of five gay men who cruised for sex at the World Trade Center in the 1980s and 1990s haunt the sanitized, commerce-driven landscape that is the newly rebuilt Freedom Tower campus.