Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat

Jazz and decolonization are intertwined in a powerful narrative that recounts one of the tensest episodes of the Cold War. In 1960, the UN became the stage for a political earthquake as the struggle for independence in the Congo put the world on high alert. The newly independent nation faced its first coup d'état, orchestrated by Western forces and Belgium, which were reluctant to relinquish control over their resource-rich former colony. The US tried to divert attention by sending jazz ambassador Louis Armstrong to the African continent. In 1961, Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba was brutally assassinated, silencing a key voice in the fight against colonialism; his death was facilitated by Belgian and CIA operatives. Musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach took action, denouncing imperialism and structural racism. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev intensified his criticism of the US, highlighting the racial barriers that characterized American society.

Ice-Breaker: The '72 Summit Series

September 2022 marked the 50th anniversary of the Summit Series, the iconic hockey tournament that pitted the best players from Canada against the best from the Soviet Union. This documentary enlarges the canvas to tell the story from the unique perspectives of a diverse group who are rarely, if ever, heard: diplomats, NHL hockey legends, Soviet players, journalists, fans, broadcasters, business leaders and Team Canada’s Chairman – all reveal untold stories about what happened before, during, and after September ‘72.

Path to War

A powerful drama of soaring ambition and shattered dreams that takes a provocative insider's look at the way the USA goes to war—as seen from inside the LBJ White House leading up to and during the Vietnam War.

The Good Shepherd

Edward Wilson, the only witness to his father's suicide and member of the Skull and Bones Society while a student at Yale, is a morally upright young man who values honor and discretion, qualities that help him to be recruited for a career in the newly founded OSS. His dedication to his work does not come without a price though, leading him to sacrifice his ideals and eventually his family.

The Great Game: The Making of Spycraft

In 1995, former KGB Major General Oleg Kalugin and ex-CIA Director William Colby collaborated in an unexpected way. They made a video game. The Great Game traces how both men rose to the tops of their fields following World War II, before falling out of favor with their respectives agencies — on opposite sides of the Iron Curtain. For Kalugin, a growing discontent with the KGB’s treatment of Russians radicalized him against the institution. Meanwhile William Colby, an OSS operative and the CIA’s man on the ground in Vietnam, was fired by President Ford after testifying before Congress about controversial CIA programs like MKULTRA and CoIntelPro. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, both living on American soil, Colby and Kalugin played themselves in Spycraft, a multi-million dollar game that was among the most advanced of its time — and is now almost entirely forgotten.

Charlie Wilson's War

In the 1980s U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson, Texas socialite Joanne Herring and CIA agent Gust Avrakotos form an unlikely alliance to boost funding for Afghan freedom fighters in their war against invading Soviets. The trio's successful efforts to finance these covert operations contributes to the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.

1968: A Year of War, Turmoil and Beyond

The Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, the May events in France, the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy, the Prague Spring, the Chicago riots, the Mexico Summer Olympics, the presidential election of Richard Nixon, the Apollo 8 space mission, the hippies and the Yippies, Bullitt and the living dead. Once upon a time the year 1968.

The Day Called X

Portentously portrays the evacuation of Portland, Oregon, when threatened by a nuclear attack on its state-of-the-art civil defense system.

Billion Dollar Spy

Set against the high-stakes backdrop of the late Cold War, Adolf Tolkachev, an ordinary man who risks everything to pass thousands of pages of top-secret Soviet intelligence to the U.S. Despite repeated rejections by a wary CIA, Tolkachev persisted, embodying the courage to stand against a regime that betrayed its own people. Finally, finding an ally in CIA agent Tom Lenihan, Tolkachev was able to fundamentally shift the balance of power, proving that true patriotism lies not in blind allegiance but in the willingness to challenge a government when it strays from its ideals.

NUKED

The US detonated 67 nuclear weapons over the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands during the Cold War, the consequences of which still reverberate down four generations to today. "NUKED," is a timely new feature documentary focussing on the human victims of the nuclear arms race, tracing the displaced Bikinian's ongoing struggle for justice and survival even as climate change poses a new existential threat. Using carefully restored archival footage to resurrect contemporaneous islanders’ voices and juxtaposing these with the full, awesome fury of the nuclear detonations, NUKED starkly contrasts the official record with the lived experience of the Bikinians themselves, serving as an important counterpoint to this summer’s Oppenheimer.

