Plimpton! tells the story of writer, editor, amateur sportsman and friend to many, George Plimpton. Using Plimpton’s own narration – along with thoughts and stories from friends, family and contemporaries – the film is a joyful celebration of a life lived fully, richly, strangely, and, at times, a life that is hard to believe was actually lived by just one man.

The first feature film from accomplished short filmmaker Kate Shenton, On Tender Hooks is a documentary film delving into the world of human suspension and the people involved. Kate spends a year following a different people and group of suspenders. Every Sunday they pierce themselves with hooks and hang in mid-air from rigs in a display that challenges the perceptions and squeamishness of even the most hardened. The film is a fly on the wall documentary showing how the ordinary human body can achieve extraordinary things. Beginning with groups in London, and then following events in Rico, Croatia and Oslo, Norway, the film depicts a wide variety of experience and opinions, and delves thoughtfully into a deeply misunderstood practice On Tender Hooks was a self-funded project filmed and edited by director Kate Shenton. Completed in 2012 it is an example of independent film-making at its purest.

Ed Hardy is emblazoned on clothing worn by Madonna, Bruce Springsteen and Mick Jagger, on wine and dozens of other products. Now you’ll meet the real Ed Hardy, the godfather of modern tattooing and artist extraordinaire who gave up a promising career in the fine arts to pursue his childhood obsession: tattoos.

The film explores the global power and impact of the music of John Coltrane and reveals the passions, experiences and forces that shaped his life and revolutionary sounds.

Whether you are a Christian, atheist, or member of another faith, it’s impossible to ignore the impact that Christianity has had on Western civilization. But most people don’t actually know how Christianity began. In this lighthearted but factual film, we tell the “true” story of early Christianity. An honest attempt to piece together a very complex and fascinating story that everyone will enjoy.

(In)Visible Portraits shatters the too-often invisible otherizing of Black women in America and reclaims the true narrative as told in their own words.

1984. One shiny quarter. 44.5 hours of continuous play. The race to be the first gamer in history to score one BILLION points. Until recently, Timothy McVey (not the terrorist) thought he had — for all these years — held the world record on Nibbler. Note: a Nibbler cabinet will be available in the lobby for the duration of Fantastic Fest for attendees to attempt to break the current world record.

Documentary on the challenges and various remedies for potholes in U.K. roads. But it probably applies to paved roads anywhere.

With humor and empathy, Brené Brown discusses what it takes to choose courage over comfort in a culture defined by scarcity, fear and uncertainty.

Recy Taylor, a 24-year-old black mother and sharecropper, was gang raped by six white boys in 1944 Alabama. Common in Jim Crow South, few women spoke up in fear for their lives. Not Recy Taylor, who bravely identified her rapists. The NAACP sent its chief rape investigator Rosa Parks, who rallied support and triggered an unprecedented outcry for justice. The film exposes a legacy of physical abuse of black women and reveals Rosa Parks’ intimate role in Recy Taylor’s story.

Los Angeles police officers embark on an innovative program mentoring promising students from the harsh, gang-infested Watts neighbourhood.

A look at the varied new ways Americans are choosing to both find meaning and celebrate life as it comes to an end.