Close-Up (1990)
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The latest success by film-maker Giacomo Solaris is a crime thriller about a judge who gets too friendly with the Mafia and is murdered. A resentful Sicilian magistrate orders the film seized, but then he winds up dead, in a fashion just like that in Solaris's movie. Solaris realizes that corrupt political forces are pulling strings, for his friends begin to die in grisly ways. Will he learn the truth about the murder of the judge in time?
A yellow cab is driving through the vibrant and colourful streets of Tehran. Very diverse passengers enter the taxi, each candidly expressing their views while being interviewed by the driver who is no one else but the director Jafar Panahi himself. His camera placed on the dashboard of his mobile film studio captures the spirit of Iranian society through this comedic and dramatic driveâ¦
Ten Minutes Older is a 2002 film project consisting of two compilation feature films entitled The Trumpet and The Cello. The project was conceived by the producer Nicolas McClintock[1] as a reflection on the theme of time at the turn of the Millennium. Fifteen celebrated film-makers were invited to create their own vision of what time means in ten minutes of film.
Two film-makers arrive in the post industrial wasteland known as Hackney Wick. Their aim is to document this 'Isle of Wonder' as it falls under the shadow of the Olympic behemoth.
A semi-autobiographical account of Makmahlbaf's experience as a teenager when, as a 17-year-old, he stabbed a policeman at a protest rally. Two decades later, he tracks down the policeman he injured in an attempt to make amends.
After an Afghanistan-born woman who lives in Canada receives a letter from her suicidal sister, she takes a perilous journey through Afghanistan to try to find her.
An elderly couple go about their routine of cleaning their gabbeh (a intricately-designed rug), while bickering gently with each other. Magically, a young woman appears, helping the two clean the rug. This young woman belongs to the clan whose history is depicted in the design of the gabbeh, and the rug recounts the story of the courtship of the young woman by a stranger from the clan.
A drama based on the 1985 plane crash that caused 520 deaths, the worst aviation event in Japanese history.
Khorshid lives with his mom in a house near a river somewhere in Tajikestan. Th landlord comes around every morning to ask for the rent. Khorshid has to provide the money or else they'll have to leave. His blindness has given him an amazing skill in tuning musical instruments which gets him a job at an instrument making workshop. But the problem is That Khorshid is mesmerized by sonorous music all the time; whenever he hears a great musician play, he loses track of time and place. For this, he always gets lost and gets to work late. How is he going to make a balance between his love of music and his task as a breadwinner?
A modern fable about loneliness, emptiness, alienation, and the demonization of minorities. A young zombie, Otto, crawls out of his grave and unlives on the Berlin streets. There he meets an avante-garde film-maker who gives him a part in her political-porno-zombie movie. Otto discovers information about his past life that allows him to move on. Is it the living or the dead who are the zombies?
A girl reaches the age of nine and is supposed to act as a grown woman according to her family. A girl participates in a bike race against the will of her husband. An elderly woman decides she wants to buy all the things she always wanted but could never get.
Born in Dehra Dun, temperamental and ambitious Kamna changes her name to Kamini, hires Babu as her Manager and becomes one of the most sought-after heroines in Bollywood. As a publicity stunt and to get the attention of film-maker Karan Johar, she recruits Rahul to pose as her childhood sweetheart and future husband - which result in nothing but insecurities for both...
The film tells the story of a series of comic clashes that occur when Nalla Sivam (Kamal Haasan) a wise-cracking, handicapped communist and Anbarasu (R. Madhavan), an arrogant young advertisement filmmaker who favors capitalism, both happen to get stuck with each other on their problem-filled trip from Bhubaneshwar to Chennai. Themes such as globalization, financial disparity and compassion in present day India are explored around the two protagonists. The film is also shown to be based on Kamal Haasan's personal views on theism. The film is based upon American movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles released in 1987.
