Weaving together sequences of hair-braiding salons in Ghana, voice-over of Oprah rhapsodizing brown-skinned dolls and animated clips of signature hairstyles, Me Broni Ba (My White Baby) is an artfully composed, thought-provoking work that investigates the fraught relationship between images of beauty and power.

Throw Down Your Heart follows American banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck on his journey to Africa to explore the little known African roots of the banjo. This exuberant musical adventure provides a glimpse of the beauty and complexity of Africa - a picture that is very different from what is often shown in the media.

Taking its title from the last line in the first stanza of the National Anthem, O'er The Land is a haunting meditation on the connection between patriotism and violence in American culture. It raises timely questions about the hallowed concept of freedom, including how its evolved since 1776 and what it means to Americans today.

When gold was discovered on a remote hillside in Burkina Faso, a bustling city quickly sprung up around it, replete with gold-diggers, prospectors, merchants, holy men, gamblers and prostitutes. The Hillside Crowd profiles the inhabitants of this improvised gold town and their efforts to escape the surrounding poverty.

What can the behavior of bees tell us about our environment? The Beekeepers is an innovative documentary that investigates the causes behind Colony Collapse Disorder, the mass disappearance of bees all over the world.

A reflection on art, life and the movies, The Beaches of Agnes is a magnificent new film from the great Agnes Varda (The Gleaners and I), a richly cinematic self portrait that touches on everything from the feminist movement and the Black Panthers to the films of husband Jacques Demy and the birth of the French New Wave.

Part city symphony, part visual poem, The Solitary Life of Cranes explores the invisible life of a city, its patterns and hidden secrets, seen through the eyes of crane drivers working high above its streets. Referencing both Ruttmann and Vertov as well as Jane Jacobs' "The Death and Life of Great American Cities," it's a beautiful meditation on how our existence is shaped by the spaces we inhabit.

An impassioned exploration of the legal and ethical issues surrounding capital punishment, this award-winning documentary looks at the death penalty through the eyes of Pastor Carroll Picket, who served 15 years as a death house chaplain in a notorious Texas penitentiary and presided over 95 executions.

For over 40 years, Kartemquin has been making documentaries that examine and critique society through the stories of real people. Cinema Guild is proud to distribute the following films from this legendary production company: At The Death House Door | The New Americans | Mapping Stem Cell Research | Golub

In the background of the war in Iraq is an invisible army made up of more than 30,000 low-wage workers from South and Southeast Asia. Someone Else's War is the first documentary to investigate this new underclass created by American warfare and examine what it means to globalize the business of war.

An astounding new documentary on the first victims of global warming, The Last Days of Shishmaref travels to a small village in northwest Alaska, home to an Inupiaq Eskimo community, where homes are literally falling into the sea. The entire village is expected to disappear within 10 years.

The conversion of a state-owned munitions factory into luxury high-rise apartments allows for an acute appreciation of Socialism's impact on the Chinese people and the complex social changes transforming the country in this masterful new documentary from Jia Zhang-ke.

An intimate and beautiful documentary that looks at what it's like to be gay in modern China, from the filmmakers of the Academy Award-winning documentary The Blood of Yingzhou District.

What is it like to have God-like surgical powers, yet to struggle against your own humanity? This film follows a renowned brain surgeon to Eastern Europe as he confronts an under-funded healthcare system and the dilemmas of the doctor-patient relationship. Original soundtrack by Nick Cave.

Over the past four decades, Isaiah Zagar has covered more than 50,000 square feet of Philadelphia with stunning mosaic murals. The murals chronicle his love for his family and subtly hint at inner torments. In a Dream is a loving, but unsparing psychological portrait of an artist, the artistic process and mental illness.

Trinidad, Colorado (pop. 6,500) is one of the world's leading centers for gender reassignment surgery. This compelling documentary introduces us to patients who have made the pilgrimage to this small midwestern town and explores how it came to be known the "Sex Change Capitol of the World."

Odd Ones Out documents four years in the courageous lives of three transgender teens, Naomi, David and Tot, as they transition into adulthood and face life-altering events.

When a filmmaker accompanies a celebrated, openly gay poet on one of his many trips to Nepal - where he is revered for his philanthropy and generosity towards young men - she discovers all is not what it seems. A thought-provoking documentary about exploitation, sexual tourism and the developing world.

