Bonobos (2011)

A coming of age story about a boy and his family who overcame great challenges by turning Disney animated movies into a language to express love, loss, kinship and brotherhood.

Totonel (10) and his sisters, Andreea (14) and Ana (17), are waiting for their mother to come back home from prison. As they grow up, each of them learns how to survive on their own, hoping that when their mother returns, the family will be reunited.—Strada Film

As though life is imitating art, actor and sex-symbol, Andy Whitfield, had just become a star as the lead in the hit television series,'Spartacus,' when he is faced with his biggest personal challenge - life-threatening cancer. 'Be Here Now' is a feature documentary that follows him on his dramatic journey to cure himself. Confirmed in matching affirmative tattoos, he and his charismatic wife and their two children, commit to taking Andy's healing into their own hands and living life fully, not in the shadows of the disease. Each step tests their limits and strength of character, while revealing their tenderness, humor and determination. And, as each person goes through their own transformations, the film becomes an inspiring and universal story of courage, love and resilience.

El Sistema, Venezuela's phenomenal youth orchestra program, now a global movement, brings social transformation to disadvantaged children. Our film is an in-depth, verite-based look at three kids as they participate in a pair of Sistema-inspired programs in the US. In Stanford Thompson's Play On, Philly! program, Raven is a violin natural whose rambunctious spirit gets her in trouble. We also meet quiet, quirky Zebadiah, whose viola brings him out of his loneliness. Meanwhile, in Harlem, Anne Fitzgibbon's Harmony Program nurtures troubled Mohammed, their trombone star, whose African-born father is far more concerned with his son's failing grades. Heartbreak and joy come in big doses as we watch our three young people discovering themselves through the mysterious power of music.—Anonymous

'HeartChild' is a documentary film about the 28 year Crys Worley, who is the mother of a nine year old autistic child, Sasha. It is a remarkable story about a mother's struggles, not only with her own health, but the well being of her son. Committing to Sasha that she will never give up on him and inspired by the challenges parents of autistic children face, she started a non-profit organization, called A.Skate - Autism. Skating with Kids through Acceptance, Therapy, and Education. This film documents her extraordinary story.

María lives with her mother May, in the Canary Islands, 3,000 km from Barcelona, where Miguel Gallardo has his home. Sometimes Miguel and María go on holiday together, spending a week at a resort in southern Gran Canaria, a rather unusual setting where the guests don't normally include a single father and his fourteen year-old autistic daughter. This is the story of one of their journeys, but above all it's an original tale, full of humor, irony and sincerity, about how to live with a disability.

From Mars to Earth and underneath. Above and Below is a rough and rhythmic roller coaster ride seating five survivors in their daily hustle through an apocalyptic world. A journey of challenges and beauty in uncomfortable places: Rick & Cindy, Godfather Lalo in the flood channels deep down under the shiny strip of Sin City. Dave in the dry and lonesome Californian desert and April in simulation for a Mars mission in the Utah desert. Through the hustle, the pain and the laughs, we are whisked away to an unfamiliar world, yet quickly discover the souls we encounter are perhaps not that different from our own.

A portrait of different characters working and living in one of the busiest, noisiest streets of Mexico City's Downtown.

Happy takes us on a journey from the swamps of Louisiana to the slums of Kolkata in search of what really makes people happy.

Can You Dig This explores the urban gardening revolution currently taking place in South Central Los Angeles, one of the largest food deserts in the country. We follow the inspirational personal journeys of five 'gangster gardeners,' all planting the seeds for a better life.

The shocking chronicle of the Russian Adoption Ban and the American father targeted by Vladimir Putin; A story of scandal, murder and innocent orphans held hostage in a political chess game.

When Ryan and Amy Green learned that their baby son Joel's rare cancer was terminal, Ryan, an indie game developer, found solace in the only creative outlet he knew: a video game, the critically acclaimed "That Dragon, Cancer."

The story of Canadian band The Bells, told from the perspective of the daughter of two of the band members, the film's director/writer Jessica Edwards.

An intimate portrait about the iconic filmmaker John Boorman directed by his daughter Katrine. The story is told through the relationship of father and daughter, it is a journey about film making, family conflict, love and reconciliation.

SWIM TEAM chronicles the overwhelming struggles and extraordinary triumphs of 3 young athletes with autism and shows how a swim team can bring hope to a community.

TRANS is an extraordinary documentary feature about men and women, and all the variations in between. It is about the Transgender Community, perhaps the most misunderstood and mistreated minority in America and around the world. Inspired by the incredible story of Dr. Christine McGinn and her work as a transgender surgeon, TRANS provides an up-close and very personal vision into the lives, loves, and challenges of a remarkable cast of characters of all ages and from all walks of life. Stories of confusion and courage, excitement and emotion that have never been told, until now. To anyone who has ever looked in a mirror and wondered, 'who they really are?' TRANS ask another question, 'are you brave enough to find out?'

Takes us into a hidden world of prostitution and sexual trafficking through the eyes of one of its survivors, Brenda Myers-Powell.

