Richard Hankin Movies

Founded in part by Amadou Gallo Fall, who works in scouting and international affairs for the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, the Seeds Academy is an unusual school in Senegal that recruits students based on both their academic abilities and their athletic skills. Along with providing a quality education, the school helps students find basketball scholarships at American schools, and successful graduates help other Seeds students use their talents to better their communities and earn a more promising future. Filmmaker Anne Buford offers a look into life at the Seeds Academy and its students in the documentary Elevate, as four young men from rural Senegal -- Assane, Aziz, Byago and Dethie -- leave their homes and make their way to the United States, where they must not only excel in school and on the basketball court in pursuit of a career in pro ball, but serve as unofficial ambassadors from Western Africa, countering the many negative stereotypes held against their people and their homeland. Elevate received its world premiere at the 2011 South by Southwest Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This probing documentary from filmmaker James Houston takes an in-depth look at the ever changing attitudes towards sex among teenagers. Discussing the issues with adolescents, parents, teachers, and other experts all over the country, Houston explores how both progressive and conservative trends have both effected growing rates of teen pregnancy, STD transmission, and more. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi

Writer/director David Novack examines the conflicting forces that have prompted a potentially explosive conflict between the coal industry and the residents of West Virginia who question the impact of extraction on their quiet way of life. Troubled by the emergence of a coal-based U.S. energy policy, West Virginia activists try their hardest to educate the public about the potentially destructive effect of mining for coal: not only would ground water be rendered toxic, but 1.4 million acres of mountains would be demolished as well. Now forced to do battle with a powerful government that seems to cater especially to industry, these determined activists will go to any lengths necessary in order to get their voices heard and preserve their traditional way of life. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

One soldier's brave struggle to put his life back together after receiving serious injuries in Iraq is explored in this documentary. Jeremy Feldbusch was a healthy, strapping 21-year-old Army Ranger when he was shipped off to fight in Iraq in 2003. A few months later, Feldbusch was struck in the head with a large piece of shrapnel during battle; the injury left Feldbusch blind and with irreversible brain damage. Upon returning home, Feldbusch found himself living with his parents, who have worked with their son to reacclimatize him to the things he used to do, including skiing, cycling, hunting and chopping wood. With Feldbusch receiving limited financial support from the military, his parents must pay for his care and therapy out of their own pockets, and while Feldbusch remains proud of his military service (and supportive of the war in Iraq), he's become a spokesman for the Wounded Warrior Project, a veterans' group which is lobbying for increased financial support to programs providing therapy for injured soldiers. Home Front is a documentary which profiles Feldbusch's life before and after his hitch in Iraq as well as the goals of the Wounded Warrior Project. Home Front received its world premier at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Arnold and Elaine Friedman were a seemingly typical couple living in Great Neck, NY, in the 1980s. Arnold was an outgoing and well-liked schoolteacher with an interest in electronics who also ran a private computer school out of their home. Elaine, a reserved but caring woman, helped look after the couple's three sons, Jesse, Seth, and David. All appeared to be happy in their lives until November 1987, when police raided the Friedman home after Arnold and Jesse were accused of multiple counts of child molestation. A search revealed that Arnold owned a sizable collection of child pornography, and he confessed to some of the charges placed against him; Jesse, however, firmly insisted he was innocent. As the investigation against the Friedmans went on, public opinion regarding the case became more and more heated, but not all of the testimony against Arnold and Jesse matched up, and some began to wonder just how many of the charges filed against the family had merit. Remarkably enough, in the midst of these crises which threatened to destroy the family from within, the Friedmans continued to take part in one of their favorite pastimes -- shooting home videos of their day-to-day lives, offering a fly-on-the-wall look at a family struggling (and often failing) to hold themselves together in the wake of unthinkable accusations. Filmmaker Andrew Jarecki not only documented the legal and emotional struggles of the Friedman family with his own cameras, but was given access to the family's archive of home videos, and the result was Capturing the Friedmans, a documentary which keeps its primary focus on the Friedman family while also investigating the merits or faults in the charges levied against them. Capturing the Friedmans received an enthusiastic reception in its screening at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi