Basketball is much more than a game in David Fine’s stirring documentary about an Iraqi women’s basketball team at the American University of Iraq—Sulaimani (AUIS) in Kurdistan. For the young women on the team, most of whom have never touched a basketball or been allowed to play sports at all before, it is a blissful escape from the realities of living in a war-torn nation.
The team members come from a variety of ethnicities and sects—Arab, Kurd, Christian, Sunni, Shiite—but the joy they discover in playing together and the deep love they come to feel for one another and for Ryan, their young American coach, reveals an Iraq united in a way we’ve rarely seen before.
Reviews:
“A stirring example of the possibilities for young Iraqis outside the country’s war zones.”
- Variety
“Of the majority of images and video to be coming from Iraq…SALAAM DUNK stands aside from the pack.”
- IndieWire
“Sometimes, it’s the simple things that we take for granted that can become the subjects of powerful films when told through the eyes of people a half a world away.”
- Film Slate Magazine
“The film captures their love for one another and for the game. It’s a purity that leads them to shoot free throws in the rain, or run layup drills at a hoop in the middle of nowhere. They don’t play for fame, scholarships, or money; they play because they can.”
- ESPN
Trailer:
At Festivals
2011 – LA Film Festival – World Premiere
2011 – Winner! Golden Plaque, Chicago Film Festival
2011 – DOHA Tribeca Film Festival – International Premiere
2011 – (IDFA) International Documentary Festival Amsterdam – European Premiere
2012 – Reframe International Film Festival – Canadian Premiere
When the residents of Budrus learn that the Israeli army plans to build the Separation Barrier through their town, cutting them off from neighboring Palestinian villages and uprooting their precious olive groves, they decide to organize. Under the leadership of Ayed Morrar, Palestinian men of all political factions come together to wage an unarmed struggle to preserve their lands. Victory seems unlikely until Ayed’s 15-year-old daughter steps in to organize a female contingent that brings the women of Budrus to the front lines in a tense stand-off with the military.
As word of the nonviolent protest spreads, Israeli citizens, international activists and Palestinians from other villages join the people of Budrus to demand that the Barrier be moved. Struggling side by side, father and daughter unleash an inspiring, yet little-known movement that is still gaining ground today. Featuring interviews with unarmed demonstrators, Israeli soldiers and the citizens of Budrus, this harrowing, action-filled, and ultimately inspiring documentary has given hope to audiences around the world with its story of the ground-breaking nonviolent movement spreading across the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
DVD Special Features: Trailer Q&A with Director Checkpoints Award “What’s your Calling” Language: Arabic, Hebrew & English | Subtitles: English
Reviews:
“A poignant chronicle… This inspiring documentary stresses peaceful resistance as the best means of conflict resolution.” - Variety
“A complex … documentary that shows a balanced picture of its competing protagonists. It finds a story for the future… in the shape of a social movement driven by pragmatism.” - Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitun
“A moving sliver of hope that nonviolent resistance may yet blossom out of violence.” – New York Magazine
“A powerful film filled with the kind of hope you rarely see around this issue.” – Michael Moore
“ This story is a journey that stretches beyond borders to provide hope, and it should be seen by everyone.” – Jessica Alba, Actress
“A strong piece of work from intelligent filmmakers.” – The Jewish Week
“Budrus chronicles a small victory in a much larger and uncertain battle, but with so much hopelessness in the region, it’s worth highlighting and, hopefully, emulating.” – The Nation
Trailer:
On TV
This film is not yet on TV.
