Moxie Firecracker Films

Filmmaker Liz Garbus investigates the mysterious tragedy of Diane Schuler in an effort to understand what went wrong.

Each year, mothers with mental impairment give birth to an estimated 120,000 children. Approximately half of these children remain with the mother. "Different Moms" briefly documents the lives of three mothers with mental impairment ~ Elaine Mayfield, Margaret Main, and Juanita Ingraham ~ as they raise their children of "normal", or "average", intelligence, following the challenges which they face, and overcome, on a daily basis.

"Juvies" follows the cases of three teenagers assigned to Cheltenham, a Maryland reformatory where children go before being assigned sentences at reform schools or other institutions. One of the boys has been accused of burning his mother's house down; another is back at Cheltenham after a drug conviction. The third is Daniel, 14, a disturbed boy who pleaded guilty to assaulting his mother.

The first documentary feature to explore the tragic and bizarre life of the late chess master Bobby Fischer.

A documentary short about the growing number of African children orphaned by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The film was screened at the United Nations Headquarters (NYC) for World Aids Day in December 1999, and before members of US Congress as part of a briefing on the HIV/AIDS epidemic in April 2000.

This documentary follows the lives of the Bowling family as they fight to survive in dirt-poor Appalachia. Matriarch Iree has given birth to 13 children, but only two have left to seek better lives in Ohio while the rest have married and started their own impoverished families near home. Uneducated and unskilled, all are unemployed, and domestic violence and alcoholism pose serious problems. The filmmakers explore the family's relationships through interviews and footage of their daily lives.

Born into one of the wealthiest and best-known families in American history, Gloria Vanderbilt has lived in the public eye for more than 90 years, unapologetically pursuing love, family and career, while experiencing extreme tragedy and tremendous success side by side. This documentary features a series of candid conversations as Vanderbilt and her youngest son, Anderson Cooper, look back at her remarkable life.

An examination of the prisoner abuse scandal involving U.S. soldiers and detainees at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison in the fall of 2003.

This documentary profiles iconic journalist Helen Thomas who has held a front-row seat at White House press conferences for more than 60 years.

This is the remarkable story of an American icon who changed the sport of big wave surfing forever. Transcending the surf genre, this in-depth portrait of a hard-charging athlete explores the fear, courage and ambition that push a man to greatness—and the cost that comes with it.

During the chaotic final weeks of the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese Army closes in on Saigon as the panicked South Vietnamese people desperately attempt to escape. On the ground, American soldiers and diplomats confront a moral quandary: whether to obey White House orders to evacuate only U.S. citizens.

Acclaimed actor and FDNY veteran Steve Buscemi looks at what it's like to work as a New York City firefighter. Utilizing exclusive behind-the-scenes footage and firsthand accounts from past and present firefighters, explore life in one of the world's most demanding fire departments while illuminating the lives of the often 'strong and silent' heroes.

Xiara Trujillo is a precocious seven-year-old who moved from the Bronx to Maryland with her mom, Aracelli Guzman, four years ago. Though she seems happy hanging out and playing with her pal Melissa, Xiara becomes defensive and emotional when talking about her father, Harold Linares. As we see and learn, Harold is in jail serving a ten-year sentence for weapons possession; Xiara seems to blame his incarceration on her mother, whom she says "kept calling the police." Xiara, who has always been extremely close to her father, acts out with her mother.

Filmmaker Rory Kennedy interviews her mother, Ethel Kennedy, who discusses family, marriage and politics.

Twenty million people live within a 50-mile radius of the Indian Point Energy Center and its three nuclear reactors. This film takes a cautionary look at the possible consequences of an accident or terrorist attack on the facility--a catastrophe that could potentially render much of the Hudson River Valley and New York City uninhabitable.

In Oct. 2006, the U.S. government decided to build a 700-mile fence along its troubled 2000-mile-plus border with Mexico. Three years, 19 construction companies, 350 engineers, thousands of construction workers, tens of thousands of tons of metal and $3 billion later, was it all worth it? When Arizona recently enacted one of the most extreme immigration laws in the country, the Obama administration responded by filing a lawsuit against the state. This dispute was merely the latest symptom of a greater national problem: the lack of a comprehensive, workable U.S. immigration policy. In its place, lawmakers have resorted to a series of half-measures, the most expensive of which — the U.S.-Mexico border fence — extends through the desert 150 miles south of the Arizona state capital.

The Execution of Wanda Jean chronicles the life-and-death battle of Wanda Jean Allen, the first black woman to be put to death in the United States in the modern era.

Tulsa, Oklahoma. A rigged Homecoming Queen election and a rich older man comspire to turn 18 year old Jewel Offor from a little girl into a woman.