Every year, millions of asteroids and comets or ‘’stray bullets’’ streak through the skies, and tons of small meteorites strike our planet! Some 65 million years ago, dinosaurs were wiped off the face of the earth, in what many believe was the aftermath of a massive cosmic collision. Could something like this happen again? Scientists believe that the impact of an asteroid only a mile wide would be globally catastrophic. Join extraordinary geologist Eugene Shoemaker and his wife Carolyn who have remapped the heavens with their discoveries of more than 30 comets and hundreds of asteroids. Now that we know what’s out there, how can we defend ourselves? 

Click Q&A for an interview with director Matthew Ogens.

CONFESSIONS OF A SUPERHERO is a feature length documentary that chronicles the lives of three mortal men and one mortal woman who make their living working as superhero characters on Hollywood Boulevard.  The Hulk sold his Super Nintendo for a bus ticket to LA; Wonder Woman was a mid-western homecoming queen; Batman struggles with his anger, while Superman’s psyche is consumed by the Man of Steel.  This deeply personal view into their daily routines reveals their hardships and triumphs as they pursue and achieve their own kind of fame.

Lisa was raised in the right part of town, she went to the right schools, had the right friends. But somewhere along the way something went terribly wrong. At age 37 Lisa is an estranged mother of one, and a Crack addict who prostitutes herself to help support her drug habit. Get a glimpse into the harsh reality and chaotic lifestyle of drug addiction. This film will force you to examine all of your stereotypes about the addicted - in a sometimes shocking way.

DARKON is a feature documentary that follows the real-life adventures of an unusual group of weekend “warrior knights,” fantasy role-playing gamers whose live action “battleground” is modern-day Baltimore, Maryland, re-imagined as a make-believe medieval world named Darkon. These live action gamers combine the physical drama of historical re-enactments with character-driven storylines inspired in part by such perennial favorite fantasy epics like the legends of King Arthur, Lord of the Rings, and the saga of Conan the Barbarian. As role players, they create alter-egos with rich emotional, psychological, and social lives. They costume themselves and physically act out their characters exploits both in intimate court intrigue and campouts and in panoramic battle scenarios involving competitive strategies, convincingly real props, and full contact “combat.” Because real life so often gets in the way, its easy to understand these players’ motivations. Everybody wants to be a hero.

Click the Q&A tab for an interview with the Directors of Darkon, Andrew Neel and Luke Meyer.

On the afternoon of September 16, 2004, a joyous 18-year-old, Lynn Gordon Bailey Jr., pledged Chi Psi Fraternity at the University of Colorado. The next morning he was found dead, a victim of an irresponsible hazing ritual involving alcohol. A sad situation, but made even worse because it was so preventable.

Every year, a staggering 1,700 college students face the same fate. Another 100,000 are victims of sexual assault as a result of heavy drinking. But no one working on a national level to change a culture that puts our young people in peril. Until now.

HAZE is a feature documentary, created with the intent of placing a focus on the issues of binge drinking, alcohol-laden hazing rituals, and rapid-fire drinking games. Simply stated, the film’s goal is to save lives and prevent harm.  Harm that would never have happened if a few crucial steps had been followed by friends, by fraternity brothers and sisters, family members or peers. HAZE won’t end irresponsible drinking but it will be the first chapter in an educational process for parents and young adults--teaching us what to do and what to look out for in order to “save a life.”

Click Q&A for an interview with Pete Schuermann (Director, Haze) and Michael Lanahan (Executive Producer, Haze).

In a remote corner of Tibet, seven young world-class kayakers take on the most feared whitewater river on earth, through the 18,000 ft. deep Tsangpo Gorge.  A raging torrent that drops 9,000 ft. in 150 miles, it is known as the “Everest of Rivers,” and is considered the last great adventure prize left on the planet.  “Into the Tsangpo Gorge” was honored as one the “Top 20 Adventure Films of All Time.” Directed by Scott Lindgren.

Click Q&A for an interview with Into the Tsangpo Gorge’s Scott Lindgren

The story of Leon Cooper’s—WWII veteran and American original—return to “Red Beach”. Cooper, a veteran of the battle of “Bloody Tarawa,” returned to Tarawa in February 2008 in order to learn more about reports he had read about garbage on the fabled “Red Beach.”

In November 1943, Leon, a US Navy landing craft officer, helped launch the first major amphibious assault on a Central Pacific Japanese stronghold. Leon is dismayed to discover that this hallowed ground is strewn with garbage rotting in the sun, a painful insult to the sacrifice his fellow marines made for their country, during one of the bloodiest three-day battles in American war history.

Cooper’s trip is full of wonder, anger, amazement and divine providence as he and film maker Steven C. Barber visit what Leon suspects to be the graves of hundreds of Marines still buried on Tarawa. Follow Leon Cooper’s trip back in time, as narrated by Oscar-nominated actor, Ed Harris. A story of redemption and passion that will move you to tears.

Click Q&A above for an interview with filmmaker Morgan Spurlock.

In SUPER SIZE ME, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock unravels the American obesity epidemic by interviewing experts nationwide and by subjecting himself to a “McDonald’s only” diet for thirty days straight.  His Sundance award-winning feature is as entertaining as it is horrifying as it dives into corporate responsibility, nutritional education, school lunch programs and how we as a nation are eating ourselves to death.

“For 30 days, Morgan Spurlock consumed nothing but food from McDonald’s, an experiment in bad living that frames a jaunty critique of junk gastronomy and corporate power. Like a thinner, less aggressive Michael Moore, the director talks to consumers, experts and food-industry flacks, weaving alarming statistics about rampant obesity with visits to the doctor and double-quarter-pounder-with-cheese combo meals. The film is an entertaining statement of the obvious, though its big questions — do corporations serve our need or enslave our bodies and soul?, are public health problems caused by capitalist rapacity or personal choice? — are not as simple as Mr. Spurlock would have us believe.” — A. O. Scott, The New York Times

In a stunning indictment of sweeping policy changes during the Bush years, best-selling author Naomi Wolf (The Beauty Myth) makes a chilling case that American democracy is under threat. Investigating parallels between our current situation and the rise of dictators and fascism in once-free societies, Wolf uncovers a number of deeply unsettling similarities-from the use of paramilitary groups and secret prisons to the targeted suspension of the rule of law. With this galvanizing call to arms based on her recent book, she urges regular citizens to take back our legacy of freedom and justice.

Jonathon “The Impaler” Sharkey threw himself into the race for Minnesota Governor on January 13, 2006. His thirteen point platform included helping farmers, improving the public school system, and advocating for better benefits for United States veterans. However, it was his “coming out” to the media as a Hecate Witch, Satanic Dark Priest and Sanguinary Vampire that grabbed Jonathon national and international attention. His candidacy marked the beginning of the largest amount of media coverage ever given to an unknown third party candidate running for Governor in American history.

“Minnesota has hosted an interesting run of political candidates, from retired wrestler Jesse Ventura (Minnesota governor from 1999 to 2003) to former Saturday Night Live star Al Franken (the contested winner of a U.S. Senate seat in 2008). But perhaps the most intriguing candidate was Jonathan Sharkey, a self-proclaimed Satanic Vampire and Hecate Witch, who ran for the office of Minnesota governor in 2006. W. Tray White’s documentary Impaler follows Sharkey as he contends with the media frenzy inspired by his 13-point political platform which includes impaling criminals on the lawn of the governor’s mansion.” — Rebecca Harper, Hulu.com