Michelle Ferrari Movies

This profile of performance artist Marina Abramovic discusses the artist's innovative and sometimes controversial take on her art form, which has helped expand the realm of stage art through emotional, provocative, interactive techniques that she's mastered over the course of 40 years. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi

This earnest but deeply disturbing chronicle from PBS's American Experience documentary series travels back to the 1960s to recount events leading up to the violent intersection of two lives: that of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., civil rights pioneer and one of the greatest Americans of the 20th century, and that of James Earl Ray, a trained assassin whose bullet ended King's life and arguably signaled the end of an era. The program also explores the events that ensued and led up to Ray's capture and imprisonment. In telling its heartbreaking story, the documentary draws upon eyewitness accounts from members of King's inner circle, as well as extensive interviews with Hampton Sides, author of the tome Hellhound on His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the International Hunt for His Assassin. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Global warming has been the most significant environmental issue to come to the public's attention in the final quarter of the Twentieth Century. But while most people know what global warming is, convincing folks that it's a real and present danger has been a difficult task, especially since a number of Republican political leaders and leading figures in multi-national business have used their power and influence to question the facts behind the issue, or dismiss scientific evidence as tree-hugging hysteria. The grassroots efforts of environmental activists to spread the word about the very real dangers of this looming crisis are chronicled in Everything's Cool, a documentary which focuses on a wide variety of concerned people working to shift public opinion, from author Ross Gelbspan and former Vice President Al Gore to ordinary citizens who use chat at work and in elevators to spread the message. The film also looks at how activists used the big-budget sci-fi film The Day After Tomorrow as a springboard to push global warming into public consciousness. Everything's Cool was screened in competition at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In the late 1840s San Francisco was little more than a quaint seaside village of 800, and few could have foreseen that remarkable future that fate held in store for sleepy community. Soon after gold was discovered in the American River, however, the rapid growth that followed would alter the course of an entire nation. By early 1854 San Francisco was well on its way to becoming the economic powerhouse that it is today. In this documentary, filmmakers take an informative look back at that crucial era of development with original recreations and rare daguerreotypes that truly transport the viewer back to one of the most vital and transformative eras in American history. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

An artist whose life was as bold and startling as her work, Frida Kahlo battled physical infirmity and a male-dominated art establishment to become one of the most acclaimed and influential painters of her generation. Kahlo also had a passionate interest in politics with her leftist views informed by the Mexican Revolution; she was an outspoken advocate of Communism and a powerful symbol of the progressive movement throughout her life. The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo is a documentary which tells Kahlo's story as a woman, as an artist, and as a symbol of women's rights and Latin progress. The film is narrated by actress Rita Moreno, while singer Lila Downs provides the voice of Kahlo. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This 64-minute documentary, winner of the "Audience Award" at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, details the hurdles that determined teenager Kelli Peterson had to confront when she decided to organize a Gay-Straight Alliance at her Utah high school in 1996. After both the school board and the state legislature made efforts to bar the Alliance from the school, the teens drew national attention as they continued to fight for their rights. Peterson, her family, and friends are interviewed by filmmaker Jeff Dupre, who put the situation in perspective with five historical segments, presented chronologically yet intercut with the modern-day Utah conflicts -- the secret diary of 17th-century Puritan clerk Michael Wigglesworth; the 19th-century "marriage" in Boston of novelist Sarah Orne Jewett and socialite Annie Fields; the 1924 organization in Chicago of the first American gay rights group; Bayard Rustin and his role in the Civil Rights movement; and the work of activist Barbara Gittings during the '50s and '60s. Actors Stephen Spinella, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cherry Jones, Edward Norton, and Leland Gantt deliver the narration for these historical segments through readings of letters and diaries. Filmed in 16mm color and black-and-white, Out of the Past was shown at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi