Julie Goldman Movies

In 1963, the United States Supreme Court upheld the right of all citizens to free legal counsel should they be accused of a crime, but while defendants may be entitled to the services of a public defender, those who can't afford to hire a lawyer of their own soon discover the unfortunate facts -- there are only 15,000 public defenders in the entire United States, and most are dealing with literally hundreds of cases at a time, with little time and few resources to devote to their work. Jonathan Rapping is an attorney who operates the Southern Public Defender Training Center, where he oversees a staff of lawyers who struggle to see justice is done for a growing number of clients, many of whom often have the deck stacked against them due to race and poverty. Filmmaker Dawn Porter delivers a powerful profile of Rapping and two of his lawyers, Brandy Alexander and Travis Williams, in the documentary Gideon's Army, as they represent clients in a system that doesn't always acknowledge that all are innocent until proven guilty, and try to keep up with their work load in a profession where many leave for better paying and less frustrating alternatives. Gideon's Army received its world premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This documentary explores the life and career of drummer Ginger Baker, a well-respected musician who famously discovered Fela Kuti's Afrobeat during a trip to Nigeria. After a period of addiction and self-destruction, Baker moved to South Africa, where he remarried and cares for a number of polo ponies. Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, and Carlos Santana are interviewed. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

Filmmaker Greg Barker offers a look into an unusual contest in which talented children pit their skills against others from around the world in this documentary. Every year, dozens of kids travel to Cairo to take place in an international Koran recitation contest; the children (some as young as seven) are judged on their ability to recite the Muslim holy book from memory, and they are graded on both accuracy and the musicality of their intonation. In Koran By Heart, Barker and his crew capture the competition and the interaction between the entrants, as well as the parents who serve as both guardians and trainers. Barker puts his greatest focus on three children: Rifdha, one of the few girls in the competition, who hails from the Maldives and seems considerably more open minded and questioning than her stern father; Nabiollah, a boy from Tajikistan whose striking performance is especially remarkable since he doesn't speak Arabic; and Djamil, a ten-year-old from Senegal who is on his own in Cairo while his friends and family eagerly await the news about the contest at home. Koran By Heart received its world premiere at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In an era when even many full-time workers rely on soup kitchens for sustenance, filmmakers Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush take us into the lives of three people who wage a daily struggle against hunger, and speak with various experts about the possibility of ensuring that every American is well fed. Despite the fact that our nation has the means and resources to feed every hungry mouth, it's estimated that one in four American children doesn't get enough to eat. If we possess the capability to provide these starving children with a nutritious diet but fail to do so, what does that say about us as a society? Barbie is a single mother from Philadelphia who knows how it feels to go to bed hungry. As a young girl she rarely knew where her next meal would come from, and she's determined that her two children will never face that uncertainty. Famished Colorado second-grader Rosie has difficulty concentrating in school and relies on the kindness of others to fill her plate, while Mississippi grade-schooler Tremonica finds her asthma aggravated by the only meals that her mother can afford -- which are decidedly lacking in nutrients. In addition to talking with the people affected by hunger on a daily basis, Jacobson and Silverbush also speak with sociologist Janet Poppendieck, nutrition advocate Marion Nestle, Witness to Hunger's Mariana Chilton, Academy Award winner Jeff Bridges, and various others about this widespread problem and the potential solutions. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Filmmaker Alison Klayman presents an intimate portrait of outspoken Chinese artist/political activist Ai Weiwei, who was taken into police custody after criticizing the Chinese government over the deaths of 5000 students during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, and who defied his country's censorship laws to help organize and inform his fellow citizens. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Dimitri Mugianis is an artist and musician who in the 1980s and '90s earned a cult following with his experimental rock band Mr. Unique and the Leisure Class. Mugianis was also a drug addict who spent nearly 20 years dependent on heroin and alcohol. However, Mugianis became aware of Ibogaine, a hallucinogenic drug derived from natural roots that has been used for centuries by shamans in West Africa. With Ibogaine, Mugianis was able to kick drugs and alcohol without painful withdrawal and has been clean ever since. Mugianis became an outspoken advocate for the use of Ibogaine in drug detox, despite the fact it's a Schedule 1 controlled substance in the United States, and has organized underground Ibogaine therapy sessions in the United States and Canada. However, after one such Ibogaine detox nearly led to the death of a patient, Mugianis set out to learn more about its traditional use in West Africa, going so far as to travel to Gabon and undergo traditional rituals with the drug in the company of shamans. Filmmaker Michel Negroponte followed Mugianis on his voyage to Africa, and his documentary I'm Dangerous With Love chronicles his experiences and how he believes Ibogaine can change the way we treat drug addiction in North America. I'm Dangerous With Love was an official selection at the 2010 Hot Docs Documentary Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Filmmaker Mandy Stein pays tribute to one of the most famous rock and roll clubs ever by speaking with CBGB owner Hilly Kristal as well as a number of famous musicians who built their reputations performing at the legendary rock and roll venue. Originally named "Country Bluegrass Blues" and intended as a place to showcase music of those particular styles, CBGB quickly became a staple of the punk scene thanks to landmark earl performances by such legendary acts as The Ramones, Talking Heads, Patti Smith, and Television. In addition to featuring interviews with Kristal, various bands that performed at the club, employees, and frequent patrons, Stein's affectionate documentary also takes a look at the struggle to keep the club open as the non-profit homeless charity that owned the building fought to have it shut down. