Viewing entries tagged
Hoopla - Documentary

Inside Kenk

Inside Kenk

2019 - 29 MINUTES - CANADA
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER RON MANN

Inside Kenk is a half-hour documentary film, based on the successful 2010 graphic novel “KENK: A Graphic Portrait”, chronicling the life of Toronto’s Igor Kenk, the Slovenia-born man dubbed "the world’s most prolific bicycle thief" by The New York Times. The film, written and directed by Jason Gilmore aims to bring to life Kenk’s story, his flawed yet compelling personality and the remarkable, shocking revelation - unforeseen even by his most vocal detractors - that Kenk had been hoarding thousands of stolen bicycles in locations around the city. Told through a collection of present day interviews with various affected parties, interspersed with animated sequences in the original graphic novel style, that recount Igor’s personal story and the lead up to his arrest, culminating in a candid sit-down interview with Igor Kenk today.

Where Does A Body End?

Where Does A Body End?

THEATRICAL STARTS NOVEMBER, 2019

SHOWTIMES

123 MINUTES - CANADA - COLOUR
A FILM BY MARCO PORSIA

WHERE DOES A BODY END? is an intimate portrait of the band SWANS, from their roots as a brutal, confrontational post-punk band that emerged from the same early 1980s era NYC that gave us Sonic Youth (and, somehow, Madonna) through their ill-fated bid at mainstream success in the 90s indie-rock goldrush, through breakups and chaos (on and offstage) to their odds-defying current status as one of the most accomplished and ambitious bands in the world, one whose concerts are more like ecstatic rituals than nostalgic trips back through their most popular songs.

Inventing Tomorrow

Inventing Tomorrow

THEATRICAL STARTS January 18, 2019

87 MINUTES - USA
A FILM BY LAURA NIX

INVENTING TOMORROW follows six young scientists from Indonesia, Hawaii, India and Mexico as they tackle some of the most complex environmental issues facing humanity today – right in their own backyards. Each student is preparing original scientific research that he or she will defend at ISEF, the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Framed against the backdrop of the severe environmental threats we now face, we immerse the audience in a global view of the planetary crisis, through the eyes of the generation that will be affected by it most.

Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story

Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story

THEATRICAL STARTS NOVEMBER 24, 2017

SHOWTIMES

A FILM BY ALEXANDRA DEAN
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS SUSAN SARANDON AND MICHAEL KANTOR
PRODUCED BY KATHERINE DREW AND ADAM HAGGIAG
CO-PRODUCERS DAVID KOH AND DAN BRAUN

The story of a Hollywood actress, defined by her appearance, who is secretly a brilliant inventor and changes the course of history.

Lamarr appeared nude at the age of 17 in the 1933 Czech film “Ecstasy” and later married a prominent Austrian businessman who became a weapons dealer to the Nazis. Lamarr, who was born Jewish, fled her husband in the middle of the night, boarding a boat for America with nothing to her name except a single designer gown. She eventually convinced MGM boss Louis B. Mayer to sign her to a deal.

Citizen Jane: Battle for the City

Citizen Jane: Battle for the City

THEATRICAL BEGINS APRIL 22, 2017

USA - 92 MINUTES - 2016 - COLOUR - B&W - ENGLISH
A FILM BY MATT TYRNAUER

In 1960 Jane Jacobs’s book The Death and Life of Great American Cities sent shockwaves through the architecture and planning worlds, with its exploration of the consequences of modern planners’ and architects’ reconfiguration of cities. Jacobs was also an activist, who was involved in many fights in mid-century New York, to stop “master builder” Robert Moses from running roughshod over the city. This film retraces the battles for the city as personified by Jacobs and Moses, as urbanization moves to the very front of the global agenda. Many of the clues for formulating solutions to the dizzying array of urban issues can be found in Jacobs’s prescient text, and a close second look at her thinking and writing about cities is very much in order. This film sets out to examine the city of today though the lens of one of its greatest champions.

