Angry Monk - Gendun Choephel, a legendary figure in Tibet, turned from the monastic life he was born to (as the reincarnation of a Buddhist lama), to become a fierce critic of his country's religious conservatism and isolationism.
Antonio Negri - The biography and current relevance of the sociologist and political philosopher, co-authoer of EMPIRE, and his role as an intellectual leader of the anti-globalization movement.
As a Young Girl of Thirteen - Holocaust survivor Simone Lagrange vividly recounts her experiences in Auschwitz, and the role she played in bringing Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie to justice.
B
Between Two-Spirit - Neither man nor woman, Chris is a "Two-Spirit," in between genders.
Black Africa White Marble - A contemporary David-and-Goliath story that sheds a harsh light on the colonial past and troubled present of The Republic of Congo.
Blue Island - This creative documentary shows real-life characters recreating protest movements from Hong Kong's modern history.
A Boatload of Wild Irishmen - The life and work of legendary director Robert Flaherty ("Nanook of the North"), the "father of documentary."
C
Chantal Akerman Four Films - Four documentaries spanning two decades are included in this 5-disc box set, with a 16-page booklet and bonus film about the late filmmaker.
The Chinese Lives of Uli Sigg - The entrepreneur, diplomat and art collector Uli Sigg has played a role in the transformation of China's art world since the 1970s.
Clara Lemlich - The story of the young, Jewish, Ukrainian-born woman who in 1909 sparked the 'Uprising of the 20,000' -- the first massive strike of New York City garment workers.
Colette - A fascinating visit with the legendary writer in her Paris apartment on the Palais Royal circa 1951. And Jean Cocteau drops by.
Colette and Justin - A filmmaker interviews his grandparents about their experience of Belgian colonialism.
Duncan Campbell Scott: The Poet and the Indians - The story of the prominent early Canadian literary figure - who was also a civil servant responsible for a brutal Native assimilation program.
E
Edward Said - Two Films - Two films that provide a uniquely comprehensive, intimate and moving portrait of one of the great and lasting thinkers of the 20th century.
Edward Said: The Last Interview - An extended discussion with Prof. Edward Said filmed less than a year before his death. The noted literary critic and Palestinian activist delivers his final testament about his life and work as a committed intellectual.
Eileen Gray - The reknowned designer and architect Eileen Gray was always ahead of her time; thirty years after her death she is still considered the very essence of the Modern.
El General - The filmmaker reflects on her great-grandfather, who was a revolutionary general and then president of Mexico.
El Sicario, Room 164 - The story of a hitman for the drug cartels, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
F
Floating - Yang is a 30-year-old itinerant singer with a complicated love life, illegally busking in China's big cities, trying to evade the authorities. Which he does, for a while...
Foucault Against Himself - Captures the energy and fierce intellect of the philosopher and the key, sometimes contradictory, elements of his work.
Fundi: The Story of Ella Baker - Friend and advisor to Martin Luther King, Jr., Ella Baker played an instrumental role in shaping the American civil rights movement.
Fundi: The Story of Ella Baker - Friend and advisor to Martin Luther King, Jr., Ella Baker played an instrumental role in shaping the American civil rights movement.
Golda Maria - Searing first-person interview with a feisty Holocaust survivor.
Gorbachev. Heaven - Director Vitaly Mansky's portrait of the storied Soviet leader Mikail Gorbachev. Here, he presents his final testimony.
Guerrilla Grannies - Women veterans of Mozambique's independence war offer an intimate view of the country's troubled history since 1975.
H
Heimat is a Space in Time - Stretching from the dawn of World War I to the present day, Thomas Heise’s monumental essay film reflects on the fraught evolution of Germany’s national identity through the prism of one family’s history.
How Putin Came to Power - A detailed investigation, with archives and exclusive interviews with the participants, into how Vladimir Putin rose from mayoral aide in St. Petersburg, to President of Russia, in only eight years.
In Search of Memory - The life and work of one of the most important neuroscientists of the 20th century, Nobel Prize winner Eric Kandel.
