Famous Nathan (2015)
Genre : Documentary
Runtime : 1H 26M
Director : Lloyd Handwerker
Synopsis
A Coney Island-inspired, densely-layered visually dynamic documentary portrait of the life and times of the original Nathan's Famous, created in 1916 by filmmaker Lloyd Handwerker's grandparents, Nathan and Ida Handwerker. 30 years in the making, Famous Nathan interweaves decades-spanning archival footage, family photos and home movies, an eclectic soundtrack and never-before-heard audio from Nathan: his only interview, ever as well as compelling, intimate and hilarious interviews with the dedicated band of workers, not at all shy at offering opinions, memories and the occasional tall tale.
Fifteen years ago, their Washington Heights neighborhood was dubbed the crack-cocaine capital of the world, but today it is transforming into one of the most vibrant, Spanish-speaking communities in the United States. While the drug dealers continue to disappear, their violent legacy still casts a shadow over the neighborhood and its residents. Junior, an ex-convict struggling to get his life back on track, is a product of this legacy. His younger brother Manny, the salutatorian of his high school class, embodies the hope of the future. On the night of his graduation party, Manny finds himself faced with an ill-fated decision that could change his life forever
Jack Kerouac's life is examined through interviews with his contemporaries and friends including Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and William S. Burroughs. The film also employs dramatic recreations of Kerouac's life beginning with his early childhood.
One of the most astonishing and inspiring survival tales of all time. On October 13, 1972, a young rugby team from Montevideo, Uruguay, boarded a plane for a match in Chile—and then vanished into thin air. Two days before Christmas, 16 of the 45 passengers miraculously resurfaced. They had managed to survive for 72 days after their plane crashed on a remote Andean glacier. Thirty-five years later, the survivors returned to the crash site—known as the Valley of Tears—to recount their harrowing story of defiant endurance and indestructible friendship.
Tino Ponce operates Circo Mexico, which journeys across the Mexican countryside in search of paying customers. Wanting to please his father and continue the family business, Ponce has recruited his young children as performers while laboring night and day to maintain the circus's faltering financial fortunes. But a growing resentment brewing within his wife about their hardscrabble existence suggests troubles on the horizon. While documenting the brutal regimen of circus life, Circo also peels back the curtain on the Ponce family's inner dynamics, revealing generational divides and money worries that threaten to tear apart a marriage. Buttressed by indie-rock band Calexico's evocative score, Schock's film observes this family drama with a sympathetic but clear-eyed view of a vanishing way of life. And because Circo refuses to be sentimental in its handling of the material, the story's twists become all the more poignant
Wells Fargo hires bounty hunters to protect its gold transports from the notorious outlaw Glenn Kovacs. Jeff Sullivan, one of the hired gunmen, buys the freedom of Dan Barker, a prisoner who may lead him to Kovacs. When Barker escapes from Sullivan, the other bounty hunters pursue him also, leading to the ultimate showdown between all parties.
A drifter helps a ranch couple fend off the approaches of a ruthless landowner.
Django arrives in the town of Santa Anna at the behest of a man named Sanders who'd been trying to buy safe passage for his cargo from a Mexican bandit named El Santo. Django finds that Sanders has been killed and that his rival, a man named Thompson, is now trying to deal with El Santo. Django, after a brief involvement with a beautiful young widow named Linda -- who has information on a lost gold mine -- becomes entangled in this situation by agreeing to escort a shipment through El Santo's territory.
What does the term "home" mean for people who find themselves confronted daily with the simultaneous harshness and beauty of life in the Arctic Circle? And what does "home" mean for us? In their documentary, the filmmakers Martina Chamrad and Christoph Kirchner seek answers in Hammerfest, Norway, the northernmost city in the world.
Smooth and lethal gunfighter Lee Calloway helps three bandit brothers escape from jail under the condition that they give him fifty percent of the stolen gold they have hidden. Of course, the treacherous sibling trio don't plan on keeping their end of the deal. Written by Woodyanders
First hand witness to the infamous World War II fire bombing and destruction of his hometown, Dresden, Germany, 15-year-old Diether Warneck lost his girlfriend and bicycled to the front-lines of the war, enlisting in the German army under Hitler's rule. This single decision would haunt him for the rest of his life. Recalling the series of events that lead to his survival, Diether shares the extreme guilt he hid for seventy years while experiencing a life filled with love, family, intrigue, art and personal accomplishment.
A widowed aeronautics engineer, who has lost his job, travels with his son hopping freight trains from Moscow to Koktebel, a town by the Black Sea, to start a new life with the father's sister.
Nigerian farmer Mocktar comes to Essakane, a dusty gold mining camp in Burkina Faso, seeking work. Haunted by a tragedy-laden past, Mocktar stoically adapts to the horrid working conditions of his fellow miners. Enter the beautiful widow Coumba, who shares Mocktar's endurance but dreams of a better life.
Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars is a documentary film about the musical band of the same name composed entirely of refugees from Freetown displaced to Guinea during the civil war of Sierra Leone. The film follows the band for three years as they are relocated between various refugee camps in Guinea, and concludes with their return to Freetown and the recording of their first studio album, Living Like A Refugee.
"Landfill Harmonic" follows the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, a Paraguayan musical group that plays instruments made entirely out of garbage. When their story goes viral, the orchestra is catapulted into the global spotlight. Under the guidance of idealistic music director Favio Chavez, the orchestra must navigate a strange new world of arenas and sold-out concerts. However, when a natural disaster strikes their country, Favio must find a way to keep the orchestra intact and provide a source of hope for their town. The film is a testament to the transformative power of music and the resilience of the human spirit.
Two famous gunmen, Lord and Bull are called to a southern western town by a judge to retrace a gold reserve, worth $500.000 which was hidden in the last days of the Civil War, by a Confederate colonel and people have been looking for it ever since.
This peculiar spaghetti western from prolific director Demofilo Fidani (using the pseudonym "Miles Deem") deals with a man named Blonde (Chet Davis) tracking bounty hunter Lazar (Hunt Powers) to the mining town of Lamazos. The evil town boss, Barret (Gordon Mitchell), wants Lazar dead, so he sends a group of assassins to murder him. Lazar survives, and Barret ends up offering him $100,000 to leave town. Lazar accepts the money and travels on to a remote shack, where he tortures an old man (Ettore Manni), making him a slave. What Lazar doesn't know is that the old man is Blonde's father, and he pays for his mistake with his life, leaving the man and his gunslinging son rich after the obligatory showdown. Fidani's film is unusual in its almost hallucinatory lack of logic, creating a surreal effect aided by the cinematography of Aristide Massaccesi, who would go on to some notoriety as cult director "Joe D'Amato."
Peter Karena, his wife Colleen, their six children and many horses live almost wild in the stunning beauty of New Zealand's rugged Ruahine Mountains. Until, that is, Peter's escalating battle with his own father has profound consequences for the whole clan.
A young deserter from the army returns to the place where his father has been killed by a family of Mexican landowners. The task is not easy as he is alone in his efforts to avenge his father's death.
After spending many years in prison, Gary returns to Paso Bravo, where thugs burned his ranch killing his wife and daughter. Gary seeks revenge, and also finds a people who live terrorized by a group of gunmen led by Acombar. This situation causes Gary skip to face action this gang of murderers.
Johnny King, a rebellious drifter, sets out to avenge the death of his mentor and friend, Steve, after he has been murdered for his land by the Ward Brothers. After causing some trouble for the Wards, Johnny faces a new opponent, his outlaw friend, Meredith.