Merguez & Olive (2023)

No Packers, No Life

Suh, whose favorite Packer will always be Mason Crosby; Omi and Ayaka, whose infant daughter already sports a green and gold onesie, and Ryuta aka “fatdragon08” who briefly lived in Milwaukee in 1990, studying English, where he was teased for wearing a San Fancisco 49ers jacket, and subsequently converted to the Pack Life. Benzine’s film lets us spend quality time with these super fans, and then follows them as they make plans to cross the sea to see their beloved Packers in-person at Lambeau! As director Benzine says, “No Packers, No Life is a story about a sports team and their fans, but more than that it illustrates how people from all over the world can come together and unite over a common passion. Also, the Japanese fans arrive in Green Bay and get to ride the Zippin Pippin and party a lot. It’s a very good time.”

The Crawl

A visual and delicately poetic story about the relationship between a swimmer and water. A young competitive swimmer meets the world's fastest woman swimmer in her dreams and races her.

Hell on Wheels

Year after year hundreds of thousands of fans line the route of the Tour de France, cheering on their heroes and willing them to victory, while millions of viewers worldwide tune in on their televisions. Academy Award-winning director Pepe Danquart, fascinated by the spectacle of the three week race, chose to focus on the courage, the pain and the fear of the riders of the Tour. Training his lens on German superstar sprinter Eric Zabel and his loyal domestique Rolf Aldag, Danquart captures the thrill of the race and the teamwork behind the stars of the peleton. He also shines light on the Tour's supporting cast - the director sportifs, masseurs, and, of course, the wildly enthusiastic fans. Reveling in the stunning landscape - from the Alps to the Pyrenees to the Massif Central to Paris - and with a nice dollop of Le Tour's history, HELL ON WHEELS transcends the sport it celebrates to reveal an astonishing human endeavor.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil

At 14, best friends Robb Reiner and Lips made a pact to rock together forever. Their band, Anvil, hailed as the "demi-gods of Canadian metal" influenced a musical generation that includes Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax. Following a calamitous European tour, Lips and Robb, now in their fifties, set off to record their 13th album in one last attempt to fulfill their boyhood dreams.

It tells the story of an accident, a life to reinvent, and the decisions to continue the journey.

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Startup.com

Friends since high school, 20-somethings Kaleil Isaza Tuzman and Tom Herman have an idea: a Web site for people to conduct business with municipal governments. This documentary tracks the rise and fall of govWorks.com from May of 1999 to December of 2000, and the trials the business brings to the relationship of these best friends. Kaleil raises the money, Tom's the technical chief. A third partner wants a buy out; girlfriends come and go; Tom's daughter needs attention. And always the need for cash and for improving the site. Venture capital comes in by the millions. Kaleil is on C-SPAN, CNN, and magazine covers. Will the business or the friendship crash first?

The Diver

The Diver is a hymn to diving and the aesthetics of movement. It is a dreamlike collage of movement, music and narration honouring the most beautiful sport there is. Helge Wasenius (b. 1927), The Grand Old Man of divers, is the principal character in the film, a colourful daredevil of the sport.

The Deepest Breath

Bonded by their love of freediving, a record-setting champion and a heroic safety diver try to make history with a remarkable feat, ready to risk it all.

Duet

Mısra and Defne are close friends and duet partners who met each other through synchronized swimming. After failing to qualify for the 2016 Olympics, they set a shared goal, the 2020 Olympics. Not too long after, their esteemed coach Natalie is fired by the federation with no explanation. What follows is an emotional devastation and disruption of scheduled practices, which in turn leads to a decline in their performances. Political tremors in Turkey and the global pandemic lead the duet to make a decision on whether to keep the fight or to find new paths in life.

The Go-Go's

As the first all-female band to play their instruments, write their songs and have a No. 1 album, The Go-Go’s made history. Underpinned by candid testimonies, this film chronicles the meteoric rise to fame of a band born in the LA punk scene who became a pop phenomenon.

