Paper Tigers (2015)

Mantovani, the King of Strings

Known for his unmistakable cascading strings and recordings such as Charmaine, Mantovani enthralled the world with his sublime arrangements. This is the story of the man and his music.

Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm

The Kettles leave their ultra-modern home and return to the country looking for uranium. Ma and Tom's mother-in-law, Mrs. Parker, fight over whether their grandchild will be raised "hygiencially."

Foxfire Light

A spoiled rich girl used to getting her way comes up against a rancher who won't be intimidated by her.

Barbarians of the Bay

Always passionate about hockey, young Jean-Philippe Tanguay dreams of only one thing: becoming a player agent. He idolizes his cousin Yves Tanguay, a former NHL player, now playing with the Barbares de La Malbaie amateur hockey team. When the team advances to the Canadian championship, Yves convinces his young cousin to accompany him to Thunder Bay to attend the championship. The two cousins ​​see this as a unique opportunity for their careers and will embark on a road trip that will lead them to discover the price to pay to make their dreams come true.

Lost in Africa

Simon, an adopted boy of a Danish couple visiting Kenya with his mother, goes missing in Kibera slum. When his mother offers a reward on TV, the kidnappers are on the run.

Ladies & Gentlemen, the Rolling Stones

A concert film taken from two Rolling Stones concerts during their 1972 North American tour. In 1972, the Stones bring their Exile on Main Street tour to Texas: 15 songs, with five from the "Exile" album. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Mick Taylor, Charlie Watts, and Bill Wyman on a small stage with three other musicians. Until the lights come up near the end, we see the Stones against a black background. The camera stays mostly on Jagger, with a few shots of Taylor. Richards is on screen for his duets and for some guitar work on the final two songs. It's music from start to finish: hard rock ("All Down the Line"), the blues ("Love in Vain" and "Midnight Rambler"), a tribute to Chuck Berry ("Bye Bye Johnny"), and no "Satisfaction."

The Perfect Crime

The death of a multinational company’s chairman induces the three candidates for the chairmanship to plot against one another for control of the business.

Last Resort

Nine young men and women, deemed unmanageable by both anguished parents and a society grown weary of drug users, gang members and thieves, are given one last chance to save their lives. Some make it, some don't.

The Flying Train

The Flying Train depicts a ride on a suspended railway. The footage is almost as impressive as the feat of engineering it captures. For many years our curators believed our Mutoscope rolls were slightly shrunken 70mm film, but they were actually shot on Biograph’s proprietary 68mm stock. Formats like Biograph’s 68mm and Fox’s 70mm Grandeur are of particular interest to researchers visiting the Film Study Center because the large image area affords stunning visual clarity and quality, especially compared to the more standard 35mm or 16mm stocks.

Cottonpickin' Chickenpickers

Darby Clyde Fenster and Jerry Martin are a pair of penniless nincompoop-drifters who hop a freight train on their way to Florida. Our intrepid heroes find themselves facing one comic situation after another in this gloriously loopy Southern fried comedy-with-music.

The Bloody Hands of the Law

When a crime boss is murdered while in hospital, a young woman sees the killers, but her room mate convinces her not to tell the police, fearing the consequences. Unfortunately the murderers realize that they have been seen, and kill both women. Catching the killers proves difficult as anyone who knows anything dies in unexplained circumstances. It becomes evident that a large and powerful criminal organization is behind the murders, and that they have links within the police force. It is up to Lt. Carmine to see that justice prevails, using any means necessary.

The Drop-Off

Overwhelmed by her uncharted direction in life, a young woman leaves a voicemail to her future self, reflecting on her past and questioning her future.

Big Business

A small town drugstore owner (Jed Prouty) hopes to strike it rich by investing his savings in an oil well. Comedy.

Haturnir

"Haturnir" is a documentary film, following Liam Ronen "The CEO" - a high school student who arranged the soccer tournament that eventually succeeded in becoming an outrageous empire. The film captures the fights, conflicts, COVID-19 influences, and competitions in this event.