Mission to Mir

This film shows how far we have come since the cold-war days of the 50s and 60s. Back then the Russians were our "enemies". And to them the Americans were their "enemies" who couldn't be trusted. Somewhere in all this a young girl in Oklahoma named Shannon set her sights on becoming one of those space explorers, even though she was told "girls can't do that." But she did.

How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin

In August 1962, director Leslie Woodhead made a two-minute film in Liverpool's Cavern Club with a raw and unrecorded group of rockers called the Beatles. He arranged their first live TV appearances on a local show in Manchester and watched as the Fab Four phenomenon swept the world. Twenty-five years later while making films in Russia, Woodhead became aware of how, even though they were never able to play in the Soviet Union, the Beatles' legend had soaked into the lives of a generation of kids. This film meets the Soviet Beatles generation and hears their stories about how the Fab Four changed their lives, including Putin's deputy premier Sergei Ivanov, who explains how the Beatles helped him learn English and showed him another life. (Storyville)

The Hole In The Ground

Made at the height of 'cold war' paranoia, this drama-documentary shows the work of the UK Warning and Monitoring Organisation, who's duties included the issuing of public warnings of any nuclear missile strike and the subsequent fallout.

The Atomic Cafe

A disturbing collection of 1940s and 1950s United States government-issued propaganda films designed to reassure Americans that the atomic bomb was not a threat to their safety.

Nukes in Space

U.S. nuclear tests in space, and the development of the military intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

We Were There to Be There

On June 13, 1978, the punk bands the Cramps and the Mutants played a free show for psychiatric patients at the Napa State Hospital in California. We Were There to Be There chronicles the people, politics, and cultural currents that led to the show and its live recording.

Red Shadow over the White House

As the 2024 elections approach, Russian interference in American politics – through spies or agents of influence – is a troubling reality. Vladimir Putin is counting on Donald Trump’s victory to weaken support for Ukraine. Why does Trump almost always support Russia? Is he compromised? During his presidency, did he betray the United States in favor of the Kremlin? And why has the Republican Party shifted its stance toward Russia? Answering these questions means shedding light on a labyrinthine espionage and manipulation operation. Still ongoing, it began forty years ago, during the final years of the Cold War. Back then, Trump was merely a real estate developer, and Putin was a young KGB agent. This operation contains many dark areas, but some hold pieces of the puzzle. A former KGB leader, infiltrated “illegals,” a former Trump advisor, and former senior officials from the CIA and FBI, as well as a former prosecutor, provide testimony. . . . [taken from Nilaya Productions]

The Right Stuff

As the Space Race ensues, seven pilots set off on a path to become the first American astronauts to enter space. However, the road to making history brings forth momentous challenges.

Thirteen Days

The story of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962—the nuclear standoff with the USSR sparked by the discovery by the Americans of missile bases established on the Soviet-allied island of Cuba.

Guten Tag, RDA !

Money & Porn

After drawing a picture of underground gangs and corruption and prostitution in them, i.e. escort services and explaining how they operate, narrates the story of a case of their infiltration into Iran and the trafficking of Iranian girls.

Six Reasons Why

In a desolate place called the Badlands, four men stand off with guns drawn, their fingers ready at the trigger. Among them are a fugitive seeking redemption, a son out to avenge his father's murder, a loyal servant with a secret and a murderous criminal hired to kill with a vengeance. This is their story...in a place where revenge, deception and cruelty are a way of life.

Hunger in Waldenburg

Powerful semi-documentarian depiction of the miserable working and living conditions in the Silesian city of Waldenburg.

The Travelers

On a Friday night, two actresses share their fears.

High Season for Spies

A scientist discovers the formula of a particular resistant steel, and a spy ring from an enemy power sets after him to obtain it.

The Crush Space

A short film about three siblings with secrets who come back home to stay, Everyone meets up at their mum's house for a family lunch and none of them want her to find out about what their hiding.

Of Wives and Mistresses

This is about the trials and tribulations of a man who keeps a mistress at the side while his jealous wife, hires a lowly employee, to spy on her husband's activities.