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A family struggles to come to terms with their differences and their many emotional shortcomings in this powerful documentary from director Samantha Beck. After learning that she's pregnant with her first child, Sharon decides she needs to settle her quarrels with her family before she can start a family of her own, and returns with her husband to her hometown of Buffalo, New York for a visit and some fence-mending. However, while there's still plenty of bad blood between Sharon and her mother, it doesn't take long to see that the real family crisis involves Sharon's sister Karen. Karen is single and already has two children, one of whom has a rare and untreatable illness that should claim her life in three years, and Karen has discovered she's expecting a third child. Adding to her mother's anxieties, Karen's current boyfriend and the father of her unborn child is a small-time drug dealer who often abandons her and seems like a poor candidate for responsible parenthood. While Sharon is as appalled as her mother at the poor choices Karen has made, as they spend some time together they're reminded of how much they share, and that their situations aren't as dissimilar as they seem on the surface. 21 Below received its world premiere at the 2009 Hot Docs International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A vengeful stripper schemes to take a slimy casino owner for all he's worth, but finds her foolproof plan foiled by a collaborator with a secret agenda. In Las Vegas, money equals power, and few men have more of both than wealthy casino owner Barry Kaylin. A thirty-something bachelor who owns four Las Vegas casinos, Barry lives life to the fullest and never apologizes to anyone. One night, while anticipating the arrival of two potential business associates at his sprawling desert mansion, Barry hires five local dancers to make a big impression. The proceedings take a dark turn, however, when Barry snorts too much cocaine over the course of the evening and forces himself on Jennifer, the youngest of the sultry strippers. Confronted by police the following day, Barry claims that the sex was consensual. As a result, the local prosecutor refuses to press charges, and Barry walks away a free man. But Jennifer isn't willing to let Barry off so easily, and immediately begins scheming with her four sexy friends to take him for all he's worth by targeting the crown jewel of his massive empire -- the highly lucrative Crystal Sky Casino. With the help of two male employees, Jennifer and her friends will rob the Crystal Sky blind, perhaps even putting Barry out of business for good. As preparations for the big job get under way, one member of the team goes rogue. By the time the others catch wind of the secret agenda, it's already too late, and a notorious hit man emerges to blow the entire plot sky high. With precious little time to lose, the remaining members of the team attempt to stay alive long enough to carry out their cunning plan. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Decades before Siegfried and Roy were thrilling audiences with their breathtaking live act, husband-and-wife team Ron and Joy Holiday were performing alongside some of the most majestic felines ever to take the stage. In the 1960s Ron and Joy would establish themselves as the world's first exotic cat entertainers. Later, in the 1980s, the duo found their act expanding into a three-person show with the addition of charismatic performer Chuck Lizza. As the years wore on the trio would endure tragedy, heartbreak, and loss while constantly striving to deliver one of the most unique stage shows around. Though the laughter and the tears, filmmaker Harris Fishman keeps his lens trained on these captivating and fearless performers to tell a story that's as inspirational as it is original. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Documentary filmmaker Liz Mermin receives unprecedented access to the wildly successful Office Tiger corporation, and the resulting meditation on the melding of Western business structure and Eastern work philosophy offers an absorbing study on the evolution of the global marketplace. Joseph Sigelman is the thirty-four-year-old co-founder and co-CEO of Office Tiger - a six-year-old business that rapidly expanded to employ over 3500 individuals on three continents. The goal of Office Tiger is to provide its clients - which consist primarily of law firms, investment banks, and consultancies - with highly secure processing of sensitive documents. In the wake of a particularly memorable New Yorker Magazine profile of the company, filmmaker Mermin was offered complete access Office Tiger's primary office in Chennai, India. It's here that Mermin and her team of filmmakers explore the energetic efforts of Sigelman in motivating his employees, the ultra-competitive nature of the workers who sacrifice their social lives for twenty-hour workdays, and team manager Nikhil's efforts to encourage his underlings to practice selfishness by delegating their work and thus having more time to plan their rise up the corporate ladder. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Filmmaker David Sington merges the magnificence of science with the compelling drama of the human quest for advancement with this fascinating and visually stunning meditation on the historic Apollo space program. In the four remarkable years between 1968 and 1972, American history took a defining turn as nine NASA spacecraft made the trip to the moon, and 12 bold explorers became the first men ever to set foot on ground beyond planet Earth. In this documentary, space enthusiast Sington allows the surviving crew members from each Apollo mission the unique opportunity to recount their memories of those missions in their own words as vintage, original NASA film footage offers a tantalizing glimpse of this extraordinary era in American history. Candid interviews with the astronauts reveal the sensitive and fun-loving souls whose fearlessness would lead a nation into a new era of progress, and audio recordings from Mission Control lend a newfound sense of poignancy to a variety of oft-recounted historical milestones. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi