The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011)
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A documentary feature film that ties four narratives - from China, India, Scotland, and Tunisia - together with countless insights from venerable filmmakers and ordinary moviegoers. An aspiring actress in Mumbai battles to break into Bollywood; two friends in Scotland take a mobile film festival across the highlands; a young crew in Hong Kong embarks on the shooting of its first film; a Tunisian director anxiously anticipates the premiere of his controversial film at a major festival. These stories are woven together with scenes from video stores, projection booths, studios, cinemas, and slums into a vivid meditation on the power of cinema to shape our world.
Since the invention of cinema, the standard format for recording moving images has been film. Over the past two decades, a new form of digital filmmaking has emerged, creating a groundbreaking evolution in the medium. Keanu Reeves explores the development of cinema and the impact of digital filmmaking via in-depth interviews with Hollywood masters, such as James Cameron, David Fincher, David Lynch, Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, Steven Soderbergh, and many more.
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.
CINEMA NOVO is a movie-essay that investigates poetically the most important movement of Latin America cinema, through the thoughts of its main auteurs: Nelson Pereira dos Santos, Glauber Rocha, Leon Hirszman, Joaquim Pedro de Andrade, Ruy Guerra, Walter Lima Jr., Paulo César Saraceni, among others.
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.
A Chadian film director who lives and works in France (Haroun) returns home upon the death of his mother. He is shocked at the degraded state of the country and the national cinema. The filmmaker decides to make a film dedicated to his mother entitled Bye Bye Africa but immediately encounters major problems. Cinemas have closed and financing is impossible to secure. The director reunites with an old girlfriend (Yelena), who was shunned by Chadians who could not distinguish between film and reality after appearing in one of his previous films as an HIV victim. Haroun learns about the destruction of the African cinema from directors in neighboring countries, but also finds Issa Serge Coelo shooting his first film, Daressalam. Things go badly and, convinced that it is impossible to make films in Africa, Haroun departs Chad in despair, leaving his film camera to a young boy who had been assisting him.
Documentary - After starting his career producing religious film shorts, J. Arthur Rank went on to become Britain's first and only movie mogul with his establishment of the legendary Pinewood Studios. Narrated by Michael Caine, THE GOLDEN GONG chronicles Pinewood's rise to success. - Richard Attenborough, Dirk Bogarde, Betty E. Box
Regarding Susan Sontag is an intimate study of one of the most influential and provocative thinkers of the 20th century. Endlessly curious and gracefully outspoken throughout her career, Susan Sontag became one of the most important literary, political, and feminist icons of her generation. Nancy Katesâ in-depth documentary tracks Sontagâs seminal, life-changing moments through archival materials, accounts from friends, family, colleagues, and lovers, as well as her own words, as read by Patricia Clarkson.
Although at first sight this might look like a simple âmaking of DANCER IN THE DARKâ, the later developments in the film reveal the whole drama of Lars von Trierâs inner life during the shooting process. All his doubts and insecurities in collaborating with the crew and actors - especially actresses - are exposed. The biggest drama started when Björk walked off the set. Nobody knew whether she would be back or not. Admitting that he feels threatened by women, who can âmake him feel embarrassedâ, the director gives this documentary the nature of a personal diary. When he discusses the importance, purpose and beauty of the use of a hundred cameras in a certain sequence or the meaning of the Dogma 95 rules, the audience is witnessing the process of the artistâs search. Is the pain that the director went through during the shooting really visible in the final result, as Lars von Trier claims in this film? (from: http://www.idfa.nl/)
Starsuckers is the most controversial documentary of the year, and was released in British cinemas in November 2009 to critical acclaim. It's a darkly humourous and shocking exposé of the celebrity obsessed media, that uncovers the real reasons behind our addiction to fame and blows the lid on the corporations and individuals who profit from it.
Nigeria's film industry, Nollywood, is the third-largest in the world--an unstoppable economic and cultural force that has taken the continent by storm and is now bursting beyond the borders of Africa. "Nollywood Babylon" is a feature documentary detailing the industry's phenomenal success. Propelled by a booming 1970s soundtrack of African underground music, the movie presents an electric vision of a modern African metropolis and a revealing look at the powerhouse that is Nigerian cinema.
THE PERVERT'S GUIDE TO CINEMA takes the viewer on an exhilarating ride through some of the greatest movies ever made. Serving as presenter and guide is the charismatic Slavoj Žižek, the Slovenian philosopher and psychoanalyst. With his engaging and passionate approach to thinking, Žižek delves into the hidden language of cinema, uncovering what movies can tell us about ourselves.
Feature documentary about ex-maverick filmmaker António de Macedo.
