In the Water, Behind the Lens (2022)

Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton

This is the remarkable story of an American icon who changed the sport of big wave surfing forever. Transcending the surf genre, this in-depth portrait of a hard-charging athlete explores the fear, courage and ambition that push a man to greatness—and the cost that comes with it.

Riding Giants

Riding Giants is story about big wave surfers who have become heroes and legends in their sport. Directed by the skateboard guru Stacy Peralta.

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

The life of internationally renowned artist and activist Nan Goldin is told through her slideshows, intimate interviews, ground-breaking photography, and rare footage of her personal fight to hold the Sackler family accountable for the overdose crisis.

32 Pills: My Sister's Suicide

Traces the life and mental illness of New York artist and photographer Ruth Litoff, and her sister's struggle to come to terms with her tragic suicide.

Being Captain Zero

This is a dynamic documentary about two 1970s era marijuana smugglers who were forced to separate when they got too successful. Nothing could prepare them for what they saw when they reunited 20 years later. Based on the best selling book 'In search of Captain Zero'. Shot in 3 countries with beautiful production value.

Standard Operating Procedure

Errol Morris examines the incidents of abuse and torture of suspected terrorists at the hands of U.S. forces at the Abu Ghraib prison.

Everything at Once (Paco & Manolo's Gaze)

Paco and Manolo are two Catalan photographers from the outskirts of Barcelona who have been working together for thirty years as if they were a single person, capturing their images in Kink magazine, a very personal photography fanzine with a homoerotic aesthetic of Mediterranean essence.

The Westsiders

The rise and fall of The Westsiders surf gang through the eyes of three best friends.

Riverboom

In the year following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, young journalist Claude Baechtold finds himself in the war zone of Afghanistan. Not entirely voluntarily, the avowed anti-militarist is dragged by two fearless reporters on a round trip through the entire country.

From Where They Stood

A handful of prisoners in WWII camps risked their lives to take clandestine photographs and document the hell the Nazis were hiding from the world. In the vestiges of the camps, director Christophe Cognet retraces the footsteps of these courageous men and women in a quest to unearth the circumstances and the stories behind their photographs, composing as such an archeology of images as acts of defiance.

The Endless Summer

Bruce Brown's The Endless Summer is one of the first and most influential surf movies of all time. The film documents American surfers Mike Hynson and Robert August as they travel the world during California’s winter (which, back in 1965 was off-season for surfing) in search of the perfect wave and ultimately, an endless summer.

Step Into Liquid

No special effects. No stuntmen. No stereotypes. No other feeling comes close. Surfers and secret spots from around the world are profiled in this documentary.

You Should Have Been Here Yesterday

You Should Have Been Here Yesterday combines hundreds of hours of lovingly restored 16mm footage with a salt-infused soundscape by Headland. This cinematic poem tells the story of a wild community who took off up the coast and discovered a whole new way to live. Going back to the never-before-seen camera reels to ask the question – what do we keep and what do we leave behind? Featuring Tim Winton, Wayne Lynch, Bob McTavish, Albe Falzon, Evelyn Rich, Maurice Cole and many more. Inspired by Moonage Daydream and Jen Peedom’s Mountain.

Elliott Erwitt - Silence Sounds Good

Elliott Erwitt has spent his entire adult life taking photographs, of presidents, popes and movie stars, as well as regular people and their pets. His work is iconic in world culture while his life is largely unknown.

In the Theatre of the Gogs

A contemplation of art and adventure in the southern wilds of New Zealand by both a landscape photographer and an adventure filmmaker. This film is the unexpected result of their two unique perspectives.

Peninsula

This documentary explores the tranquil history of Italian surfing along with the passion and dedication of the pioneers who shaped it.

The Blind Sea

Australian blind surfer Matt Formston’s mettle is pushed to the limits in this thrilling documentary. With only 3% vision, the 4x World Champion attempts his most fearsome and dangerous challenge yet, surfing the monster waves of Nazaré.

Un été à la Garoupe

La Garoupe, a beach in Antibes, in 1937. For one summer, the painter and photographer Man Ray films his friends Pablo Picasso, Dora Maar, Paul Eluard and his wife Nusch, as well as Lee Miller. During these few weeks, love, friendship, poetry, photography and painting are still mixed in the carefree and the creativity specific to the artistic movements of the interwar period.

