Asburied

Asbury Park: Riot, Redemption, Rock & Roll

May 2019 •English

The story of the long troubled town of Asbury Park, and how the power of music can unite a divided community. A once storied seaside resort, Asbury Park erupted in flames during a summer of civil unrest, crippling the town for the next 45 years and reducing it to a state of urban blight. A town literally divided by a set of railroad tracks, the riot destroyed the fabled Westside jazz and blues scene, but from the flames of the burning city emerged the iconic Jersey sound.

The Jersey Sound

July 2024 •English

"The Jersey Sound" is a love letter to New Jersey's diverse music scene. It captures its rich history through untold stories and intimate interviews while paying homage to legendary icons who have called Jersey home. It's an attitude.

Nightmare Vacation

June 2018 •English

Join John Polonia and Matt Satterly as they head to the shore for a few days of booze and babes! Little do they know a sadistic killer with a sharp knife is tagging along, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake. What is the terrible secret behind all the slayings?

Baby It's You

March 1983 •English

In a 1966 New Jersey high school, Jill and new student Sheik from the other side of the tracks make their way in a first love romance.

Low Tide

October 2019 •English

In the long days of summer in a beach town on the New Jersey shore, high schooler Alan and his friends Red and Smitty break into vacation homes to steal valuables, funding dates at the boardwalk and lunches at the burger stand. When Alan and his younger brother Peter find a bag of gold coins, they try to hide them from the others — but Red, suspicious and violently unpredictable, seems willing to do anything to get the money.

Roller Palace

March 2006 •English

Things haven't been going well for Manhattan socialite Carly Hayes. Her father is in prison, her mother is having a mid-life crisis and her personal finances are in freefall. But even on her darkest days, Carly could never see herself working at a boardwalk hotdog emporium on the Jersey Shore...or could she? Roller Palace is the result of a groundbreaking collaboration between mtvU, MSN Messenger and Boston University.

A Hungry Feeling: The Life and Death of Brendan Behan

May 1988 •English

Colleagues and relatives reflect on the dynamic life of Irish writer Brendan Behan, beginning with his adolescent years as an activist and his affiliation with the IRA youth group, Fianna Éireann. Behan rises to fame as a poet and playwright and achieves international success in the wake of his successful autobiography, "Borstal Boy." But in his later years, Behan's prominence wanes as alcoholism, egotistical tendencies and a growing obsession with celebrity begin to overtake him.

In the Image of God

November 2020 •Italian

The fourth generation in his family to be born intersex, Jewish Rabbi Levi was assigned the female gender at birth and grew up thinking he was sick and defective. "In the Image of God" tells the story of his struggles and transitions, culminating today in a life as a religious leader and an LGBTQI+ activist living happily in Los Angeles with his wife.

Walt Whitman

April 2008 •English

This American Experience tells Whitman's life story, from his working-class childhood in Long Island, to his years as a newspaper reporter in Brooklyn when he struggled to support his impoverished family, then to his reckless pursuit of the attention and affection he craved for his work, to his death in 1892.

Bataan Rescue

July 2003 •English

This is the story of a group of 514 prisoners of war from the Bataan Death March and how they were rescued near the end of the war. The reason this was so important is that the Japanese high command was ordering the execution of all prisoners when it appeared that the camps were soon to be liberated. So, in the case of this camp, it meant a covert operation well behind enemy lines in order to get to the guys before it was too late. The episode consists of many, many interviews--including several living POWs, a Philippino partisan, members of the assault team, their second in command and some historians.

Sheena Ringo: Electric Mole

December 2003 •Japanese

"Electric Mole" is a concert film that documents Sheena Ringo's nationwide "Sugoroku Xstasy" tour in the summer of 2003. It marks the start of Sheena's band, Tokyo Jihen (albeit only as a backing band for Sheena at the time.)

Grand Coulee Dam

April 2017 •English

During the darkest days of the Depression when construction was started on Grand Coulee Dam, everything about it was described in superlatives. It would be the "Biggest Thing on Earth," the salvation of the common man, a dam and irrigation project that would make the desert bloom, a source of cheap power that would boost an entire region of the country. Of the many public works projects of the New Deal, Grand Coulee Dam loomed largest in America's imagination, promising to fulfill President Franklin Roosevelt's vision for a "planned promised land" where hard-working farm families would finally be free from the drought and dislocation caused by the elements.

Michelle Obama: Life After the White House

January 2020 •English

Former First Lady Michelle Obama's story has just begun. The Obamas have remained quite busy with their new life of activism which includes their issue-oriented production company, Higher Ground, which won an Oscar for Best Documentary in 2020. Mrs. Obama's autobiography, Becoming, has become the best-selling memoir of all time and even won a Grammy following the publication of her book. Get lost in the incredible journey of this modern-day First Lady's story in the making...

Jiří Procházka – vědomý bojovník

July 2020 •Czech

La télé d'Omar et Fred

November 2020 •French

Music in the Afternoon

January 2002 •English

Fellow violinist and artist Tony Conrad, in collaboration with software engineer Tom Demeyer, made for Steina the instrument seen in this title. Conrad and the Vasulkas all taught at the University at Buffalo in the Media Study Department from 1976 to 1979.

L’Ultima Partita di Pasolini

November 2020 •Italian

On September 14, 1975, Pier Paolo Pasolini played his last game of football, before his death, in San Benedetto del Tronto. “The last match of Pasolini” starts from a pretext of a football game, to tell a historical period that was fundamental for the whole of Italy, with its contradictions and tragedies, through an apparently playful vision of Pasolini, but that allows us to understand better the importance of the Italian poet and director.

Un gând, un vis, Doyle... si-un pix

May 2012 •Romanian

Constructed almost entirely from still photos masterfully synchronized with audio commentaries, this challenging doc tells the story of an adventurous one-man motorcycle expedition that spans over 21, 000 kilometers and 14 countries.

COVID: Our Lockdown In Shanghai

May 2020 •English

As the Coronavirus bursts into the world's consciousness, follow the residents of one apartment building in Shanghai as they face a daunting new reality. Join filmmaker Yu Kung and his wife Crystal Liu as they document tales of their neighbors: a doctor risking her life every day; a family trying to keep its wedding-dress business afloat; a self-described workaholic lawyer reconnecting with his young son at home. This firsthand look captures an unprecedented pandemic, fueling anxiety, uncertainty, but also unexpected, life-affirming moments.

Mikhail Tal. From a Far

March 2016 •Russian

Mikhail Tal. From a Far is a documentary exploring the unpredictable and tragic life of the genius world chess champion Mikhail Tal, Riga's native son. Mikhail Tal becomes the youngest world chess champion at 23. The same year, he was diagnosed with incurable kidney disease and given only one year to live. Through sheer will and reckless abandon he managed to live another 40 years, filling them with a string of remarkable chess successes, unexplainable failures, amorous conquests and a life-threatening game of cat and mouse with the KGB.