Thomas Mao

The Universal Language is a new documentary from Academy Award-nominated director Sam Green (The Weather Underground). This 30-minute film traces the history of Esperanto, an artificial language that was created in the late 1800s by a Polish eye doctor who believed that if everyone in the world spoke a common tongue, humanity could overcome racism and war. Fittingly, the word “Esperanto” means “one who hopes.” During the early 20th century, hundreds of thousands of people around the world spoke Esperanto and believed in its ideals. Today, surprisingly, a vibrant Esperanto movement still exists. In this first-ever documentary about Esperanto, Green creates a portrait of the language and those who speak it today that is at once humorous, poignant, stirring, and ultimately hopeful.

A candidate for governor, eager Gerald Harperpersuades his equally ambitious wife Carol to enlist the aid of her friend Diana Casper, whose influence with political boss Jarvis Flint could help him win the election. Carol agrees to speak to Diana on condition that Gerald temporarily assume her work in the city's tenements.

A mismatched team of British Special Services agents led by an American must infiltrate, in disguise, a female-run Enigma factory in Berlin and bring back the decoding device that will end the war.

A behind-the-scenes look at San Diego Comic-Con, the world's largest comic book convention, and the fans who attend every year.

Stanley Ford leads an idyllic bachelor life. He is a nationally syndicated cartoonist whose Bash Brannigan series provides him with a luxury townhouse and a full-time valet, Charles. When he wakes up the morning after the night before - he had attended a friend's stag party - he finds that he is married to the very beautiful woman who popped out of the cake - and who doesn't speak a word of English. Despite his initial protestations, he comes to like married life and even changes his cartoon character from a super spy to a somewhat harried husband.

A spate of robberies in Southern California schools had an oddly specific target: tubas. In this work of creative nonfiction, d/Deaf first-time feature director Alison O’Daniel presents the impact of these crimes from an unexpected angle. The film unfolds mimicking a game of telephone, where sound’s feeble transmissibility is proven as the story bends and weaves to human interpretation and miscommunication. The result is a stunning contribution to cinematic language. O’Daniel has developed a syntax of deafness that offers a complex, overlaid, surprising new texture, which offers a dimensional experience of deafness and reorients the audience auditorily in an unfamiliar and exhilarating way.

Stranded at an airport at Christmastime, Ashley Harrison accepts a ride from Dash Sutherland, who has just rented the last car in town. As the pair heads north, their adventures include car trouble, adopting a puppy and being secretly tailed by federal agents, who believe Ashley is up to no good. With a hint of romance gradually filling the air will these two fall in love or will their journey bring about an unexpected road bump to romance?

In the spring of 1984, a strange new comic book sat beside cash registers in select shops, too big to fit in the racks, and too weird to ignore. Eastman and Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles presented a completely original breed of super hero. It was too bizarre, too crazy. It broke all the rules and should never have worked. Until it sold out. Again and again and again. For 30 years. Now, peek under the shell and see how this so-called "happy accident" defied every naysayer to become one of the most popular and beloved franchises in the world.

A darkly comic, character-driven thriller following Ewan, a government whistleblower, and Silke, his forthright Flemish wife, as they are sent to a remote country house in west Belgium. Joined by two close protection officers, they await the arrival of a British journalist.

A young lady who has grown up with her father being a radio DJ, becomes one herself. Falls in love and hosts a 'Romantically Speaking' show.

The film tells the story of a monk who realizes he is the reincarnation of Golden Child / Taming Dragon Lohan who was cast down from heaven to experience life and death one hundred times as he broke a sacred rule by falling in love with another fairy, Jade. While Golden Child’s memories were erased, Jade refused to forget their love and accumulated goodwill over one hundred reincarnations…

Because Thornwood's portraits of comely model Sally Dennis are in such great demand, he is obliged to spend virtually all his time with Sally, which prompts Toni to seek retribution in divorce court.

A man arrives in China to search for his son, whom he hasn't seen in many years. A female American Embassy employee, who knows the country and speaks the language, is assigned to assist him, but soon they run into more trouble than they expected.