Carlos Sainz: The Operator

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A Brony Tale

Vancouver-based voice artist Ashleigh Ball has been the voice of numerous characters in classic cartoons such as Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, Cinderella and more. When Ashleigh was hired to voice Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash for Hasbro's fourth series to use the My Little Pony name - My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic - she had no idea she would become an Internet phenomenon and major celebrity to a worldwide fan-base of grownups. Bronies are united by their belief in the show's philosophy. This documentary gives an inside view of the Pony fan-world, and an intimate look at the courage it takes to just be yourself...even when that means liking a little girls' cartoon.

Ultraviolet

In Vancouver, British Columbia, two teenagers attempt to create a feature length documentary about their lives. The main character James (played by himself) becomes obsessed with the project and is pushed into a more introverted, lonely existence. His best friend Quinn (played by himself) sets out to help him, but is met with the real answer as to why James is keeping himself inside: the rejection of what he thinks is the love of his life. The two of them go their separate ways, with James going deeper into a depression he’s not sure he can escape from.

So Long

Can high school friendships last a lifetime ? One thing's for sure: before long, Aurore, Nours, Jeanne, Diane and the others will say goodbye to their boarding rooms, swimming in the Drôme and parties in the mountains. Louison will cut his dreads and the little family will break up. For some of them, it's not the first time, and it hurts even more.

Minding the Gap

Three young men bond together to escape volatile families in their Rust Belt hometown. As they face adult responsibilities, unexpected revelations threaten their decade-long friendship.

Mon Chirac

At the close of Jacques Chirac's life, politician Jean-Louis Debré has wished to make a film to celebrate his friend, to tell the story of their friendship and professional understanding, and to make an intimate portrait of the former President of France through the accounts of a few very close friends. Thanks to Jean-Louis Debré's presence, Claude Chirac and some of Jacques Chirac's closest friends, famous or unknown, agreed to talk to the camera, sometimes for the first time, to evoke their untold-before memories and tell about the moments that bonded the two men for a lifetime.

Rafa Márquez: El Capitán

The Mexican defender recounts wins and losses in the world of football and beyond, revealing an intimate look into his dreams, detours and determination.

Queen of Speed

A documentary on the life of rally driver Michèle Mouton.

Me, Myself & Martin Laursen

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I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale

John Cazale was in only five films – The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather: Part II, Dog Day Afternoon and The Deer Hunter – each was nominated for Best Picture. Yet today most people don't even know his name. I KNEW IT WAS YOU is a fresh tour through movies that defined a generation.

ZÜHUL

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All American

In this modern, coming of age documentary, Naomi, Jojo and Arham grapple with economic divides, gender roles, and family dynamics while competing in the fastest growing high school sport in the country: girl’s wrestling.

Bios: Hugo Sánchez

Considered Mexico’s greatest footballer of all time, Hugo Sánchez sits down with Adrián Uribe to discuss the chapters of his life both from both on and off the pitch. Sánchez looks back at his career that began in Mexico and saw him reach the pinnacle of Spanish football, and also opens up about the death of his son, Hugo Jr.

Pyrale

Summer 2016, somewhere in French provencal Drôme, a mysterious plague strikes in the villages: swarms of white butterflies invaded the area. At dusk, everyone is locked up home, trapped by the seemingly unstoppable vermin. As the big swarm approaches, Lou discovers both the strange insects and her feelings for her friend Sam. By the end of the season, the moths will have devastated the entirety of the century-old box trees, leaving a ruined landscape behind them.

Chaja & Mimi

Chaja Florentin and Mimi Frons have been best friends for 83 years. Born and raised in Berlin, they had to escape from the Nazis to Palestine with their families in 1934. They talk about their complicated relationship with Berlin in a Tel Aviv café where they meet everyday. A film about friendship, homeland and identity.

Linford

100m Olympic champion Linford Christie is one of Britain’s most successful athletes. Now, he’s confronting his complicated legacy, in a story about race, respect and reputation.

