Name Me Lawand
Void of any language, communication or true sense of self, Lawand struggles to piece together his surroundings in his new home in Derby, England, after a traumatic and turbulent year of seeking asylum through Europe.
Void of any language, communication or true sense of self, Lawand struggles to piece together his surroundings in his new home in Derby, England, after a traumatic and turbulent year of seeking asylum through Europe.
Void of any language, communication or true sense of self, Lawand struggles to piece together his surroundings in his new home in Derby, England, after a traumatic and turbulent year of seeking asylum through Europe.
"I used to think my name was B-A-D... and before, people would bully me" This is a truly revelatory story of the eponymous young Kurdish boy who moves to Derbyshire where, with the help of some surgical implants and a great deal of care and affection, he begins to realise that he is anything but "B-A-D"! This lad is an hugely engaging character with a grin that could charm the cream from the milk. His journey to an eventual sense of satisfaction and contentment has not been easy, though, and the thrust of the narrative follows this inherently shy boy and his family as they must adapt to a new way of life, a new culture, new teachers and new attitudes. None of these are necessarily as benign was we might like - and this process of integration takes great strength and dedication from all concerned. Luckily for us, Lawand has that strength of character, and an opportunity to prove it which this documentary presents honestly and compellingly. Except. What's wrong with natural sound? So much of the potency here centres on his inability to hear, his unwillingness to speak - yet we are constantly bombarded with a score of gently repetitive piano chords that really add nothing at all to the story. If only we had a red button option where we could disable the soundtrack! The other thing that I left this film with, is an astonishment as to the effectiveness of British Sign Language. It's an amazing invention that continuously evolves with use and experience. Rather than learn foreign languages as kids, why on earth not do an hour or so a week getting to grips with this? It's not just useful here, but think on the elderly who struggle to hear for other reasons later in life - signing isn't a skill that will ever lose it's value. This is true story of family, commitment and love - and is really well worth a watch.
Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.
A detailing of the rise to prominence and global sporting superstardom of six supremely talented young Manchester United football players (David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Phil and Gary Neville). The film covers the period 1992-1999, culminating in Manchester United's European Cup triumph.
Director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born adults after a 7 year wait. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.
With exclusive access to his extraordinary unseen and unheard personal archive including hundreds of hours of audio recorded over the course of his life, this is the definitive Marlon Brando cinema documentary. Charting his exceptional career as an actor and his extraordinary life away from the stage and screen with Brando himself as your guide, the film will fully explore the complexities of the man by telling the story uniquely from Marlon's perspective, entirely in his own voice. No talking heads, no interviewees, just Brando on Brando and life.
The film follows adventurer Jeff Johnson as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia.
After a 7 year wait, director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born children from Seven Up! The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.
A documentary about the life and films of director John Ford.
This character-driven film considers the evolving sex trafficking landscape as seen by the main players: the exploited, the pimps, the johns that fuel the business, and the cops who fight to stop it.
More than 65 million people around the world have been forced from their homes to escape famine, climate change and war, the greatest displacement since World War II. Filmmaker Ai Weiwei examines the staggering scale of the refugee crisis and its profoundly personal human impact. Over the course of one year in 23 countries, Weiwei follows a chain of urgent human stories that stretch across the globe, including Afghanistan, France, Greece, Germany and Iraq.
Ross McElwee sets out to make a documentary about the lingering effects of General Sherman's march of destruction through the South during the Civil War, but is continually sidetracked by women who come and go in his life, his recurring dreams of nuclear holocaust, and Burt Reynolds.