Directors: Luke Cresswell, Steve McNicholas Writers: Luke Cresswell, Steve McNicholas Plot: Each year an unbelievable feeding frenzy takes place in the oceans of South Africa as billions of sardines migrate up the KwaZulu-Natal Coast. Wild Ocean captures spectacular breaching whales, feeding sharks, diving gannets, and massive bait balls inside and up close on the giant screen. The migration has provided an annual food source for both life in the sea and the people living along the African shores for countless generations. The film demonstrates how business, government, and the local people have joined forces to protect this invaluable ecological resource. Wild Ocean will delve audiences into an epic underwater struggle for survival and reveal the economic and cultural impact the migration has on the coastal communities.
Director: Alexandre O. Philippe Plot: The People vs. George Lucas will use a courtroom debate approach to explore the issues of filmmaking and fanaticism around one of the industry’s most famous franchises and its creator. The innovative film combines filmmaker and celebrity interviews with fan films - submitted via the film’s site - to make this the world’s first digitally democratic feature documentary.
Director: Gerald Peary Writer: Gerald Peary Cast: Patricia Clarkson, Roger Ebert, Owen Gleiberman, Stanley Kauffmann, Harry Knowles, Elvis Mitchell, Wesley Morris, Rex Reed, Andrew Sarris, Lisa Schwarzbaum, A.O. Scott, Kenneth Turan
Plot: For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism is the first documentary to dramatize the rich saga of American movie reviewing. With commentary from America’s best-regarded reviewers, Roger Ebert (“The Chicago Sun-Times”), A.O. Scott (“The New York Times”), Lisa Schwarzbaum (“Entertainment Weekly”), Kenneth Turan (“The Los Angeles Times”) as well as young, articulate, Internet voices, including Harry Knowles (aintitcoolnews.com) and Karina Longworth (spout.com). From the raw beginnings of criticism before “The Birth of a Nation” to the incendiary Pauline Kael-Andrew Sarris debates of the 1960s and 70s to the battle today between youthful on-liners and the print establishment, this documentary tells all. With narration by Patricia Clarkson.
Director: Pete McCormack Cast: Muhammad Ali, George Chuvalo, Sir Henry Cooper, George Foreman, Joe Frazier
Plot: Three-time World Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali defeated almost every top fighter of the golden age of boxing and symbolized the sport for generations of fans. Now, ten of his acclaimed rivals pay tribute to perhaps the world’s most beloved and inspiring athlete in Facing Ali. From the moment he captured the gold at the 1960 Summer Olympics, the fighter who first came to prominence as Cassius Clay electrified the world and transformed the art of boxing. Articulate, handsome, charismatic and outspoken, he became an icon of the burgeoning civil rights movement and a hero to millions around the globe. A master showman and a brilliant strategist, Ali won as much by getting inside his opponents’ heads as by his astounding physical talents.
Director: Kate Churchill Writers: Kate Churchill, Jonathon Hexner Cast: Nick Rosen, Norman Allen, Alan Finger, Sharon Gannon, B.K.S. Iyengar
Plot: Filmmaker Kate Churchill is determined to prove that yoga can transform anyone. Nick Rosen is skeptical but agrees to be her guinea pig. Kate immerses Nick in yoga, and follows him around the world as he examines the good, the bad and the ugly of yoga. The two encounter celebrity yogis, true believers, kooks and world-renowned gurus. Tensions run high as Nick’s transformational progress lags and Kate’s plan crumbles. Ultimately, what they find is not what they expected.
Directors: Jacques Perrin, Jacques Cluzaud Plot: An ecological drama/documentary, filmed throughout the globe. Part thriller, part meditation on the vanishing wonders of the sub-aquatic world.
Director: Jennifer Baichwal Cast: Paul Auster, Fred Frith
Plot: Act of God is a feature documentary about the metaphysical effects of being struck by lightning. The event represents the paradox of being singled out by randomness, and so precipitates questions about chance, fate and meaning in life. The film explores seven stories from around the world that raise and respond to these questions, while keeping the sky and what comes out of it as a central visual metaphor and thread. Paul Auster, who was struck as a teenager, philosophically anchors the film, along with Fred Frith, the improviser, who both imaginatively underpins it and personally demonstrates the ubiquity of electricity in our bodies and the universe.
Director: Michael Moore Writer: Michael Moore Cast: Michael Moore
Plot: A look at the global financial crisis and the U.S. economy during the transition between the incoming Obama Administration and the outgoing Bush Administration.
Plot: The true story of five talented young basketball players, including future NBA superstar LeBron James, and their remarkable journey from Akron, Ohio to the national high school championship series. The “Fab Five’s” improbable nine-year journey leads them from a decrepit inner-city gym to the doorstep of a national high school championship. “More Than a Game” combines a series of unforgettable one-on-one interviews with rare news footage, never-before-seen home videos, and personal family photographs to bring this heart-wrenching and wholly American story to life.