Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows (2007)
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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..
This fiction-documentary hybrid uses a sensational real-life eventâthe arrest of a young man on charges that he fraudulently impersonated the well-known filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbafâas the basis for a stunning, multilayered investigation into movies, identity, artistic creation, and existence, in which the real people from the case play themselves.
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.
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.
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)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The true stories that spawned the eerie tale of Damien, a small boy with an angelic face, whose very name still conjures up thoughts of Satan. This documentary shares spine-tingling information about the the all-too-memorable flick that has terrorized film audiences since 1976.
A Dutch documentary film about Robert Bresson.
After decades of fascist rule in Chile, Patricio Guzman returns to his country to screen his documentary, Battle of Chile
This documentary depicts the filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky talking about his life, his loves, his career as a filmmaker, graphic novelist, and workshop leader, and his eccentricities including tarot reader and theatrical director during The Panic Movement. Directed by Louis Mouchet, La Constellation Jodorowsky includes a lengthy on-camera interview with Jodorowsky in Spanish with subtitles. Marcel Marceau, Fernando Arrabal, Peter Gabriel, Jean "Moebius" Giraud, and Jean Pierre Vignau make appearances discussing their various projects with the director. In addition to the interview and film clips, Mouchet features some bizarre footage from Jodorowskyâs absurdist plays in which topless women splattered with paint writhe around the stage in a theatrical production meant to represent The Panic Movement, i.e., an artistic expression in which reason cannot fully express the human experience.
Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans interweaves stunning newly discovered footage and voice recordings with original interviews. It is the true story of how a cinema legend would risk almost everything in pursuit of his dream.
The Cove tells the amazing true story of how an elite team of individuals, films makers and free divers embarked on a covert mission to penetrate the hidden cove in Japan, shining light on a dark and deadly secret. The shocking discoveries were only the tip of the iceberg.
AMERICAN MOVIE is the story of filmmaker Mark Borchardt, his mission, and his dream. Spanning over two years of intense struggle with his film, his family, financial decline, and spiritual crisis, AMERICAN MOVIE is a portrayal of ambition, obsession, excess, and one man's quest for the American Dream.
Matthew Sweet explores his rules of 1940s and 50s American film noir thrillers: *Choose a dame with no past and a hero with no future *Use no fiction but pulp fiction *See America through a stranger's eyes *Make it any colour as long as it's black *It ain't what you say, it's the way that you say it.
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¦
Eleven major film makers from Europe, America and Asia talk about Akira Kurosawa and discover surprising influences on their own work.
Documentary about the film maker Luis Bunuel. Surrealist master Luis Bunuel is a towering figure in the world of cinema history, directing such groundbreaking works as Un Chien Andalou, Exterminating Angels, and That Obscure Object of Desire, yet his personal life was clouded in myth and paradox. Though sexually diffident, he frequently worked in the erotic drama genre; though personally quite conservative, his films are florid, flamboyant, and utterly bizarre. This documentary, directed Jose Luis Lopez Linares, tries to illuminate some of these contradictions.
How do you reconcile a commitment to non-violence when faced with violence? Why do the poor often seem happier than the rich? Must a society lose its traditions in order to move into the future? These are some of the questions posed to His Holiness the Dalai Lama by filmmaker and explorer Rick Ray. Ray examines some of the fundamental questions of our time by weaving together observations from his own journeys throughout India and the Middle East, and the wisdom of an extraordinary spiritual leader. This is his story, as told and filmed by Rick Ray during a private visit to his monastery in Dharamsala, India over the course of several months. Also included is rare historical footage as well as footage supplied by individuals who at great personal risk, filmed with hidden cameras within Tibet.
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.
A love triangle revolving around the lives of a filmmaker, a thief and their mutual love interest.
Martin Scorseseâs Oscar-winning biopic about the life of film-maker and aviation pioneer Howard Hughes from 1927 to 1947, during which time he became a successful film producer and an aviation magnate while simultaneously growing more unstable due to severe obsessive-compulsive disorder. After a scene from 1914, which may explain his later fear of dirt and disease, the film starts in 1927 during Hughes' filming of the World War I aviation film "Hell's Angels". He's 22 years old, has inherited the family's fortune and tool company, but wants to spend his time making film instead. However, he soon finds himself just as involved in the aviation industry, buying an airline and developing new planes.
Legendary British rock band Spinal Tap is followed by a documentary film-maker during their attempt at an American comeback tour. The resulting film, interspersed with powerful performances showcasing Tap's pivotal music and profound lyrics, candidly follows the group as the difficult industry threatens to fade them into obscurity.
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?
