Fortune Seekers
Genres
Overview
This short film celebrates the hard work, tenacity, and ingenuity of inventors. Highlighted are some seemingly small inventions that have become part of daily life.
Details
Budget
$0
Revenue
$0
Runtime
8 min
Release Date
1956-02-03
Status
Released
Original Language
English
Vote Count
0
Vote Average
0
Bob Hite
Narrator (voice)
6.7
Ganz: How I Lost My Beetle
Josef Ganz, editor of trade journal Motor-Kritik, amazed Germany by appearing in a revolutionary tiny car in 1932. It was his dream: a people's car anyone can afford. The idea made its way to new Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler. But in Hitler's dream there was no place for Jewish inventor Ganz. This is the story of the man whose designs led to the invention of the Volkswagen Beetle, and who ultimately lost everything. In the film, Ganz's relatives and admirers bring his lost heritage back to life.
2019-05-02 | en
7.2
The Creative Brain
Neuroscientist David Eagleman taps into the creative process of various inventors, while exploring brain-bending, risk-taking ways to spark creativity
2019-04-15 | en
4.0
The Story of Doctor Carver
The story of Dr. George Washington Carver (1864-1943), black educator and horticulturist. He is perhaps most well known for developing over 140 products from all parts of the peanut plant, including the shells and husks. He also developed products based on sweet potatoes and soybeans, and developed a cotton hybrid that was named after him.
1938-06-18 | en
7.3
SlingShot
An intimate and inspirational portrait of Segway inventor, Dean Kamen, and his 15-year quest to solve the world's safe water crisis. SlingShot focuses on noted Segway inventor Dean Kamen and his work to solve the world's water crisis. An eccentric genius with a provocative world view, Kamen is an inspiration for future scientists. His inventions help people in need and ease suffering.
2014-03-14 | en
7.0
Becoming Cousteau
Adventurer, filmmaker, inventor, author, unlikely celebrity and conservationist: For over four decades, Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his explorations under the ocean became synonymous with a love of science and the natural world. As he learned to protect the environment, he brought the whole world with him, sounding alarms more than 50 years ago about the warming seas and our planet’s vulnerability. In BECOMING COUSTEAU, from National Geographic Documentary Films, two-time Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Liz Garbus takes an inside look at Cousteau and his life, his iconic films and inventions, and the experiences that made him the 20th century’s most unique and renowned environmental voice — and the man who inspired generations to protect the Earth.
2021-10-22 | en
7.6
Intelligent Trees
Trees talk, know family ties and care for their young? Is this too fantastic to be true? German forester Peter Wohlleben and scientist Suzanne Simard have been observing and investigating the communication between trees over decades. And their findings are most astounding.
2017-09-27 | de
8.0
The Animograph, or I Was Born in a Shoebox
The amazing story of the animograph, a machine created in France in the sixties by the cartoonist and self-taught inventor Jean Dejoux (1922-2015), whose creation was intended to revolutionize the animation industry.
2022-05-12 | fr
0.0
The Invention of the Ford V8 Engine
1932 Documentary showcasing the Ford V8 engine.
1932-12-31 | en
7.4
Nikola Tesla: The Genius Who Lit the World
Nikola Tesla is considered the father of our modern technological age and one of the most mysterious and controversial scientists in history.
1994-01-01 | en
0.0
101 Gadgets That Changed the World
The alarm clock. The personal computer. The smartphone. The radio. You know the greatest gadgets of all time (and you’ve probably owned most of them), but which has changed the world more than any other? To make our list of 101, a gadget had to be something you could hold in your hands, mechanical or electronic, and a mass-produced personal item. The rest was up to the judges. Check out our selections.
2011-06-15 | en
0.0
Britain's Greatest Invention
BBC Two takes us inside the world's biggest invention time capsule - the Science Museum vaults - and asks the nation to vote for Britain's Greatest Invention.
2017-06-15 | en
7.5
The Gutenberg Enigma
A portrait of the inventor of the letterpress, who was a key figure in the history of mankind, but also an enthusiastic inventor, a daring businessman, a tenacious troublemaker: the life of Johannes Gutenberg (circa 1400-68).
2017-09-25 | fr
6.0
George Washington Carver at Tuskegee Institute
Color footage of inventor George Washington Carver at Tuskegee University in Alabama. Dr. Carver is filmed at his apartment, office, laboratory, and garden.
1937-12-31 | en
5.2
The Invention of Dr. NakaMats
NakaMats is an unlikely character made for the movies, an eccentric 80-year-old Japanese inventor responsible for 3,357 inventions, including the floppy disk. With his deadpan English and impeccable comic timing, he provides nonstop laughs— utterly nutty, but also a paean to the spirit of human invention.
2009-11-08 | en
5.8
Deconstructing Dad: The Music, Machines and Mystery of Raymond Scott
His filmmaker son probes the professional and private lives of his remote but fascinating father: bandleader, composer, inventor, and electronic music pioneer Raymond Scott.
2010-09-17 | en
6.0
Zvorykin-Muromets
Parfenov's documentary is about a brilliant scientist and engineer, born in Russia, but only known on the other side of the ocean. The invention of modern television changed the history of mankind. The invention has an author, who is almost unknown in his homeland. Vladimir Zworykin, born in Murom, a Russian American, was the person who created distant wireless transmission of images.
2010-03-15 | ru
7.0
John Lilly and the Earth Coincidence Control Office
John C. Lilly is the inventor of the isolation tank, as well as pioneer of studies in dolphin intelligence and support of psychedelics as a positive means for expanding consciousness. The storytelling will be supported by interviews with Lilly’s contemporaries and colleagues, as well as extensive archival records.
2025-01-31 | en
0.0
Omni: An Act against Gravity
When a YouTube video of Alexandru Duru's hoverboard flight goes viral, the young engineer sets a Guinness World Record and achieves the recognition he desires. But fame and fortune don't come easily. Often mocked and ostracized (until they achieve their goal), inventors see the world in a distinct way. Duru is no different. The son of Romanian immigrants, he's driven by a desire to achieve the impossible—and to cash in. Exploring the banality of Duru's trial-and-error efforts, director Bogdan Stoica is an artistic risk-taker worthy of his subject. He allows contemplative scenes to develop in real-time with immaculate framing; a natural tension builds as we witness Duru strapping the equivalent of high-speed lawn mower blades to his feet. Avoiding the temptation to sensationalize and thus trivialize his subject, Stoica reveals a rich story about immigration, settlement and the human desire to transcend our physical confines. -Alexander Rogalski (Hot Docs Film Festival)
2018-05-01 | en
6.0
The Story of Alfred Nobel
This John Nesbitt's Passing Parade short tells the story of Alfred Nobel, who invented dynamite, and later established the Nobel Prize.
1939-02-18 | en
0.0
The Dawnsayer
For the past 40 years, Bruce Beach has been preparing for a nuclear disaster. A bunker of 42 school buses is buried on his property, designed to save humanity. Curious onlookers and interested preppers regularly visit the site named Ark Two, but it's clear that the creator of this decaying shelter is the only one truly convinced of its practicality in the event of an apocalypse. Now that Bruce is in his 80s, he and his wife Jean need to spend more time taking care of their immediate needs than worrying about the future. What could easily be dismissed as evangelical paranoia becomes a tragic yet uplifting story about a risk-taking inventor who has lived without regrets. Sometimes outside-the-box thinkers become millionaires and are recognized for their genius ability to guide us into the future, while others are pushed to the margins. There’s a lot to be learned from both
2020-01-01 | en