Filip buys an 8mm movie camera when his first child is born. Because it's the first camera in town, he's named official photographer by the local Party boss. His horizons widen when he is sent to regional film festivals with his first works but his focus on movie making also leads to domestic strife and philosophical dilemmas.
The love story between an actress and a director. Inspired by the life of the late south Indian actress Silk Smitha.
In the 1930s, China was in a state of turmoil and flurry. The dethroned Emperor Pu-Yi had established the Puppet State of Manchukuo in Manchuria and was cooperating with the Japanese in the testing of poisonous gas. The revolutionary army headed by Lieutenant Mong is assigned to crush this vicious plot. During his mission, Mong comes across witty and valiant veteran Uncle Choy and his friends, who volunteer to help. Mong believes that Uncle Choy is too old to join them. How can Uncle Choy prove himself? And can they succeed in their mission?
Set in 1973 Spain, a struggling encyclopedia salesman and his wife take advantage of an offer to make adult films. The act turns him into an aspring legit filmmaker and her into an international sex symbol.
The story begins with a man left by his girlfriend on Christmas Eve and unfolds across the city of Seoul.
'I hate luv storys' is the maxim Jay lives by. But as an assistant director to Veer, the most famous romantic filmmaker of Indian Film Industry, Jay has little option but to live with larger than life, glossy, cinematic love on an everyday basis. Things only get worse when he is made to work under the new production designer on the film⦠Simran, with whom he shares the strangest first encounter! Simran loves luv storys; So much so that even her life has begun to resemble one. With her ideal job and the perfect boyfriend, Raj, she lives a blissful, dreamy life; One that is rudely interrupted by Jay's cynicism. The turmoil's of Jay and Simran's life, is ironically interweaved with the Luv Story that they are working onâ¦
Openly gay banker Daniel debates whether to return to Australia or stay in Hong Kong when he meets Kafka, a straight swimming instructor. The young men fall in love, believing that their love can bridge anything, despite their difference in sexuality and Kafka's increasing drug use. Daniel does not regret his love for Kafka, who tries to love him back against his nature. But a flashback memory from Kafka's past makes it difficult for their relationship to work.
'Page 3' takes a behind-the-scenes look at the lifestyles of the A-list celebrities in metro cities. It explores the networking and the power play between the air-kissing
Lisbon Story is Wim Wenderâs homage to Lisbon and films. A sound engineer obtains a mysterous postcard of a friend who at the moment is filming a film in Lisbon. He sets out across Europe to find him and help him.
This dryly funny mockumentary about the lost work of a pioneering New Zealand film genius is probably one of the best examples of the faux-documentary genre. In fact, it was so successful that when it originally aired on New Zealand television, hundreds of viewers bought the premise hook, line, and sinker. If you didn't know any better yourself, it's entirely possible you might be duped into believing the extremely tall tale of one Colin MacKenzie, an ambitious filmmaker who made the world's first talking movie (years before The Jazz Singer), invented color film, and created a huge biblical epic that would put Cecil B. DeMille and D.W. Griffith to shame. Filmmaker Peter Jackson (Heavenly Creatures) shrewdly inserts himself into the film via his documentation of the "discovery" of McKenzie's lost epic, which for years was preserved in a garden shed.
Today Iranian cinema is one of the most highly regarded national cinemas in the world, regularly winning festival awards and critical acclaim for films which combine remarkable artistry and social relevance. Iran: A Cinematographic Revolution traces the development of this film industry, which has always been closely intertwined with the country's tumultuous political history, from the decades-long reign of Reza Shah Pahlevi and his son, the rise of Khomeini and the birth of the Islamic Republic, the seizure by militants of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, and the devastating war with Iraq.
This is the first time ever that a film maker has access to Ingmar Bergman in his home at the small island Fårö in the Baltic Sea. Bergman and the Cinema starts with Frenzy from 1944 and ends with Saraband from 2003. It contains unique behind-the-scenes material from Bergman's private archive. Bergman and the Theatre is about some of Bergman's 125 theatrical stagings and about his delight with the TV medium with successes as Scenes from a marriage. In Bergman and Fårö Island he talks about the childhood that shaped him. He shows where he shot his film Persona and fell in love - and he lists his worst demons!
