Strange Creatures of the Arctic

Feature-length documentary following award-winning wildlife cameraman Vianet Djenguet as he documents a gruelling but vital mission to ‘habituate’ a notoriously protective 450lb silverback, in a last-ditch effort to save the critically endangered eastern lowland gorillas from extinction.

In 2005, a small group of scientists and filmmakers agreed to leave everything behind for more than a year to sail to the Antarctic and live in isolation. Following in the path of the greatest explorers, expedition leader Jean Lemire and the crew of the Sedna IV dedicated themselves completely to measuring the threat posed by global warming in a place where Earth is particularly vulnerable. The resulting film, is a record of their incredible 430-day journey that inspires equal measures of fear and admiration. Alternating between captivating images of beauty and serenity, and spine-tingling sequences where the ship’s crew finds itself on the edge of catastrophe, this is an expedition where danger and wonder are inextricably linked.

After 40 years of protection, Grey wolves were recently de-listed federally from endangered species act and their fate was handed over to state legislatures. What ensued was a ‘push to hunt’ in wolf country across the United States. Filmmaker Julia Huffman travels to Minnesota and into wolf country to pursue the deep and intrinsic value of brother wolf and our forgotten promise to him.

During World War II, a hand-picked group of American GI’s undertook a bizarre mission: create a traveling road show of deception on the battlefields of Europe, with the German Army as their audience. The 23rd Headquarters Special Troops used inflatable rubber tanks, sound trucks, and dazzling performance art to bluff the enemy again and again, often right along the front lines. Many of the men picked to carry out these dangerous deception missions were artists. Some went on to become famous, including fashion designer Bill Blass. In their spare time, they painted and sketched their way across Europe, creating a unique and moving visual record of their war. Their secret mission was kept hushed up for nearly 50 years after the war’s end.

A documentary about Peanuts and its creator, Charles M. Schulz. Famous fans—including Drew Barrymore, Kevin Smith, and Al Roker—share its influence on them, and a new animated story finds Charlie Brown on a quest.

Covering the dire elephant poaching crisis: poachers, rangers, victims and those who save the elephants. An unbridled terrorist-driven slaughter of the African elephant; weighs both the human and environmental toll.

The ostensibly simple story of a sympathetic veteran teacher giving Italian lessons to a weekly class of diverse immigrants is given infinitely more depth and complexity by the manner in which director Daniele Gaglianone renders his story. Blurring the lines between fact and fiction, truth and artifice, and between documentary and drama, Gaglianone has created a film within a film. You see the apparent artifice of Gaglianone’s crew using professionals, including the noted film actor Valerio Mastandrea as the teacher, interlinked with ‘real’ immigrant protagonists, studying the language to improve their chances of employment and of gaining a permanent residence permit. Thus in the course of the lessons there is simultaneously the painful and upsetting relation of the students’ personal stories but also humour, as they interact and share their humanity, bridging cultural differences, united in their striving to make a better life for themselves. (Source: LFF programme)

At All Costs is a documentary set in the world of elite youth grassroots basketball that explores how the AAU system has professionalized youth basketball in America. We follow highly recruited ‘blue chip’ prospects, their families, and their teams as they navigate the shaky terrain of the AAU circuit in pursuit of their dreams.

Drawing from never-before-seen footage that has been tucked away in the National Geographic archives, director Brett Morgen tells the story of Jane Goodall, a woman whose chimpanzee research revolutionized our understanding of the natural world.

Blood Road follows the journey of ultra-endurance mountain bike athlete Rebecca Rusch and her Vietnamese riding partner, Huyen Nguyen, as they pedal 1,200 miles along the infamous Ho Chi Minh Trail through the dense jungles of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Their goal: to reach the site where Rebecca’s father, a U.S. Air Force pilot, was shot down in Laos more than 40 years earlier.

This revealing portrait of comedian, activist, pop-culture icon and thought leader Dick Gregory documents his many personal reinventions throughout the decades, from celebrity to civil rights hero and beyond, while hearing from the incredible entertainers who have been inspired by his blueprint.

This documentary describes the experience of F-105 Thunderchief “Thud” pilots and crew during the Vietnam War.