Nollywood Babylon

The Nigerian film industry, known as Nollywood, has exploded in the last ten years. Now the most popular cinema in all of west Africa--even more popular than imports of Hollywood or Bollywood films--the Nigerian film industry has distinguished itself by shooting all films (called video films) on digital video. This has allowed production schedules to be compressed (films are shot in several days) and immediately brought to market (distribution consists of bringing films to Idumota electronics market in Lagos and selling them for home viewing). The sheer volume of Nigerian video films is staggering: one estimate has a film being produced for each day of the year. Nollywood is now the third-largest film industry in the world, generating US$286 million a year for the Nigerian economy. And yet this vibrant, profitable industry is virtually unknown outside of Africa.

An exploration of the appeal of horror films, with interviews of many legendary directors in the genre.

With archive film clips and interviews, this brief look at a frequently overlooked historical period of filmmaking acts as an introduction rather than a complete record. It features interviews with some of the genre's biggest stars, like Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, and Richard Roundtree. Director Melvin Van Peebles discusses the historical importance of his landmark film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song. For a contemporary perspective, the excitable Quentin Tarantino offers his spirited commentary and author/critic bell hooks provides some scholarly social analysis.

This historical and critical look at slasher films, which includes dozens of clips, begins with Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Prom Night. The films' directors, writers, producers, and special effects creators comment on the films' making and success. During the Reagan years, the films get gorier, budgets get smaller, and their appeal wanes. Then, Nightmare on Elm Street revives the genre. Jump to the late 90s, when Scream brings humor and TV stars into the mix.

Follows the first year of business for Alex, Charlie, and Nigel as they try to make their theatre, The Toronto Underground Cinema, a success in the dying world of repertory cinema. The film also places the cinema in context to the larger world of rep. Featuring interviews with theatres such as Film Forum in NYC, The Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, and The New Beverly Cinema in L.A., and celebrities such as Kevin Smith, John Waters, Atom Egoyan, and George A. Romero, the world of repertory cinema will come alive as a vibrant and culturally significant medium that needs to be preserved

Delving into a century of genre films that by turns utilized, caricatured, exploited, sidelined, and finally embraced them, this is the untold history of black Americans in Hollywood through their connection to the horror genre.

Mid-air difficulties force a Nigerian commercial plane into an emergency landing with devastating consequences.

In 1959, Berry Gordy Jr. gathered the best musicians from Detroit's thriving jazz and blues scene to begin cutting songs for his new record company. Over a fourteen year period they were the heartbeat on every hit from Motown's Detroit era. By the end of their phenomenal run, this unheralded group of musicians had played on more number ones hits than the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, Elvis and the Beatles combined - which makes them the greatest hit machine in the history of popular music. They called themselves the Funk Brothers. Forty-one years after they played their first note on a Motown record and three decades since they were all together, the Funk Brothers reunited back in Detroit to play their music and tell their unforgettable story, with the help of archival footage, still photos, narration, interviews, re-creation scenes, 20 Motown master tracks, and twelve new live performances of Motown classics with the Brothers backing up contemporary performers.

THUNDER SOUL tells the true story of Conrad O. Johnson and the legendary Kashmere Stage Band. It was afros, pleated pants and platform shoes; James Brown, Sly Stone and Bootsy Collins. It was the ’70s, and an inner-city Houston high school was about to make history. Charismatic band leader, Conrad “Prof” Johnson would turn the school’s mediocre jazz band into a legendary, world-class funk powerhouse. Now, 35 years later, his students prepare to pay tribute to the man who changed their lives, the 92-year-old Prof. Some haven’t played their horns in decades, still they dust off their instruments determined to retake the stage to show Prof and the world that they’ve still got it.

From the acclaimed director of American Movie, the documentary follows former Los Angeles police officer turned independent reporter Michael Ruppert. He recounts his career as a radical thinker and spells out his apocalyptic vision of the future, spanning the crises in economics, energy, environment and more.

The film follows a young couple living in Philadelphia area working to pursue their dreams. Cynthia Andrews is an aspiring actress who has been in a comfortable celibate relationship for three years with a faith oriented semi-pro kickboxer named Jay Durant. While Cynthia is pursing her dreams of acting, she is diagnosed with a life threatening disease and told she needs a kidney change or she was not going to survive. The process of finding a donor and managing her acting dreams and the thoughts of her not getting married and raising a family of her own become a burden. She begins feeling like all hope is lost, and her dream of becoming that actress and mother she always wanted to be was not happening as time was ticking. The film touches on the relevance of faith, hope and true love.