Documentary about the life of avant-garde filmmaker Maya Deren, who led the independent film movement of the 1940s.
Haji is severely traumatized by the war with Iraq. Back from the front, he's unable to adapt to civilian life. Despite family opposition, his fiancée stands by him as together they challenge both the authority of family and state to lead their own lives.
Glengarry Glen Ross, follows the lives of four unethical Chicago real estate agents who are prepared to go to any lengths (legal or illegal) to unload undesirable real estate on unwilling prospective buyers.
The film is set in the Tricity in 2003, ten years after the end of communism in Poland. The plot, apparently based on the real-life experiences of Kraków businessmen Lech Jerzorny and PaweÅ Rey, is about three young, talented businessmen who open a high-tech factory. This comes to the attention of the local state âmafiaâ, the local Prosecutor, played by Janusz Gajos, and tax office boss, played by Kasimierz Kaczor, who are both jealous and would like to make money for themselves. We are in Poland, so success must be punished.
An average family is thrust into the spotlight after the father commits a seemingly self-defense murder at his diner.
A stylish, very attractive young woman arrives from Paris to become chambermaid for an odd family at their country chateau.
Three men are on death row. Jaggu (Jackie Shroff), a lawyer and a poet, is serving a sentence for murdering his wife because she was cheating on him with another man. Nagya (Nagesh Kukunoor), a man angry with the whole world, is arrested for murdering his wife too, but he claims that it was an accident where she falls off the sidewalk while they were talking. Ishaan (Naseeruddin Shah), a happy-go-lucky man, is also arrested for murder that he commits while in the act of robbery. The prison's custodian is Mohan (Gulshan Grover), who attempts several methods to reform the prison's inmates. A documentary filmmaker, Chandrika (Juhi Chawla) comes to the jail to set a film about these three men. In the process, she finds redemption to her troubled marriage.
After sixteen years at Her Majesty's Pleasure, Britain's hardest man is released from prison, and into the care of a documentary film crew headed by a Brit-loving American film-maker who follow him for the next week, on an hilarious roller-coaster tour of gangland London and beyond.
Lighthearted suspense film about a phony psychic/con artist and her taxi driver/private investigator boyfriend who encounter a pair of serial kidnappers while trailing a missing heir in California.
An insane independent film director and his renegade group of teenage film makers kidnap an A-list Hollywood actress and force her to star in their underground film.
A maniac is loose in London, decapitating his victims and sending the heads to Scotland Yard.
Mr. Dean's body is found face down in the fireplace, his features burned beyond recognition. Detectives Patrick (Paul Langton) and Rawley (Robert Shayne) arrest nightclub-singer Eden Lane (Barbara Payton) and she is convicted of the crime. On the way to prison, Eden sees a man through the train window, identifying him as the murderer, and Patrick and Eden jump from the train to search for the man.
Mike Locken is one of the principle members of a group of freelance spies. A significant portion of their work is for the C.I.A. and while on a case for them one of his friends turns on him and shoots him in the elbow and knee. His assignment, to protect someone, goes down in flames. He is nearly crippled, but with braces is able to again become mobile. For revenge as much as anything else, Mike goes after his ex-friend.
When Egon Olsen gets out of Vridlose State Prision once again, his friends Benny and Kjeld do not want to know about his new ingenious plan: they are actually WORKING in a shop! Thus, he has to think of something else to get his hands on the money of some international gangster.
The world's most shagadelic spy continues his fight against Dr. Evil. This time, the diabolical doctor and his clone, Mini-Me, team up with a new foe -- '70s kingpin Goldmember. While pursuing the team of villains to stop them from world domination, Austin gets help from his dad and an old girlfriend.
