Marieke: Death and the Racer

MARIEKE: Death and the Racer  follows Flemish Paralympic gold-medal wheelchair-racer Marieke Vervoort as she challenges the way the world sees assisted suicide. But as her physical challenges increase, time may be running out. For over 20 years, she has suffered from a rare spinal disease, causing progressive paralysis. Having her own euthanasia papers, legal in Belgium, has liberated Marieke by giving her the ability to control her own destiny. Now, with the permission to die, her will to live is stronger than ever and we witness her becoming a new kind of leader in unexpected, life-changing ways.

www.mariekethefilm.com

MUSICIANS FOR HILLARY

3 short videos of NYC musicians speaking out for Hillary Clinton and against Trump, leading up to the 2016 election. Over 800,000 aggregate views and downloads. Created as part of the Filmmakers for Hillary initiative.

NADIA COMANECI: THE GYMNAST AND THE DICTATOR

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE, BCN Barcelona Sports Film Festival 2017Stream the film on Amazon through this link.

Spoken in Nadia’s own words, the film covers her remarkable life from childhood through her historic Perfect Tens at the Montreal 1976 Olympics. The story reveals her despair in 1980’s Romania, as the country fell into an abyss of debt and poverty, and follows Nadia through her dramatic defection to the US in 1989, just before the fall of Romanian dictators Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu. 

56 minutes, color

Produced by Roche Productions, ARTE and TVR Romania. Commissioned by Arte-France, 2016. 

International Broadcasts: ARTE, Radio Television Suisse, RTBF & VRT Belgian TV, DR Denmark, SBS Australia, YLE Finland, RTP2 Portugal, RTVE Spain, Ceska Televize, S.H. Channel 8 Israel and RUV Iceland.

Prizes

Audience Award, Best Documentary and Best Editing, History Film Festival, Croatia 2018; Candido Cannavò Prize, FICTS Sports Film Festival, Milan; Special Jury Prize Barcelona Sports Film Festival

Festivals

Denver International, Hamptons Take 2, San Luis Obispo, LA Femme Film Festival, Festival, International de Films d’Histoire de Pessac.

Watch the trailer:   https://vimeo.com/181860535

SUBWAY: The Musical

Gabriel Mayers

NaJah Lewis

Work-in-progress for a feature documentary on New York City subway musicians. 

 On a sensuous musical journey through New York City’s subways, we come to know the intimate dramas of a group of talented performers: from a beautiful young troubadour hoping to break through to a homeless teen dancing for survival. Five intimate stories from the underground heart of New York.

“I loved it on all levels- content, humanity... You identify so closely with the people on screen that their experience is yours. That’s when documentary is at its peak.”- Albert Maysles

Watch the Sample : https://vimeo.com/78672772

THE LOST TRIBE

Music Video: Eric Kamen plays his composition “The Lost Tribe”

Executive Producer: Francine Tint.

Produced and directed by Pola Rapaport.

Director of Photography: Wolfgang Held; MOVI cinematography: Thorsten Thielow; Editor: Ryuhei Shindo

Performers: Holly Googe, Shakiver Gordon, Cecile Klaus, Pearrie Hammie.

WRITER OF O

 Documentary on the hidden author of the French erotic classic, Story of O.

80 minutes. 2004. Produced by INA, Blinding Light, Inc and Arte/France. 2004

 Audacious – L’HUMANITE  

 With virtuosity, it combines the filmmaker’s search, dramatizations of the book, and the quiet sweetness of Dominique Aury – LIBERATION. 

 Remarkable intelligence… magnificent – LE MONDE

 US Theatrical Premiere

The FIlm Forum, New York

 Prizes

Grand Prix, Best Documentary, URTI, Monte Carlo 

Broadcast

Arte/France & Germany, RTBF/ Belgium, YLE/Finland, Sundance Channel/US

Festivals

Toronto Int’l Film Festival (world premiere) • Amsterdam IDFA • Jerusalem Int’l Film Festival • FIPA • 

INPUT Taiwan • Seattle •  Denver • Newport • Wisconsin and others

Click Here to watch the film

Family Secret

Documentary on the reunion of the filmmaker with her long-lost Romanian brother, their father’s “family secret”

58 minutes, 2000.  Produced by Blinding Light, Inc and Arte-France. 2000

This astonishing autobiographical document blends black & white with color, love, humor, bitterness and hope. - LE MONDE

Engrossing... offers a unique and intimate view of war, displacement and immigration as the 20th Century’s great dividers.” - VARIETY

 Heartfelt... chronicles the filmmaker’s search for family ties and the Romanian brother she never knew she had. - VILLAGE VOICE

Prizes

Best Documentary of the Year Grand Prix, Société Civile des Auteurs Multimédia

Broadcasts

WDR/Germany, Sundance Channel/US, Arte/France & Germany, Israel

Festivals

Rotterdam • Gothenburg • Hot Docs Toronto • Leipzig • Denver • Mill Valley • NY DOCFEST • Wisconsin • San Francisco, Toronto & Washington Jewish Film Festivals • Walker Art Center

Distribution

On-line distribution by Cinetic Rights Management

Click Here to watch the film

CATS FOR HILLARY

Cats who support Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election get down about their hopes, fears,- oh, and about sexual harassment, too.

9 short videos featuring Facebook internet sensations Tatze and Felix

Click here to watch the film

BLIND LIGHT

Edie Falco as photographer Diana DiBianco, at the Villa San Michele

Edie awaiting a ferry to take her from the island of Capri. Photo credit: Umberto D'Aniello

Documentary/ drama. Starring Emmy Award Winner Edie Falco and featuring Richard Hell.

58 minutes, 1998.  Produced by Blinding Light, Inc.

 A young American photographer in search of commercial locations on the island of Capri finds more than she’s looking for in this film-within-a-film, which blends autobiography with fiction in a search to re-capture a peak moment of pure happiness.

 Beautifully shot and artfully composed...a haunting, lyrical, hypnotic work - Austin Chronicle

 Magic... A wonderful achievement -Bo Smith, Curator, Boston Museum of Fine Arts

 Prizes:  Lumiere Award, New Orleans Film Festival 2000 

Broadcasts:  Arte/France & Germany, Independent Film Channel US, RAI/Italy, YLE/Finland

 Festivals:  SxSW • Denver • Wisconsin • Gothenburg  • Amsterdam Doc  • Mill Valley  • Walker Art Center

Click here to view sample of BLIND LIGHT

BROKEN MEAT

Documentary portrait of Bukowski-style beat poet Alan Granville. 50 min. b/w.1990  

Wonderful! - Kurt Vonnegut

 Funky, excellent, neo-beatnik... A must see, especially for poets - Baltimore City Paper

A visual joy - Chicago New Paper  

 Perfect documentary - Park City Paper

Prizes

Award of the Press, Message to Man Leningrad Film Festival• Ivens Prize Nominee, IDFA Amsterdam •Best Cinematography, Oberhausen • Best Documentary, New Orleans Film Festival • Special Mention, Hawaii Film Festival 

Broadcasts

Sundance Channel, WNET/ Ch 13 Reel New York, SBS/Australia, ZDF/Germany

Festivals

Sundance Film Festival • Edinburgh • Pesaro • Cork • Munich Filmmuseum •Robert Flaherty Seminar 

Click here to watch the film