Cancer specialist Dr. Michael Durant forms an unlikely bond with seven year old Sam and becomes desperate, willing to risk anything to save the child’s life. A surreptitious Nigerian Nurse convinces him to seek the help of Dr. Bello, an uncertified Nigerian Doctor, known in the Brooklyn-African underground as a miracle worker.

This definitive music documentary, featuring a greatest hits soundtrack and bounty of classic performance clips, provides an inside look into how Swedish pop group ABBA's music was made, as the former members and various colleagues tell their story from pre-ABBA days onward.

In 1996, the horror master Wes Craven unleashed Scream, a slasher movie aimed at a whole new generation of teenage movie-goers.

A behind the scenes look into George Romero's groundbreaking horror classic Night of the Living Dead.

The minds behind history's most iconic toy franchises discuss the rise -- and sometimes fall -- of their billion-dollar creations.

The South American continent is a land of great extremes, stretching from the Antarctic to the Equator. It has the planet's greatest river system, longest mountain chain, biggest and richest rainforest and driest desert. Using the latest camera techniques, including infrared night vision cameras, rarely seen animals are revealed, while a special aerial camera soars over the continent, revealing an entirely new perspective on its varied and dramatic landscape.

Examines the dawn of the comic book genre and its powerful legacy, as well as the evolution of the characters who leapt from the pages over the last 75 years and their ongoing worldwide cultural impact. It chronicles how these disposable diversions were subject to intense government scrutiny for their influence on American children and how they were created in large part by the children of immigrants whose fierce loyalty to a new homeland laid the foundation for a multi-billion-dollar industry that is an influential part of our national identity.

An exploration of the world's music. Yehudi Menuhin has created this expansive survey of musical traditions from five continents. With panoramic vision and infectious enthusiasm, he takes us from primeval rhythms of Africa to the symphonies of Beethoven, from plainsong to jazz, from Swiss yodeling to Irish jig, from steel drum to electronic synthesizer. The Music of Man was a series of eight hour-long specials with host Yehudi Menuhin, following the development of music from its beginnings at the dawn of history to the electronic experiments, jazz and rock of our own time. Menuhin, the renowned violinist, conductor and humanist, participated both as violin soloist and conductor throughout the series, and was also co-writer.

Metropolis explores one important world city each episode, uncovering rich historical secrets behind its extraordinary location. A travel guide to iconic cities around the world, highlighting hidden secrets, signature foods and cultural idiosyncrasies.

In this series, the LAPD thinks it's a good idea to form a task force partnering actors with homicide detectives. A super meta half hour comedy, the show within a show within a show is as much about Hollywood as it is an action-comedy procedural. Starring Ryan Hansen and Samira Wiley as his strait-laced partner Detective Jessica Mathers, the series features a who's who of stars playing bizarro versions of themselves including Joel McHale, Donald Faison, Eric Christian Olsen, Jon Cryer and Kristen Bell.

Featuring original interviews with America’s punk pioneers and the U.K.’s most notorious bands, alongside a seamless blend of rare and unseen photos, gritty archival film and video, a crackling soundtrack of punk hits and misses, this documentary series explores the music, the fashion, the art and the DIY attitude of a subculture of self-described misfits and outcasts.

Millions of years ago, incredible forces ripped apart the Earth’s crust creating seven extraordinary continents. This documentary series reveals how each distinct continent has shaped the unique animal life found there.

An immersive, deep-dive docuseries rich with archival footage and interviews that explores the musicians and soundtracks that shaped the culture and politics of 1971.

Documentary series delving into the real lives of a group of UK adult entertainers working in the porn industry today. Revealing what life's really like for a porn star in a modern world.

Featuring a series of revealing interviews with Shaquille O'Neal, this four-part documentary tells the story of a basketball legend unlike any other, whose larger-than-life personality transcended the sport and transformed him into a cultural icon.

A documentary series focusing on the music from Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The show centers on the songs and score from the movie and features interview with director Ryan Coogler, composer Ludwig Göransson, among others.

Thalia takes audiences on a musical journey, uncovering the classics that inspired generations of artists and created the current Latin music landscape seen today. Through a combination of interviews, found footage and modern renditions of classic hits by today’s biggest stars, the series revisits the history of Latin music and uncovers the future of the genre in an intimate way not yet seen before.

Africa on its own terms and in full voice - across Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa. Uncovering the energy and ambition of creatives reinventing African music, fashion and film.

In AP Dhillon - First of a Kind, the secretive global superstar and the small, close team behind his massive success finally tell their story. Featuring unseen personal footage and unique behind-the-scenes access, AP takes us on a journey from his early days in a small village in Punjab and tells us his incredible plan to change the music industry and inspire a nation.