In 1860, having helped France solve the problem of sour wine, chemist Louis Pasteur turns to the dangers of childbirth: 20,000 Paris women were dying annually. His germ theory and recommendation that doctors wash their hands and sterilize their instruments meet with derision in the academy, and the emperor himself orders Pasteur to be silent. Ten years later, needing cash to pay for war losses, the government finds that anthrax is killing herds everywhere in ...

The history of the controversial "don't ask, don't tell" policy in the United States Armed Forces

Martin Witz's THE SUBSTANCE: ALBERT HOFMANN'S LSD is an informative and entertaining investigation into the history of a drug so potent that mere fractions of a milligram can alter a subject's perception of reality.

Eight hundred years ago, Francis of Assisi and the Sultan of Egypt met on the bloody battlefields of the Crusades. The Crusades resulted in four generations of escalating conflict that was directed at Muslims, Jews, Orthodox Christians in the East, and eventually other Western Europeans. The conflict seemed to have no end until Francis of Assisi took one of the bravest risks in the history of peacemaking by crossing enemy lines to meet with the ...

THE SUN is a re-imagining of Emperor Hirohito's final days in power during the waning days of WWII. Hirohito wanders through his palace in a child-like state of denial.

Fifty years after the fall of his country, can the Dalai Lama make a breakthrough in his efforts to find a solution to the Tibet question?

Brother is pitted against brother in this tale of fueding ranchers in the old west.

The ancient game of Go is the most complex and elegant game ever discovered. For three thousand years, master players in East Asia have handed down the game as an art form to foster patience, creativity, and self-reflection. Today in the elite world of the pros, international tournaments offer hundred-thousand dollar prize purses, and top matches are broadcast on 24-hour ""Go TV"" to millions of fans in China, Korea, and Japan. But in the West, ...

Cardinal Mazarin dies, leaving a power vacuum in which the young Louis asserts his intention to govern as well as rule. Mazarin's fiscal advisor, Colbert, warns against Fouquet, the Superintendant who has been systematically looting the treasury and wants to be prime minister. Fouquet believes Louis will soon tire of exercizing power and overplays his hand by offering a bribe to Louis' mistress to be his ally. She reports this to the king who arrests ...

Each year, tents in Bryant Park herald New York Fashion Week, whose back story is as fascinating as the couture on the catwalk. Fashion's biggest names share the sometimes shocking, often funny rags-to-riches evolution of the iconic event.

Set in 18th-century Korea, this drama recounts the true tale of a crown prince who, by the king's order, was locked in a rice chest and left to die.

An intimate semi-biographical portrait of Palestinians living as a minority in their own homeland between 1948 and the present day, from the acclaimed director of DIVINE INTERVENTION.

A true twentieth-century trailblazer, Harvey Milk was an outspoken human rights activist and one of the first openly gay U.S. politicians elected to public office; even after his assassination in 1978, he continues to inspire disenfranchised people around the world. The Oscar-winning The Times of Harvey Milk, directed by Robert Epstein and produced by Richard Schmiechen, was as groundbreaking as its subject. One of the first feature documentaries to address gay life in America, it’s ...

A Southern belle finds herself torn between two suitors.

The film is set in the early 20th century Australian outback, where four men are following an Aboriginal man who has been accused of murder. The characters in the film are referred to by their characters rather than by name.

The story of Joseon's tyrant king Yeonsan who exploits the populace for his own carnal pleasures, his seemingly loyal retainer who controls him and all court dealings, and a woman who seeks vengeance.

The life inside a farm in Italy at the beginning of the century. Many poor country families live there, and the owner pays them by their productivity. One of the families has a very clever child. They decide to send him to school instead of make him help them, although this represents a great sacrifice. The boy has to wake up very early and walk several miles to get to the school. One day the ...

A stark and beautifully compact retelling of the Joan of Arc tale based on the actual surviving records of her trial.

The flamboyant Victorian wit (Peter Finch) sues the Marquess of Queensberry for a sodomy slur, but it boomerangs.

A Texas tech start-up breaks every crowdfunding record in the books, but they lose it all when a patent troll shuts them down. Refusing to go down without a fight, our heroes use a legal loophole to beat the trolls at their own game. By obtaining a patent for BEING a patent troll, they're able to troll the trolls.

John Turturro portrays Italian writer Primo Levi in this dramatization of Levi's post-Holocaust memoir about his nine-month journey home from Auschwitz. The Greek: Rade Serbedzija. Cesare: Massimo Ghini. Daniele: Stefano Dionisi. Col. Rovi: Teco Celio. Directed by Francesco Rosi.

