Nigel Noble

What happens when a group of hairdressers from America travel to Kabul with the intention of telling Afghan women how to do hair and makeup? This engaging, optimistic documentary tracks a unique development project: a shiny new beauty school, funded in part by beauty-industry mainstays, which sets out to teach the latest cutting, coloring, and perming techniques to practicing and aspiring Afghan hairdressers and beauticians. The American teachers, all volunteers, include three Afghan-Americans returning home for the first time in over twenty years. The Beauty Academy of Kabul offers a rare glimpse into Afghan women’s lives, and documents the poignant and often humorous process through which women with very different experiences of life come to learn about one another.

This deeply human documentary examines the subject of environmental destruction, highlighting the impoverished migrant workers who are chopping down the Amazon rainforest to create charcoal for pig iron production used primarily in the automobile industry. The film examines the children and elders and their daily lives and work as they burn timber in igloo-looking huts, their bodies charred gray for $2 a day, struggling to survive.

At the Lincoln Center, the South African cast members of the anti-Apartheid Broadway hit musical Sarafina perform and later give interviews about their politically and socially troubled country in this documentary. Writer-director Mbongeni Ngema cautions his cast that their opinions could bring trouble from the government once they return to South Africa. The cast later meets exiled singer Mariam Makeba, who in a moving, sentimental gesture expresses her gratitude for the company bringing the story to the rest of the world. The performance combines singing and dancing, combining ancient folk songs with modern music from Hugh Masakela and others from South Africa.

In a moving cinema verite style, A Stitch for Time presents the idea that ordinary people can become diplomats working toward the goal of world peace. Interviews with the Boise, Idaho women who made the quilt establish the background for the project and reveal that though some are longtime activists, others have never been politically involved, but all are united by their need to ensure a safe world for their children and society.

A chorus of 4th- and 5th-graders at the Brooklyn Friends School and a chorus of elderly retirees at a Brooklyn Jewish seniors' center combine to give an annual joint concert. Practicing separately for several months while communicating only as pen pals, they eventually meet for a rehearsal prior to their concert. The children's various preconceptions about older people, as well as the seniors' approach to aging and their young co-performers, are a principal focus.

Granny Weatherall (Geraldine Fitzgerald) is a spunky old lady of eighty who bosses around her doctor and her children. She seems so strong and in control, and yet she has never had the upper hand in her destiny. One morning, a flood of long-forgotten memories bring her to the realization that of all her accomplishments, she cannot console herself for the shame-filled day she was left standing at the alter. Still, her indomitable will to live and act independently infuses the last day of her life. Adapted from the short story by acclaimed writer Katherine Anne Porter ("Ship of Fools"), The Jilting of Granny Weatherall reminds us of the plight of many women who wait for life to claim them, rather than seek life out for themselves.

Horsemouth, a drummer living in a ghetto of Kingston, plans to make money selling records. After his prized motorcycle is stolen, his plans fall through and he's forced to adapt.

A thoroughly researched biopic of Charles Ives, America's greatest and most innovative composer (and insurance man). Includes narration taken directly from Ives's own writings, and reminiscence from those who knew him.

Bernice, a shy young woman, leaves her safe home to go visit her flapper cousin. When her cousin tries to teach Bernice how to be much more modern, Bernice gives her much more than she bargained for.

The work of the US police force and the problem of fighting rising crime across the country.

Documentary about teenage life in the mid-60s.