In Theaters
December 20th – 23rd, 2010 – Real Art Ways - Hartford, Connecticut December 20th – 24th, 2010 – Varsity Theater – Seattle, WADecember 27th – 30th, 2010 – Facets Cinematheque - Chicago, IllinoisJanuary 3rd, 2011 – Haifa Cinematheque - Haifa, IsraelJanuary 6th, 2011 - SPACE Gallery - Portland, MaineJanuary 7th – 13th, 2011 – Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts - Grand Rapids, MichiganJanuary 14th – 20th, 2011 – Shattuck 10 – Berkley, CaliforniaJanuary 14th – 20th, 2011 – Lumiere Theater & Opera Plaza - San Fransisco, CaliforniaJanuary 29th & 31st, 2011 – Varsity Theatre – Davis, CaliforniaFebruary 16th, 2011 – Avon Theatre Film Center Inc. – Stamford, ConnecticutFebruary 25th – 27th, 2011 – Flint Institute of Arts – Flint, MichiganMarch 18th – 24th, 2011 – Main Art Theatre – Royal Oak, MichiganMarch 28th – 30th, 2011 – Fine Arts Theatre – Asheville, North CarolinaMay 3, 2011 - Bryn Mawr Film Institute - Bryn Mawr, PennsylvaniaMay 27, 2011 - Culver Center for the Arts - Riverside, California
At Festivals
Winner, Bellingham Human Rights Film Festival, 2011 Winner, Inaugural Ridenhour Documentary Film Prize, 2011 Winner, Amnesty’s Matter of Act Human Rights Award, 2011 Winner, Panorama Audience Award Second Prize, Berlin International Film Festival, 2010 Winner, Special Jury Mention, Tribeca Film Festival, 2010
Winner, Audience Award, San Francisco International Film Festival, 2010
Winner, Honorable Mention Spirit of Freedom Award, Jerusalem International Film Festival 2010
Winner, Witness Award at Silverdocs Film Festival, 2010
Winner, Honorable Mention of the Jury, Documenta Madrid 10
Winner, Amnesty Italia Award, Pesaro Film Festival, 2010
Winner, Founders Prize, Best of Fest, Nonfiction, Traverse City Film Festival, 2010
Winner, Checkpoints Award, Bergen International Film Festival, 2010
Winner, Festival des Libertés Prize, Festival des Libertés, 2010
Winner, Spirit of Freedom Documentary Award, Bahamas International Film Festival, 2010
Cultural Bridge Gala, Dubai International Film Festival, 2009
Official Selection, Human Rights Watch International Film Festival London, 2010
Official Selection, Thessaloniki International Film Festival, 2010
Official Selection, E Tudo Verdade/It’s All True Film Festival, 2010
Official Selection, Hot Docs Film Festival, 2010
Official Selection, Sydney Film Festival, 2010
Official Selection, Planete Doc Review, 2010
Official Selection, Documentarist Film Festival, Istanbul, 2010
Official Selection, DokuFest Kosovo, 2010
Official Selection, Woods Hole Film Festival, 2010
Official Selection, Rhode Island International Film Festival, 2010
Official Selection, EBS International Documentary Festival, Korea, 2010
Official Selection, Festival do Rio, 2010
Official Selection, Take One Action Film Festival, 2010
Official Selection, Bergen International Film Festival, Norway, 2010
Official Selection, Mumbai International Film Festival, 2010
Official Selection, Festival des Libertes, 2010
Official Selection, Doha Tribeca Film Festival, 2010
Official Selection, Jihlava International Documentary Festival, 2010
Official Selection, St. Louis International Film Festival, 2010
Official Selection, Milwaukee International Film Festival, 2010
Official Selection, Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival, 2010
Official Selection, Jakarta International Film Festival, 2010
Official Selection, Bend Film Festival, 2010
Official Selection, Toronto Palestine Film Festival, 2010
Official Selection, Boston Palestine Film Festival, 2010
Official Selection, Arab Film Festival, 2010
Official Selection, Rehoboth Beach Film Festival, 2010
Official Selection, Ad Hoc: Inconvenient Films, 2010
Official Selection, One World Film Festival, 2010
Official Selection, Lens Politica Film Festival, 2010
Official Selection, Doha Tribeca Film Festival, 2010
Official Selection, Reykjavik International Film Festival, 2010
Official Selection, Camden International Film Festival, 2010
Official Selection, Palestine Human Rights Film Festival, 2010
Official Selection, Global Peace Film Festival, 2010
Official Selection, International Women’s Film Festival, 2010
Official Selection, San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, 2010
While visiting Iraq in 2007 for the premiere of his first feature film, Ahlaam, director Mohamed Al-Daradji summons the courage to look back over the turbulent past three years of his life and the making of his film in a volatile war zone.