Neurotypical is an unprecedented exploration of autism from the point of view of autistic people themselves.

IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE explores identity and legacy in the African-American family, as Grammy award-winning rapper Che 'Rhymefest' Smith and his long-lost father reconnect and try to build a new future in Chicago's turbulent South Side. Himself a child of a broken home, Che hasn't seen his father, Brian, in over 20 years, and presumes him dead. But after buying his father's childhood home, Che sets out to find him, and learns that his is now a homeless alcoholic living only several blocks away/ The film offers a probing take on memory and identity in a family two generations removed from slavery as it tracks Che and Brian's shared journey to create a new legacy for themselves, their community and the next generation of family.

The film follows Agustina as she finds the videotapes that her father Jaime recorded before the accident that took his life. The family secrets surrounding Jaime push Agustina to get involved. Her search will reveal a story marked by sexuality and political activism.

Renowned ball-room dancer Pierre Dulaine takes his program, Dancing Classrooms, back to his city of birth, Jaffa, to teach Jewish and Palestinian Israelis to dance and compete together.

A homeless orphan in Kenya becomes a lucrative businessman, only to give it all up and open an orphanage that today serves over 2000 Kenyan children.

Fruits of Labor follows the day-in-a-life of a young farm and factory worker in California, who dreams of being the first in her family to graduate from high school and go to college.

Suspended between life and death, a Mexican American mother explores uncertainty through dance.

Miss You Can Do It chronicles Abbey Curran, Miss Iowa USA 2008 and the first woman with a disability to compete at the Miss USA Pageant, and eight girls with various physical and intellectual disabilities as the girls participate in the Miss You Can Do It Pageant. Abbey founded the annual Miss You Can Do It Pageant in 2004 and girls and their families travel from all around the country to participate in this one night where their inner beauty and abilities reign.

This story is about a journey, a relationship and returning home. He has already been driving his truck for twenty years throughout Russia while she waits him at home. He is alone on the road. She is together with her beloved pet, faithful friend and protector Irbis. This could continue for longer if he was not terminally ill.

Blood Relative is a cinema verite documentary that follows the remarkable story of Indian activist Vinay Shetty who is fighting to save two children who are dying from the rare disease Thalassemia. As a result of not being able to afford the life-saving medication, fourteen year old Divya and twenty-four year old Imran have severely stunted growth and remain trapped in the bodies of children. Chronicling Vinay's battle against the Indian government to get Divya and Imran free medical treatment, the film gets unprecedented access into modern India's broken healthcare system. Caught in the middle are Vinay and the children he must look after who are bound together by ties stronger than blood.—Anonymous

Having personally witnessed Sir Elton John's failed attempt to adopt a child, a young couple questions themselves if they are ready for kids and whether everyone should match a certain criteria to be either biological or adoptive parents. The search for the answer pushes them into an entire journey through Nepal, Ukraine, China, the United Kingdom and the USA where they face corruption of the adoption system and have to stand against billions of dollars behind it... They meeting people who managed to adopt and those who failed because of their skin color, weight, or habits... In the middle of their investigation, they reveal that the right to have kids can be easily taken away from people even in most civilized countries... no votes needed, the regulations are already in action! Should we just accept these regulations or should fight against them?—Mike Dudko

The film follows seven wine-making families in the Burgundy region of France through the course of a full year, and delves into the cultural and creative process of making wine, as well as its deep ties to the land. What lies within the rhythm of a year, from vines to grapes to wine? The film is in four season-sections, and plays out against that backdrop: spring showers, drought, heat wave, hail and storms, harvest moons and the damp cold of winter. Each vintage is a time capsule, a bottled piece of history of a very specific year, with its particular weather pattern, its crises and its triumphs. It all goes in, whether you want it to or not, and 2011 was full of drama.

Left on Purpose is a documentary film about the friendship between an aging anti-war activist who has decided that his last political act will be to take his own life and the filmmaker who is struggling to tell the story.

A documentary centered on a young man in Spain who claims to a grieving Texas family that he is their 16-year-old son who has been missing for 3 years.

A group of rodeo trick-riders recruits a young girl to join them.

The story of Kevin Laue striving to be the first one-armed basketball player ever to receive a scholarship and play on an elite NCAA Division 1 basketball team.

Chronicling first-time filmmaker Daniel Gillies' struggle to finance his independent feature film, Broken Kingdom, and featuring other filmmakers' stories of their own adventures in indie cinema.

Thirty miles from the Arctic Circle, in the northern Icelandic town of Husavik, stands the Icelandic Phallological Museum - the world's only Penis museum. Over 40 years, the founder and curator has collected every specimen from every mammal except for one elusive penis needed to complete his collection: The Human Specimen. The film follows the curator's incredible, sublimely comic, often shocking quest to complete his eccentric collection, and the two intrepid men who have raised their hands to be the first human donor.

An interior designer is hired to decorate a lavish mansion over the Christmas season.