In the Shadow of Hollywood: Race Movies and the Birth of Black Cinema

This documentary captures the sounds and images of a nearly forgotten era in film history when African American filmmakers and studios created “race movies” exclusively for black audiences. The best of these films attempted to counter the demeaning stereotypes of black Americans prevalent in the popular culture of the day. About 500 films were produced, yet only about 100 still exist. Filmmaking pioneers like Oscar Micheaux, the Noble brothers, and Spencer Williams, Jr. left a lasting influence on black filmmakers, and inspired generations of audiences who finally saw their own lives reflected on the silver screen.

Großes Kino made in DDR

In 2016, DEFA celebrates its 70th anniversary: the film embarks on a journey into the exciting film history of the GDR. In a comprehensive kaleidoscope, the importance of DEFA productions is illuminated, the relevance of the films as propaganda productions for the GDR, which socio-political themes were in the foreground, but also which heroes DEFA brought to the screen and celebrated as people from the people.

The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat

A group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.

Afro Promo

Co-curated by Jenni Olson and the late Black gay activist Karl Knapper, this entertaining showcase of vintage movie trailers traces the evolution of African American cinema through its most crucial period, 1952-1976. Filled with insights on race and social dynamics, this fascinating compendium of coming attractions explores an extensive range of stylistic approaches—Blaxploitation, Comedy, Music Bio, Plantation Drama and more—offering an outrageous joyride through motion picture history. Beyond mere camp, these marvelously condensed gems crystallize a range of African American identities and personalities, tracking the meteoric careers of Sidney Poitier, James Earl Jones, Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor, Pam Grier and others through their bold performances in movies both hugely popular and practically forgotten. Afro Promo provides a compact glimpse at the representation of African Americans through twenty-five dynamic years of American cinema history.

Covidwood

A French documentary on how Covid-19 affected Hollywood and the cinema industry in the United States.

Sexo en el plató

How are the sex scenes filmed? What tricks are used to fake the desire? How do the interpreters prepare and feel? Spanish actors and directors talk about the most intimate side of acting, about the tricks and work methods when narrating exposed sex. In Spain the general rule is that there are no rules. Each film, each interpreter, faces it in very different ways.

Unbreakable: The Jelena Dokic Story

The incredible true story of how Jelena Dokic became a tennis star while surviving war, bullying and extreme domestic violence at the hands of Damir Dokic, the tennis father from hell.

Andrés Caicedo: A Few Good Friends

Using the unfinished film, ANGELITA Y MIGUEL ÁNGEL, by Andrés Caicedo and Carlos Mayolo, as a structuring device, friends of prolific film critic and writer Andrés Caicedo, an unforgettable figure of the group of Cali in the 1970s who left an incredible amount of texts, reflect upon his life, his work, and his suicide at the age of 25, testify to his influence in the cultural life of Colombia, and remember his strong and touching personality.

Andy Murray: Resurfacing

A documentary film that tracks the tennis star’s devastating injury journey between 2017-2019. From the front lines of surgical theatres, to the intimate corners of his home, we live alongside and witness Andy at his most vulnerable. Considered Britain’s greatest sportsman ever, we see why Andy puts himself through the unimaginable to get back to the sport he loves.

The Irishman: In Conversation

Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino in conversation about The Irishman.

The Celluloid Closet

What "That's Entertainment" did for movie musicals, "The Celluloid Closet" does for Hollywood homosexuality, as this exuberant, eye-opening movie serves up a dazzling hundred-year history of the role of gay men and lesbians have had on the silver screen. Lily Tomlin narrates as Oscar-winning moviemaker Rob Epstein ("The Times of Harvey Milk" and "Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt") and Jeffrey Friedman assemble fabulous footage from 120 films showing the changing face of cinema sexuality, from cruel stereotypes to covert love to the activist triumphs of the 1990s. Tom Hanks, Susan Sarandon, Whoopi Goldberg, Tony Curtis, Harvey Fierstein and Gore Vidal are just a few of the many actors, writers and commentators who provide funny and insightful anecdotes.

Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire

Actress Sally Field looks at the dramatic life and successful career of the superb actress Barbara Stanwyck (1907-90), a Hollywood legend.

Never Be Boring: Billy Wilder

A funny walk through the life story of Billy Wilder (1906-2002), a cinematic genius; a portrait of a filmmaker who never was a boring man, a superb mind who had ten commandments, of which the first nine were: “Thou shalt not bore.”

¡Qué suerte hemos tenido!

British Sounds

Jean-Luc Godard brings his firebrand political cinema to the UK, exploring the revolutionary signals in late '60s British society. Constructed as a montage of various disconnected political acts (in line with Godard's then appropriation of Soviet director Dziga Vertov's agitprop techniques), it combines a diverse range of footage, from students discussing The Beatles to the production line at the MG factory in Oxfordshire, burnished with onscreen political sloganeering.

