The Function of Fiction is the Abstraction and Simulation of Social Experience

The Secret of Trees

2013 · ★ 5

13-year-old inventor Aidan has discovered that trees use a mathematical formula to gather sunlight in crowded forests. Now he wonders why we don't collect solar energy the same way.

Blind Gary Davis

1964

A short documentary on the "Harlem Street Singer," blues artist Rev. Gary Davis. Features footage of his neighborhood, Davis talking about his upbringing, and two performances including "Death Don't Have No Mercy." Benefiting from New York's folk revival in the 1960s, Davis influenced artists such as Dave Van Ronk, Bob Dylan, and the Grateful Dead.

Smallpox Island

2025

Three people reckon with the legacy and impact of a tragic historical site with roots in their city. Meanwhile, a medium from out of town visits the site to see what she can learn from the energy of the land.

Godzilla: King of The Monsters- The Antarctic Base

2019 · ★ 10

In Monarch's Antarctic Base, a frozen fortress buffeted by screaming winds and surrounded by impenetrable ice, King Ghidorah shakes off his icy slumber and escapes in one of the film's most thrilling sequences. Join the filmmakers as they reveal how King Ghidorah was brought to terrifying life inside Monarch's underground biolab with its towering ice wall.

Menhaden: The Most Important Fish in the Bay

2012 · ★ 6

Menhaden: The Most Important Fish in the Bay examines the role of a little-known, oily, little fish in the Chesapeake Bay. From its original concept as a classic man-versus-environment story, the film evolved to reflect the complexity of sustaining a menhaden fishery that many diverse interests depend on. The outcome: a story that seamlessly weaves together different perspectives on the menhaden fishing industry and its culture utilizing engaging personal vignettes, scientific data and creative visual storytelling techniques. Techniques include archival footage blended with cinematic live-action footage, musical performances and original, handmade animations.

Life (cycle) of the Hong Kong Newt

2024 · ★ 7

A Hong Kong Newt once resided in a narrow irrigation channel, believing it would be confined there forever. However, an unexpected flood swept it away, carrying it through a dark passage until it arrived in a serene, azure pond. The newt found companionship among its kind and thrived in the aquatic haven. But as it ventured back onto land after the breeding season, it encountered unforeseen threats.

Peacocks and Tragopans

The Bornean Tree Partridge, Chinese Bamboo Partridge, and Indian Peafowl are some of the most colourful, most beautiful, and rarest species of pheasant in the world. Native to Asia, they can be found at The Ornamental Pheasant Trust at Norfolk Wildlife Park, Great Witchingham where the Trust’s devoted founder Philip Wayre has set up a breeding programme to save several species threatened with extinction.

Delbert’s Metamorphosis

★ 8

In 1997, filmmaker Nic McLean shot his first documentary with Outer Banks icon Delbert Melton who was in the middle of a domestic dispute with the Town of Kill Devil Hills over persistent requests to clean up his yard.

I'dentity

2014

This documentary delves into the lives of two people who have faced a gender identity disorder (GID), where the person’s sense of being male or female isn’t definite. These individuals have a strong desire to assume the physical characteristics and gender role of the opposite sex or also a person who has undergone a hormone treatment and surgery to attain the physical characteristics of the opposite sex is what is known to be called a “transsexual”. ‘I’dentity exposes two lives of different socio-economic strata in society as we try to string together their lives via them. It’s an attempt to understand this psycho-physiological turmoil that a transsexual goes through, be it approvals or ousting. The films aim is to explore the various choices these two individuals have in hand to deal with this condition and their life long struggle to “fit in” within the confines of a civilized society.

Arizona Sheepdog

1955 · ★ 6

Arizona Sheepdog is a documentary film that was originally released to theaters by Buena Vista Distribution on May 25, 1955 as a double-bill with Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier.

Avatar Spirits

2010 · ★ 8.1

Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creators of the hit television series, Avatar: The Last Airbender, reflect on the creation of the masterful series.

Summit Fever

2021

Along this goal to ski all fifty of "The Fifty Classic Ski Descents of North America", there lies a few cruxes. A few lines that stand out as the ultimate test for skiers. Lines that have seen one, maybe two, ski descents in history. One such mountain that is on that list is Mt. St. Elias in Alaska. Mt. St. Elias is a mythical, foreboding peak that jumps straight out of the ocean, 18,008 feet into the sky. It's renowned for violent storms that come straight off the northern pacific and slam into its icy steeps. It is unknown how many people have ever stood on the summit, but it is known that most people that try, fail. In May of 2021, Cody Townsend, Dan Corn, Nick Russell and cinematographer Bjarne Salen set out to climb and ski this Alaskan beast. This is the tale of their adventure.