Becoming Bond

Becoming Bond

2017 - 91 MINUTES - ENGLISH - USA
A FILM BY JOSH GREENBAUM

A unique documentary/narrative hybrid chronicling the stranger-than-fiction true story of George Lazenby, a poor Australian car mechanic who, through an unbelievable set of circumstances, landed the role of James Bond in "On Her Majesty’s Secret Service" (1969), despite having never acted a day in his life. Then after being offered the next six Bond films and a $1 million signing bonus, he turned it all down.

Burden

Burden

THEATRICAL BEGINS MARCH 15, 2017

USA – 2016 - 86 MINUTES - DOCUMENTARY
A FILM BY TIM MARRINAN, RICHARD DEWEY

A probing portrait of Chris Burden, an artist who pushed the limits of creative expression and risked his life in the name of art.

For more than 45 years, Chris Burden’s work has consistently challenged ideas about the limits and nature of modern art. His pioneering and often dangerous performance works of the 1970s earned Burden a place in the art history books while still in his early 20s. He had himself shot (Shoot, 1971), locked up (Five Day Locker Piece, 1971), electrocuted, (Doorway to Heaven, 1973), cut (Through the Night Softly, 1973), crucified (Trans-fixed, 1974), and advertised on television (4 TV Ads, 1973–77). But as the 70s progressed Burden became disillusioned with the expectations and misconceptions based on his early works and as the pressure grew, the line between his life and his art blurred.

Eva Hesse

Eva Hesse

THEATRICAL BEGINS MARCH 1, 2017

2016 - USA/ GERMANY - 108 MINUTES - COLOUR
A FILM BY MARCIE BEGLEITER

Eva Hesse (1936-1970) is one of America’s foremost postwar artists.  Her pioneering sculptures, using latex, fiberglass, and plastics, helped establish the post-minimalist movement. Dying of a brain tumor at age 34, she had a mere decade-long career that, despite its brevity, is dense with complex, intriguing works that defy easy categorization. 

TROUBLEMAKERS: THE STORY OF LAND ART

TROUBLEMAKERS: THE STORY OF LAND ART

LIMITED THEATRICAL BEGINS FEBRUARY 15, 2017

USA – 2015 – 72 MIN – COLOUR - FEATURE - IN ENGLISH
A FILM BY JAMES CRUMP

Troublemakers unearths the history of land art in the tumultuous late 1960s and early 1970s. The film features a cadre of renegade New York artists that sought to transcend the limitations of paint- ing and sculpture by producing earthworks on a monumental scale in the desolate desert spaces of the American southwest. Today these works remain impressive not only for the sheer audacity of their makers but also for their out-sized ambitions to break free from traditional norms.

Eagles of Death Metal: Nos Amis (Our Friends)

Eagles of Death Metal: Nos Amis (Our Friends)

USA/ FRANCE - 2017 - 87 MINUTES
A FILM BY COLIN HANKS
PRINCIPAL CAST: JESSE HUGHES, JOSH HOMME, DAVE CATCHING, MATT MCJUNKINS, THE EDGE, BONO
MUSIC: EAGLES OF DEATH METAL, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, ALAIN JOHANNES

On November 13, 2015 at the Bataclan theatre in Paris, terrorists killed 89 people and injured hundreds more at a Eagles of Death Metal concert. The band members survived, and a year later returned to Paris to give a triumphant, defiant concert at the Olympia Theatre.

Sonita

Sonita

IRAN / GERMANY / SWITZERLAND – 2015 – 90 MIN – COLOUR - DOCUMENTARY - ENGLISH SUBTITLES
A FILM BY ROKHSAREH GHAEM MAGHAMI
WITH SONITA ALIDAZEH

Sonita is an 18-year-old female, an undocumented Afghan illegal immigrant living in the poor suburbs of Tehran. She is a feisty, spirited, young woman who fights to live the way she wants, as an artist, singer, and musician in spite of all her obstacles she confronts in Iran and her conservative patriarchal family. In harsh contrast to her goal is the plan of her family – strongly advanced by her mother – to make  her a bride and sell her to a new family. The price right now is about US$ 9.000.

