Creating Freedom: The Lottery of Birth

As the Kalahari Desert faces a worsening dry season, prides, packs and herds of all kinds must rely on the power of family to survive.

Documentary about Down’s syndrome and the ethics of pregnancy screening, fronted by Sally Phillips. This film explores the science and thinking around the proposed new screening test for Down’s syndrome and its possible availability on the NHS. Driven by the experience of raising her son Olly, who has Down’s syndrome, Sally explores some of the ethical implications of our national screening policy. By talking to experts in the Down’s syndrome community, the world’s top scientists and including people with Down’s syndrome in the debate, Sally investigates a thorny subject that begs questions relevant to us all: what sort of world do we want to live in and who do we want in it?

Directed by two-time Grammy nominee D. Smith, KOKOMO CITY takes up a seemingly simple mantle — to present the stories of four Black transgender sex workers in New York and Georgia. Shot in striking black and white, the boldness of the facts of these women’s lives and the earthquaking frankness they share complicate this enterprise, colliding the everyday with cutting social commentary and the excavation of long-dormant truths. Accessible for any audience, unfiltered, unabashed, and unapologetic, Smith and her subjects smash the trendy standard for authenticity, offering a refreshing rawness and vulnerability unconcerned with purity and politeness.

Retrospective documentary marking the 20th anniversary of the funeral of Princess Diana narrated by Kate Winslet.

The Veterans in this film, different across race, class, and culture – men and women, African Americans and Latinos, gay and straight…flesh out our different storylines. Their differing backgrounds and experiences express the full range of combat soldiery. Challenged by unemployment, rape, child abuse, homelessness, suicidal ideation, drug and alcohol addiction and more, what we witness through them is an emotional hurricane. Though at times terrifying, shocking, and emotionally wrenching, their stories of transformation ultimately prove tremendously uplifting, filled with humor and spirit, buoyed all the more by the expansive hearts of the men and women who serve them.

Werner Herzog’s exploration of the Internet and the connected world.

Follows the Boston Red Sox’ Tim Wakefield and the New York Mets’ R.A. Dickey – the only two major league pitchers who use the unpredictable knuckleball – during the 2011 season.

Mistaken for Strangers follows The National on its biggest tour to date. Newbie roadie Tom (lead singer Matt Berninger’s younger brother) is a heavy metal and horror movie enthusiast, and can’t help but put his own spin on the experience. Inevitably, Tom’s moonlighting as an irreverent documentarian creates some drama for the band on the road. The film is a hilarious and touching look at two very different brothers, and an entertaining story of artistic aspiration.

Banksy is a graffiti artist with a global reputation whose work can be seen on walls from post-hurricane New Orleans to the separation barrier on the Palestinian West Bank. Fiercely guarding his anonymity to avoid prosecution, Banksy has so far resisted all attempts to be captured on film. Exit Through the Gift Shop tells the incredible true story of how an eccentric French shop keeper turned documentary maker attempted to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on its owner.

When it seems that all the stories about World War II have already been told, a new one is often found. Marthe Cohn is a French Jew, whose life resembles a real-world blockbuster. During the war, she took the cover name Chichinette, became a spy, and gathered intel that helped organize an important military operation. Chichinette suffered many losses during the war, having been born in a Jewish family in a small industrial town close to the border between France and Germany. Now Marthe is 98 years old. Despite her age, she is savvy in modern technology and loves traveling the globe – she is often invited to go abroad and tell the story of her military achievements.

Documentary about French philosopher (and author of deconstructionism) Jacques Derrida, who sparked fierce debate throughout American academia.

As society tackles the problem of feeding our expanding population safely and sustainably, a schism has arisen between scientists and consumers, motivated by fear and distrust. Food Evolution, narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson, explores the polarized debate surrounding GMOs. Looking at the real-world application of food science in the past and present, the film argues for sound science and open-mindedness in a culture that increasingly shows resistance to both.