Documentary about the different genres popular in classic British cinema.
Covering over 100 years of cinema, this is a journey of discovering and exploring the magic of cinema from a personal perspective. Looking at the changes and developments of cinema Thomas explains how film has deeply affected his life as a person and a filmmaker.
As Australian cinema broke through to international audiences in the 1970s through respected art house films like Peter Weir's "Picnic At Hanging Rock," a new underground of low-budget exploitation filmmakers were turning out considerably less highbrow fare. Documentary filmmaker Mark Hartley explores this unbridled era of sex and violence, complete with clips from some of the scene's most outrageous flicks and interviews with the renegade filmmakers themselves.
This highly personal film essay demonstrates that Chinese cinema has dealt with questions of gender and sexuality more frankly and provocatively than any other national cinema. Yang ± Yin examines male bonding and phallic imagery in the swordplay and kung fu movies of the '60s and '70s; homosexuality; same-sex bonding and physical intimacy; the continuing emphasis on women's grievances in melodramas; and the phenomenon of Yam Kim-Fai, a Hong Kong actress who spent her life portraying men on and off the screen.
Touching the Void is a 2003 documentary based on the book of the same name by Joe Simpson about Simpson's and Simon Yates' disastrous and near fatal attempt to climb Siula Grande (6,344m) in the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.
Fernando Lopes in the first person: through his words and films, from the village where he was born until Lisbon of present time, we discover the themes and emotions of the work of one of the main authors of portuguese "Cinema Novo".
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.
Biggest name left militancy in Brazil '60s, Carlos Marighella served in the main political events in Brazil between 1930 and 1969 and was considered the # 1 enemy of the Brazilian military dictatorship. Communist leader victim of prison and torture, parliamentarian, author of the world translated "Manual of the Urban Guerrilla," his life was a great act of strength and courage. Directed by his niece Isa Grinspum Ferraz, the feature Marighella is a historic building and affective this man who dedicated his life to thinking about Brazil and transform it through its action.
"I saw these movies. They had a powerful effect on me. You should see them." That's Martin Scorsese's message for this documentary. We meet his family on Elizabeth Street in New York; he's a third generation Italian with Sicilian roots. Starting in 1949, they watched movies on TV as well as in theaters, lots of Italian imports. Scorsese, with his narration giving a personal as well as a public context, shows extended clips of these movies. Films of Rossellini and De Sica fill part one; those of Visconti, Fellini, and Antonioni comprise part two. Scorsese takes time with emotion, style, staging, technique, political context, and cinematic influence. It's his movie family.
Aitraaz movie revolves around the character Raj Malhotra (Akshay Kumar) a successful businessmanhas everything going for him, including a lovely wife (Kareena Kapoor). Just when he thinks things can't get any better, Sonia (Priyanka Chopra) - his ex-girlfriend, now the boss's wife - walks back into his life - and she wants Raj at any cost.
A full journey from the beginning of "Swordplay" movies in Shanghai, growth in Hong Kong cinemas in the 60's and 70's and Ang Lee's epic "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" in 2000. The series also features interviews with such luminaries including John Woo, Chu Yuen, Lau Ka Leung, Gordon Lau Ka Fai, Sammo Hung, David Chiang and Cheng Pei Pei.
Hong Kong cinemas had a wide range of glamorous female stars during the golden age of the 60's and 70's. The series will take the audience on a sentimental journey to the good old days and once again look at the expansive epic costume dramas and huangmei operas in which actresses played both the male and female roles. Rare interviews with Sir Run Run Shaw, stars Ivy Ling Po, Shaw Yin Yin, Tanny Tie Ni and Cheng Pei Pei are also featured.
Indian documentary about Indian film history and P. K. Nair, the founder of the National Film Archive of India and guardian of Indian cinema. He built the archive can by can in a country where the archiving of cinema was considered unimportant.
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.
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.
The âdigital revolutionâ reached the cinema late and was chiefly styled as a technological advancement. Today, in an era where analog celluloid strips are disappearing, and given the diversity of digital moving picture formats, there is much more at stake: Are the worldâs film archives on the brink of a dark age? Are we facing the massive loss of collective audiovisual memory? Is film dying, or just changing? CINEMA FUTURES travels to international locations and, together with renowned filmmakers, museum curators, historians and engineers, dramatizes the future of film and the cinema in the age of digital moving pictures.
Two decades on from Cinema of Unease, Tim Wongâs ambitious film essay contemplates the prevailing image of a national cinema while privileging some of the images and image-makers displaced by the popular view of filmmaking in New Zealand. Narrated by Eleanor Catton.
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.
