Notts Today: Week in Review

The Great Flood of 1916 was Western North Carolina's worst natural disaster 100 years ago. The flood led to thousands of mudslides and landslides causing extensive damage and loss of life but it happened when relatively few people lived up on ridges or near streams. A flood of similar proportions today would be even more devastating. The film documents the lives that the flood touched, what we've learned and how the lessons of the Great Flood still impact us today.

The portrait of a city: ancient yet constantly remaking itself. A poem in images: stillness, patterns, urban motion. And in words: a tofu seller, a homeless woman, a Buddhist priest, contemplating nature, the metabolism of their city, mortality. And 20,000 crows, unruly avatars of the natural world, sardonically observing it all.

Taka grew up in the countryside of Japan in a small town called Hanaizumi, a close-knit community about 300 miles north of Tokyo. It was the early 1980s, a calm and peaceful time. People there are kind and compassionate, and the area is filled with beautiful nature. He spent hours outside running around with his friends, playing hide and seek and catching insects Sounds perfect for spending childhood, right? Well, Taka couldnt wait to get out. Growing up, Taka watched many Hollywood films and was attracted to everything he saw from Levi's jeans and Nike sneakers to McDonalds hamburgers. They were all cool and exciting for him. It wasn't just products that fascinated him. Ideas like America as the land of freedom and opportunities He was completely sold by them. But when he finally came to the U.S., he realized that America is not quite the dreamland he once thought. As time went on, he began to think that Japan, while not perfect, still had many things to be proud of - a long and rich history with sacred traditions and a unique culture. Taka decided to take his friend Mark to Japan so that he could experience its culture and people firsthand, but instead, they witnessed what seemed like an overwhelming presence of American influence. There were countless numbers of American food chains like McDonalds, Starbucks and KFC. Everywhere they looked there were billboards featuring Hollywood celebrities or business signs written in English. They even found that Japan has its own Statue of Liberty! After returning to the U.S., Taka started looking into what was happening to his country. He didn't intend for it to be anything serious, but his research took a dramatic turn when he came across evidence of the U.S. intervention in Japan's domestic affairs. Shocked by his findings, Taka decided to travel back home once again to find out the true nature of the American and Japanese relationship. This film captures Taka's journey in search of Japan's lost identity.

Heavens Door - is not only a documentary film - It is part of an ongoing art project and cognitive science experiment. A collaboration between a down to earth group of American internet bloggers - street artists - dancers and singers - a godlike and an evil international investor and the cognitive scientist David Kirsh. All of the above - collected in the last ten years by a group of filmmakers and put together by Jessica Stroehle in her first feature length film. Jessica Stroehle is a German-American (1/32 American Indian) - who wrote her Master Thesis about 'The Language of the Internet' at the University of Konstanz in Germany and is currently studying Psychology.

The Crisis Civilization is a documentary feature film investigating how global crises like ecological disaster, financial meltdown, dwindling oil reserves, terrorism and food shortages are converging symptoms of a single, failed global system. Proving that 'another world' is not merely possible, but on its way.

This documentary film chronicles the process of renaming Ft. James Island, which was a holding cell for slaves during the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade, to Kunta Kinteh Island- after one of The Gambia's most well-renowned sons. It shares the points of view of both the government and the Kinteh family, who still preserve their history as residents of neighboring Juffureh Island. This film embodies the rich spirit of a people that can be passed on throughout the diaspora for decades to come.