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90 min. documentary for The History Channel
Philip Shane, Producer, Director, Writer
Philip Shane & David Baum, Editor
Banks Tarver & Ken Druckerman, Exec. Producers
Left-Right Productions
"Unsurprisingly smart, and surprisingly engaging... a roller coaster of great triumphs and ominous dead ends. What makes all this come together is a splendid group of narrators, physicists whose enthusiasm in talking about Einstein almost jumps off the screen. The Einstein portrayed here is hardly an unblemished hero. But everyone who watches will be cheering for him to complete his quest, to somehow rise above humanity's grievous failings to explain how the universe works."
David Hinckley, New York Daily News
Everyone knows the name Albert Einstein, but few people know of the 15-year long battle he waged to prove his groundbreaking Theory of Relativity while the world was in the grip of war, and he was contending with remarkable adversity in his personal life.
This engrossing film weaves together the extraordinary path of Einstein's scientific journey, the tumultuous turns of his family life, and the wrenching moral dilemmas he faced within the world of science, and in the heart of a city besieged by war. When, after a decade of mental & mathematical struggle, Einstein proclaimed a stunning new theory of the universe, it launched a fierce, global competition among physicists, mathematicians, and astronomers who raced to be the first to prove this obscure German Jewish scientist as right, or wrong.
This is the incredible adventure that gave birth to the beloved icon we know today.
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76 Min. Feature Documentary
Philip Shane, Co-Director
Constance Marks, Director
Philip Shane, Justin Weinstein, Constantine Limperis, Editors
Philip Shane & Justin Weinstein, Writers
Reviews:
"Remarkable. A heartwarming story of how one person realized his dream, and made significant sacrifices along the way.”
Leonard Maltin, The Huffington Post
“Critic's Pick: A winning tale of persistence and creativity.”
Neil Genzlinger, The New York Times
“Grade A: A marvelous movie.”
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
"Thumbs Up!"
Roger Ebert, At The Movies
Awards:
World Premiere Selection
Sundance Film Festival
Special Jury Award
Sundance Film Festival
Finalist
The Humanitas Prize
Audience Award
Nantucket Film Festival
Audience Award: Best Documentary
Traverse City Film Festival
Special Jury Award: Most Life Affirming Film
Traverse City Film Festival
Top Ten Audience Award
HotDocs Film Festival, Toronto
Best of SIFF Award
Seattle International Film Festival
Official Festival Selections:
American Film Institute Silverdocs
SXSW
Full Frame
Dallas•Film
Boston Independent Film Festival
And many more
World Wide Theatrical Release
Broadcast on PBS
Available on Netflix & iTunes
Beloved by children of all ages around the world, Elmo is an international icon. Few people know his creator, Kevin Clash, who dreamed of working with his idol, master puppeteer Jim Henson. Displaying his creativity and talent at a young age, Kevin ultimately found a home on Sesame Street. Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg, this documentary includes rare archival footage, interviews with Frank Oz, Rosie O’Donnell, Cheryl Henson, Joan Ganz Cooney and others and offers a behind-the-scenes look at Sesame Street and the Jim Henson Workshop.
A photographer travels the world in order to document the remaining vestiges of world’s fairs across the globe, while searching for balance between being an artist and raising a family. Read more…
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90. Min. Feature Documentary
Philip Shane, Editor
Director: Rachel Talbot
Produced by The Jewish Women's Archive
Awards:
Special Jury Prize
Jerusalem Film Festival
Official Festival Selection:
American Film Institute - Silverdocs
San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
Boston Jewish Film Festival
Woodstock Film Festival
And many more
MAKING TROUBLE tells the story of six of the greatest female entertainers of the last century — Molly Picon, Fanny Brice, Sophie Tucker, Joan Rivers, Gilda Radner, and Wendy Wasserstein. Hosted by four of today’s funniest women — Judy Gold, Jackie Hoffman, Cory Kahaney, and Jessica Kirson — it's the true saga of what it means to be Jewish, female and funny.
