Ray Mcdonald

Silk Road Ghosts takes the viewer off the beaten path as I ply a circuit, following in the footsteps of the ancient conquerors, passing through some of the more remarkable parts of Central Asia's Silk Road. From Almaty in Kazakhstan, I set out towards a daunting rendezvous with the Darvasa Gas Crater in Turkmenistan. Along the way I dot many of the road's pivotal locations, bearing witness to its myriad ghosts which served to glorify the annals of our planet's history.

The people of Antiquity had little problem with nudity and would not find graphic depictions of sexual acts as morally suspect or obscene. But Christianity changed perspectives, bringing in notions of shame and the negation of the body. This documentary looks at the erotic in art over the last two thousand years.

A documentary about the well-known Latvian youth choir “Kamēr...” and its journey to the Tolosa Choral competition. A debut from a 20 year old singer of the choir, the film offers a deeply personal insight into the most difficult challenge the choir has ever faced. After the head conductor leaving, the choir has just 2 months to get used to a new leader. A test for the new conductor who has to prove his worth at one of the most important competi-tions of the choir’s history. It’s do or die, as nothing less than a victory will be accepted. Following the choir every step of the way, the director puts the audience in a first-row seat at rehearsals, performances, discussions and spectacular moments that can only be seen through the eyes of a singer. An unprecedented view of the personal battles and achieve-ments, that lead up to a real-life story, never captured before.

A film about memory, identity and the overwhelming power of love. One-year-old Devi was found starving at a railway station in Delhi. The police took her to Palna, an orphanage, where she lived for a year. When Devi learned to talk she often wanted to talk about Amma, her first mother. In the film, the 6-year-old Devi journeys to her own past, as her family adopts another daughter from Palna, a baby sister for Devi.

A 1940 Columbia Picture feature film, "I Married Adventure" stars Osa Johnson and closely follows her 1940 best-selling book of the same name. Osa portrays herself in studio-produced scenes which bridge the transition between actual documentary footage segments as the film recounts the Johnson's nine world expeditions to Africa, Borneo, and the South Seas. Jim Bannon, a Hollywod stuntman who lent his voice to many western's including Red Ryder, Don Clark, and Albert Duffy narrate this adventure classic that compiles the very best images from the Johnsons' original feature films.