Charlie Chaplin: A Tramp's Life

A biographical documentary about the great British actor and director Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977), from rags to riches, from the slums of London to glory.

Made in Hollywood

A breathtaking investigation into blockbusters, a film genre that enjoys worldwide success yet keeps its secret weapon well hidden backstage in Hollywood. The blockbuster appeals to a very wide audience, from 7 to 77 years and from Paris to Beijing. These films, which have boosted the film industry, started out with "Jaws" and "Star Wars" and are still prospering with Avatar or Alice in Wonderland. To succeed, the films must meet a few precise criteria, one of them being their cost - at 100 million dollars minimum. But in Hollywood, the films' ingredients are a well-kept secret; perhaps for fear of discovering that the studios' house rules are not as rosy as in certain fruitful happy endings? The pressure and the stakes are colossal. This fascinating documentary reviews the numerous professions affiliated with the blockbuster, via interviews with producers of the major studios (Walt Disney Studio, 20th Century Fox...)...

Schlock! The Secret History of American Movies

Hollywood is a town of tinsel and glamour; but there is another Hollywood, a place where maverick independent exploitation filmmakers went toe to toe with the big guys and came out on top.

2001: Sparks in the Dark

A recreation of the interview with Stanley Kubrick that Playboy magazine published in its September 1968 issue and that has become essential when approaching the reflections and theories that led the director to shoot one of his masterpieces.

Filmmakers vs. Tycoons

How the cinema industry does not respect the author's work as it was conceived, how manipulates the motion pictures in order to make them easier to watch by an undemanding audience or even how mutilates them to adapt the original formats and runtimes to the restrictive frame of the television screen and the abusive requirements of advertising. (Followed by “Filmmakers in Action.”)

Conversation with JLG

An interview with Jean-Luc Godard by Dominique Maillet and Pierre-Henri Gibert, filmed on August 10, 2010 at the Hôtel de Vendôme in Paris.

Cold Hard Cash

Watch what happens when two beautiful bad girls with no option are put in a desperate situation.

God is a Lobster

A girl needs her brother to fulfill an odd request, a good trip turns bad, a CEO gets invited to a mysterious party, and it all centers around the iconic red crustacean.

Ocean Odyssey

500 million years ago life left this blue womb and colonized the land, but we are still intricately linked to the ocean. Our climates, coastlines, ecosystems, and economies are tied to the perpetual movement of water between continents. The great ocean currents are the arteries and veins of Planet Earth! This is the story of one particularly fascinating flow – the East Australian Current, a massive oceanic river that stretches the length of Australia’s east coast.

Mantovani, the King of Strings

Known for his unmistakable cascading strings and recordings such as Charmaine, Mantovani enthralled the world with his sublime arrangements. This is the story of the man and his music.

Møllen

When Møller Jakob Clausen of "Højmøllen" sits at his wife's deathbed, he makes her promise that if he marries again, he will choose a woman who will be good to their little son, Hans. And in motherly care for her little son, the dying wife mentions the forester's gentle and kind sister, Hanne, who will surely be able to become both a faithful wife for the miller and a good mother for Hans.

Hangnail

Gage and Hannah are a young couple making a new home off the coast of Florida. Their marriage has been rocky, but all of that changes when the new girl, Julie, moves in next door. When Gage begins to fall for the girl next door, only time will tell if it sets him free or tears him apart.

The green silhouette

Federico and Olivia are editing their first short films, which encountered mistakes during shooting. Both discover that they filmed at the same location and accidentally interfered in each other’s films. Together, they find a way to edit their two shorts into one.

The Wakeful Sleeper

B., a film-maker and insomniac, decides to rescue his hours of insomnia from the void by filming his quest for sleep. The insomniac asks questions about these different states of consciousness and about the difficulties humans have in synchronising their social rhythms and biological ones.

Story of the Lancaster Bomber

Reliable, versatile and readily available, the Avro Lancaster's arrival in 1942 made way for a new calibre of the four-engined bomber that would become Bomber Command's primary weapon during WWII. Using original wartime footage and recent colour film of one of the few operational Lancaster's remaining in the world, this programme tells the entire story of the Lancaster from its early days to now.

The Call of Blood

Two brothers seek revenge on the yakuza responsible for the death of their father.

Wandering with the Moon

Dan, aged 19, leaves his home after a quarrel with his father. At the side of the country road he meets a traveling theater company who has run out of money. He falls in love with the young actress Pia and together they leave, meeting a string of peculiar characters: a vagabond, a friendly vicar and a cynical adventurer.

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Wonderful Adventures of Nils

A film adaptation of Selma Lagerlöf's classic book about Nils Holgersson, who is a real rascal. As punishment for his mischief, a house elf shrinks him to his size. The farm animals are out for revenge and so Nils must escape on the back of a goose from Skåne in the south to Lapland in the north. During his flight over Sweden, Nils gets to take part in many adventures.