The 'fighting 99th' was the first squadron of African-American U.S. Army Air Corps combat fighter pilots in WWII. When they began training, few, if any, in the Army wanted them there. They had to prove that they were stronger, tougher, smarter and better fliers than most white pilots...and they did! Laurence Fishburne stars in this high-flying drama.

We are in the midst of the greatest era of space discovery. 21st century spacecraft and sophisticated imaging technology are venturing into un-chartered territory every day -- and much of the extraordinary phenomenon is happing right in our own cosmic backyard.

The Wehrmacht Exhibition, shown in eleven major German cities between 1999 and 2004, challenged people of Germany to rethink what their fathers and grandfathers did during WWII. The crimes against humanity committed by the Nazi Regime are often thought of as the work of the Waffen SS and Gestapo, under the direction of such leaders as Himmler, Eichmann, and, ultimately, Hitler. The "ordinary" German soldier has usually been cast as a noble pawn- until now. ...

Based on traditional legend concerning Leif Ericson and the first Viking settlers to reach North America by sea, The Viking (1928) was the first feature-length Technicolor film that featured a soundtrack, and the first film made in Technicolor's Process 3. (from Wikipedia)

Sir Walter Raleigh overcomes court intrigue to win favor with the Queen in order to get financing for a proposed voyage to the New World.

This documentary vividly chronicles the Vietnam War protest movement of the 1960s and '70s. The film's rare footage offers an incisive depiction of how anti-war acrimony in the United States spread from fringe activism to mainstream politics.

The 1992 presidential election was a triumph not only for Bill Clinton but also for the new breed of strategists who guided him to the White House—and changed the face of politics in the process.

A heroic tale of three blood brothers and their struggle in the midst of war and political upheaval. It is based on "The Assassination of Ma," a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) story about the killing of general Ma Xinyi.

Tale of a brutal swordsman (Irfan Khan) who decides to change his ways and become a man of peace, which continually seems to elude him. Noor Mani, Anupam Shyam. Directed by Asif Kapadia, who cowrote the script with Tim Miller.

The inspirational story of how Dr. George Daniels rose from Dickensian poverty to become the finest watchmaker of the modern era and how Roger Smith embarked on an obsessive, seven-year quest to become his apprentice and eventually, his equal.

Based on the bestselling book, "The Watsons Go to Birmingham," the film chronicles the ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African American family living in Flint, Michigan, and how they are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963 during the height of the civil rights movement.

Four-time Oscar nominee Ed Harris (Apollo 13), Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe) and Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan (Atonement) and Colin Farrell (In Bruges) star in this epic saga of survival from six-time Oscar-nominee Peter Weir (Witness, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World). Inspired by an incredible true story, THE WAY BACK begins in 1940 when seven prisoners attempt the impossible: escape from a brutal Siberian gulag. Thus begins a treacherous 4,500-mile trek ...

The remarkable story of The Weather Underground, radical activists of the 1970s, and of radical politics at its best and most disastrous.

The Weight of Chains is a Canadian documentary film that takes a critical look at the role that the US, NATO and the EU played in the tragic breakup of a once peaceful and prosperous European state - Yugoslavia. The film, bursting with rare stock footage never before seen by Western audiences, is a creative first-hand look at why the West intervened in the Yugoslav conflict, with an impressive roster of interviews with academics, diplomats, ...

The evils of alcohol before and during prohibition become evident as we see its effects on the rich Chilcote family.

In this final film by Oscar-nominated producer Ismail Merchant (1994, Best Picture, Remains of the Day), and Oscar-nominee James Ivory (1993, Best Director, Howard's End), 1930s Shanghai provides the backdrop for this exceptional drama starring two-time Oscar-nominee Ralph Fiennes (1997, Best Actor, The English Patient; 1994, Best Supporting Actor, Shindler's List) as Todd Jackson, a diplomat blinded in a bombing. An encounter with Sophia (Natasha Richardson, Maid in Manhattan), an exiled Countess employed as a ...

Three stranded 1890s whalers (Warren Oates, Timothy Bottoms, Louis Gossett Jr.) corrupt the culture of their Eskimo saviors.

Legendary director Ken Loach's epic tale of two brothers torn apart by the Irish revolt against the British. Cillian Murphy stars in this dramatic Cannes Palm D'Or winner.