10 docs to watch (if you're in the mood to learn something new)

As my followers already know, I am integrally involved in the distribution and promotion of independent documentary films. With that preface out of the way, below are 10 films (both old and new) that I highly recommend you consider viewing. The subjects range widely, but each offers a glimpse into something you can learn from... and for each one you view, you also help support an independent filmmaker, all of who welcome such support!

Note: The title hyperlinks are to how you can purchase the film. Additional links to more detailed information, trailers and non-theatrical licensing opportunities are also provided.

No Matter Where: [Just released]. If you think the healthcare system is broken, wait until you see No Matter Where! While it might be an obvious conclusion that since many medical practices use computers to record patient information, and since hospitals also use computers for such information, that these two worlds must be exchanging that information. Unfortunately, while this has been a dream for many decades, it has yet to be realized in this country. No Matter Where explores the complexities of the numerous issues that have to be addressed from the technology involved to the adoption of practice by participants all along the informational path. It is an overwhelming challenge and “No Matter Where” sheds great light on the status of the effort. You can read more about the film and watch the trailer at Soundview Media Partners.

The Healing Field: With the discoveries made since Einstein and the advent of quantum physics, we’ve come to understand that the world is very different from what we’ve been told; that it’s much closer to what the ancients described. The Healing Field explores breakthroughs in the fields of energy medicine, quantum physics, DNA and genetics, and the biochemistry of emotions. You can read more about the film, and watch the trailer at Soundview Media Partners.

Blackhearts: Releasing on DVD and digital platforms on April 11, 2017, Blackhearts is an exploration into a musical genre that also addresses the rights of individuals to express themselves freely without persecution. From Fredrik Horn Akselsen and Christian Falch (the people who brought you Two Raging Grannies and The Exorcist in the 21st Century) comes “A wry look at the enduring yet precarious power of myth” – Metalhammer. You can read more about the film, and watch the trailer at Soundview Media Partners.

Tanhauser and the Birth of American Cinema: Students of cinema history will find this film of great interest. The Thanhouser Company was a trail-blazing studio based in New Rochelle, New York. From 1910 to 1917 it released over 1,000 films that were seen by audiences around the globe. The documentary reconstructs the relatively unknown story of the studio and its founders, technicians, and stars as they entered the nascent motion picture industry to compete with Thomas Edison and the companies aligned with his Motion Pictures Patents Corporation (MPPC). You can read more about the film and watch the trailer at Soundview Media Partners.

Christiania: Talk about activism! Christiania was born in 1971 when youthful idealism and a severe housing shortage incited hundreds of young people to occupy 85 acres of deserted brick buildings, woods, ramparts and canals as their home. Finding it politically unpopular to evict the young settlers, the Danish government declared Christiania a “short-term social experiment”. 40 years later, Christiania not only remains, it is vibrant and full of life! You can read more about the film and watch the trailer at Soundview Media Partners.

A Parting Gift: Around the world, people donate their bodies to medical science and education. Unlike with organ donation, these donors gift their entire corpse to a medical school, and thus become silent teachers after their death in the hopes that somehow someone learns from their body what they can otherwise not learn from it while they were living. A Parting Gift follows first-year medical students in the Anatomy Department at Dublin’s Trinity College as their education is enriched by direct contact with donor remains. You can read more about the film and watch the trailer at Soundview Media Partners.

Disarm: “RECOMMENDED” – Video Librarian. Evocative, visually stunning, and utterly unforgettable, DISARM spans a dozen countries to look at how, despite a global ban, millions of antipersonnel mines continue to claim victims daily in countries around the world. Disarm juxtaposes government and public opinion, that of outspoken Nobel Peace Prize winner Jody Williams, diplomats, mine victims, deminers, soldiers, and aid workers, to explore the issues that both hinder and further the case against antipersonnel mines. You can read more about the film and watch the trailer at Soundview Media Partners.

Eavesdropping on Souls - A Journey Into Haitian Arts: Eavesdropping on Souls is an award winning documentation of the spectacular art of Haiti and the underlying emotional culture of its people. Filmmaker Jacqueline Jean-Baptiste has dedicated herself to presenting some of the art and culture of Haiti with a cast of extraordinary painters, sculptors, photographers and other artisans. The result is a portrait of extraordinary art from a complex culture. You can read more about the film and watch the trailer at Soundview Media Partners.

Icons Among Us: Calling all JAZZ fans... this one's for you! Icons Among Us: Jazz in the Present Tense is a comprehensive four-part documentary film series that looks at the Jazz music scene today. Through interviews, performance footage, and the voices of the musicians themselves, the film explores this music and the divergent influences that are shaping the world of Jazz at the beginning of the 21st Century. Not a historical look at what has been called America’s Music but a timely, vibrant trip through the clubs, festival, and the lives of this new generation of jazz musicians. You can read more about the series and watch the trailer at Soundview Media Partners.

About the author: Dan Gurlitz is the Founder of Soundview Media Partners, a boutique supplier of independent film with the mission of "documenting the world one film at a time". The Soundview library now offers over 350 films to both the commercial marketplace as well as for educational, non-theatrical exhibition licensing. The entire Soundview Media Partners library can be browsed at www.soundviewmediapartners.com. Inquires are welcome to [email protected].