Reed Brody, a lawyer with Human Rights Watch, hunts dictators for a living. In this absorbing documentary, we follow Brody as he tries to bring to justice the former dictator of Chad, Hissène Habré, charged with killing thousands of his own countrymen in the 1980s.

An exploration of exile, memory and democracy through the words and recollections of playwright/author/activist Ariel Dorfman ("Death and the Maiden"), a member of Salvador Allende's socialist government and witness to the violent coup that ushered in Pinochet's reign. From the director of Shake Hands with the Devil.

What does it mean to be gay and old in America? A Place to Live: The Story of Triangle Square addresses this issue by following the construction and development of the country's first affordable housing facility for LGBT seniors.

Don Quixote, Les Misérables, One Hundred Years of Solitude. The practice of reading classic works of literature to workers at Cuban cigar factories dates back to the mid-1800s. With a Stroke of the Chaveta explores this rich tradition and how it's influenced cultural and political thought in Cuba.

2009 Academy Award® nominee for Best Documentary Feature. Filmed over the course of 23 years, The Betrayal examines the collateral impact of America's secret war in Laos during Vietnam by chronicling one family's extraordinary journey from war-torn Laos to the streets of New York.

2008 Academy Award® winner for Best Documentary Short Subject, Freeheld examines the rights accorded to gay partners in today's America. It chronicles the efforts of Lieutenant Laurel Hester, a 25-year police veteran, to secure pension benefits for her partner, Stacie Andree. Freeheld is being adapted into a feature film written by Ron Nyswaner (Philadelphia) and starring Ellen Page (Juno).

2008 Academy Award® nominee for Best Documentary Short Subject, La Corona (The Crown) explores the lives of female contestants in an unusual beauty pageant at a high security prison in Bogotá, Colombia. The film addresses issues of female identity, sexuality, crime and equality.

Escape from Luanda follows a group of students at a musical school in Angola as they prepare for their first-ever music recital; while considering whether this type of program, and others like it, have the ability to help kids overcome their immediate surroundings.

A landmark collection of ten documentary films by ten renowned filmmakers, Why Democracy? explores questions of modern democracy in the 21st century. The set includes the educational version of Taxi to the Dark Side, 2008 Academy Award winner for Best Documentary Feature.

The educational version of the 2008 Academy Award® winner for Best Documentary Feature, Taxi to the Dark Side is the definitive investigation into the introduction of torture as an interrogation technique in U.S. facilities and the role played by key figures of the Bush Administration in the process.

On January 16, 2006, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was inaugurated President of Liberia, the first elected female head of state in Africa. With unprecedented access, Iron Ladies of Liberia follows her historic first year in office.

Directed by the acclaimed filmmaker of Control Room and Startup.com, this documentary shines a spotlight on Egypt's new democracy. It follows a grassroots campaign started by three women that uses video and the internet to monitor their country's presidential elections, marred by violence and fraud.

Over the past two decades India has experienced steady economic growth resulting in the rise of a new middle class. But what does it mean to actually live in the world's largest democracy? In Search of Gandhi seeks to discover the current and future state of democracy in India.

Is the small village of Durakovo - where residents unquestioningly obey a self-appointed leader - a microcosm of Russia today? For God, Tsar and the Fatherland deftly explores what drives the current strain of Russian patriotism, and why many of the country's citizens oppose Western-style democracy.

Che Guevara died in Bolivia while trying to ignite the sparks of revolution. Forty years later, the country's first indigenous President, Evo Morales, is promising to continue his work. This documentary takes a closer look at the successes and failures of Morales' 'revolution.'

Filmed across the Middle East, Bloody Cartoons looks at how and why 12 drawings in a Danish newspaper drew a small country into a confrontation with Muslims all over the world. Featuring interviews with key players, this documentary goes behind the controversy to investigate the roots of the crisis.

This is democracy - Japanese style. Campaign provides a startling insider's view of Japanese electoral politics in this portrait of a man plucked from obscurity by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to run for a critical seat on a suburban city council.

An experiment in democracy is taking place in a third grade classroom in China. For the first time, students will be able to elect their own class monitor. A surprising and insightful documentary, Please Vote for Me seeks to determine how - if democracy should come to China - it would be received.