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88 Min. Television Documentary
Philip Shane, Editor
Paul McCartney, Exec. Producer
Alistair Donald & Mary McCartney, Producers
For Channel 4 (UK) & ABC (USA)
Broadcast around the world
Wingspan is the inside story of Paul and Linda McCartney's life, from their meeting during Paul's rise to fame as a Beatle, through their decades together in their own band, Wings. The story of their early years together is intimately shared through series of candid conversation with their daughter, Mary. Home movies, family photos, and rare footage draw viewers into a very personal story of love and family.
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86 Min. Feature Documentary
Philip Shane, Editor
Director: Hilla Medalia
Editors: Philip Shane, Bob Eisenhardt, Jean Tsien
Currently In Worldwide Theatrical Release
"Irresistible to behold."
The New York Times
"A surprising, well-crafted look at a ballroom-dancing program aimed at bridging gaps."
Variety
"A documentary that doesn't force-feed its message of hope but genuinely earns it."
The Los Angeles Times
Awards:
Best Editing Award
Philip Shane & Bob Eisenhardt
DocAviv Film Festival, Tel Aviv, Israel
World Premiere Selection
Tribeca Film Festival
Opening Night Selection
DocAviv Film Festival, Tel Aviv, Israel
Best Documentary
Ramdam Film Festival, Belgium
Audience Awards
Washington Jewish Film Festival
Festival 2, Valenciennes, France
Official Festival Selection:
Sydney Film Festival, Australia
ArcLight Documentary Festival, Los Angeles
FilmFest, München, Germany
Aspen Ideas Festival, Colorado
And many more
The story of Pierre Dulaine, four-time ballroom dancing world champion, fulfilling a life-long dream when he takes his program, Dancing Classrooms, back to his city of birth, Jaffa. For generations, Jaffa has been a city divided by two communities that continue to grow increasingly apart. Over a ten-week period, Pierre teaches Jewish and Palestinian Israeli children to dance and compete together. The film explores the complex stories of three children, all of whom who are forced to confront issues of identity, segregation, and racial prejudice as they dance with their enemy. We watch Pierre transform their lives, confirming his belief that dance can overcome hatred and provide the first steps towards real change.
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42 Min. Television Documentary
Philip Shane, Editor
Producer: Linda Garmon
Executive Producers: Peter Jennings, Tom Yellin, Mark Obenhaus
Emmy Award, Outstanding Historical Program
When Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated in 1968, Memphis became a symbol of hope extinguished. This ABC News program anchored by Peter Jennings reveals the tragic story of the African-American experience, documenting the brutal reality of slavery, the milestones in the heroic struggle for fundamental rights and self-esteem, and the killing of America’s greatest civil rights leader.
88 Min. Feature Documentary
Philip Shane, Editor
Anja Baron, Director
“Affection and respect for these surviving pioneers pervades the film… a warm portrait. Sublime.”
Hollywood Reporter
"While several other films about early American jazz have put music in a museum, The Last of the First places it back with audiences and in clubs where it belongs. Hankies will be a must.“
Variety
“Superb”
LA Weekly
Official Festival Selections:
Tribeca Film Festival, World Premiere
London
Los Angeles
And many more
From the Tribeca Festival Guide:
"This thoroughly engaging movie tells the remarkable and deeply moving story of the Harlem Blues & Jazz Band during its sunset years for, although they were formed more than 30 years ago, touring and playing regularly ever since, its unique personnel -- pioneers from the early days of jazz -- has inevitably succumbed to the passage of time. But what wonderful, dedicated musicians they are, still playing like angels: 87-year-old Al Casey, who had worked closely with Fats Waller throughout the 1930s; guitarist Lawrence Lucie, 95 years young, from the bands of Louis Armstrong, Benny Carter and Duke Ellington; saxophonist Bubba Brooks, 79, who was with Bill Doggett; Edwin Swanston, 80, pianist with Louis Armstrong's Orchestra; 91-year-old drummer Johnny Blowers, ex-Bunny Berigan, Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra; Ivan Rolle, 85, bassist with Jonah Jones; and 88-year-old Laurel Watson, one-time vocalist with Duke Ellington and Count Basie. Anja Baron's cameras lovingly record the musicians through their tours and concerts, capturing their joy in performing together. Her deep respect and admiration for this incorrigible band of troupers is evident in every frame. A true celebration of the jazz spirit."
55 Min. Feature Documentary
Philip Shane, Editor
Director: Brad Lichtenstein
"Engrossing, powerful ... a deeply moving knockout."
Atlanta Journal and Constitution
Dubbed "the Jewish Schindler," Bauhaus trained architect Andre Steiner saved thousands of Slovak Jews. The last surviving member of the secret and illegal Jewish "Working Group" in Slovakia, Andre helped save over 7000 from deportation to Auschwitz (almost six times as many as Schindler). His complex rescue effort involved bribing Nazi and Slovak officials in order to build labor camps to keep Jews employed and safe from deportation.
After testifying before a war-crimes tribunal against one of the Nazi's he bribed, Andre emigrated to Atlanta, rebuilt his life, becoming a successful architect. He chose never to look back, or share his story. The cost of his secret was his marriage, distance from his sons and a sacrifice of emotional connections.
Now, at 89, he returns to Europe with his sons to grapple with traumatic memories for the first time. During the film he begins to forge new relationships with his sons and his past. His resistance to exploring his history unfolds on camera through a complex dynamic, as father and sons struggle to make sense of the present by wrestling with the past.
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120 Min. Documentary for ABC News
Philip Shane, Editor
Producer/Writers: Ralph Avelino, Richard Gerdau
Editors: Philip Shane, Sikay Tang, Ralph Avelino
Elvis: Viva Las Vegas documents the king's years in a place, the International Hotel (later the Las Vegas Hilton), where he played close to one thousand shows, before two million fans, over the course of seven years. Dramatic, intense, driven, earthy, and frequently moving, an Elvis show in the early '70s was the apotheosis of rock music. It was rock and soul, gospel and pop, blues and country. It was Elvis at maximum energy, whether he was kicking his older hits into a higher gear or down-shifting to make a burning ballad out of one of his favorite songs from the past few years. Elvis and his coterie took what had once been simple and unadorned and transformed it into one of the glitziest extravaganzas ever seen.
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86 Min. Documentary For ABC News
Philip Shane, Editor
Directed by Mark Obenhaus
Editors: Philip Shane, Peter Livingston
This authoritative film seriously examines the most recent claims of UFO sightings and so-called alien encounters. Detailed, highly critical analysis by rigorous scientists emphasizes the extreme weakness of eyewitness testimony, uncovers a biological explanation for "alien abductions," and reveals the hard, very Earth-based facts behind some of the most overhyped cases of all time.
The program emphasizes that seeing is believing, but "believing" is by no means scientific proof.
And yet, ultimately, the program reaches for the stars, by revealing the real scientific basis for the genuine hope that life may very well exist beyond Earth. It is a program that investigates, speculates and ultimately celebrates the possibility that we are not alone.
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60 Min. Feature Documentary
Philip Shane, Editor
Producer: Roger Weisberg
Editors: Larry Silk, Philip Shane
"The remarkable film's power emerges from the interaction between the young actors and their audiences."
The New York Times
"An emotionally involving, clear-headed chronicle."
The Philadelphia Inquirer
A diverse group of talented teenage actors in New York use theater to tell their fellow teens what their parents don't about sex, love and latex. The real drama comes to life as the moving film reveals that the performers are dramatizing scenes on stage that are based on their own struggles growing up in the age of AIDS.