Undaunted by ever present dangers and heartbreaking chaos, Mohamed returned to his home in Baghdad in 2004. The Iraq he had once known had vanished, replaced by the gritty aftermath of 35 years of dictatorship, three wars, and the wake of occupation. Finding the once vibrant streets consumed by unemployment, poverty, and madness, he strives to fulfill his dream of making a film in the country he loves.
Determined not to succumb to physical and emotional strife, Mohamed’s camera rolls on as the world begins to unravel around him. A spectrum of society previously sidelined by images of war is introduced to the audience: a young child sings for Saddam; a father grieves for his hanged son; a young actor thinks back on his time in prison; a troubled friend becomes lost in madness.
Struggling against seemingly insurmountable hurdles involving persecution, imprisonment, personal injury, terrorist attacks, and the numerous restrictions established by U.S. troops, Al-Daradji proves himself to be one of the world’s most truly independent filmmakers. War, Love, God, & Madness is the riveting film that documents his experience of making cinematic art in one of the most dangerous and chaotic places on Earth.
Reviews:
“The horrific toll on cast and crew during the making of Iraqi feature Ahlaam is told by its helmer, Mohamed Al-Daradji, in War, Love, God, & Madness. More than merely a companion piece to the 2005 drama, docu provides a disturbing look at the situation in occupied Baghdad, when safety was illusory and kidnapping and torture became not merely a hypothetical fear but a reality.” – Jay Weissberg, Variety
“War, Love, God, & Madness offers a staggering and petrifying insight into the very real dangers faced by Al-Daradji and his crew as they attempt to give politics a bodyswerve, in favour of lending the average person on the street a voice.” – Amber Wilkinson, Eye for Film
“This isn’t just a film about making a film, but a film about not letting go of your dreams even when circumstances are at their worst.” – Robin Ruinsky, Film School Rejects
“An amazing and uplifting documentary, which shows precisely how dangerous shooting in Iraq can be.” – Mark Kermode, BBC
Trailer:
At Festivals
2008 – Premiered at the Rotterdamn International Film Festival
2008 – Top 10 Best Films at the Tribeca International Film Festival
2009 – Grand Jury Prize at the Ismailia International Film Festival (Egypt)
2009 – Cinema City International Film Festival (Siberia)
2010 – Jury Special Mention at the Moqavemat International Film Festival (Iran)
2010 – Bradford International Film Festival (UK)
2010 – Washington D.C. International Film Festival: Arabian Sights
Blu-ray version is available. Click here to buy the Blu-ray
Description:
With “an elegiac poignancy” (New York Times), director James Allen Smith’s Floored ” captures the waning heyday of the Chicago Trading Pits” (ABC News) and tells the bizarre and gripping stories of the traders—”overgrown kids with money, brains and a pathological need to release stress” (Barron’s) whose chaotic, audacious and thrill-seeking way of life has all but vanished with the recent shift toward automated computerized stock trading.
“A lively documentary about a profession that has almost been wiped out” (Bloomberg.com), Floored takes audiences into the lives of the Chicago trading floor’s everyman—from those who have gracefully adapted to the new age of electronic trading to those who have defiantly refused to change—and offers a fascinating examination of the never-ending pursuit of the American Dream. Prairie Miller of News Blaze calls Floored “a must-see about greed, material obsession, perpetually unfulfilled lust for loot, shoving matches, and suicide.”
