Documentaries
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- DirectorGabriel ClarkeJohn McKennaStarsSteve McQueenAlan TrustmanNeile AdamsThis Cannes-selected documentary reveals the true story behind the infamously troubled film shoot that nearly destroyed the career of Hollywood icon Steve McQueen.
- DirectorKent JonesStarsWes AndersonPeter BogdanovichDavid FincherFilmmakers discuss how Francois Truffaut's 1966 book "Cinema According to Hitchcock" influenced their work.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsJames BaldwinWilliam F. BuckleyTruman CapoteA feature-length documentary starring Fran Lebowitz, a writer known for her unique take on modern life. The film weaves together extemporaneous monologues with archival footage and the effect is a portrait of Fran's worldview and experiences.
- DirectorKent JonesMartin ScorseseStarsMartin ScorseseElia KazanElias KoteasA documentary on the late Elia Kazan.
- StarsPeter CoyoteGeorge F. WillGeoffrey C. WardA documentary that weaves together the stories of Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, three members of one of the most prominent and influential families in American politics.
- DirectorStanley KwanStarsCheh ChangKaige ChenLeslie CheungStanley Kwan examines queer themes in Chinese film for this insightful documentary, produced for the British Film Institute's "Century of Cinema" series. Using film clips, personal recollections, and interviews with film luminaries (including Ang Lee, Tsui Hark, Chen Kaige and Leslie Cheung), Kwan demonstrates how Chinese cinema has challenged gender norms for years, while asserting his own sexuality in a poignant conversation with his mother.
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsNagisa ÔshimaWilliam B. WhiteNagisa Oshima explores the first century of Japanese cinema.
- DirectorJang Sun-woo
- 1995–199852m6.6 (133)TV EpisodeDirectorMichael DibbStephen FrearsStarsMichael AptedStephen FrearsGavin LambertDirector Stephen Frears casts a subjective eye over British cinema, from World War Two, the 1960s and the emergence of working-class voices, to the erratic 1980s, where spectacular success and catastrophic failure go hand in hand.
- DirectorDonald Taylor BlackStarsCathal BlackGabriel ByrneJoe ComerfordTheatre director and documentary filmmaker Donald Taylor Black contributes a thoughtful essay about Ireland's need to make images of itself for itself.
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardAnne-Marie MiévilleStarsMichel PiccoliCécile ReigherEstelle GrynszpanAt a lakeside hotel, Michel Piccoli discusses the centennial of cinema with Jean-Luc Godard. Godard asks why should cinema's birthday be celebrated when the history of film is a forgotten subject. Through the remainder of his hotel stay, Piccoli tests Godard's hypothesis.
- DirectorEdgar ReitzStarsHenry ArnoldWolfgang BeckerFrank Beyer150 German filmmakers of all generations are led through a fictitious ultramodern Cinema of Time, where they can experience a taste of what ambience and technology can offer.
- DirectorPawel Lozinski
- DirectorSergey SelyanovStarsAleksey Petrenko
- 1995–199854m7.1 (24)TV Episode
- DirectorNelson Pereira dos SantosStarsCosme Alves NetoAndré BarrosRaul CortezA Brazilian director goes to Mexico city to study the great Mexican melodramas of old. He meets a student he had previously met in Brazil and he becomes his assistant. But the student begins to miss the projections, behaving mysteriously. The director suspects something strange must be happening. But he will only find that out back in Brazil... Investigation about the melodrama myths, paying homage to South America cinema, especially the Mexican, in the 1930s until the 1950s, when Mexican moviemaking had stars like Maria Felix and Dolores Del Rio. The film took part in the British project celebrating the 100 Years of Cinema.
- ARTE and BFI present one hundred years of world cinema seen by the greatest directors of each country: 100 years of stars, 100 years of fatal passions, 100 years of lyrical musings, torrid suspense and tragic abysses, etc.
