'Tales of Masked Men' exploration of Lucha Libre (Mexican wrestling) and the tradition of the masked wrestler. The film tells the story of lucha libre through the lives of three classic enmascarados (masked wrestlers). The film was shot throughout Mexico and in the American Southwest andtraces the roots of lucha libre from 1930s Mexico to it's current state. Featuring beautiful imagery and acrobatic action sequences 'Tales' includes interviews with wrestlers, academics and other thoughtful observers of the 'lucha' world.
The Believers tells the strange story of Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons, chronologically documenting the summer of 1989 as well as new developments today. The tale includes mystery, scandal, personal tragedy, and scientific wonder. As in Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon, understanding of events shifts depending on who is telling the story. A mixture of interviews, footage, archival media, scientific animation, and reenactments will compliment interviews with scientists, journalists, politicians, and officials. Woven together, they paint a vivid, often contradicting account of what happened.Martin Fleischmann is at the core of the story, both as a fiery intellect in 1989 who achieved near rock-star status and a musing, evasive recluse who today suffers from Parkinson's disease and has become the figurehead of the small band of aging scientists who still pursue cold fusion experiments. The film explores basement laboratories in New Mexico, Illinois, and California where these believers continue to work, desperate to prove their detractors wrong while wondering if the field will survive when they retire.Cold fusion scientists and their detractors - the physicists - each claim the other side is blinded by desire. These physicists claim the cold fusionists so desperately want to be right that they overlook fundamental truths about the nature of the atom; cold fusionists claim the physicists are so sure of their facts that they have lost the ability to question them. No definitive answer is presented, so the viewer must determine what --- and whom --- to believe.
'Ida Haendel - This Is My Heritage' is an honest account of growing older, a story of solitude and one's total devotion and love for music. Ida Haendel, widely considered one of the finest violinists of the 20th century, does not attach too much weight to exact dates. Her actual age remains one of the best-kept secrets in the music world. A Jewish Polish-born British citizen who managed to flee the Nazis right before the outbreak of the war, she has been residing in Miami since the early 80s and now considers it her home. She is a flamboyant character with a sharp sense of humor who doesn't mind presenting the high and low points of her eventful life in a profoundly honest way. She hasn't given up dreaming and searching yet. Her biggest wish is to be able to continue playing her beloved violin as long as possible.
Over seven years ago I started an artistic venture of interviewing extraordinary individuals on specific questions that are at the core of human fulfillment: Purpose, Love, the Best and Worst of life, Intimacy, God, Religions and Spirit. Many of these candid interviews are the only ones ever recorded and a few of these individuals have now passed away. What resulted was over 100 hours of in-depth study of the human condition; what is key to fulfillment and joy, and what causes separation. The interviews are filled with moments of self reflection, cognitive authority and insight, laughter, tenderness, tears, authenticity and joy.After over one thousand hours of dissecting these recorded discussions, I wove these interviews into a dialogue that reveals the elements of consciousness and personal responsibility that are required to perpetuate widespread human joy. I funded every dollar of this film solely, and with only one agenda; to spread compassion and drive consciousness evolution - to bring people together.
WE CAME HOME: The story of Afghanistan through Afghan American artist, Ariana Delawari. Born in LA, the year the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, Ariana's life unfolds parallel to Afghanistan. Her home is filled with refugees, Afghan music, and her father's dedication to his homeland. Ariana watches her father's tireless efforts, while painfully aware that nobody seems to care. September 11th changes her family's lives. Her parents sell everything and move to Kabul; Ariana finally sees Afghanistan for herself.Ariana spends ten years traveling between LA and Afghanistan, documenting her father's homeland through photographs, film and music. She believes she's witnessing the moment Afghanistan will be free. Her father thrives as he helps reconstruct Afghanistan's banking system.With the Taliban resurgence, Ariana decides to go to Kabul to record an album with Afghan master musicians. The recording is a glimpse into the challenges of building anything in Afghanistan after thirty years of war, but nothing can touch the universal language of music.Ariana names her album 'Lion of Panjshir', after Afghanistan's revolutionary hero, Massoud. Filmmaker David Lynch releases the album. Though Ariana receives international acclaim, she's heartbroken, because Afghanistan keeps getting worse.In 2011, her father is arrested by the very government he's worked so hard to build. Ariana must decide what to do when war and corruption threaten her father's life. Though terrified that he could be wrongfully imprisoned, Ariana finally understands her Dad. Even with his life threatened, Noor cannot abandon his people and Ariana cannot let them be forgotten.
REBELS WITH A CAUSE tells the David and Goliath story of how one of America's most visited, and arguably its most beautiful, urban national parks--San Francisco's Point Reyes National Seashore and Golden Gate National Recreation Area--almost didn't exist. In the 1950's, California became the fastest growing state in the nation, booming with a banal development grind to accommodate more people. Marin County, north of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge, felt this momentum and made ready for the influx, planning tract homes and beach-front resorts to pave over the wilderness and coastline in its western lands. In the face of this, a handful of local politically savvy advocates start planting the seeds of conservation. They awakened their community to the threats of urban sprawl and the potential loss of magnificent open space. But awareness is just the beginning. The activists must overcome the seemingly omnipotent opponents of their day in industry and government. Through high-stakes face-offs with Big Oil and federal commissions, collaboration with the US Army, and innovative partnerships with private ranchers, each step towards progress sets new precedents for the National Park Service, shaping the environmental movement as we know it today.
