Born in-a Babylon (2000)

The First Rasta

Going far beyond the standard imagery of Rasta—ganja, reggae, and dreadlocks—this cultural history offers an uncensored vision of a movement with complex roots and the exceptional journey of a man who taught an enslaved people how to be proud and impose their culture on the world. In the 1920s Leonard Percival Howell and the First Rastas had a revelation concerning the divinity of Haile Selassie, king of Ethiopia, that established the vision for the most popular mystical movement of the 20th century, Rastafarianism. Although jailed, ridiculed, and treated as insane, Howell, also known as the Gong, established a Rasta community of 4,500 members, the first agro-industrial enterprise devoted to producing marijuana. In the late 1950s the community was dispersed, disseminating Rasta teachings throughout the ghettos of the island. A young singer named Bob Marley adopted Howell's message, and through Marley's visions, reggae made its explosion in the music world.

Black Mother

Part film, part baptism, in BLACK MOTHER director Khalik Allah brings us on a spiritual journey through Jamaica. Soaking up its bustling metropolises and tranquil countryside, Allah introduces us to a succession of vividly rendered souls who call this island home. Their candid testimonies create a polyphonic symphony, set against a visual prayer of indelible portraiture. Thoroughly immersed between the sacred and profane, BLACK MOTHER channels rebellion and reverence into a deeply personal ode informed by Jamaica’s turbulent history but existing in the urgent present.

Dread

An East Coast community in Ruatōria, New Zealand attempts to live in autarchy according to the tenets of their movement. Bob Marley, a prophet of our electronic age, is the soundtrack to the everyday lives of these Māori who feel closer to their own roots by observing a blend of Afro-Carribean Rastafarianism and the Ringatū faith. Merata Mita's camera respectfully portrays this singular cultural dialogue. The outsider cultures of Jamaicans, Ethiopians and Māori have come together, vibrating to a common cosmic chord. They find an underground brotherhood, across continents and seas.

The Journey of the Lion

Brother Howie is a Jamaican Rastifari who dreams of the land of his ancestors: Africa. On a journey in search of his roots and his identity he travels through three continents and (with great humor and sensitivity) discovers the world and Africa.

Bob Marley: The Legend Live

Recorded in California at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, this live concert appearance from Bob Marley and the Wailers was filmed on November 25, 1979. One of the last shows to be recorded before Marley's untimely demise, the gig is a scintillating mix of reggae classics and provides a fitting epitaph to the influential musician. Tracks include "I Shot the Sheriff," "Exodus," "Is This Love" and many more.

Rockers

Horsemouth, a drummer living in a ghetto of Kingston, plans to make money selling records. After his prized motorcycle is stolen, his plans fall through and he's forced to adapt.

One Love

Kassa a free-wheelin rasta man, falls for a straight laced gospel singer Serena, when they both meet as they enter a music contest. Serena's father the pastor forbids her to see him and wants her to marry one of his church members. Meanwhile the record boss organizing the contest, tries to get Kassa's band to sign to his label on his terms not theirs. By using heavy tactics, he pushes the band to fight back.

Bob Marley: One Love

Jamaican singer-songwriter Bob Marley overcomes adversity to become the most famous reggae musician in the world.

Beauty Refugee

Twenty-eight of my family members and relatives have been operated at least once by my brother who is a plastic surgeon in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Having grown up as a 'work-in-progress' where the premise, myself, was constantly questioned, as an adult I had to ask my family: could that premise be changed?

Generazione Diabolika

The story of the most famous party of the 2000s. The story, still unpublished, which starts from the mid 90s and the Muccassassina where Queen Vladimir Luxuria discovered the talent of Emanuele Inglese. The testimony of those who made great an event that then became a true phenomenon of costume. Over the course of one night we retrace the fundamental stages of this story, just a few days after the death of Lou Bellucci, historic vocalist who passed away on September 15, 2017.

Colors

The most suffocating is the awareness that nothing is happening. All the veins are drying without the blood running through them. I came to Barão Geraldo because things happen here. Here people love as much as dolls hang themselves and chicken are slaughtered to death. Would I still hang dolls and burn memories in the next 18 years? It astonishes me how less and less I do not care for things that are not my extension. Being my own destruction is the only way. Intimacy is a farewell. All I see is a lot water and all the colors are not enough. All forms of comunication are not enough for a lot of water.