This portrait of the French film theorist and avant-garde director Jean Epstein (1897-1953) concentrates on the period when he filmed in Brittany, the spot where he became inspired by the sea. Using rare archive footage, Jean Epstein, Young Oceans of Cinema also looks at Epsteinâs views on the specificity of the film medium.
The artistry, triumph and lifelong friendship of the great cinematographers Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond. With film school equipment, they shoot the Soviet crackdown of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. As refugees they struggle in Hollywood, finally breaking into the mainstream with their pivotal contribution to the "American New Wave."
A revolutionary film about the cinematic genius of North Korea's late Dear Leader Kim Jung-IL, with a groundbreaking experiment at its heart - a propaganda film, made according to the rules of his 1987 manifesto. Through the shared love of cinema, AIM HIGH IN CREATION! forges an astonishing new bond between the hidden filmmakers of North Korea and their Free World collaborators. Revealing an unexpected truth about the most isolated nation on earth: filmmakers, no matter where they live, are family.
A look at the story behind Marvel Studios and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, featuring interviews and behind-the-scenes footage from all of the Marvel films, the Marvel One-Shots and "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."
Filmmaking icon Agnès Varda, the award-winning director regarded by many as the grandmother of the French new wave, turns the camera on herself with this unique autobiographical documentary. Composed of film excerpts and elaborate dramatic re-creations, Varda's self-portrait recounts the highs and lows of her professional career, the many friendships that affected her life and her longtime marriage to cinematic giant Jacques Demy.
A semi-documentary experimental 1930 German silent film created by amateurs with a small budget. With authentic scenes of the metropolis city of Berlin, it's the first film from the later famous screenwriters/directors Billy Wilder and Fred Zinnemann.
n Scénario du film Passion, Godard constructs a lyrical study of the cinematic and creative process by deconstructing the story of his 1982 film Passion. âI didnât want to write the script,â he states, âI wanted to see it.â Positioning himself in a video editing suite in front of a white film screen that evokes for him the âfamous blank page of Mallarmé,â Godard uses video as a sketchbook with which to reconceive the film. The result is a philosophical, often humorous rumination on the desire and labor that inform the conceptual and image making process of the cinema. âeai.org
Documentary about the National Film Registry, featuring clips of films that have been included in the registry, as well as interviews with members of the National Film Registry Board.
Take a trip back to a time when New York City wasn't all glitz and glamour as filmmaker Celine Danhier offers a look at the birth of "No Wave Cinema" and the vibrant art scene that exploded out of the East Village in the late '70s. In the years before Ronald Reagan took office, Manhattan was in ruins. But true art has never come from comfort, and it was precisely those dire circumstances that inspired artists like Jim Jarmusch, Lizzy Borden, and Amos Poe to produce some of their best works. Taking their cues from punk rock and new wave music, these young maverick filmmakers confronted viewers with a stark reality that stood in powerful contrast to the escapist product being churned out by Hollywood. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Chronicles the six-decade career of the U.S. film industry's most diverse, dogged and resourceful low-budget producer-director-entrepeneur, painting the soft-spoken Roger Corman as an indie cinema trailbrazer as well as an extraordinary conduit for new talent.
Shot in France, England, Switzerland and the United States, this documentary covers director Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo, Holy Mountain, Santa Sangre) and his 1974 Quixotic attempt to adapt the seminal sci-fi novel Dune into a feature film. After spending 2 years and millions of dollars, the massive undertaking eventually fell apart, but the artists Jodorowsky assembled for the legendary project continued to work together. This group of artists, or his âwarriorsâ as Jodorowsky named them, went on to define modern sci-fi cinema with such films as Alien, Blade Runner, Star Wars and Total Recall.
Malegaon, a small town tucked away near the heart of India geographically, is fraught with communal tension and under severe economic depression. To escape the harsh reality of their world, its people seek refuge in the fantastical world of cinema. This passion for cinema has spurred a group of cinema enthusiasts to make their own films-quirky, low budget, socially aware and notoriously funny spoofs of Bollywood films.
Aaranya Kaandam (Tamil: à®à®°à®£à¯à®¯ à®à®¾à®£à¯à®à®®à¯; English: Jungle chapter; English title: Anima and Persona) is a 2011 Indian Tamil action film, written and directed by newcomer Thiagarajan Kumararaja. It is supposedly the first neo-noir film in Tamil cinema. The story takes place in a day in the lives of the six protagonists, played by Jackie Shroff, Ravi Krishna, Sampath Raj and newcomers [Yasmin Ponnappa], Somasundaram and Master Vasanth. Produced by S. P. B. Charan's Capital Film Works, the film features musical score by Yuvan Shankar Raja and cinematography by P. S. Vinod and editing handled by the duo Praveen K. L. and N. B. Srikanth.
