S1.E3 ∙ Lost Worlds, Vanished Lives

My KoAloha Story is a Made in Hawaii 'talk story' style documentary-music film about a family owned ukulele business and their special brand of old school Aloha. What was once a failed plastics business in the midst of bankruptcy is transformed into one of the most highly regarded and beloved ukulele companies in the world, KoAloha Ukulele. The KoAloha Story is a story of Ohana, family, and how a tiny ukulele has the power to change lives and bring people closer together. With music by ukulele masters Daniel Ho, Gordon Mark, and Herb Ohta, Jr. and original songs composed and performed by inventor Alvin 'Pops' Oakum. Directed by Gary San Angel with animated story by Rocky Kev.

Everyday some 20,000 people in Chittagong, a small port city of Bangladesh risk their lives for 2$US. They dismantle old ships retired from all over the world. An average of 20 workers dies in Chittagong every year. Despite the harsh working environment full of contaminants and toxic gases, the ships are gifts from God. A 21 year old Belal who left home 10 years ago, a Gascutter Rufik who has devoted all his 32 years in the shipbreaking-yards and a 12 year young child laborer Ekramul tell a heart-breaking story of their lives with breathtaking views of the ship-breaking yards.

The Lynching of Louie Sam is a gripping story that captures the conflict between Natives and non-natives, Canadians and Americans and highlights the different approaches to Native people in the two countries.

Hossein and Shaima have loved each other since childhood. As teenagers they were separated by war. They meet again in Kabul in the late 90s. Poverty forces Hossein to fight in the war. A shell splinter leaves him paralyzed. Shaima is sold into marriage with a man 40 years her senior and falls pregnant. Since Shaima's husband still owes half the dowry to her father he brings her back into the constraining patriarchal fold of the family, where she lives with her 5-year-old daughter. This situation doesn't prevent the two from seeing each other, even though this means going against their families' hard rules. In constant fear of revenge on the part of the male members of both families, they struggle to hold on to their love.

Forty years after the Fall of Saigon, a young Vietnamese woman is among the Vietnam War's uncounted casualties. Born near fields where American planes sprayed Agent Orange, Thao lives with severe physical deformities. Halfway around the world, a woman in New York is struggling to cope after the sudden death of her famed younger sister. In the midst of her crippling depression, a friend shows Elizabeth a black-and-white photograph from a recent trip abroad. The image haunts Elizabeth. It shows Thao sitting in a wheelchair outside a shed that houses pig feed, fertilizer -- and books. Despite her disabilities, Thao had set up a makeshift library for children in her village. The photographer who captured the image had asked her, "If you could have anything in the world, what would it be?" Thao replied, "Three hundred dollars, so I could buy more books." Through this simple request, Thao and Elizabeth are brought together, forging an unlikely sisterhood, transcending language and culture. Together the women reflect on the past. They confront the present. And they begin to heal.

Yuval Gidron's first documentary film follows his family's journey in 2013 to Berlin and Frankfurt, in the footsteps of his father's German ancestors. The story is told from Yuval's point of view - who tries, during the course of the film, to understand his father's motives to take the whole family on this journey, as he was born in Israel and Germany is not his native homeland. Through the lens, the visits to the cemeteries and monuments, the encounters with the German reality, and mostly witnessing the process his father goes through during this trip, makes him look differently at the whole experience. This is a film about family and memory. About Germany of today, and Germany of 80 years ago. A film with humor and emotion and in particular a film about a father, a son and the camera between them.