In the fall of 2016, an army of over 100,000 Iraqi soldiers and militiamen mobilize to liberate Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, from the clutches of the Islamic State. Ali Mula, an Iraqi journalist, joins this army of uneasy allies--including Sunnis, Shiites, Christians and Kurds--to find out if they can put aside their sectarian differences and finally free their country from the scourge of ISIS. Along the way to Mosul, Ali encounters an unforgettable group of characters including a Sunni tribal leader who calls himself 'the Crocodile', a female militia leader avenging the death of her husband, a canny, Iranian-backed militia leader, a lawyer-turned-warrior, an elite band of ISIS killers, and refugees who survived the brutality of ISIS occupation. As he nears the end of his journey, Ali meets face-to-face with a die-hard ISIS prisoner who reveals the truth behind his nefarious organization.
Peter Jackson's poignant WWI documentary 'They Shall Not Grow Old' to commemorate the centennial of the end of the first World War. The acclaimed documentary is an extraordinary look at the soldiers and events of the Great War, using film footage captured at the time, now presented as the world has never seen. By utilizing state-of-the-art restoration, colorization and 3D technologies, and pulling from 600 hours of BBC archival interviews, Jackson puts forth an intensely gripping, immersive and authentic experience through the eyes and voices of the British soldiers who lived it. Jackson recorded a special introduction to the film offering his perspective on why the film is important for audiences, who have never experienced WWI footage as anything but grainy black & white, and silent. Jackson opens a window to the past in a way that has never been seen or heard before, noting, 'Restoration is a humanizing process.'
New York City, September 11, 2001. The morning everything changed.102 minutes passed between the first plane's impact into One World Trade Center, the second plane's attack on Two World Trade Center, and the eventual collapse of both buildings. In that time, people around New York experienced a range of emotions. Despite the horror and the incomprehensibility of what was happening, many knew, somehow, that they had a unique responsibility to record what they saw. They reached for their cameras. This unprecedented documentary special joins hundreds of pieces of their footage and audiotape into a single, seamless historical record. It is an intensely personal perspective of the tragedy, communicating for the first time that morning s events, as they were experienced by people around New York. It is an evocative, authentic and reverential memorial to one of the most cataclysmic events in world history.
Cobra Gypsies offers a contemporary and colorful window to the amazing ancient culture of the nomadic Kalbeliya tribe, living in rural Rajasthan, Northern India. Their name means 'those who love snakes'. The film explores their culture of eternal dance, syncopated music, snake charming, colorful fashion and the nomadic way of life of these exotic looking castoffs, ancestors to the modern Roma Gypsies living in Europe today.
It's June 1942 and the world's fate is about to be decided by a handful of pilots and their untested aircraft. Experience an inside look at the Battle of Midway, captured through rarely seen battle footage and first-hand accounts from its hero dive-bombing pilot, "Dusty" Kleiss. This is an hour-by-hour recount of one of the most pivotal conflicts of the 20th century. Take a closer look at how this desperately needed victory came about through the design of U.S. air planes, the skill of the pilots, the element of surprise, and a stroke of luck.
In 1799, the German scientist Alexander von Humboldt embarked on a perilous journey of discovery across South America. It would take him to the deepest jungle near the Orinoco and to the heights of the Andes. His aim was twofold: to conduct the first scientific survey of South America and to discover how the natural world actually works — at a time when most scientists believed that the world was created less than 6,000 years ago. He later became a leading scientific figure and champion of the abolitionist movement in the US. This extremely visual docudrama follows Humboldt’s extraordinary path. Travelling in Humboldt’s footsteps is historian Andrea Wulf, whose book on Humboldt became a worldwide bestseller. For good reason, since Humboldt’s ideas on the planet’s fragile web of life are as important today as they were 220 years ago.
Along the way to Mosul, Ali encounters an unforgettable group of characters including a Sunni tribal leader who calls himself 'the Crocodile', a female militia leader avenging the death of her husband, a canny, Iranian-backed militia leader, a lawyer-turned-warrior, an elite band of ISIS killers, and refugees who survived the brutality of ISIS occupation. As he nears the end of his journey, Ali meets face-to-face with a die-hard ISIS prisoner who reveals the truth behind his nefarious organization.