An extremely lovely tribute to Ozu, on the 20th anniversary of his death. It uses a combination of footage from vintage films and new material (both interviews and Ozu-related locations) shot by Ozu's long-time camera-man (who came out of retirement to work on this). Surprisingly (or perhaps not), it focuses less on Ozu's accomplishments as a film-maker than on his impact on the lives of the people he worked with..
When Khosrow Vaziri became the World Wrestling Federations Iron Sheik and camel-clutched his way to fame in the 1980s, he achieved the American Dream by personifying a foreign villain. Losing his world championship belt to Hulk Hogan became a defining moment in professional wrestling. These days, the Sheiks smackdowns are on Twitter, where hes gained a new following. Once an Olympic hopeful, bodyguard to Irans Shah and pop culture icon, we witness Vaziri struggling with addiction and despair as a family man. But with the help of Torontos Magen brothers, the Sheik begins a road to redemption and renewed status as a public figure. Showcasing his powerful past and at times painful present, this is an insightful look at one of wrestlings biggest stars, but also a powerful story of personal sacrifice that, in the Sheiks own words, will make you humble.
Planet Earth: The Future is a 2006 BBC documentary miniseries on the environment and conservation, produced by the BBC Natural History Unit as a companion to the multi-award winning nature documentary Planet Earth. The programmes were originally broadcast on BBC Four immediately after the final three episodes of Planet Earth on BBC One. Each episode highlights the conservation issues surrounding some of the species and environments featured in Planet Earth, using interviews with the film-makers and eminent figures from the fields of science, conservation, politics, and theology. The programmes are narrated by Simon Poland and the series producer was Fergus Beeley.
The Story of Film: An Odyssey, written and directed by award-winning film-maker Mark Cousins, is the story of international cinema told through the history of cinematic innovation. Five years in the making, The Story of Film: An Odyssey covers six continents and 12 decades, showing how film-makers are influenced both by the historical events of their times, and by each other. It provides a worldwide guided tour of the greatest movies ever made; an epic tale that starts in nickelodeons and ends as a multi-billion-dollar globalised digital industry. Described as a love letter to the movies, Cousins visits the key sites in the history of cinema; from Hollywood to Mumbai; from Hitchcock s London to the village where Pather Panchali was shot, and features interviews with legendary filmmakers and actors including Stanley Donen, Kyoko Kagawa, Gus van Sant, Lars Von Trier, Claire Denis, Bernardo Bertolucci, Robert Towne, Jane Campion and Claudia Cardinale.
Documentary showing the life of children of the Afghan villages bordering Iran, and how their life and culture were affected by Taliban regime.
In 2001 Jack Cardiff (1914-2009) became the first director of photography in the history of the Academy Awards to win an Honorary Oscar. But the first time he clasped the famous statuette in his hand was a half-century earlier when his Technicolor camerawork was awarded for Powell and Pressburger's Black Narcissus. Beyond John Huston's The African Queen and King Vidor's War and Peace, the films of the British-Hungarian creative duo (The Red Shoes and A Matter of Life and Death too) guaranteed immortality for the renowned cameraman whose career spanned seventy years.
In America, we define ourselves in the superlative: we are the biggest, strongest, fastest country in the world. Is it any wonder that so many of our heroes are on performance enhancing drugs? Director Christopher Bell explores America's win-at-all-cost culture by examining how his two brothers became members of the steroid-subculture in an effort to realize their American dream.
Chronicles the six-month strike at Hormel in Austin, Minnesota, in 1985-86. The local union, P-9 of the Food and Commercial Workers, overwhelmingly rejects a contract offer with a $2/hour wage cut. They strike and hire a New York consultant to manage a national media campaign against Hormel. Despite support from P-9's rank and file, FCWU's international disagrees with the strategy. In addition to union-company tension, there's union-union in-fighting. Hormel holds firm; scabs, replacement workers, brothers on opposite sides, a union coup d'état, and a new contract materialize. The film asks, was it worth it, or was the strike a long-term disaster for organized labor?