The Deerslayer

Deerslayer, a white man who was brought up by the Mohicans, helps his old tribe when the Hurons steal Princess Wah Tah, the betrothed of his friend Jingo-Good. His friends, the Hutters, are a white family living on an ark in the middle of a lake. The Hurons attack them and Deerslayer enlists the aid of scout Harry March, who is escorting sixty-five brides to the near-by settlement. Deerslayer and Harry are both in love with Judith Hutter, who is secretly in love with Harry. The Hurons succeed in capturing her father and Harry, where-upon Judith's sister Hetty, playing on an Indian superstition never to harm an insane person, feigns madness and makes an escape. Hutter, Judith, Hetty and Princess Wah-Tah return to the ark, where they ate attacked by the waiting Hurons and Hetty is killed. Deerslayer, Harry and the settlement men arrive to time to drive the Hurons away.

A Dull Razor

This picture shows an old gentleman seated at his shaving table. The razor is evidently giving him a great deal of trouble...

Gambler: Victory Without Death

Tsunetaro Asakura AKA "Dynamite Tsune" is a talented gambler, but not infallable. After losing his Boss's money in a dice game he repays his debt by serving as a pit boss for a struggling coal mine in Kyuushu. Quickly there's trouble with the local mining competition, who doesn't always play a fair game. True to his hot-headed nickname, Tsune only gets into deeper trouble.

Spark

The year 2049 – when technology has been invented that converts human emotions into clean energy. A young man, out of touch with his feelings, experiences a moment that sparks him back into life.

Becoming John Ford

Portrait of film director John Ford, perhaps best known for re-inventing the Western, and generally considered one of America's greatest directors.

En Pointe

A young ballet dancer secretly auditions for a hip hop dance competition when she is soon caught by imposing mother.

The Crazy World of the Youth

Pop-star who performs incognito is pressed into service to seduce a young woman who has rejected four childhood friends of his.

Pluto at the Zoo

Pluto walks past the zoo and sees the huge bone the sleeping lion has but getting it out is easier said than done. He gets it out of the lion's cage, but then has to face the kangaroo and its playful joey. Next is the gorilla, then the crocodiles.

Duped (The Jezbel Experience)

Alexandria Wright meets Elijah Martinez and the demonic journey begins. Elijah Martinez finds himself ensnared in a romantic involvement with Alexandria Wright, an unfaithful Covert Narcissist. She convinces him they are soulmates and they take a vow before God for His blessing with the penalty of betrayal being death. After years pass, Alexandria forgets the vows and begins cheating behind Elijah's back. Just a week before Christmas, she abruptly betrays him. To his astonishment, she swiftly transitions to a new relationship, bringing with her the unsettling secret of transmitting an incurable sexually transmitted disease to her new partner. Then came Karma. Her victims arrive to spit on her dirty grave as her demise finally arrives.

Irene Huss 8: Det lömska nätet

A bicycle messenger sees a girl being brutally assaulted and dragged into a van. She immediately calls the police, but unfortunately the girl is found too late. It turns out that the murdered girl has been the victim of a serious sexual crime. Detective Inspector Irene Huss and the rest of the team begin to look for the murderer, but have very few clues to go on. When another young girl is murdered in a similar way, the team realizes that they are dealing with a sexual predator. How does he get in touch with the girls? Why do they agree to meet him? Why are they wearing special underwear?

The Vineyard

A Montevideo journalist discovers that the murder of a boy from the slums near the vineyards had political reasons, and was not an isolated incident. Developing a friendship with the victim's older brother, and then the entire family, the journalist tries to get to the bottom of this case. It is not the only case of summary executions of young poor boys in this vineyard, but nevertheless few people really want to challenge the powerful owner of the vineyards.

Mr. Topaze

Mr. Topaze is an unassuming school teacher in an unassuming small French town, who is honest to a fault. He is fired when he refuses to give a passing grade to a bad student, the grandson of a wealthy baroness. Castel Benac, a government official who runs a crooked financial business on the side, is persuaded by his mistress, Suzy, a musical comedy actress, to hire Mr. Topaze as the front man for his business. Gradually, Topaze becomes a rapacious financier who sacrifices his honesty for success and, in a final stroke of business bravado, fires Benac and acquires Suzy in the deal. An old friend and colleague, Tamise questions him and tells Topaze that what he now says and practices indicates there are no more honest men.

Once I Was Engaged

Sequel to the indie hit, "Once I Was a Beehive" and set about two years after that film took place. The young women and their leaders have grown up (some more than others), and Bree Carrington’s surprise engagement and the whirlwind of wedding planning brings them all back together – with hilarious and touching results.