Surfing Morning of the Sun

Stunning contemporary surfing mixed with classic surfing from the 1970's. A inspirational homage to the classic surf films of the 1970's like Morning of the Earth. This is one the finest of its genre and noted for the original score.

Naked Ambition: Bunny Yeager

Bunny Yeager, once heralded as the world's prettiest photographer, had a huge influence in 20th-century pop culture though few people know her name. Whether by popularizing the bikini, helping discover Bettie Page, shaping the image of Playboy or inventing the selfie, Bunny was a trailblazer whose work bucked against conservative 1950s America and helped pave the way for the feminist movement and the sexual revolution. Yet the very changes she helped usher in would soon render her a forgotten relic...till now.

The Longest Wave

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Joe Berlinger travels the globe with legendary windsurfer and pioneering waterman Robby Naish, a 24-time world champion whose quest to master the world's longest waves unexpectedly reveals his vulnerabilities as a competitor, mentor and father. THE LONGEST WAVE transcends the action sports genre by capturing obstacles outside of the legendary athlete's professional life in an intimate, cinéma-vérité style, revealing Naish balancing the pursuit of excellence at sea with the demands of life's complications on land.

Soviet Bus Stops

“There’s a bus stop I want to photograph.” This may sound like a parody of an esoteric festival film, but Canadian Christopher Herwig’s photography project is entirely in earnest, and likely you will be won over by his passion for this unusual subject within the first five minutes. Soviet architecture of the 1960s and 70s was by and large utilitarian, regimented, and mass-produced. Yet the bus stops Herwig discovers on his journeys criss-crossing the vast former Soviet Bloc are something else entirely: whimsical, eccentric, flamboyantly artistic, audacious, colourful. They speak of individualism and locality, concepts anathema to the Communist doctrine. Herwig wants to know how this came to pass and tracks down some of the original unsung designers, but above all he wants to capture these exceptional roadside way stations on film before they disappear.

Under an Arctic Sky

Six fearless surfers travel to the north coast of Iceland to ride waves unlike anything they've ever experienced, captured with high-tech cameras.

Resurface

A suicidal war veteran finds like-minded souls in a surf therapy program that helps traumatized soldiers heal while riding the waves.

Bettie Page: Pin Up Queen

Bettie Page was the top pin-up queen of the 50s and developed a cult following in the 80s. She is known for her distinctive hair style and is reputed to be the most photographed pin-up model of all time. This compilation shows Bettie's playful side, featuring her scenes from the full-length burlesque films Striporama (1953), Varietease (1954) and Teaserama (1955) and a dozen complete short films from the 50s including Tantalizing Betty Dances Again, Tambourine Dance, Joyful Dance by Betty, Betty's Hat Dance, Dream Dance by Betty, Dance of Passion, Betty's Clown Dance Part 2, Betty's Lingerie Tease Dance, Betty's Second G-String Dance, Betty's Fireplace Dance, and Pin-Up Beauties Fight (with June King).

Kelly Slater in Black and White

Take an intimate look at six-time world champion Kelly Slater before he became the most well-known name in surfing, and find out what he did to rise to the top and become the most commanding presence in his sport. With footage from France, Fiji, Southern California and Oahu's North Shore, the film treats you to fabulous scenery from some of the best surfing locales in the world. Also features Tom Carrol, Jeff Booth and Tom Curren.

Love, Cecil

A documentary about Academy Award-winning costume designer Cecil Beaton. A respected photographer, artist, and set designer, Beaton was best known for designing on award-winning films such as 'Gigi' (1958) and 'My Fair Lady' (1964). The film features archive footage and interviews with a number of models, artists, and filmmakers who worked closely with Beaton during his illustrious career.

Bustin' Down the Door

During the winter of 1975 in Hawaii, surfing was shaken to its core. A group of young surfers from Australia and South Africa sacrificed everything and put it all on the line to create a sport, a culture, and an industry that is today worth billions of dollars and has captured the imagination of the world. With a radical new approach and a brash colonial attitude, these surfers crashed headlong into a culture that was not ready for revolution. Surfing was never to be the same again.

Smash His Camera

A film centering on the life and work of Ron Galella that examines the nature and effect of paparazzi.

