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- A gritty, provocative true-life story of three friends from the 'hood, Rameck Hunt, Sampson Davis, and George Jenkins, who made a pact in high school to find a way to go to college and then medical school. They not only accomplished this, but they're now spreading the word to inspire other inner-city kids to stay off of drugs, out of gangs and to take the educational route to a better life. THE PACT captures the pathos of the men's individual journeys, the integrity of their voices and the power of their rare friendship. Their stories affirm the values that ultimately sustained and drove them: courage, tenacity, and faith. And they give tribute to the life of the mind and its power to turn dreams into reality.
- In 1788 the slave ship Africa, set sail from West Africa and headed for America with its berth laden with a profitable but highly perishable cargo-hundreds of men, women and children bound in chains. Six months later the survivors were sold in Natchez, Mississippi. One of them, a 26-year-old man named Abdul-Rahman made a remarkable claim to the farmer who purchased him at the auction that he was an African prince and that his father would pay gold for his ransom. The offer was refused and Abdul-Rahman did not return to Africa for another 40 years. During his enslavement he toiled on the Foster plantation, married, and fathered nine children. His story also eventually made him the most famous African in America, attracting the support of powerful men such as President John Quincy Adams. After forty years of slavery, Abdul-Rahman finally reclaimed his freedom, but he defied the order to return immediately to Africa, and instead traveled throughout the northern states, speaking to huge audiences in a partially successful attempt to raise enough money to buy his children's freedom. Finally at the age of 67, and after raising funds to free two of his children, Abdul-Rahman returned to Africa, only to fall ill and die just as word of his arrival reached his former home of Futa Jalloo in present-day Guinea. Abdul-Rahman survived the harsh ordeals of slavery through his love of family and his deep faith as a Muslim.
- The film features live stand-up performances by Azhar Usman, Preacher Moss and Mohammed Amer as well as behind the scenes sequences highlighting the individual comedians. The trio poke fun at Muslims and non-Muslims alike and their comedic material plays with stereotypes to invite people to think outside of their fixed cultural perceptions.
- Heather Shaner has represented alleged criminals who can't afford a lawyer in Washington, DC for more than 40 years. Committed to rehabilitating clients through education, the blue-haired five-foot-tall public defender has earned a beloved status among the thousands she's helped. But her goodwill ran out as she watched Trump supporters terrorize her city and storm the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. When the Federal Defenders Office called days later, asking her to represent some of the insurrectionists, she felt no compassion for them. Heather turned down the felons accused of sedition, but after some reflection, she ultimately took on a caseload of nonviolent offenders. She was curious how the average American could become radicalized and get swept up in a lie. Two of Heather's clients, Tennessean Jack Griffith and Pennsylvanian Annie Howell, were charged with disorderly and disruptive conduct, as well as picketing inside the Capitol building. They say they didn't plan to try to overthrow the government, they just liked being part of something important. Former President Trump's MAGA campaign gave them that. As Heather learns about her clients, she realizes their upbringings left them susceptible to manipulation - the perfect foot soldiers in a cynical culture war. Heather, 74, decides they need to know about America's history and assigns them to read John Lewis's autobiography and "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee." This is as much an entry point for conversation as a test of their commitment to rehabilitation. As Annie and Jack begin to trust their left-leaning lawyer, Heather faces death threats and criticism. She is condemned by liberals for extending sympathy to people who "don't deserve it," and accused by conservatives of subjecting her clients to "Soviet-style-re-education." Though the Capitol attack has been covered exhaustively, there is scant reporting on the average Americans who joined the fray. Unlike other documentaries on the subject, 'A Capitol Case' offers rare insight into private legal processes, closed-door congressional meetings, and attorney-client conversations. More importantly, though, it is an intimate portrait of individuals grappling with beliefs they thought were hard-wired but are now being tested by unlikely friendships and lessons in history.
- First Lady of the Revolution is the remarkable story of Henrietta Boggs, a Southern belle who takes a life-altering journey through marriage, civil war and audacious democratic reforms to become the First Lady of Costa Rica.
- A grieving mother decides to open her life and her heart to the public in asking for help scattering the ashes of her son, who committed suicide at the age of 20, in locations around the world.
- Stetson Kennedy waged a lifelong war against racial inequality, institutional segregation and social injustice. An audacious, determined, larger-than-life character, his daring actions demonstrate how one man bravely risked his life to transform the destiny of a nation. A privileged son of Southern heritage, a young Kennedy could not ignore the bigotry and intolerance around him. In the 1940's, he went undercover to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan and fed information to the producers of the nationally broadcast Superman radio show to expose the identities of their leaders. A prolific author, crusading journalist, tireless activist, early environmentalist and chronic womanizer, Kennedy was a wild man, not above embellishment or self-promotion, but his courage, his actions and his accomplishments made him a legend. KLANDESTINE MAN is his story.
- Below the belt cancers and a below the radar cause are thrust into the limelight as N.E.D., or No Evidence of Disease, a rock band of GYN surgeons, put the plight of their patients center stage in this riveting story of women fighting for their lives.
- In 2011, Syria's Bashar al-Assad answered his nation's demands for freedom by launching a brutal war against his own people. While the U.S. drew red lines for intervention, Assad ramped up the attacks, starving and killing civilians and children, including the use of chemical weapons, leveling cities, targeting journalists and blocking humanitarian aid to millions of victims. Abandoned by the outside world, individual activists stepped in to fill the roles of banned journalists, international aid agencies and feckless foreign governments. Red Lines tells the story of two such activists, who despite overwhelming obstacles, attempt to establish democratic enclaves in their devastated homeland.
- In the grip of the Great Depression, unemployed men and women joined an unlikely WPA program to document America in guidebooks and interviews. With the Federal Writers' Project, the government pitted young, untested talents against the problems of everyday Americans. From that experience, some of America's great writers found their own voices, and discovered the Soul of a People.
- Chronicles the true story of how one man's struggle to build a mosque in a New York suburb post 9/11 helped unite an interfaith community.
- During World War II and the era of staunch racial segregation, a Black carpenter's son named Vivien Thomas, who had a talent for surgery, along with a white surgeon named Dr. Alfred Blalock, who defied the medical establishment created a partnership that changed the course of cardiac surgery. With only a high school diploma, Thomas became a leading cardiac pioneer and educator of two generations of the United States' premiere heart surgeons. This moving documentary tells the story of Thomas and his relationship with Blalock, one that ushered in advances in surgery that are still in existence today.
- Folkways Records founder Moses Asch turned the music business model on its head. He avoided hit makers and catered to unknown musicians. He dug into vanishing traditions around the world to harness music and sounds that inspire people. Artists like Woody Guthrie and Lead Belly can still be heard on this original indie label that, for over sixty years, has made good on its mission of gathering sound and spreading it to the people.