I will admit to never having heard of Katia and Maurice Kraft before I watched this, and although I did find it interesting, I cannot really say I am too much the wiser about them now either. What makes this documentary work is the amazing footage of nature at it's most beautiful and hostile. It is very clear that these two were unafraid of taking considerable risks to gather images to not only illustrate the sheer explosive power of these natural phenomena, but also to use what they could accumulate and observe to try the almost impossible task of predicting what might happen when and where. The ultimate design for that information being the mitigation of some of the human risk for the populations adjacent, both near and far, as millions of tons of ash, rock, gas, smoke - you name it - emanate from the innards of the Earth. I found the narrative a bit dry. The couple come across as extremely dedicated, almost eccentric at times, but sadly we don't really get to know enough about them, what made them tick - what compelled them to this riskiest of careers. The commentary also lacks for gravitas, I thought. It needed someone just a little weightier than a competent, but rather mono-tonic Miranda July. All of that said, though - the footage is astonishing. The perilous undertakings of those filming it (and some of their makeshift heat resistant technology that looked like it was built from the stuff we wrap a Christmas turkey in) is well illustrated and thoroughly engaging to watch. Fascinating.
Werner Herzog's documentary film about the "Grizzly Man" Timothy Treadwell and what the thirteen summers in a National Park in Alaska were like in one man's attempt to protect the grizzly bears. The film is full of unique images and a look into the spirit of a man who sacrificed himself for nature.
Every year, thousands of Antarctica's emperor penguins make an astonishing journey to breed their young. They walk, marching day and night in single file 70 miles into the darkest, driest and coldest continent on Earth. This amazing, true-life tale is touched with humour and alive with thrills. Breathtaking photography captures the transcendent beauty and staggering drama of devoted parent penguins who, in the fierce polar winter, take turns guarding their egg and trekking to the ocean in search of food. Predators hunt them, storms lash them. But the safety of their adorable chicks makes it all worthwhile. So follow the leader... to adventure!!
On the edge of the 30th anniversary of punk rock, Punk's Not Dead takes you into the sweaty underground clubs, backyard parties, recording studios, shopping malls and stadiums where punk rock music and culture continue to thrive.
Disobedients, rebels, misunderstoods or simply unpopulars. As many other french women, Édith, Michèle, Éveline and Fabianne had been put in a juvenile detention center during their teenage years. Nowadays, with an incredible strength, each of them relate their story, and unveil the deeply moving fate lived by these « bad girls » until the late 70's.
Biography of a star and figure study : This fascinating portrait is for anyone who wants to know more about the man behind the mask. By the end of the film, you will view this famous French icon in a totally different light. Delon speaks in a series of surprising interviews, spanning nearly 50 years.
In 1988, 20-year-old Céline Dion won Eurovision for Switzerland with the song ‘Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi’, a moment that kickstarted her international career and propelled the young Celine to world fame. This documentary looks back through the archives at an event that changed the Quebec singer's life, with interviews from the song’s composer as well as from Scott Fitzgerald, the British singer who was runner up at Eurovision 1988, beaten by just one point.
The story of a little loggerhead turtle, as she follows in the path of her ancestors on one of the most extraordinary journeys in the natural world. Born on a beach in Florida, she rides the Gulf Stream up towards the Arctic and ultimately swims around the entire North Atlantic across to Africa and back to the beach where she was born. But the odds are stacked against her; just one in ten thousand turtles survive the journey.
British documentarian Nick Broomfield creates a follow-up piece to his 1992 documentary of the serial killer Aileen Wuornos, a highway prostitute who was convicted of killing six men in Florida between 1989 and 1990. Interviewing an increasingly mentally unstable Wuornos, Broomfield captures the distorted mind of a murderer whom the state of Florida deems of sound mind - and therefore fit to execute. Throughout the film, Broomfield includes footage of his testimony at Wuornos' trial.
Explore how one man's relentless drive and invention of the atomic bomb changed the nature of war forever, led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and unleashed mass hysteria.