Pen-Hi Grad

In Penticton, BC, most students graduating from the only high school in town know that job opportunities and higher education lie elsewhere, most likely in Vancouver. So, for one memorable week, they go through a whirlwind of formal ceremonies, wild celebrations, hi-jinks and farewells that involve the whole population of this Okanagan Valley community.

seventy x seven

A high school student revisits seven churches and chapels close to her faith after being confronted with what seems to her the unforgivable.

American Teen

A documentary on seniors at a high school in a small Indiana town and their various cliques.

Stacked

The year was 1999, and a couple of schools four hours apart were embarking on a season-long journey to become the best high school baseball team in Michigan. The Sturgis Trojans and the Pinconning Spartans were schools that were built from the ground up by communities that were unapologetically determined to do one thing - WIN. Both schools were championship caliber baseball teams that didn't know a thing about each other when they took the field at Battle Creek's Bailey Park to face-off in the 1999 MHSAA state championship. Finally, 22 years later, we have uncovered fascinating details about both teams, their run to the state finals, and the emotional thoughts and feelings behind one of the most memorable final innings in MHSAA history.

Therapy Dogs

A chronicle of the last year of high school as two friends set out to make the ultimate senior video.

Bots High

Bots High is an exciting documentary following the adventures of three high school robotics teams battling for first place at a national robotics competition in Miami, Florida. It's a no-holds-barred fight to the death with robot carnage everywhere you look. Genius inventor Will builds robots so powerful they're unstoppable...if only they don't destroy themselves first. The Mechanical Misfits are an all girls team stumbling through their first foray into combat robotics and Elizabeth and Danielle are a formidable pair looking to reign supreme during their last year of high school. Bots High follows these students as they design, build and compete at Nationals - all while surviving high school, first love and teenager procrastination. A FilmBuff Presentation.

Step

The senior year of a girls’ high school step team in inner-city Baltimore is documented, as they try to become the first in their families to attend college. The girls strive to make their dancing a success against the backdrop of social unrest in their troubled city.

Big Voice

BIG VOICE captures a tumultuous year in the life of a visionary high school choir teacher and his students as they overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles to become one big voice in this inspiring musical documentary.

Saying Goodbye to the People I've Grown Up With

Students graduating from Haynes Academy reflect on their memories together and the uncertainty of their futures.

L'Ánimal Plus Étrange Du Monde

Plot unavailable

Girl Talk

Set in the cutthroat, boy-dominated world of high school debate where tomorrow’s leaders are groomed, GIRL TALK tells the timely story of five girls on a diverse, top-ranked Massachusetts high school debate team as they strive to become the best debaters in the United States on their own terms.

Adolescents

Emma and Anaïs are best friends and yet everything in their life seems to set them apart, their social backgrounds but also their personalities. From the age of thirteen to eighteen, Adolescentes follows the two teenagers during these years where radical transformations and first times punctuate daily life. Through their personal stories, the film offers a rare portrait of France and its recent history.

Freakonomics

Some of the world's most innovative documentary filmmakers will explore the hidden side of everything.

An Intervention

Chelsea Bledsoe and her husband Graig throw a surprise intervention for her old high school boyfriend, Henry, with a mismatched group of acquaintances from back in the day to fill out the guest list.

Try Harder!

In a universe where cool kids are nerds, the orchestra is world class and being Asian American is the norm, seniors at Lowell High School compete for the top prize: admission to the college of their dreams.

O Terceirão dos Lobos

Plot unavailable

Dalya's Other Country

In 2012 Dalya and her mother Rudayna fled Aleppo for Los Angeles as war took over. Months before, Rudayna learns a secret that destroys her marriage, leaving her single at midlife. Arriving in LA, Dalya enrolls as the only Muslim at Holy Family Catholic High School. Can mother and daughter remake themselves while holding on to their Islamic traditions?

Jeff Weise: My Personal Documentary

Documentary about the Red Lake school shooting and its perpetrator, Jeff Weise.

The Act of Reading

A retired high school English teacher is confronted by a former student who failed her class 15 years prior. He then involves her in a feature-length presentation on Moby-Dick and the science of reading.