Lost and Found

A newlywed discovers that she and her husband's snobby family speak different languages.

Jonathan Ames, a young Brooklyn writer, is feeling lost. He's just gone through a painful break-up, thanks in part to his drinking, can't write his second novel, and carouses too much with his magazine editor. Rather than face reality, Jonathan turns instead to his fantasies — moonlighting as a private detective — because he wants to be a hero and a man of action.

Jeremy Brown, a language teacher, tries to make a living by teaching English to immigrants. With pupils from India, France, China, and many other countries, his lessons do not always go as planned.

The comic adventures of a group of misfits who form an extremely bad concert party touring the hot and steamy jungles of Burma entertaining the troops during World War II.

Early 20th-century adventurers find themselves fighting for survival after their hot-air balloon crashes into a remote part of the Amazon, stranding them on a prehistoric plateau.

A chilling and bloody legal thriller that explores the line between law and justice. Will Burton, a talented junior barrister of peerless intellect and winning charm, specialises in spiriting people out of tight legal corners. He is in high demand as he has never lost a case. But when his talents acquit the notorious prime suspect in an horrific murder trial, that brilliance comes back to bite him with unexpected and chilling results, not to mention a shocking twist.

Why is the English spoken by Maine lobstermen so different from thatscene from the broadcast spoken by cowboys in Texas? Does Spanish pose a threat to English as the dominant language in America? And what on earth do yins, wickety wack, ayuh, catty whompus, and stomping it clean mean? Robert MacNeil travels cross-country to answer these questions and examine the dynamic state of American English – a language rich with regional variety, strong global impact and cultural controversy.

Christianity has produced some of the greatest works of art of all time, in which believers and non-believers alike can explore the great themes of life and death. It is the language in which Leonardo and Michelangelo, Dali and Rembrandt speak to us all about love and suffering, loss and hope. To mark the year 2000, these four programmes, written and presented by Neil MacGregor, Director of the National Gallery, London, consider how artists over two millennia have tackled the extraordinarily difficult task of representing Christ. Without contemporary accounts of Jesus' appearance, artists through the ages have been free to create many images of him - images that sometimes reflect the spiritual world of the artist and other times the desires of the patron or the needs of the spectator. Seeing Salvation is a four part series surveying the historical representations of Jesus Christ in Western European art and sculpture over the centuries since Roman Times.

Teen singers-songwriters in an elite music program form bonds of friendship, creativity and romance while turning their passion into their profession.

In 1942, the Chinese government received intelligence that the Japanese may be developing a dangerous biological weapon in a remote part of Burma.The Chinese Expeditionary Force, a secret specialized squad, is dispatched to the remote region to try to stop the Japanese actions. Led by the tough female commander, the highly trained soldiers can't seem to get along.

Sarah Richardson is back! Step inside Sarah’s life with husband Alex and co-conspirator Tommy, as they attempt to build an off the grid dream home from the ground up for her most important client ever: her family. With unparalleled access to the “behind the scenes” Sarah, the stakes couldn’t be higher as she takes on her biggest challenge yet. With guest appearances from Mike Holmes Sr. and Jr., it’s a race of time and money to complete the build on schedule on a remote piece of property while Sarah juggles the demands of running a design business in Toronto and raising two kids.

Kids rule in a place called Harvey Street, where a trio of girls right wrongs, ice cream is always an option, and every day feels like Saturday.

Fern Britton presents this revival of the fondly remembered daytime watercolour painting competition. Talented amateur artists are challenged to paint a picture of a scenic location with their efforts judged by a professional artist.

Leonel Reina is a young Latino boxer with dreams of becoming a champion. But Leonel’s dreams are derailed when he’s deported to Mexico and discovers that he was never naturalized as an American citizen. In a country where he doesn’t speak the language, Leonel unexpectedly finds himself reconnecting with his roots and making new friends who set out to help him find his way back home.

In a world where artists need day jobs, one woman speaks the truth.

Three American men and twelve international women are brought together on a remote paradise island for the chance to find romance. And here's the twist: neither the women nor the men speak English and can't use translators.