Travel back to Victorian Britain and wander the cobbled streets of Haworth to the sites that inspired the great Brontë sisters’ classic novels.
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Equal parts documentary, essay, and narrative,"Captain Elliot's Circle" is mostly a poetic interaction with an obscure corner of Chinese and British history. Constructed using primary source documents about the taking of Zhoushan, Britain's first choice for a seaport, in the late 1830s,this movie uses Captain Charles Elliot's reluctance to brutalize the Chinese to reflect on the cyclical nature of history and the power structures that move it. The long takes used throughout function to illustrate the dramatically different ways in which people who lived in the mid-19th century perceived time. Additionally, it represents the psychological effect of living on an island regardless of what era you were born in.The last third of the movie focuses on a young woman whose strange day job has taken her far away from the island of Zhoushan generations after Captain Charles Elliot was last there. "Captain Elliot's Circle" was shot on location in Zhoushan and Hangzhou.
Balzac is a 1951 short documentary film by French director Jean Vidal. It is a biopic on the work, life, and loves of the French playwright and novelist Honoré de Balzac, his evolution as a writer and how his individual works fit into the design of La Comedie Humaine. The film was nominated for an Academy Award in 1952 and won first prize for best director at the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival the same year.
This is the remarkable story of an American icon who changed the sport of big wave surfing forever. Transcending the surf genre, this in-depth portrait of a hard-charging athlete explores the fear, courage and ambition that push a man to greatness—and the cost that comes with it.
A gripping documentary about the courage and determination of a young English stockbroker who saved the lives of 669 children. Between March 13 and August 2, 1939, Nicholas Winton organized 8 transports to take children from Prague to new homes in Great Britain, and kept quiet about it until his wife discovered a scrapbook documenting his unique mission in 1988. Winton was a successful 29-year-old stockbroker in London who "had an intuition" about the fate of the Jews when he visited Prague in 1939. He quietly but decisively got down to the business of saving lives. We learn how only two countries, Sweden and Britain, answered his call to harbor the young refugees; how documents had to be forged and how once foster parents signed for the children on delivery, that was the last he saw of them.
When we think of a prolific, yet tumultuous career in Hollywood... A name stands out amongst the crowd. In a rollercoaster of events, from stardom, rock bottom, and returning, as one of the most well known actors in the industry, thanks to his incredible portrayal of his roles and charismatic demeanor. From his hardships to his incredible retribution... This is... Robert Downey Junior.
Biography on the famous writer-director, Billy Wilder.
Honour West and Joan Camuglia-May share their experiences in this upbeat roller-skating documentary.
We enter the life of Horst, and see the world of fashion photography evolve from the 1930s to the 1980s through his work and stories.
Crash and Burn chronicles the thrilling and turbulent career of Irish racing driver Tommy Byrne, who rose from a rough, working-class background to the cusp of Formula 1 in the 1980s. Directed by Seán Ó Cualáin, the film explores Byrne's undeniable talent and rebellious personality, which set him apart on the track but also clashed with the conservative and elite world of Formula 1. Byrne’s story is filled with highs and lows, from his dominance in lower racing categories to his brief, rocky stint in Formula 1 and subsequent struggles. The documentary combines interviews, archival footage, and personal insights to portray the complexities of Byrne’s character and his “what could have been” legacy in motorsport.
Professor James Shapiro goes in search of the mysterious man behind The Duchess of Malfi, the son of a coachmaker who ended up rivalling Shakespeare.
Anatomy of a Lost Sound traces the life of an incendiary sound, the space it conjured: a paramilitary youth camp, one of many metastasizing across Central and Eastern Europe, and the enigmatic figure most indelibly marked by it, Zulfikar Veritić. This hybrid work offers a brief biography of the sound and the figures who fueled its ascent and spread.
The bombings recently carried out by the Revolutionary Breton Army (ARB) have drawn attention to the political and cultural history of the Breton movement. The writer Roparz Hemon is one of its emblematic figures. He was born in Brest in 1900, and died in Dublin in 1978 after thirty years of voluntary exile in Ireland following his trial for collaboration at the end of the war. He had indeed organised the first Breton-language radio programmes under German control. The work of this poet, novelist, and translator of Shakespeare and Cervantes is dominated by the theme of the dream.
A young trans man tells his story on a early morning journey to Coney Island.
A French documentary on Superman actor Christopher Reeve as told by his French voice dubbing actor, Pierre Arditi.