No film-maker has ever before been given permission to follow a Dutch election campaign with the camera. On the basis of a few contractual conditions, film-maker Niek Koppen was given a glimpse into the 'kitchen' of the Labour Party election campaign in 1998. From the making of the publicity photos by Anton Corbijn to the celebration of the election victory on 6 May 1998. In the Prime Minister's residence, Koppen recorded how decisions were taken during intimate discussions, phone calls and meals. The film focuses on the arduous cooperation between the veterans Wim Kok and Jacques Wallage and the much younger campaign director Karin Adelmund. De keuken van Kok (Working for Labour) provides a picture of the emotions, ambitions, tactics and the ups and downs of a long and tiring process. (filmcommission.nl)
"A journey within the brazilian rock history, having as guide the band Paralams do Sucesso. Interviews with Jorge Ben Jor, Evandro Mesquita, Roberto Frejat, Kid Abelha, Roger, Arnaldo Antunes and others."
A documentary about Derren Brown. Discover the story of how he met his co-writer, his mother's feelings about his involvement in Russian Roulette, and an emotional visit back to his old school, university and the Bristol bars where Brown first began his close-up magic.
The film builds up a portrait of a great Sudanese film-maker, Gadalla Gubara. At eighty-seven, he is one of the pioneers of cinema in Africa. He has recently lost his sight but still continues to film life in Sudan as no one before him. Through his oeuvre, Gadalla reveals to us a Sudan both mysterious and misunderstood. Despite censorship and lack of financial support over sixty years, he has produced cinema that is independent and unique in a country where freedom of expression is a rare luxury.
In Stephen Tobolowskyâs Birthday Party film-makers Robert Brinkmann and Andrew Putschoegl follow Stephen on his birthday and document a performance he gives for the cameras and a group of friends, during which he tells stories about his experiences in Hollywood. Instead of his regular role as a supporting actor, Stephen takes the stage in Birthday Party and shows that he has the charisma to hold the audienceâs attention without the help of a script.
The life and times of Baltimore film maker and midnight movie pioneer, John Waters.
A richly textured essay film on landscape, art, history, life and loss, Patience (After Sebald) offers a unique exploration of the work of internationally acclaimed writer W.G. Max Sebald (1944 - 2001) via a walk through East Anglia tracking his most influential book, The Rings of Saturn. The much anticipated new feature by the Grierson Award-winning director of Joy Division, Patience is the first film about Sebald internationally, marking ten years since the writer's untimely death, and with contributions from major writers, artists and film-makers.
Documentary on the small shopkeepers of the rue Daguerre in Paris, where the film-maker lived.
This documentary examines how Los Angeles has been portrayed by Hollywood and the impact of the movie industry on the city.
Documentary following US film-maker Joe Marino as he heads to Italy to investigate exorcisms and the truth behind rumors of demonic possession.
On September 15th 2008, the day of the the collapse of Lehmans, the worst financial news since 1929, Damien Hirst sold over £60 million of his art, in an auction at Sothebyâs that would total £111 million over two days. It was the peak of the contemporary art bubble, the greatest rise in the financial value of art in the history of the world. One art critic and film-maker was banned by Sothebyâs and Hirst from attending this historic auction: Ben Lewis.
Directors Nina Kusturica and Eva Testor followed Michael Haneke for a period of two and a half years. They accompanied him to film premieres and public appearances, radio interviews and photo shoots; they observed him as he scouted locations, directed actors on the set, and made final cuts in the editing room. In between, on long train and car rides, Haneke spoke candidly about his childhood, his transition to filmmaking, and his views on cinema, discussing films that inspired him and his own work (he counts The Seventh Continent and 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance among his favorites). What emerges in this insightful documentary is a portrait of a dedicated filmmaker, a charming yet elusive figure in thrall to cinema and the constant perfection of his craft.
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