This week, we present another gem from sony pictures classics - Puzzle, a new release about independence and self discovery, followed by an incredible story of brothers – 3 Identical Strangers, where shocking discoveries are made. And we close with a festival award winner from a few years back, a tribute to our Habits of Heroes series – Slingshot, on the life and innovation of Dean Kamen.
For today’s program, I thought we would focus on themes of Leadership.
Which leads to our first movie. Get Me Roger Stone. Stone's career is a window into a half century of politics that led to the greatest upset in political history. We follow this movie with a real gem, a hit on the Festival circuit, now currently in theaters. Leave No Trace, where A father does his best to guide his daughter, living in a beautiful nature reserve near Portland, Oregon. And we wrap up with another kind of Leader, Bill Nye: Science Guy, as we see a man go from a science guru for kids to more of a science Statesman.
For more information on these films, and to see the trailers, visit:
This week, we feature 3 incredible documentaries. The rise and fall of rock star hero with The King, a hard to believe true crime story in the entertaining Operation Odessa, and heartbreaking family storylines with A Dangerous Son. All 3 movies present social commentary on our American culture, for better and for worse.
This week, we bookend with strong documentaries, one that tackles the controversial issue of prescription drugs in America, with Take Your Pills, and we take a trip into outer space with The Farthest. In between, we present a terrific narrative, another confronting social issues. This time, power and prejudice with Beatriz at Dinner.
This week, we will celebrate World Water Day, with a shout out to one of the great docs from Participant Media, Last Call at the Oasis (which came out in 2011), and we’ll present two new theatrical releases, both crowd pleasers that will surely make you smile. One of the best docs of the year, Won’t You Be My Neighbor, and Heart Beats Loud, a buzz title from the fest circuit, where our heroes connect and grow through music.
This week, we bookend the show with two projects where are heroes are looking for the truth, dealing with shady public figures. Without even knowing it, a group of moms became activists, fighting federal agencies, in Atomic Homefront. And Washington post editor Ben Bradlee shines the light on dishonest public officials, in The Newspaper Man - The Life and Times of Ben Bradlee
The third movie, presents a different kind of hero, a rockstar chef, with a bit of an ego who has to learn to face his own music, in 42 Grams
Welcome back to the Cause Cinema Spotlight.
This weekend, we showcase three projects based on true stories, intense portraits of real people, all of them directed by talented female filmmakers.
One child overcomes a personal tragedy in Summer of 1993. Another finds a way to deal with sexual abuse in The Tale. And a grown woman is an officer of war in Zero Dark Thirty – of course, a nod to Memorial Day with this one.
For more information on this and other podcasts, or to see trailers of participating films, visit CauseCinema.com
With the Cannes Film Festival coming to a close this weekend, all eyes are on the Jury, and the 2018 President Cate Blanchett…The big question...With 3 female directors in Competition this year, will any of them take home the coveted Palme d’Or?
During this years festival, 82 women joined hands on the prestigious red carpet - on the steps of the Palais, in solidarity. The March was organized by Time’s Up. Each of the participants represented one of the female directors who have been in Competition in Cannes 71 year history, compared to 1,688 men.
This week, we’ll share the latest film, Faces Places, from French New Wave filmmaker Agnes Varda, who joined the march in Cannes – and then another film by a female director, who DID win a prize last year, The Beguiled, by Sofia Coppola. We’ll round off our focus on women with a wonderful new doc – Bombshell: The Hedy Lemarr Story. She was considered by some to be the most beautiful women to ever grace the silver screen…but did you know we have her to thank for WiFi?
This week, we share another great film from Participant, and CNN Films, with Sundance standout RBG, which explores the personal journey of Supreme court justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. More personal adventures, a bit more extreme, with Mountain. And we close with a nod to the Cannes Film Festival, which is currently underway, as we highlight a personal portrait of filmmaker and artist, with David Lynch: The Art Life. Of course David won the Palme d’Or in Cannes 1990 with Wild at Heart.
This weekend, we celebrate Cinco de Mayo, so why not spotlight a few films that connect us to Mexican culture. We bookend the show with two films where themes of food and romance run wild, in Like Water for Chocolate and Tortilla Soup…with former Sundance standout, Quinceañera sandwiched in between.
This week, we highlight a few movies where show business is a recurring theme. From celebrating the writing craft with Joan Didion, to personal stories affected by the Hollywood machine with Film Stars don’t die in Liverpool, and we conclude this week with new documentary bringing us another side of cinema – with Hitler’s Hollywood.
We also wanted to recognize, the 50th Anniversary of Mel Brooks’ The Producers, which kicked off the TCM Classic Film Festival at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood AND will have a limited theatrical run in theaters this June.
What some people don’t know, is Brooks originally wrote it as a play, entitled Springtime for Hitler. Fortunately, for us, a producer advised him to convert the play into a movie script, and change the title.
To see the trailers or get more info, visit us at Cause Cinema.
This week we’re happy to recognize Earth Day, coming up on April 22nd
Most of us believe in Climate change, and what better way to celebrate our planet than to engage through cinema. Today, we highlight 3 films anchored on this subject of the environment, along with some of the amazing wildlife being challenged by our climate crisis.
Virunga, an extraordinary film sharing the biodiversity of the Congo and winner of 54 intl film awards – The Vanishing of Bees, an important movie released in 2009 that you may not have seen, and Origins, an interesting journey through our biological roots that raises concerns about how technology is choking our environment.
For more information on these films and the Eco Film Challenge that will launch on Earth Day (April 22), please visit us at Cause Cinema.
This week we explore one of life’s common questions…What if?
In life, we’re all faced with questions of trust, faith and the basic human condition. We all want to be happy, and we all have our own belief systems. But what if we learn something that shatters our truth? Or when we discover there are, in fact, solutions to problems we thought were beyond our reach? Or if long shots can payoff?
With these three movies, we get a get a fair sampling of such questions, along with some mind-altering answers.
Long Shot
A Time to Choose
Come Sunday
This week, we share 3 terrific movies, with very powerful themes. Important issues of humanity, the cost of war and conflict, on people and the environment, and the true power of love and connection. We experience a heroic Doctor in the Heart of Nuba, face some hard questions with The Age of Consequences and bittersweet magic of Life is Beautiful.
This week, we present 3 films with heroes who are met with extraordinary personal challenges. A teenage girl is bounced from one foster care to another in First Match. A young boy with polio achieves phenomenal success in the documentary Itzhak; and we tip the hat to Easter Sunday with an old classic from 1959, that touches on the subject of Jesus with Ben Hur - winner of 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture!
SXSW is in full swing in Austin this week, so we decided bring you 3 of the more recent music docs.
Terrific movies that have played the fest circuit these past few years, now available on digital platforms. Gary Numan Android in LA LA land – which I saw at SXSW a couple years back. A Life in Waves, about music composer Suzanne Ciani, and finally Colin Hay: Waiting for My real life to begin.
For more information on these movies, or learn about other podcasts, visit Cause Cinema.
This week, we celebrated International Women’s day. As we can see, now more than ever, there are many calls to action with regard to supporting women. Learn more here.
In this podcast, we honor 3 strong female personalities and talents. See Allred is the Netflix doc presenting Gloria Allred and her Voice for Change. Followed by a music doc, Janis: Little Girl Blue, certainly one of the most talented and outspoken rockstars ever.
We close with Atomic Homefront, a terrific documentary from HBO, by Rebeca Cammisa. All she did was produce, direct and serve as director of photography.
To learn more about this film and how to take action, click here.
To learn more about Cause Cinema, and hear other podcast, click here.
The Academy Awards are this weekend so we thought it would be fun to have a look at a few Oscar misses, films we feel should have received a nomination.
We highlight two of the biggest docs ever, clearly deserving of this high honor, and one missing from this year’s list.
Jane (2017)
The Thin Blue Line (1988)
Hoop Dreams (1994)
For more information on Cause Cinema, or to hear other podcasts, click here.
In honor of the Spark Change Summit, presented this week by Creative Visions and the Skoll Center for Social Impact Entertainment over at UCLA, we will highlight three documentaries connected to visionaries who spoke at this inspiring event. I was honored to participate in this engaging series of panels and conversations, with such a distinguished group of industry leaders and creative activists.
The three films we will share with you today are very powerful, each with a clear call to action. Social Impact filmmaking at it’s best. They include: An Inconvenient Sequel, Unseen Enemy and I am Jane Doe.
For more information on these films, and learn about other amazing social impact films,visit Cause Cinema.
This week, we highlight three documentaries connected to the oval office, in celebration of Presidents Day weekend. One of the most successful docs of all time – Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 911. One of the most decorated docs – The Fog of War by Errol Morris, and we round out this week’s program with President Barack Obama, and The Final Year.
For more information on these films, to see the trailers and get links to platforms showing each title, visit Cause Cinema.
This week, we will continue our countdown the Oscars and celebrate The Florida Project - a terrific indie that earned an Academy Award nomination in the best supporting actor category, for Willem Dafoe. Then we will present a terrific doc - Code: Debugging The Gender Gap, a buzz title from last year’s festival circuit, now available on digital platforms. And finally, we will share another movie from our Health and Wellness Showcase – a documentary called Sustainable.
This week, in honor of Black History Month, we’re going to kick off with Mudbound. This hit out of last years Sundance film festival, a terrific period piece, takes a long hard look at racial inequality after the war…
Then, we shift to the battlegrounds of Syria and the award winning documentary Last Men in Aleppo.
Finally, we end with more peace in our last movie of the week, a tip of the hat to Cause Cinema's Health & Wellness showcase this quarter - with Awake: The Life of Yogananda – our first rockstar guru.
From real issues, to real war, to peaceful spirit, this is eye opening cinema at its finest!
This was a big week in entertainment. Oscar Nominations were announced, the Sundance and Slamdance fests are in full swing in Park City. And we’re gearing up for the Grammys on Sunday.
We thought it would be a good time to present some of the best Music Docs now available on various platforms. Visual and Performing arts worlds come together in celebration.
Just two years ago, we had two major music related films in the documentary category, What happened Miss Simone and Amy. A few years before that, we had the incredible Searching for Sugar Man take home the Oscar, after earning the Special Jury Prize and Audience Awards at Sundance.
All three of these amazing music docs are available on digital platforms.
With the Park City Festival madness in full swing, I thought it would be fun to celebrate a few award winning films from the Sundance & Slamdance Film Festivals – all 3 of them having “FILMMAKING” as a central theme.
You can find the on digital platforms today.
THE DIRTIES
CASTING JON BENET
CAMERAPERSON
For more information on these films and to see the trailers, visit Cause Cinema. http://www.causecinema.com/
For our first podcast of 2018, We kick off with powerful and inspiring movies, all sharing Relationships in one way or another. One of the hottest docs of the year, Faces Places takes us on an adventure in France where our two heroes develop an wonderful friendship.
Our second film Hunting Ground, shows a darker side, where relations go terribly wrong, yet woman are speaking out.
And as Cause Cinema transitions into our Health and Wellness Showcase this quarter our third movie – Plant Pure Nation celebrates a movement around our relationship to food, and ultimately our health
Visit Cause Cinema for more info on these and other social impact films.