Gray Matters explores the long, fascinating life and complicated career of architect and designer Eileen Gray, whose uncompromising vision defined and defied the practice of modernism in decoration, design and architecture. Making a reputation with her traditional lacquer work in the first decade of the 20th century, she became a critically acclaimed and sought after designer and decorator in the next before reinventing herself as an architect, a field in which she laboured largely in obscurity. Apart from the accolades that greeted her first building –persistently and perversely credited to her mentor–her pioneering work was done quietly, privately and to her own specifications. But she lived long enough (98) to be re-discovered and acclaimed. Today, with her work commanding extraordinary prices and attention, her legacy, like its creator, remains elusive, contested and compelling.
Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.
Supersonic charts the meteoric rise of Oasis from the council estates of Manchester to some of the biggest concerts of all time in just three short years. This palpable, raw and moving film shines a light on one of the most genre and generation-defining British bands that has ever existed and features candid new interviews with Noel and Liam Gallagher, their mother, and members of the band and road crew.
Using the book 'Fragments', which collects Marilyn Monroe's poems, notes and letters, and with participation from the Arthur Miller and Truman Capote estates who have contributed more material, each of the actresses will embody the legend at various stages in her life.
A dreamlike conversation with the past and the present, reimagining Latasha Harlins' story by excavating intimate memories shared by those who loved her.
A deliciously scandalous portrait of unsung Hollywood legend Scotty Bowers, whose bestselling memoir chronicled his decades spent as sexual procurer to the stars.
Alexander McQueen's rags-to-riches story is a modern-day fairy tale, laced with the gothic. Mirroring the savage beauty, boldness and vivacity of his design, this documentary is an intimate revelation of McQueen's own world, both tortured and inspired, which celebrates a radical and mesmerizing genius of profound influence.
Ross McElwee sets out to make a documentary about the lingering effects of General Sherman's march of destruction through the South during the Civil War, but is continually sidetracked by women who come and go in his life, his recurring dreams of nuclear holocaust, and Burt Reynolds.
The extraordinary story of the planet’s most famous contemporary scientist, told in his own words and by those closest to him. Made with unique access to Hawking’s private life, this is an intimate and moving journey into Stephen's world, both past and present.
The life and career of one of comedy's most inimitable modern voices, Mr. Gilbert Gottfried.
In 1992, teenager Sandi Tan shot Singapore's first indie road movie with her enigmatic American mentor Georges – who then vanished with all the footage. Twenty years later, the 16mm film is recovered, sending Tan, now a novelist in Los Angeles, on a personal odyssey in search of Georges' vanishing footprints.
Literary icon Joan Didion reflects on her remarkable career and personal struggles in this intimate documentary directed by her nephew, Griffin Dunne.
The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.
Canadian actress and filmmaker Sarah Polley investigates certain secrets related to her mother, interviewing a group of family members and friends whose reliability varies depending of their implication in the events, which are remembered in different ways; so a trail of questions remains to be answered, because memory is always changing and the discovery of truth often depends on who is telling the tale.
The life of Mr. Spock, as well as that of Leonard Nimoy, the actor who played him for almost fifty years, written and directed by his son: Adam.
Lyrical and powerfully personal essay film that reflects on the deaths of her husband Lou Reed, her mother, her beloved dog, and such diverse subjects as family memories, surveillance, and Buddhist teachings.
Over seven decades, actor and activist George Takei journeyed from a World War II internment camp to the helm of the Starship Enterprise, and then to the daily news feeds of five million Facebook fans. Join George and his husband, Brad, on a wacky and profound trek for life, liberty, and love.
When Allied forces liberated the Nazi concentration camps in 1944-45, their terrible discoveries were recorded by army and newsreel cameramen, revealing for the first time the full horror of what had happened. Making use of British, Soviet and American footage, the Ministry of Information’s Sidney Bernstein (later founder of Granada Television) aimed to create a documentary that would provide lasting, undeniable evidence of the Nazis’ unspeakable crimes. He commissioned a wealth of British talent, including editor Stewart McAllister, writer and future cabinet minister Richard Crossman – and, as treatment advisor, his friend Alfred Hitchcock. Yet, despite initial support from the British and US Governments, the film was shelved, and only now, 70 years on, has it been restored and completed by Imperial War Museums under its original title "German Concentration Camps Factual Survey".
A detailing of the rise to prominence and global sporting superstardom of six supremely talented young Manchester United football players (David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Phil and Gary Neville). The film covers the period 1992-1999, culminating in Manchester United's European Cup triumph.
Diaries, audiotapes, videotapes and testimonials from friends and colleagues offer insight into the life and career of Gilda Radner -- the beloved comic and actress who became an icon on Saturday Night Live.
Director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born adults after a 7 year wait. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.