Instant Dreams

There could hardly be a more telling contrast between the analog and digital eras than the beautifully blurry memories captured in a Polaroid picture and the thousands of pin-sharp photos on an iPhone. In this ambitious visual essay, Willem Baptist explores the visionary genius of Edwin H. Land, the inventor of the Polaroid camera. Even today, all sorts of people are keeping his instant dream alive. Former Polaroid employee Stephen Herchen moved from the United States to Europe to work in a laboratory developing the 2.0 version of Polaroid. Christopher Bonanos, the author of Instant: The Story of Polaroid, tells us, "When I heard Polaroid would stop making film, it felt like a close friend had died." Artist Stefanie Schneider, who is working with the last of her stock of Polaroid film, is using the blurring that occurs with expired film as an additional aesthetic layer in her photographic work.

Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens

An account of the professional and personal life of renowned American photographer Annie Leibovitz, from her early artistic endeavors to her international success as a photojournalist, war reporter, and pop culture chronicler.

All Aboard the Crazy Train

Winner of the 2005 Maui Film Festival's Best Short Film Documentary, this eye-popping video captures big-wave surfing at its most insane. Made by the folks who brought you Step in Liquid and Riding Giants, the film features tow-in trailblazers Laird Hamilton, Dave Kalama, Darrick Doerner and others taking on Peahi, Maui's enormous swells during the winters of '04 and '05. Fueling the action is a hot soundtrack courtesy of Pearl Jam, U2 and Beck.

Nude

NUDE explores perceptions of nudity in art by chronicling the creative process of photographer David Bellemere as he's commissioned by NU Muses founder Steve Shaw to shoot a fine art calendar of nude photographs.

Nothing Like a Dame

BBC Arena's documentary on the Dames of British Theatre and film featuring Maggie Smith, Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench and Joan Plowright on screen together for the first time as they reminisce over a long summer weekend in a house Joan once shared with Sir Laurence Olivier.

I'm Not Everything I Want to Be

After the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, Libuše Jarcovjáková, a young female photographer, strives to break free from the constraints of Czechoslovak normalization and embarks on a wild journey towards freedom, capturing her experiences on thousands of subjective photographs.

200,000 Phantoms

In 1914, the Czech architect Jan Letzel designed in the Japanese city of Hiroshima Center for the World Expo, which has turned into ruins after the atomic bombing in August 1945. “Atomic Dome” – all that remains of the destroyed palace of the exhibition – has become part of the Hiroshima memorial. In 2007, French sculptor, painter and film director Jean-Gabriel Périot assembled this cinematic collage from hundreds of multi-format, color and black and white photographs of different years’ of “Genbaku Dome”.

The Pursuit

A surf movie that reflects the lives of a new generation of surfers. Each athlete has their own story to tell inside the broader story of THE PURSUIT.

The Man Who Saw Too Much

A film about fragility; about a man obsessed with photographing the accident who discovered that the fate of others was his way of connecting to life. When does the image of the accident become the object of desire? Following the footsteps of Metinides and the work of contemporary tabloid photographers, we discover Mexico City through a narrative of crime scenes and accidents; rubbernecking though Metinides’ Gaze.

A letter to Nikola

As a letter to her son, the filmmaker testifies her experience as a photographer aboard the Aquarius, a ship that rescued 29,523 people in the Mediterranean between 2016 and 2018.

Lee Miller: A Life on the Frontline

A documentary celebrating Lee Miller, a model-turned-photographer-turned-war reporter who defied anyone who tried to pin her down, put her on a pedestal, or pigeonhole her in any way.

Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable

One of the most fearless and accomplished athletes of her generation, Bethany Hamilton became a surfing wunderkind when she returned to the sport following a devastating shark attack at age 13. As she continues to chase waves she also now tackles motherhood.

The Ultimate Wave Tahiti 3D

Featuring ten-time world surfing champion Kelly Slater, The Ultimate Wave follows a quest to find the perfect wave-riding experience. Filmed in Tahiti and among the islands of French Polynesia, the film showcases dramatic giant screen surfing action in a unique Pacific paradise.

Lucy Worsley's Royal Photo Album

Lucy Worsley tells the story of the royal photograph, showing how the royal family worked with generations of photographers to create images that reinvented the British monarchy.