S1.E5 ∙ Afterburner

A documentary account of the rehabilitation at the Wiltwyck School of an emotionally disturbed Black boy who is unwanted, misunderstood, and inwardly tortured.

A five year project involving filming on NYC subway. Camera observes people and events unaware they are being filmed. Emotional, intimate and deeply human. All done by director Tom DiCillo. He shot, edited and mixed the film by himself with the aim of making a film without any financial or marketing restrictions.

The freighter Fair Lady crosses the ocean. The hypnotic rhythm of its gears reveals the continuous movement of machinery devouring its workers: the last gestures of the old sailors' trade disappearing under the mechanic and impersonal pace of 21st century neocapitalism. Perhaps it is a boat adrift, or maybe just the last example of an endangered species. Although we don't know it, the engines are still running, unstoppable.

Slavik (34) from Ukraine, former world champion in Latin American dancing is making a last and final comeback with Anna, his new dance partner and girlfriend. Slavik is addicted to the limelight and the dance and misses the rush. However, his aging body is causing him severe pains these days, and his flaring temper puts his relationship with Anna at risk. The road to reclaiming the championships is a long, tough struggle. Slavik literally puts everything on the line in his ultimate push for the throne. Failure is not an option, yet failure is so difficult to avoid.

One man risks family and future to stop the tar sands of the Keystone XL pipeline from crossing his land. Shot in the forests, pastures, and living rooms of rural East Texas, Above All Else follows David Daniel, a retired high-wire artist, as he rallies neighbors and environmental activists to join him in a final act of brinkmanship: a tree-top blockade of the controversial pipeline. What begins as a stand against corporate bullying becomes a rallying cry for climate protesters nationwide. As in his previous film, Mississippi Chicken, director John Fiege puts a human face on a complex case of social injustice, again capturing the South in its beauty and contradiction and revealing the intimate, often unfathomable, experience of creating social change at the grassroots.

Kelsey Carroll has one goal--to graduate from high school--and plenty of reasons why she shouldn't. She attends a school with one of the highest dropout rates in New Hampshire and has dealt with homelessness, abuse, and ADHD. As a freshman, she didn't earn a single academic credit, but she did get suspended for dealing drugs. 'Who Cares About Kelsey?' is the story of Kelsey's transformation from a defiant and disruptive 'problem student' to a motivated and self-confident young woman. Along the way, critical figures in her personal and educational life shape her coming of age and play important roles in an education revolution that's about empowering--not overpowering--our most emotionally and behaviorally challenged youth.