- DirectorGeorge MillerStarsHarvey AdamsElizabeth AlexanderDorothy AlisonAustralian born film maker George (Mad Max) Miller offers a personal view of Australian films. He suggests that they can be regarded as visual music, public dreaming, mythology, and song-lines. In extrapolating the idea of movies as song-lines he examines feature films under the following categories : songs of the land ; the bushman ; the convicts ; the bush-rangers ; mates and larrikins ; the digger ; pommy bashing ; the sheilas ; gays ; the wogs ; blackfellas ; urban subversion. He then concludes that these films can be thought of as "Hymns that sing of Australia".
- 1995–199852m7.3 (149)TV EpisodeDirectorSam NeillJudy RymerStarsTimothy BalmeMelanie LynskeyElizabeth MoodyA personal journey through Sam Neill's childhood and memories.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsWerner HerzogThis film surveys the disaster of the Kuwaiti oil fields in flames, with little narration and scarcely any interviews. Hell on Earth is presented in such transcendent visions and music that one can only be fascinated by it.
- DirectorLiang ZhaoUnder the sun, the heavenly beauty of grasslands will soon be covered by the raging dust of mines. Facing the ashes and noises caused by heavy mining , the herdsmen have no choice but to leave as the meadow areas dwindle. In the moonlight, iron mines are brightly lit throughout the night. Workers who operate the drilling machines must stay awake. The fight is tortuous, against the machine and against themselves. Meanwhile, coal miners are busy filling trucks with coals. Wearing a coal-dust mask, they become ghostlike creatures. An endless line of trucks will transport all the coals and iron ores to the iron works. There traps another crowd of souls, being baked in hell. In the hospital, time hangs heavy on miners' hands. After decades of breathing coal dust, death is just around the corner. They are living the reality of purgatory, but there will be no paradise.
- DirectorBarbet SchroederStarsJacques VergèsKlaus BarbieBarbet SchroederA documentary on Jacques Vergès, the controversial lawyer and former Free French Forces guerrilla who has defending unpopular figures such as Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie and Holocaust denier Roger Garaudy.
- StarsJacob BronowskiJoss AcklandRoy DotriceAn account of man's development through his scientific and technological achievements.
- StarsKenneth ClarkIan RichardsonRonald LaceySir Kenneth Clarke walks through the ages exploring the glorious rise of civilization in Western man.
- StarsLiev SchreiberSimon SchamaMaya JasanoffNine-part series telling the story of art from the dawn of human history to the present day, for the first time on a global scale. It is now nearly half a century since Kenneth Clark's series Civilisation thrilled audiences with its authoritative interpretation of the glories of Western art. Inspired by that groundbreaking program, this new series of Civilisations introduces a new generation to the great masterworks of beauty, ingenuity and illumination created across the continents. It explores the visual culture of societies from around the globe, revealing alongside the magnificent objects made in the West the wealth of treasures created by other cultures, from the landscape scrolls of classical China and the sculpture of the Olmecs to African bronzes, Japanese prints and Mughal miniatures. Told by three presenters, each bringing their own skills and perspectives to the series - Simon Schama, Mary Beard and David Olusoga.
- StarsKenneth BranaghAnatoli DobryninRobert McNamaraA 24-part series which deals with the relations between the United States, the Soviet Union and their respective allies between the end of World War II to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
- DirectorChinlin HsiehStarsTadanobu AsanoOlivier AssayasJingjing BaoA tribute from filmmakers and critics around the world to the Taiwan New Cinema movement in the 1980s.
- DirectorDamian PettigrewStarsFederico FelliniRoberto BenigniLuigi 'Titta' BenziA look at Fellini's creative process. In extensive interviews, Fellini talks a bit about his background and then discusses how he works and how he creates. Several actors, a producer, a writer, and a production manager talk about working with Fellini. Archive footage of Fellini and others on the set plus clips from his films provide commentary and illustration for the points interviewees make. Fellini is fully in charge; actors call themselves puppets. He dismisses improvisation and calls for "availability." His sets and his films create images that look like reality but are not; we see the differences and the results.
- DirectorMargarethe von TrottaBettina BöhlerFelix MoellerStarsIngmar BergmanRuben ÖstlundLiv UllmannInternationally renowned director Margarethe von Trotta takes a closer look at Bergman's life and work and explores his film legacy with Bergman's closest collaborators, both in front and behind the camera, as well as a new generation of filmmakers. The documentary presents key scenes, recurring themes in his films and his life, and journeys to the places at the center of Bergman's creative achievement and the focal points of his life such as the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, locations and landscapes from his masterpieces, and the stations from his career in Sweden, France and Germany. Explore the many layers of Bergman's work and life with INGMAR BERGMAN - LEGACY OF A DEFINING GENIUS.