Gimme Danger

Gimme Danger

THEATRICAL BEGINS NOVEMBER 4, 2016

2016 - USA - 108 MINUTES - COLOUR AND BLACK AND WHITE
A FILM BY JIM JARMUSCH
FEAURING: JIM OSTERBERG AS IGGY POP, RON ASHETON, SCOTT ASHETON, JAMES WILLIAMSON, STEVE MACKAY, MIKE WATT, KATHY ASHETON, DANNY FIELDS

Emerging from Ann Arbor Michigan amidst a countercultural revolution, The Stooges’ powerful and aggressive style of rock-n-roll blew a crater in the musical landscape of the late 1960s. 

Unlocking the Cage

Unlocking the Cage

USA – 2015 – 92 MIN – COLOUR - DOCUMENTARY - IN ENGLISH
A FILM BY CHRIS HEGEDUS AND D A PENNEBAKER

Unlocking the Cage follows animal rights lawyer Steven Wise in his unprecedented challenge to break down the legal wall that separates animals from humans. After 30 years of struggling with ineffective animal welfare laws, Steve and his lebgal team, the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP), are making history by filling the first lawsuits that seek to transform an animal from a "thing" with no rights to a "person" with legal protections.

Time Zero: The Last Year of Polaroid Film

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Time Zero: The Last Year of Polaroid Film

USA / NETHERLANDS / GERMANY – 2012 – 95 MIN – COLOUR - FEATURE - IN ENGLISH
A FILM BY GRANT HAMILTON

TIME ZERO starts as a eulogy to Polaroid instant film and cameras, sharing with viewers the magic of Polaroid through the perspective of a few Polaroid artists and former employees of the corporation. 

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Painters Painting

Painters Painting

USA – 1973 – 118 MIN – BLACK & WHITE - FEATURE - IN ENGLISH
A FILM BY EMILE DE ANTIONIO

Originally released in 1973 but never before available on DVD, PAINTERS PAINTING is the definitive documentary on the New York School of painters, from 1940-1970. 

Tales of the Rat Fink (20th Anniversary Edition)

Tales of the Rat Fink (20th Anniversary Edition)

CANADA – 2006 – 78 MIN – COLOUR - DOCUMENTARY - IN ENGLISH
A FILM BY RON MANN

Mann's largely animated documentary features the voice talents of John Goodman, Ann-Margret, Jay Leno, Brian Wilson, Tom Wolfe, Matt Groening, Robert Williams, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Paul LeMat, Billy F Gibbons, Theo Rosnick and The Smothers Brothers.

 

Poetry in Motion + Poetry in Motion 25

Poetry in Motion + Poetry in Motion 25

CANADA – 1982 – 90 MIN – COLOUR - DOCUMENTARY - IN ENGLISH
A FILM BY RON MANN

Called the "Woodstock of Poetry" by American Film, and "Dazzling" by the Los Angeles Times, Poetry in Motion is an unprecedented anthology of twenty-four leading North American poets who sing, chant, anything but "read" their work.

Know Your Mushrooms

Know Your Mushrooms

CANADA – 47 MIN – COLOUR - DOCUMENTARY - IN ENGLISH
A FILM BY RON MANN

On the eve of her 70th birthday, Canadian writer Margaret Atwood set out on an international tour criss-crossing the British Isles and North America to celebrate the publication of her new dystopian novel, The Year of the Flood. Rather than mount a traditional tour to promote a book’s publication, Atwood conceived and executed something far more ambitious and revelatory—a theatrical version of her novel.

Imagine the Sound

Imagine the Sound

CANADA – 1981 – 90 MIN – COLOUR - DOCUMENTARY - IN ENGLISH
A FILM BY RON MANN

IMAGINE THE SOUND brings together interviews and performance, the prime innovators of the once controversial free jazz movement of the 60s.

Go Further

Go Further

CANADA – 2003 – 80 MIN – COLOUR - DOCUMENTARY - IN ENGLISH
A FILM BY RON MANN

GO FURTHER explores the idea that the single individual is the key to large-scale transformational change.

The film follows actor Woody Harrelson as he takes a small group of friends on a bio-fuelled bus-ride down the Pacific Coast Highway. Their goal? To show the people they encounter that there are viable alternatives to our habitual, environmentally-destructive behaviors.