The Pretenders: Chrissie Hynde or Rock Life

A journey through the artistic life of the British-American rock band The Pretenders, formed in 1978, and a portrait of its leader, the charismatic singer and songwriter Chrissie Hynde.

Sommer '39

In the summer of 1939, people enjoyed the good weather, ignoring politics and pessimistic predictions. Images of everyday life that was about to change dramatically in a Europe in turmoil.

Avicii - I'm Tim

Before Avicii, there was Tim. Through his own words, witness how a prodigious musical talent became one of the defining artists of his generation.

Stalin's Last Plot

January 1953: On the eve of his death Stalin finds himself yet another imaginary enemy: Jewish doctors. He organizes the most violent anti-Semitic campaign ever launched in the USSR, by fabricating the "Doctors' Plot," whereby doctors are charged with conspiring to murder the highest dignitaries of the Soviet Regime. Still unknown and untold, this conspiracy underlines the climax of a political scheme successfully masterminded by Stalin to turn the Jews into the new enemies of the people. It reveals his extreme paranoia and his compulsion to manipulate those around him. The children and friends of the main victims recount for the first time their experience and their distress related to these nightmarish events.

Bam Bam: The Sister Nancy Story

For decades the iconic track “Bam Bam” has been a sampled darling within the music industry, creating many new stars along the way. But what do we know of its legendary creator? From Kingston to the world, witness the transcendent stylings and legacy of Sister Nancy.

The 4 Complete Ed Sullivan Shows Starring The Beatles

This collection consists of four of the most cherished shows in television history. On February 9, 1964, The Beatles made their debut TV appearance in the U.S. on the Ed Sullivan Show. 73 million Americans watched and Beatlemania is born! Other shows included were February 16, 1964, February 23, 1964, and September 12, 1965. Includes 20 song performances, as well as the rest of the four Ed Sullivan shows. Also included in some special editions is the show rehearsal (Deauville Hotel, Miami - Feb.16, 1964)

Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno

In 1964, Henri-Georges Clouzot's production of L'Enfer came to a halt. Despite huge expectations, major studio backing and an unlimited budget, after three weeks the production collapsed. This documentary presents Inferno's incredible expressionistic original rushes, screen tests, and on-location footage, whilst also reconstructing Clouzot's original vision, and shedding light on the ill-fated endeavor through interviews, dramatizations of unfilmed scenes, and Clouzot's own notes.

François Truffaut: My Life, a Screenplay

At the end of his life, gravely ill, François Truffaut took refuge with his ex-wife Madeleine Morgenstern. She tried to keep him occupied during his long agony. The filmmaker confided in his friend Claude de Givray, with the intention of writing his autobiography. Too weakened, he abandoned the project. The film reveals part of this final story.

Jacques Rozier: From One Wave to Another

Jacques Rozier or the fierce, independent itinerary of a filmmaker in perpetual disarray, admired by his peers and pampered by the critics.

Faye

Through honest reflection, complemented by insight from colleagues and friends, Faye Dunaway contextualizes her life and filmography, laying bare her struggles with mental health while confronting the double standards she was subjected to as a woman in Hollywood.

Irrésistible Gary Cooper

Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes

Newly discovered interviews with Elizabeth Taylor and unprecedented access to the star’s personal archive reveal the complex inner life and vulnerability of the groundbreaking icon.

Les Mains magnétiques, Ernest Pignon-Ernest

Ernest Pignon Ernest is a French visual artist who is considered one of the pioneers of urban art in France. This film recounts the major stages of a considerable body of work that began in the 1960s on the Albion plateau and culminated in Les Extases at the Abbey Church of Bernay. The film gives him space to speak freely, generously, and with conviction. Ernest Pignon Ernest's hands are ancient, reaching back from Caravaggio to Titian, from Masaccio to El Greco. His works speak to us. They transform our streets into fictional spaces, reminiscences, rituals.

Hitler & Stalin: Portrait of Hostility

A double portrait of two dictators who were thousands of miles apart but were constantly fixated on each other.

Alain Delon, un certain regard

Wick Is Pain

Witness the never-before-seen footage and true story behind the John Wick phenomenon – from independent film to billion-dollar franchise.

Let's Get Lost

Documentary about jazz great Chet Baker that intercuts footage from the 1950s, when he was part of West Coast Cool, and from his last years. We see the young Baker, he of the beautiful face, in California and in Italy, where he appeared in at least one movie and at least one jail cell (for drug possession). And, we see the aged Baker, detached, indifferent, his face a ruin. Includes interviews with his children and ex-wife, women companions, and musicians.

Celebrating the Rice Media Center

Through the Fondren Fellows program, the Rice Media Center Archive Project has spent the past few months sifting through material stored at the now-defunct Rice Media Center. The team has identified several films as especially notable and will be presenting them in conjunction with documentary footage the team shot of people involved with the films. From lectures featuring Roberto Rossellini and Werner Herzog to films from former Rice students and faculty, the film presentation will tell the narrative of the Rice Media Center through the films and filmmakers that passed through its corridors.

How we made Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra

Behind the scenes of Chabat's take on Asterix.

How the Beatles Changed the World

The fascinating story of the cultural, social, spiritual, and musical revolution ignited by the coming of the Beatles. Tracing the impact that these four band members had, first in their native Britain and soon after worldwide, it reappraises the band and follows their path from young subversives to countercultural heroes. Featuring fresh, revealing interviews with key collaborators as well as a wealth of rarely-seen archival footage, this is a bold new take on the most significant band in the history of music and their enduring impact on popular culture.