It’s a city that’s larger than life. A city without limits. A glittering mecca of excess and forbidden desires. Discover the fascinating story of this fabled destination and the people who created it. From the mobsters who made Vegas into their version of American Dream to the tycoons of today’s family mega-resorts, this is the ultimate insider’s tour of America’s neon oasis. Illuminating interviews with luminaries like Alan King, Wayne Newton and Debbie Reynolds, writer Nick Pileggi, entrepreneur Steve Wynn and Howard Hughes frontman Robert Mayheu offer a unique, unvarnished look at the fabled city, while never-before-seen footage opens a window to its tumultuous past.
Category: Documentary
The rise, fall, and rebirth of Christian Hosoi, the young man who helped skateboarding re-emerge as a major cultural influence in the 1980s. The inventive skater and businessman was incarcerated in 2000 for trafficking controlled substances across state lines, and since his parole in 2004, the Born-Again Christian has dedicated his life to being a good father and positive influence on the sport.
Flo and Kay are the only female identical twin autistic savants in the world – they can remember an extraordinary amount of details including dates, record names and even what they have eaten on any given day over the last 30 years. News anchor and former DJ Dave Wagner has been following their lives and filming them for 13 years – his footage makes up much of this documentary.
Whether in the countryside or on the edge of the city, amusement parks or fun fairs are hot across Europe. Their names, amusement parks and fun fairs, say it all: People want to be amused, they want to have fun. For example, at the Europark in southern Germany a dummy with a contorted face sits in an electric chair. Smoke comes out of him and a light flickers off and on from out of the roasted “brain” of the dummy, which shudders and cries in pain. A film on the culture of amusement in today’s “leisure” society.
Together is set in London’s East End, with its bombsites, narrow streets, riversides, warehouses, markets and pubs. It follows two deaf-mute dockers who are completely cut-off from the outside world and are constantly pursued by groups of jeering children. Its modern depiction of everyday working-class life and its new approach to realism were inspired by Italian neo-realism and by the techniques used by Mazzetti’s Free Cinema friends.
Someone Else’s Country looks critically at the radical economic changes implemented by the 1984 Labour Government — where privatisation of state assets was part of a wider agenda that sought to remake New Zealand as a model free-market state. The trickle-down ‘Rogernomics’ rhetoric warned of no gain without pain, and here the theory is counterpointed by the social effects (redundant workers, Post Office closures). Made by Alister Barry in 1996 when the effects were raw, the film draws extensively on archive footage and interviews with key “witnesses to history”.
This documentary outlines the ways in which British policies during the First World War have contributed to the instability of the Middle East region today. Through never/before/seen documents and photos, we look at the secret agenda of the British government in WWI and its unfortunate aftermath.
Nearly a decade before data confirmed that children of lesbian mothers thrive, this groundbreaking documentary showcased this vital truth. Shot largely in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, the film explores the diverse experiences of eight families facing custody battles, legal scrutiny and widespread societal bias. Through tender interviews and intimate footage with the parents and, most poignantly, their children, this documentary offers a heartrending portrayal of parental love, challenging stereotypes and normalizing an exceedingly valid family model.