How to Dance in Ohio

In Columbus, Ohio, a group of autistic teenagers and young adults role-play this transition by going through the deceptively complex social interactions of preparing for a spring formal. Focusing on several young women as they go through an iconic American rite of passage, we are given intimate access to people who are often unable to share their experiences with others. With humor and heartbreak, How to Dance in Ohio shows the daily courage of people facing their fears and opening themselves to the pain, worry, and joy of the social world.

Guest House

Three women in a re-entry house experience the reality of reintegration and attempt to acclimate to life after being released from incarceration and battling addiction.

Trials & Tribulations at the Bishfo: The Most Important Thing I Learned During My Time at Bishop Foley Catholic High School

High School. Commonly referred to as the best years of one's life. In their latest "mockumentary", Green Fez takes you up close and personal with the high school students of today, guaranteeing a display of friendship, hardship, and a story worth exploring.

Seventeen

In their final year at Muncie's Southside High School, a group of seniors hurtles toward maturity with a combination of joy, despair, and an aggravated sense of urgency. They are also learning a great deal about life, both in and out of school, and not what school officials think they are teaching.

Las Bancas

Short film containing footage of a friend group during the first semester of 2024

Science Fair

Filmmakers follow nine high school students from around the globe as they compete at an international science fair. Facing off against 1,700 of the smartest teens from 78 countries, only one will be named Best in Fair.

Scenes from the Glittering World

At the farthest edge of the Navajo Nation, the purpose and future of the most remote high school in the continental United States is in question while three Indigenous youth grapple with ambitious dreams, family responsibilities, and the isolated nature of their community.

The Salt Mines

Explores the lives of Sara, Gigi and Giovanna, three Latino transvestites who for years have lived on the streets of Manhattan supporting their drug addictions through prostitution. They made their temporary home inside broken garbage trucks that the Sanitation Department keeps next to the salt deposits used in the winter to melt the snow. The three friends share the place known as "The Salt Mines".

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.

From Paseo To Pembroke: Kansas City's Golden Age

From Paseo to Pembroke is a Kansas City documentary retrospective on the golden age of high school basketball. From '88 to '98—from the Dotte all the way to Raytown. Told by the era's premier coaches, players and media personalities.

Manchild: The Schea Cotton Story

Schea Cotton is the subject of one of the biggest mysteries in basketball’s history. Described as “the Lebron before Lebron,” Inglewood-native Cotton dominated the likes of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce and was one of the most highly touted high school athletes of a pre-social media era. Yet he never made it to the NBA. What happened?

Home + Away

This coming-of-age story follows three students of El Paso's Bowie High and their search for the American dream, a dream inspired by family, fueled by sports, and complicated by the US/Mexican border.

RLP: the documentary

"Rola Low Profile" is a compelling documentary that delves into the final journey of a group of friends from the Federal Institute of Rio Grande do Norte (IFRN) Campus Ceará-Mirim during their last year of high school. Through authentic and intimate moments, the film captures the farewells, expectations, and challenges these young individuals face as they prepare to embark on diverse paths after graduation. With laughter, tears, and a soundtrack that encapsulates the essence of this unique phase of life, "Rola Low Profile" celebrates friendship, resilience, and personal growth, offering an unforgettable portrait of the last chapter of this shared educational journey.

My So-Called High School Rank

A deep dive into the lives of high school students in three radically disparate communities as they navigate the pressures around college while staging a musical, until seismic events upend their dreams and expectations.

Now Tell Me What You See

The newly inducted student leaders of Knox Grammar School set their sights on improving the school’s waning culture and spirit. They aim to establish a supporters’ group known as the ‘Tartan Army’, but 2020 brings its own set of adversities.

The School Is Watching

Good morning, Bear River High School. This documentary is made up entirely of high school morning announcement broadcasts from the 1990s.

Killer Bees

A championship high school basketball team provides pride, tradition and hope for an African American community struggling to survive in the middle of one of the wealthiest communities in America - The Hamptons.