Big cat conservationist LARRY BLACK and his film-maker brother BEN travel into the Indonesian jungle to find and document the rare and endangered Javan Leopard. As they travel deeper and deeper into the jungle they realise they are being stalked by a deadly predator
London-based Luv Agnihotri decides to end his bachelorhood and asks his Bollywood film-maker brother, Kush, to find a bride for him - much to the displeasure of his Dehradun-based father. Kush accordingly meets and interviews a variety of women, and finally selects Delhi-based Dimple Dixit, a woman he had known before, to be the perfect match. Dimple and Luv meet on-line, are attracted to each other, and the former travels to India where the two families get the couple formally engaged. It is then Dimple decides that she prefers Kush. Watch as things spiral out of control when she insists that Kush must elope with her.
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...
This film is made up several sketches in which certain actors play several real or fictional roles to a background of rock music. The lead character, played by Godard himself, is an annoyingly perfectionist film-maker determined to wring every last drop of the finest performance possible from his stars.
A visually stunning comedy and music extravaganza. Filmed at Wembley Arena at the end of a sell-out tour of the UK, itâs everything you expect from Bill, and more. Using huge screens, films and animation by award-winning film-maker Joe Magee, plus Billâs trademark musical inventiveness and verbal brilliance, this is quite simply the most
A film-maker, his girlfriend, his female colleague and their rich producer spend a weekend making a documentary within an isolated haunted cottage in Wales.
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.
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?
After making a 3-hour fiasco about New York City's water supply, a two-man film crew decides to take it up a notch by documenting life in the private investigator offices of "Boone and Murphy". Cheating husbands and missing dogs fail to bring in the big bucks however, and after sleeping with the wife of one of their clients Murphy leaves. To stop Boone from having to close down the business the two film-makers must resort to a hands-on approach in the investigations to ensure the completion of their movie.
After the big success of the first part the film-makers apparently felt pressured to launch a new "investigation" and gather new material. Therefore, Friedrich von Thun again ventures out into the streets, this time of Berlin, to ask schoolgirls about their sexual experiences. The invinted guests talk about (allegedly) true events. Schoolgirls that seduce their teachers, runaway girls that have been robbed and who have to prostitute themselves or innocent girls that have been drugged and raped...
Two amateur film-makers find the movie they thought they were making, is actually making them.
The film can be mesmeric or irritating: irritating if one tries to force it into fulfilling preconceived notions of plot and character, mesmeric if one trusts the film-maker to lead one into fresh areas of perception. âTime Out
A passionate affair set against the intense encounter between a film-maker and a novelist. The story begins with young scriptwriter François tracking down the author of a once-scandalous novel. His aim is to adapt the work for the screen but several elements of the novel he finds difficult to comprehend. The author, Jeanne, is initially cautious of relaying information, insisting the presumably autobiographical book in no way relates to her personal life. However, eventually she takes the man into confidence to tell the background of Benvenuta.
An alcoholic, cancer-ridden American film-maker decides to produce a Bollywood movie.
The Hunger Games heads back to the Dark Ages when a group of five young Saxons is captured by a clan of fearsome Viking warriors and used as prey in a ritualistic manhunt. High on a potion that turns them "berserk" the brutal hunters are soon on the scent of the terrified youngsters in a desperate battle for survival from the ritualistic manhunt. Written and directed by Welsh film-maker Antony Smith.
A documentary film-maker suspects she is being brainwashed by a secret government organisation.
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.
The mostly true story of the legendary "worst director of all time", who, with the help of his strange friends, filmed countless B-movies without ever becoming famous or successful.
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.
A passionate filmmaker creating a film based upon a true crime casts an unknown mysterious young woman bearing a disturbing resemblance to the femme fatale in the story. Unsuspectingly, he finds himself drawn into a complex web of haunting intrigue: he becomes obsessed with the woman, the crime, her possibly notorious past, and the disturbing complexity between art and truth. From the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina to Verona, Rome, and London, new truths are revealed and clues to other crimes and passions, darker and even more complex, are uncovered.
The love story between an actress and a director. Inspired by the life of the late south Indian actress Silk Smitha.
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.
Director F.W. Murnau (John Malkovich) makes a Faustian pact with a vampire (Willem Dafoe) to get him to star in his 1922 film "Nosferatu."
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.
Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (English: Will you Cross the Skies and Come?) is a 2010 Tamil romantic drama film. Launched by a wave of publicity posters with no details about the cast and crew, the film began its initial run in February 2009. The film explores the complicated relationship between a Hindu Tamil assistant director, Karthik, and a Christian Malayali girl, Jessie. Karthik falls in love with Jessie only to be met by her indifference and reluctance as they belong to different religions and her strict conservative family will never consent to this. Undeterred Karthik pursues her, going as far as her native town. She also falls in love with him. However, they have to face many problems and emotional conflicts.
A group of student film makers are creating "Project Marble Hornets" when the production is interrupted by a series of paranormal events in this tense and shocking horror.
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