Film Snail

History

Reine Pokou, Princesse Ashanti

Reine Pokou, Princesse Ashanti

January 1, 2013

The story of Queen Pokou, Queen and founder of the Baoule tribe in West Africa.

Contradiction: A Question of Faith

Contradiction: A Question of Faith

January 1, 2013

Contradiction addresses the saturation of churches in African American communities coexisting with poverty and powerlessness. Why are there so many churches yet so many problems? Is there a correlation between high-praise and low productivity?

Nico Valsesia - From Zero To Monte Bianco - Summit

Nico Valsesia - From Zero To Monte Bianco - Summit

January 1, 2013

In the early morning of a middle summer day of 2013 the ultra-athlete Nico Valsesia reached the summit of Mont Blanc (4810 metres). But Nico wasn’t an alpinist like the many others with him that morning. He conquered the highest summit of Europe after a no-stop riding almost 17h long, started the day before by bicycle from a beach in Genoa. The first Mont Blanc 24 hour record was beaten by Marino Giacometti in 1997 (23hrs) and subsequently by Andrea Daprai in 2008 (18 hrs 58’). From that day on, Nico launched the project “From Zero To…” and continued to add records and summits (Aconcagua, Elbrus, Kilimanjaro). ”Summit” tells all the efforts that Nico and his team have made for making possible this epic challenge.

4,000-Year-Old Cold Case: The Body in the Bog

4,000-Year-Old Cold Case: The Body in the Bog

January 1, 2013

Documentary following the discovery and investigation of a 4,000-year-old body that was preserved in a peat bog in Cashel in the Irish midlands

Memory of Forgotten War

Memory of Forgotten War

January 1, 2013

Unknown or forgotten by most Americans, the Korean War divided a people with several millenniums of shared history. Memory of Forgotten War conveys the human costs of military conflict through deeply personal accounts of four Korean American survivors whose experiences and memories embrace the full circle of the war: its outbreak and the day-to-day struggle for survival, separation from family members across the DMZ, the aftermath of a devastated Korean peninsula, and immigration to the United States. Each person reunites with relatives in North Korea conveying beyond words the meaning of four decades of family loss. Their stories belie the notion that war ends for civilians when the guns are silenced and foreshadow the futures of countless others displaced by ongoing military conflict today.

Leon Trotsky: A Personality in the 20th Century

Leon Trotsky: A Personality in the 20th Century

January 1, 2013

Leon Trotsky is considered one of the most controversial revolutionary figures of his time. Was he a practical revolutionary or a naive idealist? On the practical side, he was the mastermind behind the Bolshevik seizure of power in 1917, and was totally ruthless during the ensuing Civil War. As an idealist, he was committed to the pursuit of international revolution, but created many political enemies. After Lenin's death, Trotsky lost in a power struggle with Stalin, and later was expelled from the Communist Party. Trotsky was exiled from the Soviet Union, eventually finding refuge in Mexico. In 1940, Stalin ordered his assassination, and Trotsky died after being struck in the head with an ice-pick. History records that Trotsky was a master theoretician, a skillful propagandist and a brilliant orator.

China: The Beginning - China's Origins

China: The Beginning - China's Origins

January 1, 2013

China is the only civilization that continues to hold sway throughout its entire territory as defined by its ancient borders. This three-part series retraces almost 2,000 years of Chinese ancient history – a period that holds vital clues to understanding how this powerful nation was built. Many people forget that during the heyday of the Christian era, China was already a highly developed country. In this fascinating program we will focus on the heart of one of the most mysterious countries in the world. Witness the evolution of civilization and visit the places where the dignitaries are buried, also visit the mausoleum of China's first emperor Qin Shi Huang Di.

The Child

The Child

January 1, 2013

Austria. Its the end of the XIXth Century. His name is Alois. He waits in fearful agony for the dramatic birth of his child. He is ignorant of the dark future that the birth would bring to humanity. History always has a beginning.

NOVA: Who Killed Lindbergh's Baby?

NOVA: Who Killed Lindbergh's Baby?

January 1, 2013

NOVA is reopening one of the most confounding crime mysteries of all time as a team of expert investigators employs state-of-the-art forensic and behavioral science techniques in an effort to determine what really happened to Charles Lindbergh's baby... and why.

Before the Revolution

Before the Revolution

January 1, 2013

A documentary thriller describing the last days of the Israeli community in Tehran, on the eve of the Islamic Revolution in 1979. The director, whose family was in Tehran at the time, uses rare archive materials to illustrate how thousands of Israelis, who enjoyed unusual affinity with the Shah's regime, wake up one morning to find their paradise vanished.

