Breaking Vegas

Klassenleben

May 2006 •German

Rhythm is it!

June 2004 •English

RHYTHM IS IT! records the first big educational project of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle. The orchestra ventured out of the ivory tower of high culture into boroughs of low life for the sake of 250 youngsters. They had been strangers to classical music, but after arduous but thrilling preparation they danced to Stravinsky's 'Le Sacre du Printemps' ('The Rite of Spring'). Recorded with a breathtaking fidelity of sound, this film from Thomas Grube and Enrique Sánchez Lansch documents the stages of the Sacre project and offers deep insights into the rehearsals of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

Aunt Lili

June 2020 •Bosnian

A short documentary about my lovely aunt Lili. The film shows just a small part of her life. She is always on the lookout for luck, whether in love or with scratch-off tickets.

Blindsight

September 2006 •English

Six blind Tibetan teenagers climb the Lhakpa-Ri peak of Mount Everest, led by seven-summit blind mountain-climber Erik Weihenmayer.

Dance for All

September 2007 •English

Cashed Out Casino

August 2017 •English

Watch the drama unfold when the city of Las Vegas blows up the town's impromptu movie set.

See you in Vegas

November 2007 •English

This is a documentary about the Dutch magician Hans Klok. It's a story about his quest to make his dream come true in the magician capital of the world: Las Vegas.

Eliot Ness vs. Al Capone

March 2009 •French

January, 1947. The public receives the news of Al Capone's death with indifference, although twenty years earlier he had ruled Chicago's crime underworld with brute force and corrupting many touchable individuals. Until the day the head of the Untouchables Brigade, Eliot Ness, entered the scene. Since then, a cruel battle between the two of them began, a battle that ended in trial, conviction, disease, insanity and death.

Carré rouge sur fond noir

August 2013 •French

Waiting for "Superman"

September 2010 •English

Gripping, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful, Waiting for Superman is an impassioned indictment of the American school system from An Inconvenient Truth director Davis Guggenheim.

Now Place Your Bets

March 2017 •English

Sports betting in the USA is booming and this doc features those who know how it all began, up to how it became the huge business it is today. Narrated by Trip Mitchell, insight is provided by baseball's Pete Rose, oddsmaker Dennis Tobler, Pinnacle's Jessica Davis, historians Richard Davies & Eugene Moehring, Buzz Daly, Frank Cullotta, Joe D'Amico, Jim Bobbera, Norm Kelley and "Vegas Dave" Oancea.

The Street Performers

October 2015 •English

This documentary-style short follows two impoverished teens performing on the streets of London in the days leading up to the London Blitz of 1940.

Gambling Addiction & Me: The Real Hustler

July 2012 •English

Alexis Conran explores gambling addiction, an affliction that ruined his estranged father, and seeks to understand how and why this compulsion destroys people's lives. A documentary where Alexis Conran of The Real Hustle explores the effects of gambling addiction on his life, and the lives of others. Gambling addiction ruined his father's life, so the documentary seeks to find why gambling addiction is powerful enough to destroy someone's life.

Mind of an Artist - Don MCCullin

December 2018 •English

A short-animated film interpreting famous war photographer Don McCullin's contemplation on his professional experience and impact it had on his life. Frame-by-frame Charcoal animation.

Berkeley in the Sixties

April 1990 •English

A documentary about militant student political activity at the University of California, Berkeley in the 1960s.

Out of Luck

February 2005 •English

An in depth look at the full effect of State Lotteries on the players and the people around them.

The Legend of Jimmy the Greek

November 2009 •English

“The NFL Today” on CBS was one of the preeminent sports programs on television in the early 1980s. It was a perfect combination of reporting, analysis, predictions, humor and talent. But there was no personality on the show more popular than Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder. Born in Steubenville, Ohio, to Greek immigrants, Jimmy overcame childhood tragedy, moved to Las Vegas, and eventually became the biggest name in the world of sports handicapping. When CBS added him as an “analyst” on “The NFL Today,” “The Greek” not only further increased his stature as a sort of national folk hero, but he also gained an air of respectability never before associated with gamblers. Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Fritz Mitchell, who broke in as an intern on “The NFL Today,” will examine Snyder’s impact on the growth of sports gambling, while also taking a fresh look at The Greek’s tragic downfall.

A Kick in the Head: The Lure of Las Vegas

Invalid date •English

Dream city, Sin City, a mirage in the desert, Las Vegas is a film set in its own right, a piece of pop art, an outdoor museum of American culture. What is the story behind the neon lights and fantastical buildings? What will its future be in these tough times? Alan Yentob takes a mob tour and talks to producers and performers about the golden days when Sinatra and Dino held the stage, and the wise guys called the shots.

heroes

November 2020 •English

Displaying the faces and voices of transgender youth, the documentary short shows the authenticity of queer and trans people living in Toronto, while simultaneously discussing the struggles for self-acceptance that people who do not conform to cisgender and heteronormative ideals of gender face. Andy Nguyen, trans director and film student, captures his trans friends in their natural state on 16mm film shot on a Bolex h16 camera. Accompanied by narration written and recited by Salem Rao, this film represents that trans people exist and this is what we look like. Regardless of the obvious everyday transphobia, trans people find community and uniqueness within each other and themselves.

it's a girl!

December 2020 •English

A self-portrait short film on 16mm from a trans male perspective.