First Run Features (Firm)

Carmo would do anything to escape the hellhole of a Brazilian border town where she lives. So when a lonesome, wheelchair-bound low-life named Marco arrives on the scene, she jumps at the chance to help him transport a shipment of smuggled goods. An unlikely romance unfolds as the two are chased through a lush and jagged South American landscape by bandidos, the police and their own passions alike. A lawless, reckless journey of self-discovery, this...

The Nation, America’s oldest weekly magazine, founded in 1865 and now in its 150th year, has long been considered one of America’s definitive journalistic voices. Hot Type, the new film by Barbara Kopple, a two-time Academy Award winner for Best Documentary Feature, tells the riveting and surprising story of The Nation.. The film captures daily life at the magazine, introduces staff writers and editors past and present, and follows members of...

Imagine: beauty makeovers for butch lesbians; tackle football for gay men: electroshock orgasmic reorientation... these and other funny, bizarre, and often terrifying methods have been used for decades to "cure" gays and lesbians of their homosexuality. ONE NATION UNDER GOD takes us into the strange world of "ex-gay" ministries and "conversion" therapies, revealing shocking techniques used to "straighten" out all those "twisted" souls. At the center...

McElwee pursues murder, mayhem and catastrophe the same way he pursued southern women in Sherman's March. Made after McElwee becomes a father and finds himself at home watching a lot more TV, he becomes obsessed with the nightly tales of calamity reported on by the local news. This fascination soon turns into another cross country journey to unearth the full stories of those affected. As McElwee pursues this project he also finds himself in Hollywood...

How does a mentally ill person drown himself in a few feet of water on a crowded Memorial Day beach? ..A tall, middle-aged, fully dressed man walks up to his shoulders into the cold shallow waters of San Francisco Bay; and he waits. Police and Fire units respond in droves; and they wait. A good-sized crowd watches and waits as the sand in the man’s hourglass runs out. Succumbing to the cold and rising tide, the man loses consciousness within the...

Enjoying life in their mid-thirties, Kira and her husband Mads have a large house and two wonderful children. Their world is perfectly secure and comfortable until Kira develops a psychiatric disorder, which eventually commits her to a hospital. On being discharged, Kira's sole desire is to return to the normality of her previous life and fulfill her role as a good wife and mother. But, as she struggles to maintain equilibrium, she discovers Mads...

Simply and eloquently, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz explains how the world's economy works. Drawing not only from his academic expertise but also from time spent on the ground in countries around the world, Stiglitz offers fresh thinking about the questions and challenges facing all of us - from well-off Americans to those mired in Third World poverty. This five part series will appeal to experts and non-experts alike, as Stiglitz's...

In an era when Dick, Jane, and discipline ruled America’s schools, Albert Cullum allowed Shakespeare, Sophocles, and Shaw to reign in his fifth grade public school classroom. Through the use of poetry, drama and imaginative play, Cullum championed an unorthodox educational philosophy that spoke directly to his students’ needs.. Many of Cullum’s projects were recorded on film by then novice filmmaker Robert Downey, Sr. Weaving stunning black...

In 2015 what is commonly questioned, “Justice,” and how it’s applied. Our 40 minute documentary short tells the stories surrounding the perception of justice and unarmed incidents. The dynamic documentary features legal experts, local activists, and law enforcement officers delving into ongoing charges of inequality, unfair practices, and politicized manipulations of America's judicial system.. Additionally, the Black Lives Matter movement and...

America's 50-million strong Evangelical community is convinced that the world's future is foretold in Biblical prophecy - from the Rapture to the Battle of Armageddon. This astonishing documentary explores their world - in their homes, at conferences, and on a wide-ranging tour of Israel. By interweaving Christian, Zionist, Jewish and critical perspectives along with telling archival materials, the filmmakers probe the politically powerful - and potentially...