27 Oct 2023
Umhlonyana Ka Mimi
A girl celebrates her 16th birthday with a Umhlonyane.
A youngster begins to understand the wisdom hidden within legendary whaler-man Tall 12's sea shanty songs in the whaling town of Barrouallie, St. Vincent, a place where men still wrestle with the creatures of the deep for survival. Against a backdrop of cruise-ship tourism and economic colonialism, this lyrical documentary discovers a surprising renewal of interest and hunger to preserve local traditions and cultural knowledge through new interpretations.
27 Oct 2023
A girl celebrates her 16th birthday with a Umhlonyane.
09 Oct 2005
In Peruvian Amazonia, for the first time in many years, a Shipibo–Konibo community prepare to perform the Aneshiati ceremony: a time of dance, song, festive clothing, and drink—including the sacred tea ayahuasca.
25 Jul 2019
Narrated by Dan Aykroyd, Defend, Conserve, Protect, pits the marine conservation group, Sea Shepherd, against the Japanese whaling fleet, in an epic battle to defend the majestic Minke whales.
27 May 2022
In the Faroe Islands, hundreds of pilot whales are slaughtered each year in a hunt known as the “Grind.” This gruesome tradition has drawn outrage from activists, most notably the international conservation group Sea Shepherd, who routinely sail to the islands to try to block whaling boats. Yet the Faroese are equally determined to maintain their tradition, defending the practice as more sustainable and less cruel than getting meat from slaughterhouses. Director Vincent Kelner spends time with both Faroese hunters and Sea Shepherd crusaders, building to a nuanced look at a disturbing event with much larger implications for the way humans relate to other creatures.
31 Jul 2009
The Cove tells the amazing true story of how an elite team of individuals, films makers and free divers embarked on a covert mission to penetrate the hidden cove in Japan, shining light on a dark and deadly secret. The shocking discoveries were only the tip of the iceberg.
14 Aug 2018
Shipibo healer Ricardo Amaringo describes how he prepares, teaches, and shares the plant medicine ayahuasca. Olivia and Julian Arévalo sing examples of icaros (healing songs) in the Shipibo language.
17 Sep 2023
Modern technology confronts ancient ritual in this profound and moving documentary. Teenager Chris Apassingok and his Yupik family live in Gambell, Alaska, a tiny village on St. Lawrence island in the Bering Sea. Life there differs vastly from the rest of the US – for one, hunting whales holds the key to the islanders’ survival. Conflict emerges after Chris kills a whale that will feed Gambell’s townspeople for months – and news of the successful hunt reaches the outside world. Facebook trolls and animal-rights activists attack from afar, captured in Pete Chelkowski and environmental journalist Jim Wickens’ captivating film that delves into environmental issues, cultural and generational challenges, and cyberspace hysteria
28 Jun 2022
No overview found
17 Sep 2020
"...a charming depiction of life as I knew it with my grandparents in my own village..." Clara Caleo Green, Cinema Italia UK "The sum of the individual fates and life choices paints a picture, the validity of which extends far beyond this village." Joachim Manzin, Black Box This documentary records the thoughtful and emotional confrontation with time, change, loss and hope related by the members of a small community in the idyllic Ligurian countryside who are dealing with a rapidly changing agricultural industry, transformed by globalisation and technological advances and an increasing number of foreigners buying the empty houses in their village. Forgoing the use of music and voice over, the film lets Aracà's inhabitants tell their own stories and allows the audience to dive into the rich soundscape of the ligurian alpine countryside.
03 Oct 2008
At the Edge of the World chronicles the controversial Sea Shepherd Antarctic Campaign against a Japanese whaling fleet. The international volunteer crew, under-trained and under-equipped, develop a combination of bizarre and brilliant tactics with which to stop the whalers. But first they must find the Japanese ships, a far more difficult challenge than ever imagined - long-time activist Paul Watson and first-time captain Alex Cornelissen employ an array of strategies in the hopes of finding an elusive adversary in the vast expanse of the Ross Sea. With one ship (the Farley Mowat) too slow to chase down the whaling fleet, with their second ship (the Robert Hunter) unsuited for Antarctic ice conditions and with no country supporting their efforts to enforce international law, the situation becomes increasingly desperate. Against all odds, however, a real-life pirate tale unfolds - a modern-day "David vs. Goliath" adventure.
30 Aug 2008
A documentary on Paul Watson, who takes the law into his own hands on the open seas, confronting, by any nonviolent means necessary, the hunters who indiscriminately slaughter whales, seals and sharks, along with complicit governments and environmental organizations. Written by Anonymous "Pirate for the Sea" is a biographical film of Captain Paul Watson, the youngest founding member of Greenpeace Canada. He organized early campaigns protesting the killing of seals, whales, and dolphins. Greenpeace ejected him for being too much of an activist. Starting his own organization, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, he went on to sink illegal whaling ships, stopped Canadian seal hunts for ten years, permanently halted sealing in British Isles, killing of dolphins on Iki Island, Japan, etc. This documentary witnesses his latest campaigns and explores the personal and environmental history of this controversial marine conservationist. Written by R.C.
01 Jan 1961
Pictures made from an 1800-foot panorama painted in 1848 and authentic songs of the period sung and played by Peggy Seeger and Ewan MacCall are used in portraying a whaling voyage around the world. Includes views of New Bedford, Mass., the Azores, Hawaii, Tahiti, the Alaskan whaling grounds, the Horn, and the harbors of Typee and Rio.
12 Jul 2023
No overview found
01 Jan 1999
Shot during three seasons, Kenuajuak's documentary tenderly portrays village life and the elements that forge the character of his people: their history, the great open spaces and their unflagging humour. Though Kenuajuak appreciates the amenities of southern civilization that have made their way north, he remains attached to the traditional way of life and the land: its vast tundra, the sea teeming with Arctic char, the sky full of Canada geese. My Village in Nunavik is an unsentimental film by a young Inuk who is open to the outside world but clearly loves his village. With subtitles.
23 Feb 1968
Documentary short film that shows what the International Descent of the Sella (Asturias), one of the most famous canoeing events in the world, was like then. It also covers the festival, celebrations and traditions that surround "les piragües".
11 Oct 2023
What is tradition? This is the question posed by yodeller and food researcher Meinrad Koch from Canton Appenzell. In search of an answer, he embarks on a journey.
30 May 2023
No overview found
01 Jun 2022
No overview found
16 Apr 2015
Through the unrelenting winter in the north of Japan, a small group of workers must brave unusual working conditions to bring to life a 2,000-year-old tradition known as sake. A cinematic documentary, The Birth of Sake is a visually immersive experience of an almost-secret world in which large sacrifices must be made for the survival of a time-honored brew.
02 May 2023
A New Yorker journeys to the jungle in the Darien Gap of Panama to reconnect with an indigenous tribe he met and photographed 20 years ago. Their reunion highlights the profound power of photos and the human connection that transcends cultural barriers.