Reviews:
“Floored focuses on the working-class wolves who stalk Chicago… Director James Allen Smith delves deep…” - Eric Hynes, Time Out
“(Floored) captures waning heyday of Chicago Trading Pits…” - Michael Hirtzer, ABC News
“There’s an elegiac poignancy in James Allen Smith’s Floored” - Andy Webster, The New York Times
“A must-see about greed, material obsession, perpetually unfulfilled lust for loot, shoving matches, and suicide.” - Prairie Miller, News Blaze
“…a lively documentary about a profession that has almost been wiped out.” - Rick Warner, Bloomberg.com
“Floored profiles a handful of eccentric (read: obnoxious) traders attempting the difficult transition to electronic exchange. Stock-doc acknowledges the high-pressure stakes that led many traders to addiction and suicide…” - Andrew Schenker, Village Voice
“I enjoyed the hell out of the film” - Ain’t It Cool News
“This is a memorable portrait of men whose experience buying and selling futures hardly prepared them for what their own future held in store.” - J.R. Jones, Chicago Reader
” (Smith) captured the traders when their lives were at a turning point.” - Crain’sNew York Business
While in Beirut to attend a glamorous banquet, legendary French actress Catherine Deneuve (Potiche, Belle de Jour) insists on being taken to the southern regions of Lebanon in order to see first-hand the devastation caused by Israel’s month-long bombing campaign there in the summer of 2006.
Cleverly blurring the lines between documentary and fiction, directors Khalil Joreige and Joana Hadjithomas (A Perfect Day) create a mesmerizing, thought-provoking travelogue in which they appear as filmmakers capturing Deneuve’s road-trip on camera.
After visiting the crumbling ruins of ancient villages and watching as the shattered remnants of cities and towns are slowly pushed into the sea, Deneuve’s perception of Lebanon is transformed somewhat when she appears later that evening before the myriad photographers ardently capturing her image at the elegant evening gala.
DVD Special Features: Filmographies Typecast Trailers Language: Arabic & French | Subtitles: English
Reviews:
“There’s no denying that this is a single-note film, but it’s a note of considerable emotional clout.” —David Jenkins, Time Out
“Magnificent!…must not be missed. I could heap praises on it forever.” —Charles Mudede, The Stranger
“A fascinating little film in which Deneuve’s disorientation comes to stand for that distance we all feel in the West when forced to think about the reality behind the headlines and news reports.” —Jon Fortgang, Film4
“An unusual, personal film…defies description.” —Ted Fry, The Seattle Times
“A potent and intriguing cinema of ideas.” —Peter Bradshaw, Guardian (UK)
In Theaters
Typecast Releasing is pleased to announce that I Want to See, the new feature film from directors Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige (A Perfect Day) will have its U.S. theatrical premiere at Seattle’s Northwest Film Forum on Saturday, July 9th, where it will play daily through Thursday, July 14th. More info can be found here:
Filmmaker James Smith spends a year documenting the lives of his eccentric Massachusetts parents as age and health issues challenge the routines and existence they know so well. The resulting film, My Name Is Smith, is a fascinating document of the struggles and triumphs of many other American families—the Smiths must come to terms with disappointing careers, alcohol abuse, religious fundamentalism, obesity, and shattered ideals. However, the true revelation is the humor and grace with which the film’s subjects face their trials, resulting in a beautiful, sensitive portrayal of commitment, love, and infectious optimism.
The film’s poignant moments, complicated relationships, and unique characters blend together to create a colorful, humorous portrait of the present, illuminated by surprising revelations from the past. The filmmaker’s observations ultimately reveal an unlikely discovery—an all-American love story like no other you’ve seen before.
Filmed with a borrowed camera and featuring a cast made up almost entirely of the director’s friends and relatives, Taking Father Home is the moving story of Xu Yun, a teenager who lives in a remote village in China’s Sichuan province. With nothing but a basket of geese to use as currency, he travels to the city of Zigong to find and retrieve his father who walked out on the family six years before. Once in Zigong, Yun learns quickly as he finds no shortage of mentors eager to impart advice.