The World's Most Famous Tiger

This film follows the life of the legendary tigress Machli from her prime till her death - her rise to power, her heartbreaking descent and the extraordinary legacy she left behind.

The Cleveland Kidnappings

Follows the story of Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus, as they recount the horrors they suffered when they were kidnapped.

The Art of Grieving

After the untimely death of his 35-year old brother, an artist explores the questions that surfaced from grief by painting 365 paintings and to spur conversation in culture.

Snoop Dogg, La légende du rap

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Jaguar Beach Battle

There is a beach in Costa Rica that challenges what we think we know about big cats. Americas largest cat, the jaguar, is hunting an unusual prey; sea turtles.

OK Good, Pinega

The vast territories beside the Pinega river in northwest Russia are covered by woods and inhabited by more wild animals than people, besides a few villages who live mostly from the forests, fishing, and gardening. Society here can only be described as a matriarchy, where beliefs, spells, and traditional rituals are passed down the female line. Musical contributions from village residents serve as a leitmotif for the film: unsteady renditions of old songs that reveal performances belonging to a distant past. The population of these communities has aged considerably — but the place itself is timeless.

Lost Cities: The Great Flood

Albert Lin is on a global adventure, from icy Black Sea depths to the heights of the Peruvian Andes, searching for the origins of Great Flood stories.

Lost Cities: Megacity of the Maya Warrior King

National Geographic Explorer Albert Lin travels to the jungles of Central America in search of the lost capital of the Maya Snake Kings.

Into the Light with Cité Mémoire

Joyful, magical, inspiring, Into the Light with Cité Mémoire soars above the city, revealing history through giant projections that compel us to slow down, look up and breathe as characters of the past emerge from the stone walls of Old Montreal, touching us deeply with their human stories.

Aschermittwoch

Sketches from a store cashier's everyday life.

Love, Women & Flowers

Women workers stand up to the toxic flower industry in Colombia.

Anina

A container ship is not an inanimate object. The ship that travels thousands of miles on the high seas is full of life, stories, tragedy and hope. The harbours reached, the industrial landscape one encounters, the cargo that floats in an endless ocean. Anina is a psycho-geographic film essay, documenting the ethnographic tendencies of the industrial landscape and its malevolent stature over the individual. The shipping industry’s ever-shifting landscape, affecting even this interaction you are having with this text, crafts its own mythology.

Auguste Escoffier: The Birth of Haute Cuisine

A succulent account of the life of French chef Auguste Escoffier (1846-1935) who made the simple act of cooking food a true art by creating the modern concept of haute cuisine, and who also became the main reference point for many generations of future chefs.

Zimov Hypothesis

In Siberia Sergey Zimov and his son Nikita are attempting to slow down the melting of the permafrost, which holds huge carbon reserves, by reintroducing large mammals present in the area during the ice age. It is a mammoth project driven by the faith and convictions of a small group of adventurer-researchers.

Night and Fog

Filmmaker Alain Resnais documents the atrocities behind the walls of Hitler's concentration camps.

The Music of Lennon & McCartney

A 1965 British television special honouring the songwriting partnership of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. It was produced by Granada Television and aired on that network on 16 December 1965 before receiving a national broadcast the following evening. The programme mainly consisted of other artists miming to their recordings of the songs. The Beatles performed Day Tripper and We Can Work It Out, and Peter Sellers delivered a comedic interpretation of A Hard Day's Night, in the style of stage actor Laurence Olivier's portrayal of Richard III.

Blériot, l'impossible traversée

A look back at an incredible challenge that combines human adventure and historic exploit. In 1909, Louis Blériot made the first flight across the English Channel, propelling aviation into the modern era. 110 years on, a team of enthusiasts attempt a mad-cap gamble, to fly a replica Blériot XI.

Tegui: Un asunto de familia

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Circus In Town

During a circus performance, Mary the elephant loses her balance and crushes the trainer. The accident damages the circus' reuputation and the circus director is torn between his duty and his friendship with the animal. The story is inspired by an historic case from 1916.