- DirectorAdam LowStarsAkira KurosawaSam ShepardPaul ScofieldAdam Low's Kurosawa is a 90-minute documentary that looks at Kurosawa's life and works. Originally broadcast on PBS in the US, the film follows a fairly conventional approach as it chronicles Kurosawa's career. The film includes many interviews, more of which are provided on the documentary's home video releases. The film is narrated by Sam Shepard, with sections of Kurosawa's autobiography read by Paul Scofeld. It is a tribute, a celebration and an hommage. A DVD, which comes with almost two hours of extra interviews, has been released as a region free disc by the Australian Madman Entertainment.
- DirectorWendy AppleStarsKathy BatesZach StaenbergJodie FosterDocumentary about the art of film editing. Clips are shown from many groundbreaking films with innovative editing styles.
- DirectorMichel PascalSerge ToubianaStarsFanny ArdantOlivier AssayasAlexandre AstrucTwenty-six people - including two daughters, an ex-wife, his last lover, actors, fellow directors and writers, a neighbor, and boyhood friends - talk about François Truffaut. They discuss his attitudes toward wealth, his early writings about cinema, the undercurrent of violence in his films and his personality, the way he used and altered events in his life when making films, his search for a father (both artistic and biological), his relationship with his mother, the scenes in his films that cause a squirm of embarrassment, and his ultimate mysticism. Clips from a dozen of his films are included.
- DirectorAnna Maria TatòStarsMarcello MastroianniRenato BertaManoel de OliveiraIn 1996, Marcello Mastroianni talks about life as an actor. It's an anecdotal and philosophical memoir, moving from topic to topic, fully conscious of a man "of a certain age" looking back. He tells stories about Fellini and De Sica's direction, of using irony in performances, of constantly working (an actor tries to find himself in characters). He's diffident about prizes, celebrates Rome and Paris, salutes Naples and its people. He answers the question, why make bad films; recalls his father and grandfather, carpenters, his mother, deaf in her old age, and his brother, a film editor; he's modest about his looks. In repose, time's swift passage holds Mastroianni inward gaze.
- DirectorArnold GlassmanTodd McCarthyStuart SamuelsStarsConrad L. HallJohn BaileyVilmos ZsigmondCameramen and women discuss the craft and art of cinematography, illustrating their points with clips from 100 films, from The Birth of a Nation (1915) to Do the Right Thing (1989).
- DirectorJane MagnussonHynek PallasStarsTomas AlfredsonWoody AllenWes AndersonA group of filmmakers visit Ingmar Bergman's house on the remote Swedish island of Faro to discuss his legacy.
- DirectorP.J. LetofskyStarsOleg VidovMarina TarkovskayaTonino GuerraTarkovsky: Time Within Time explores the acclaimed Russian film director Andrei Tarkovsky through his diary to discover the man and the vision to which he aspires. While developing a film on Dostoievsky, he wrote, 'We must make a film about the man himself, about his personality, his god, his devil, his work'. Tarkovsky's story is told chronologically and we come to know the man himself, through his articulate assessments on love, art, and the struggles working within the Soviet Communist political system. Of his 7 ambitious films, 5 were made under the heavy hand of censors in the Soviet Union. He defected in 1984 to Italy with the help of acclaimed screenwriter Tonino Guerra. He directed 2 films in the West until his untimely death in 1986 at age 54 from cancer. Narrated by the renowned Russian actor Oleg Vidov, you become mesmerized as if Tarkovsky himself is speaking to you. Through a collection of rare film footage and photos from Marina Tarkovsky (sister), Andrei Konchalovsky, Tonino Guerra, Enrica Antonioni, and coupled with interviews from people who knew him best, we take you on a passionate journey to discover the life, love, and art of Andrei Tarkovsky in Moscow, Rome, Stockholm, and Sainte Genevieve des Bois outside Paris where he is buried.