Director Ying Liang’s remarkable evocation of the sights, sounds and smells of Zigong is breathtaking, recreating the mood and character of an entire culture with just the simplest of touches and the most basic use of dialogue. An utterly engaging emotional experience, Taking Father Home has established Ying as one of world cinema’s most promising young talents.
Trailer:
Reviews:
“I could not tear myself away from the screen until I learned the outcome of Xu Yun’s journey to take father home” - Malcom L. Rigsby, Department of Sociology, Ouachita Baptist University
“Ying presents China with an incisive, analytical eye; in his calmly unfolding tableaux, the dramatic action seems to arise from the jarring locations, such as high-rise buildings abutting rundown alleys and desolate boulevards that loom in the night like dead zones. The eruption of the foretold devastation—the floods, which are shown in documentary images—corresponds to the moral devastation that surrounds the boy’s desperate mission. This richly nuanced yet powerfully symbolic movie is an astonishingly accomplished début.” - Richard Brody, the New Yorker
An opus in three parts, Iraq In Fragments offers a series of intimate, passionately-felt portraits: A fatherless 11-year-old is apprenticed to the domineering owner of a Baghdad garage; Sadr followers in two Shiite cities rally for regional elections while enforcing Islamic law at the point of a gun; a family of Kurdish farmers welcomes the US presence, which has allowed them a measure of freedom previously denied.
American director James Longley spent more than two years filming in Iraq to create this stunningly photographed, poetically rendered documentary of the war-torn country as seen through the eyes of Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. Winner of Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Editing awards in the 2006 Sundance Film Festival documentary competition, the film was also awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the 2006 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, was named Best Documentary at the Chicago International Film Festival, and was nominated for Best Documentary at the 2007 Academy Awards.
Special Features
Feature-length audio commentary by director James Longley
James Longley’s short film Iraq Before The War
James Longley’s Academy Award nominated (2008) short film Sari’s Mother on Home Video DVD copies
15-minute director interview hosted by film critic Robert Horton
Short films by students from Baghdad’s Independent Film & Television College
English, French, German, Japanese & Spanish subtitle options
5.1 & 2.0 audio
Beautiful 16×9 transfer
Trailers
Reviews:
“. . . if Longley’s astonishing feat of poetic agitation has a precedent in the entire history of documentary, I’m not aware of it.”- Rob Nelson, The Village Voice
“[An] evocative, heartbreaking documentary told from three disparate but equally compelling perspectives: the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.” – Kevin Williamson, Jam!Movies
“Iraq in Fragments … is a well-crafted, thoughtful study of the dueling divisiveness and hope that will define the region long after foreign troops leave.”- John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press
“A timely, lyrical and candid look at daily life in a post-invasion Iraq.”- Dennis Schwartz, Ozus’ World Movie Reviews
“James Longley’s haunting, oblique film, Iraq in Fragments, presents a collage of images, sounds and characters in an intimate, partial portrait of an unraveling nation.”- A.O. Scott, New York Times
“The struggles recorded in his dazzling Iraq in Fragments aren’t battlefield conflicts, but the personal, religious and political efforts of Iraqi citizens to reassemble their shattered lives.” – Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune
“A remarkable example of the conjunction of a burningly topical and newsworthy subject with a brilliant filmmaker.”- Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
“The film is unusual among Iraq documentaries for its impressionistic, frequently gorgeous cinematography and for its structure …” – Kyle Smith, New York Post
“A documentary of stunning immediacy and marvelous images…” – Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
Trailer:
In Theaters
This film is not currently playing in theaters.
At Festivals
Winner Best Director Sundance Film Festival
Winner Best Documentary Gotham Awards
Winner Best Documentary IDA Awards
Academy Award Nominee: Best Documentary Feature, 2006
Home Video DVD copies also include Sari’s Mother, an Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary Short, 2007. Also available on Blu-ray!