The Hyuga Episode of Kojiki

The Hyuga Episode of Kojiki

January 1, 2013

A festival cut/compilation of the animated segments made by Yamamura Kouji for a TV documentary by NHK, Kojiki Girl Travelogue (古事記ガール 日向路を旅する). The 4 episodes that compose The Hyuga Episode of Kojiki are: #1 The Cleansing (禊/ Misogi, 3’17”) #2 Sun Goddess Amaterasu (天照大御神/ Amaterasu Ookami, 2’11”) #3 Flowering Tree (木花之佐久夜毘売/ Konohananosakuya-bime, 2’31”) #4 Umisachi and Yamasachi (海佐知山佐知/ Umisachi Yamasachi, 3’30”)

Bury My Heart with Tonawanda

Bury My Heart with Tonawanda

January 1, 2013

A historical film about the Seneca culture featuring the Tonawanda Indian Reservation, Bury My Heart with Tonawanda tells the story of a developmentally disabled boy with Downs Syndrome who is rejected by his own family but is accepted and nurtured by the Tonawanda Seneca Nation.

Heroin King of Baltimore: The Rise and Fall of Melvin Williams

Heroin King of Baltimore: The Rise and Fall of Melvin Williams

January 1, 2013

Baltimore City officials asked drug kingpin Melvin Williams to stop the riots happened following Martin Luther King's assassination. After helping the authorities out, Williams was then labeled a threat, framed and incarcerated by a hypocritical society.

Domar el tiempo

Domar el tiempo

January 1, 2013

The story of a trade that is dying out, and the strength of those who view this way of life, passed from father to son for generations and now doomed to disappear, with nostalgia and place their hopes for its survival in someone they would never have imagined.

Balkan Is Not Dead

Balkan Is Not Dead

January 1, 2013

A Macedonian family from Bitola at the turn of the twentieth century tries to survive, preserve its roots and remain together.

Castillo de Olite: El Ultimo Acto de una Tragedia

Castillo de Olite: El Ultimo Acto de una Tragedia

January 1, 2013

In early 1939 , the Spanish Civil War , is coming to an end. For the Republic, the decisive battle of the Ebro has meant the loss of Catalonia and the practical annihilation of his army. The Prime Minister Juan Negrin , tries one last strategy ; lengthen the Spanish contest for the foreseeable war unite Europe can save the Second Republic . In order to avoid Negrin plans , domestic preparing a landing operation unprecedented . About thirty boats with more than 20,000 men, proceed from Castellón and Malaga to Cartagena . The so called " Expedition to Cartagena" fail and one of his ships , the " Castle Olite " , will never return . Of the 2,112 men engaged in the Olite , 1,476 die , 342 are injured and 294 taken prisoner. The sinking of the " Castle Olite " by batteries republican offshore Cartagena , on March 7, 1939 , is one of the darkest and least known of the Spanish Civil War .

Oyari Haishaku

Oyari Haishaku

January 1, 2013

Kotoji Akame (Naoto Takenaka) is a shabby, middle aged low-ranking samurai of small stature. One day, in a drinking contest, he misses sending his lord off as he leaves Edo for Kuju. Released from service for this blunder, Akame becomes a wandering samurai. He goes on to steal lances from many feudal lords' processions. For Furuta, suffering defeat is out of question. To protect his domain and family, he takes it on himself to meet Murase and proposes an alliance between the Wako, Fuki and Ushizu domains. With the fate of the feudal families in their hands, Furuta and Murase pursue Akame. Each with something to protect, the men fight desperately over the lances.

O Friend, This Waiting!

O Friend, This Waiting!

December 28, 2012

A wandering poet-musician, Kshetrayya wrote for devadasis, the dancing courtesans at the courts of the 17th century Nayaka rulers. His padams became the most cherished of her songs of love. O Friend, This Waiting! reflects on the entwined fortunes of the padams and the women they were written for, from the 17th to the 20th century, while dwelling in the performance spaces of temples and courts of the Nayaka period.

Barabbas

Barabbas

December 28, 2012

Barabbas or Jesus Barabbas (literally "son of the father" or "Jesus, son of the father" respectively) is a figure in the account of the Passion of Christ, in which he is the insurrectionary whom Pontius Pilate freed at the Passover feast in Jerusalem, instead of Jesus Christ.

Ripples of Desire

Ripples of Desire

December 28, 2012

The height of gaiety on Piao Dao. Merchants and pirates may have their treasures but the biggest prizes are the sensational twin singing courtesans, who are ripe for deflowering. Known as The Rippling Sisters of Flower Street they dazzle customers with their flirtatious duets and tantalizing beauty. But the jewels of Piao Dao cannot be had with money alone. Admirers must also contest for their hearts.