Two documentary filmmakers chronicle their time in Sonagchi, Calcutta and the relationships they developed with children of prostitutes who work the city's notorious red light district.
The story of the life and career of the legendary rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles, from his humble beginnings in the South, where he went blind at age seven, to his meteoric rise to stardom during the 1950s and 1960s.
Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim follows Al Gore on the lecture circuit, as the former presidential candidate campaigns to raise public awareness of the dangers of global warming and calls for immediate action to curb its destructive effects on the environment.
Two men reaching middle age with not much to show but disappointment embark on a week-long road trip through California's wine country, just as one is about to take a trip down the aisle.
Director:
Alexander Payne
Stars:
Paul Giamatti,
Thomas Haden Church,
Virginia Madsen
A look at tightrope walker Philippe Petit's daring, but illegal, high-wire routine performed between New York City's World Trade Center's twin towers in 1974, what some consider, "the artistic crime of the century".
Director:
James Marsh
Stars:
Philippe Petit,
Jean François Heckel,
Jean-Louis Blondeau
Biopic of the iconic French singer Édith Piaf. Raised by her grandmother in a brothel, she was discovered while singing on a street corner at the age of 19. Despite her success, Piaf's life was filled with tragedy.
Director:
Olivier Dahan
Stars:
Marion Cotillard,
Sylvie Testud,
Pascal Greggory
In 1959, Truman Capote learns of the murder of a Kansas family and decides to write a book about the case. While researching for his novel In Cold Blood, Capote forms a relationship with one of the killers, Perry Smith, who is on death row.
Director:
Bennett Miller
Stars:
Philip Seymour Hoffman,
Clifton Collins Jr.,
Catherine Keener
In New York City's Harlem circa 1987, an overweight, abused, illiterate teen who is pregnant with her second child is invited to enroll in an alternative school in hopes that her life can head in a new direction.
Documentary photographer Zana Briski journeyed into Calcutta's underworld to photograph the city's prostitutes. In return, she offered to teach the prostitutes' children the basics of photography so that the kids could document their own lives on the streets of one of the world's poorest cities. The resulting photographs, often astonishing, were exhibited around the world; many of them are seen in this film, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2005.Written by
Jwelch5742
We saw this film at the Cleveland International Film Festival and it was one of the absolute best of the 85 films at the festival.
This film is a documentary, made by a photographer, Zara Briski, who lived in the brothels of Calcutta and befriended the children of the women of the brothels.
In the film, Zara teaches the children photography by giving them each a point-and-shoot cameras and the children, between ages 10-12, compose and shoot some amazing photographs.
Zara tries to raise money to get the children into private schools and get them out of the brothels where the are destined to follow the path of their parents as prostitutes or drug dealers.
This is an amazingly rich documentary like none you have ever seen. It touches the lives of these children so personally, and is shot so intimately, that you feel like you are right there with them.
I commend the film-makers for completing this moving and important piece of work.
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We saw this film at the Cleveland International Film Festival and it was one of the absolute best of the 85 films at the festival.
This film is a documentary, made by a photographer, Zara Briski, who lived in the brothels of Calcutta and befriended the children of the women of the brothels.
In the film, Zara teaches the children photography by giving them each a point-and-shoot cameras and the children, between ages 10-12, compose and shoot some amazing photographs.
Zara tries to raise money to get the children into private schools and get them out of the brothels where the are destined to follow the path of their parents as prostitutes or drug dealers.
This is an amazingly rich documentary like none you have ever seen. It touches the lives of these children so personally, and is shot so intimately, that you feel like you are right there with them.
I commend the film-makers for completing this moving and important piece of work.