The Speed Cubers

This documentary captures the extraordinary twists and turns in the journeys of Rubik's Cube-solving champions Max Park and Feliks Zemdegs.

Rising Phoenix

Elite athletes and insiders reflect on the Paralympic Games and examine how they impact a global understanding of disability, diversity and excellence.

Hunting Bigfoot

Hunting Bigfoot (2021) A film that skillfully melds the worlds of narrative feature and documentary to capture this portrait of a broken man obsessively pursuing personal and professional redemption in a world where many of those close to him think he's crazy.

Looking for Ms. Locklear

We met in first grade in Ms. Locklear’s class. During the summer of 2006, we decided to search for our beloved teacher. We chose not to use the internet or the telephone, but instead to rely on face-to-face contact with people. Looking for Ms. Locklear is a documentary chronicling our search, which led us far from home and into the company of a host of characters.

Crows Are White

After decades of living a secret life, a filmmaker travels to a strict Japanese monastery in search of guidance but the only monk willing to help him prefers ice cream and heavy metal over meditation. CROWS ARE WHITE is an exploration of truth, faith and love, from the top of a mountain to the bottom of a sundae.

MaxTul Extended Memory

A special project featuring Max and Tul reflecting on their journey of six year together.

Broken Kids: The Untold Story of Young Athletes

Recent scandals have revealed the brutal methods often imposed on young top athletes. Fueled by numerous testimonies, this damning investigation reveals the workings of a system which sacrifices children in the name of economic interests and glory.

Marie-Jo

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RUNN

"RUNN" is a heartfelt portrayal of one man’s, Nedd Brockmann’s, extraordinary mission to make a difference. As he runs across Australia raising money for homelessness, we witness Nedd's humour, grit, mullet and profound humanity, reminding us that even in the vastness of the Australian landscape, one person's determination can ignite a movement and change lives for the better.

Hunting Footnotes

Amidst Wyoming's rugged beauty, an experienced hunter confronts the challenges of tracking wild game and forges lifelong bonds within his friendships.

WHAM!

Through archival interviews and footage, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley relive the arc of their Wham! career, from 70s best buds to 80s pop icons.

Sharko

Widely regarded as one of the greatest Rugby League players ever, kiwi hard-man Mark Graham was feared off and, on the field, though little knew the real man or the destruction behind his success. SHARKO, portrays an intimate look at the life of a father, a son and the cost of greatness.

The Tunes

A café in the north of Brussels. Days are punctuated by the songs that the customers sing at all hours, to amuse themselves, to remember or to pass the time. Those songs transform the place little by little, making the film a strange musical.

Blade Rollers

Honour West and Joan Camuglia-May share their experiences in this upbeat roller-skating documentary.

The Opener

THE OPENER is a feel-good, underdog music doc about a street performer who wrote 30 songs in 30 days to process his grief and isolation during the pandemic, and found that his music spoke to millions. When it reached the ears of one of his heroes, Grammy-winner Jason Mraz, he was invited on his very first tour and given a chance to prove himself on the big stage.

Copa 71

The extraordinary story of the 1971 Women’s World Cup, which was held in Mexico City and witnessed by more than 100,000 fans. This landmark tournament was dismissed by FIFA and written out of sports history – until now, with dazzling archival footage and interviews with the former players.

I Love You, I Leave You

After more than twenty years, Swiss musician Dino Brandão travels to Angola to give a concert in his father's home country. Confronted with his family's past and questions about his own identity, Dino is triggered into a manic episode.

Chronicle of a Summer

Paris, summer 1960. Anthropologist and filmmaker Jean Rouch and sociologist and film critic Edgar Morin wander through the crowded streets asking passersby how they cope with life's misfortunes.

Figlio di Giano

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You Think You Know Me? The Story of Edge

Fans can relive the entire storied career of the 'Rated-R Superstar' and watch Edge rise through the independent ranks into WWE.