The Codex Gigas, or Devil's Bible, is the world's largest and most enigmatic medieval manuscript, said to be crafted from 160 donkey skins and weighing a staggering 165 pounds. Its chilling full-page portrait of the Devil, believed to be the result of a monk's desperate pact with dark forces, is just the beginning of its mysteries. Written in the Kingdom of Bohemia, this legendary text blends biblical scripture with forbidden demonic spells, making it both sacred and cursed. Filled with mystical medical formulas and cryptic incantations, the Codex Gigas holds mysteries that have fascinated historians for centuries. The haunting contrast between a Heavenly City and the devil's image adds to its mystique. This documentary dives deep into one of history's most mysterious artifacts, uncovering secrets that have captivated the world for generations.
Experience the powerful and heartwarming journey of four young girls as they prepare for a once-in-a-lifetime Daddy Daughter Dance event with their incarcerated fathers in Washington, D.C. This documentary offers an intimate glimpse into a unique fatherhood program that brings families together within the walls of a prison. For most of these daughters, this dance will be their only chance to hold or hug their fathers, some of whom are serving sentences as long as 20 years. As the dance approaches, the film delves deep into the emotional bonds between these girls and their dads, capturing moments of joy, heartache, and hope. ‘Daughters’ is a poignant and beautifully crafted story that makes a compelling case for second chances in a world often isolated and fractured.
The films begins at the Maine Correctional Center where Jacinta, 26, and her mother Rosemary, 46, are incarcerated together, both recovering from drug addiction. As a child, Jacinta became entangled in her mother's world of drugs and crime and has followed her in and out of the system since she was a teenager. This time, as Jacinta is released from prison, she hopes to maintain her sobriety and reconnect with her own daughter, Caylynn, 10. Despite her desire to rebuild her life for her daughter, Jacinta continually struggles against the forces that first led to her addiction. With unparalleled access and a gripping vérité approach, director Jessica Earnshaw paints a deeply intimate portrait of mothers and daughters and the effects of trauma over generations.
Psychopaths have long captured the public imagination. Painted as charismatic, violent predators lacking in all empathy, they provide intrigue and horror in equal measure. But what precisely is a psychopath? What is it that drives them to cause harm, even kill? And can they ever be cured? The film also features a series of candid interviews with prison inmates who not only describe their crimes but why they think they committed them. 'What Makes a Psychopath?' explores not only how each individual's crimes were shaped by their own life experiences, but also gives an insight into how these people think and behave. Working with the world's experts in the field, the film sheds light on the biological, psychological and environmental influences that shape a psychopath. And it looks to the future, with ground-breaking research that suggests a lifetime of incarceration is not the only option to manage violent and dangerous psychopaths.
The title of Ava DuVernay's extraordinary and galvanizing documentary refers to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which reads 'Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.' The progression from that second qualifying clause to the horrors of mass criminalization and the sprawling American prison industry is laid out by DuVernay with bracing lucidity. With a potent mixture of archival footage and testimony from a dazzling array of activists, politicians, historians, and formerly incarcerated women and men, DuVernay creates a work of grand historical synthesis.
Deep in the Andean mountains lays a mysterious ruin named Machu Picchu. For 400 years it sat abandoned on its misty cliff, the quintessential lost city in the jungle. Rediscovered in 1911, it contained no written records or carvings, nothing that could shed light on its history. For a century since, it has defied the endless scores of visitors and scientists who attempted to understand its purpose. Who were the mysterious people who built it and why did they build it here? Today an international team of archaeologists, engineers and scientists are finally piecing together the clues. Together they are discovering astonishing new burials, revealing the intricacies of its ingenious engineering and finally decoding the secrets of Machu Picchu.
Filled with mystical medical formulas and cryptic incantations, the Codex Gigas holds mysteries that have fascinated historians for centuries. The haunting contrast between a Heavenly City and the devil's image adds to its mystique. This documentary dives deep into one of history's most mysterious artifacts, uncovering secrets that have captivated the world for generations.