J
Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir - From 1967, for the first time on video or DVD, a portrait of two of the most influential and controversial writers and thinkers of the 20th century. They discuss their work, lives, and the role of intellectuals in modern society.
K
Kentridge and Dumas in Conversation - The two South African artists speak frankly about their work, their studio practice, their inspirations, and the challenges of success.
L
Latest News from the Cosmos - It wasn't until Helene was 20 years old that her parents discovered that their autistic daughter was able to not only communicate, but to write deeply complex, philosophical and poetic work.
Lomax the Songhunter - Alan Lomax (1915-2002) traveled the world with his recording equipment, capturing folk songs.
Lotman's World - The story of Yuri Lotman (1922-1993), little-known - except maybe in Estonia! - pioneer of semiotics.
The Loving Story - Oscar-shortlist selection, this is the definitive account of Loving v. Virginia, the landmark 1967 Supreme Court decision that legalized interracial marriage.
M
Machito - The Cuban band leader Frank "Machito" Grillo.
Marguerite as She Was - A personal portrait of the great French writer Marguerite Duras. Made with home moves, archives, film extracts, readings, and television interviews filmed over many years.
The Marquis of Wavrin - Follows the extraordinary path of the Marquis of Wavrin, a Belgium explorer who lived with and documented Amazonian tribes in the early 1900s.
Mobutu, King of Zaire - Part 1 - Part one of the definitive history and visual record of the rise and fall of Joseph Désiré Mobutu, ruler of Zaire (the Congo) for over 30 years.
Mobutu, King of Zaire - Part 2 - Part two of the definitive history and visual record of the rise and fall of Joseph Désiré Mobutu, ruler of Zaire (the Congo) for over 30 years.
Mobutu, King of Zaire - Part 3 - Part three of the definitive history and visual record of the rise and fall of Joseph Désiré Mobutu, ruler of Zaire (the Congo) for over 30 years.
Monte Grande - How do body and mind exist as an integrated whole? The eminent neurobiologist Francisco Varela devoted his entire life to answering this question. Featuring His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso the 14th Dalai Lama
Mr. Gaga - The story of artistic genius Ohad Naharin, one of the most important choreographers in the world, who redefined the language of modern dance.
Mustapha Kemal Ataturk - The story of the founder of the Republic of Turkey, called Atatürk ("the father of the Turks").
N
Naji Al-Ali - Examines the forces that shaped cartoonist Naji Al-Ali as an artist, as a human being, and shows how his experiences mirror those of other exiled Palestinians.
The Nine Lives of Norodom Sihanouk - The life story of Norodom Sihanouk, by turns Cambodia's King, Prime Minister, Prince, Head of State for Life, Exile, and Prisoner.
Notes on Marie Menken - The story of the "mother of avante-garde film"—the influential experimental filmmaker who inspired artists such as Stan Brakhage, Andy Warhol, and Kenneth Anger.
O
One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevich - Filmmaker Chris Marker's homage to his friend and colleague, Andrei Tarkovsky. A unique and intimate portrait of the legendary Russian filmmaker.
Out of Place - Traces the life and work of Edward Said (1935-2003), the Palestinian-born intellectual who wrote widely on history, literature, music, philosophy and politics.
Outsider - Judith Scott had Down syndrome, was deaf, and did not speak. Then, after 35 years of institutionalization, she created a series of sculptures that have fascinated and mystified art experts around the world.
P
Picasso and Sima, Antibes 1946 - In 1946, Pablo Picasso asked fellow artist Michel Sima to document Picasso's artwork-in-progress.
R
A Road to Mecca - The story of Leopold Weiss, a Viennese Jew who converted to Islam in the 1920's and became the Muslim scholar Muhammad Asad.
Roque Dalton - It was once illegal to read books by Roque Dalton, one of El Salvador's most celebrated poets, in his own country.
Running Mate - Eye-opening examination of cartoonists' portrayal of Geraldine Ferraro during her unsuccessful candidacy for the U.S. Vice Presidency.
The Silence of Mark Rothko - With his imposing canvasses, pure color and texture, Mark Rothko sought to express fundamental human emotions.
Sociology is a Martial Art - An introduction to the work of Influential sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, whose 40 books and countless articles represent a renovation and application of social science.
Sol LeWitt - Explores the artist's work and philosophy, using extensive interviews and documentation of artwork installed around the world.
The Two Lives of Eva - The complicated, traumatic story of a young woman, the filmmaker's mother, a well-off, Polish Lutheran before WWII, who afterwards married a Jewish Warsaw ghetto survivor.
With André Gide - A highly personal portrait of André Gide — a larger-than-life character who dominated French letters from the turn of the 20th century to his death in 1951.
The Writers of Today - A series of dialogues with five of the foremost writers of the twentieth century.
Z
Zygosis - A radical and humorous electronic homage to John Heartfield, anti-Nazi German satirist who pioneered the photomontage.
More Films & DVDs that are Biographical
Ben Barka - A biography of Moroccan opposition leader Mehdi Ben Barka, abducted on the streets of Paris and murdered in 1965, the infamous "Ben Barka affair."
A Day With the President - A full day - from 4.00am until 11.00pm - in the life of President Nelson Mandela.
Flower in Otomi - Tells the story of Deni Prieto Stock, killed by the Mexican army in 1973.
Freddy Ilanga: Che's Swahili Translator - A documentary about Freddy Ilanga, an African man whose life was abruptly transformed through a chance encounter with Che Guevara.
I For India - A chronicle of immigration, from the Sixties to the present day, as seen through the eyes of one Asian family and their 40 years worth of Super 8mm home movies.
Irish Voices - Examines an unusual loophole in Britain's attempt to quell media access in the Irish conflict.
Jacques Lacan Speaks - A unique film from the archives, a documentary based on a 1971 university speaking appearance by Jacques Lacan (1901-1981), the most influential psychoanalyst after Freud.
Joe Polowsky: An American Dreamer - The story of an American World War II veteran who met the Russians at the Elbe River, and who dedicated his life to promoting peace.
Kim's Story: The Road from Vietnam - The story of Kim Phuc, the subject of perhaps the most famous photograph of the Vietnam War, is a story of the personal and public healing of wounds from this century's longest, most divisive war.
Mayor of the West Side - What happens when love gets in the way of letting go? As a teenager with multiple disabilities prepares for his Bar Mitzvah, his family and community consider what Mark's life will be like when they are no longer able to protect him.
Multiple - For six years, actor and director Alison Peebles has been keeping a secret: she has multiple sclerosis. Now, in the midst of working on an important TV series, she finds she can no longer hide her symptoms. She's afraid this revelation may destroy her career — and she'll also have to kiss goodbye to her sexy, high-heeled shoes.
The Other Day - Filmmaker Ignacio Aguero's gentle exploration of home, family, history and Chilean society.
Renzo Piano - An intimate working portrait of the world-renowned, non-conformist architect, designer of the Pompidou Center in Paris, the Menil Collection museum in Houston and the Kansai airport in Japan.
Resist - Chronicles the history and mission behind The Living Theatre, one of the most significant companies in the history of American theatre and the avant garde.
Santiago Calatrava's Travels - A fascinating portrait of world famous artist, engineer, architect and urban studies scholar Santiago Calatrava, and an interdisciplinary reflection on the perception and impact of architecture.
Shigeru Ban - A profile of the Japanese architect noted for his use of inexpensive construction materials, such as cardboard tubes, used in prefab housing adopted by the UN High Commission for Refugees.
Svetlana About Svetlana - A rare filmed interview with Svetlana Alliluyeva, Joseph Stalin's daughter.
We Loved Each Other So Much - The Lebanese singer Hoda Nouhad Haddad, better known as Fairuz, is a legend in the Arab world. The stories of diverse Beirut inhabitants and of their love for her provide a moving commentary on Lebanon's tumultuous history.
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