Corrupt cops, street gangs, "Bratki" in "Bummers" (BMWs) steal and "Merins" (Mercedeses), angry truck drivers, beautiful women and death are what four friends in a black Bummer who go on a mission from one region of Russia to another are about to face in the wasteland of small-town Russia. A critique of the policies of Boris Yeltsin, it depicted the economic crisis that followed Russia's transition towards a free market economy, and with it, a lost generation, with no job security, who are pushed into a world of crime and rebellion. Despite a modest budget of US$700,000, and a limited cinematic release, it became a national hit in Russia as well its soundtrack, popularized by 'Seryoga's' (СеÑÑга) music video "ЧÑÑнÑй ÐÑмеÑ" ("Black Bummer"). Both the film and its soundtrack have won awards, including the prestigious Golden Aries from the Russian Guild of Film critics.
The year 1973 turned out to be one of the most remarkable years in Dharmendra's cinematic history.He proved that he had greater efficiency,electrifying charisma and a more effective star-power than the then fading superstar Rajesh Khanna by knocking him out from the number one spot.He became the hottest star at the box-office from then on delivering hits after hits that also included Yaadon ki Baarat,Kahani kismat ki and loafer.In fact out of the top ten hits for that year,six of Dharmendra's films were present.Jugnu was the second most successful film of the year after bobby earning super-duper hit status.it was extremely successful at the box office running for 50 consecutive weeks.Jugnu became one of the most thrilling entertainers of its time.Dharmendra and Hema Malini's chemistry was tagged the Awesome-twosome.This is one of few films in which almost all the songs were marvellous. Who would forget Chote Chote (performed beautifully by Dharmendra Dil Gaya Chamka and many more
A young girl suffering from amnesia after surviving a house fire that takes her childhood friend's life, begins a tormented road to recovery.
Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na (translation: Whether you know... or not) is a 2008 Indian romantic comedy film, written and directed by Abbas Tyrewala. The film stars Imran Khan and Genelia D'Souza in pivotal roles. Produced by Mansoor Khan, Aamir Khan, it marks the directional debut of Abbas Tyrewala, the debut of Imran Khan (Aamir Khan's nephew) and Prateik Babbar as actors, and the re-appearance of D'Souza in Hindi cinema. Released on 4 July 2008, the film received positive reviews, and went on to become a Super Hit at the box office. The music is by A. R. Rahman.
Alexander, a journalist, philosopher and retired actor, celebrates a birthday with friends and family when it is announced that nuclear war has begun.
Mifune's Last Song is a humorous story about a yuppie from Copenhagen who is inconveniently confronted with his represses his past. This film from Kragh-Jacobsen is the third film to be filmed in the Dogma 95 style of filmmaking.
In 1973, the Loud family became a television sensation of a new kind. It was long before a metal rock star showed his eccentric family on the small screen and decades before housewives had screaming matches with each other on camera in public. CINEMA VERITE tells the behind-the-scenes story of the groundbreaking documentary "An American Family," which chronicled the lives of the Louds in the early 1970s and catapulted the Santa Barbara family to notoriety while creating a new television genre: the reality TV series.
Mother India is an Indian film from director Mehboob Khan from 1957 and is the most successful and popular Hindi film.
The movie follows Antonio as he witnesses the descent of common rural worker Manuel into a life of crime, joining the gang of Antonio's sworn enemy, Corisco the Blond Devil (Othon Bastos), and the Pedra Bonita Massacre.
Cinema Company is a 2012 Malayalam romantic comedy drama film written and directed by Mamas and starring mainly newcomers. Basil, Sanjeev, Shruthi and Badri play the roles of four intimate friends who dream to make a film. Plot
The film traces the journey of four friends as they strive to give life to their dream cinema. And how their lives are upturned as the cinema becomes their life.
An American private-eye, arrives in Alphaville, a futuristic city on another planet which is ruled by an evil scientist named Von Braun, who has outlawed love and self-expression.
'Vidas secas' tells in vivid images the almost documentary like story of a drover and his family in the northern interior states of Brazil during the drought. A family in the search of a new hope and destiny.
The continuation of a funny adventures of a heroes of "Bitterly!".
A filmmaker recalls his childhood, when he fell in love with the movies at his village's theater and formed a deep friendship with the theater's projectionist.
The feature-film debut of famed director Louis Malle is an interesting, modern film noir with the classic theme of lovers plotting to kill the husband and make it look like suicide (reminiscent of The Postman Always Rings Twice). Jeanne Moreau gives an astonishing performance, perverse but naive as she leads her young lover down a path that can only lead to doom for both of them.
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