On Demand
Watch this film instantly through YouTube Rentals!
In this achingly romantic tale, handsome young Tariq is about to marry Bilquis, eldest daughter of a prominent and powerful judge. But as he wanders the ancient city of Sana’a late one night, he spots a beautiful young woman dancing in the street and falls madly in love with her.
Before long, the young groom must choose between following his heart and protecting his family’s honor. Filmed entirely on location in the ancient city of Sana’a, this exquisite film is the first feature film ever to come out of Yemen.
World Premiere
- Cannes International Film Festival, 2006
U.S. Premiere
- Seattle Arab & Iranian Film Festival, 2006
Official Selection
- Vancouver International Film Festival, 2006
Official Selection
- Arabian Sights, Film Fest D.C., 2006
Official Selection
- Palm Springs International Film Festival, 2007
Reviews:
“It weaves a fairytale of unrequited love, bundled together with an anecdote or two suffused with local color. . . it indulges in a bit of magic realism.”
- Toronto Daily Star
Trailer:
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In Theaters
This film is no longer in theaters
At Festivals
Winner
Arab Film Prize
Cairo Film Festival
This film is no longer at film festivals.
On Demand
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Twenty-two year old Corporal Jonathan Santos had documented his 37 days of military service in Iraq in a personal diary before a roadside bomb took his life and the lives of several of his friends and servicemen on October 15, 2004. Jonathan’s mother, Doris, wasn’t aware that her son had kept a diary until his Tuff Box™ – a soldier’s chest filled with their most valuable items – was sent to her after his death. Upon opening the box, she discovered his “little green book” and a stack of videocassettes on which he had recorded daily life in Iraq.
When Doris is finally able to bring herself to watch the tapes, she finds images of Jonathan’s arrival in Iraq, pictures from a cousin’s wedding he was able to attend while on leave, and scenes of Jonathan laughing and joking with his Army buddies including Private Matthew Drake, one of Jonathan’s best friends, who was the sole survivor of the attack in which Jonathan was killed. The record of Jonathan’s final few weeks, in which he expresses fears and doubts never voiced to his family in person, is at once inspiring, personal and profound.
Both an affecting story of courage and a universal tribute to soldiers everywhere, The Corporal’s Diaryfollows Doris’ journey as she moves beyond her pain to meet with the families of others who have lost loved ones in the war. Together they share stories, offer comfort and pay tribute to the lives of the brave young servicemen and women who have sacrificed their lives in Iraq.
DVD Extras:
Limited edition 20 page booklet which includes Jonathans complete diary entries from Iraq.
Feature Audio Commentary
The Corporal’s Boots – The story of one soldier’s boots in the national exhibit, “Eyes Wide Open.”
Interview: Doris and Lisa – Followup interview with the mothers of Jonathan and Matthew.
Corporal Santos’ Last Letter Home – Jonathan’s last letter home, read by his mother.
Update on Matthew’s condition
Classroom Guide / Teaching Materials
Reviews:
“A heartfelt tribute to a human being by those who loved him.”- Bill White, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
“Santos’ footage is remarkable for its unremarkable scenes of soldiers joking and complaining of the boredom and mundane facts of life in a confusing war zone. There is seemingly nothing special about them. They could be your neighbors or your sons.”- David Allen, Stars and Stripes
“The content of each journal is so entertaining and compelling that, if one didn’t know better, a viewer might assume The Corporal’s Diary was yet another faux documentary about the war told from the perspective of a fictional serviceman.”- Tom Keogh, Seattle Times
Trailer:
In Theaters
This film is no longer in theaters.
At Festivals
This film is no longer at film festivals.
Winner Most Powerful Documentary
Seattle True Independent Film Festival
On Demand
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At Festivals
In Theaters
