From bespoke baubles to extravagant gifts and £615000 diamond-encrusted tree toppers, this programme meets the people supplying and buying a top-end Christmas.
Social & External
Czech painter and illustrator Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939) ranks among the pioneers of the Art Nouveau movement at the end of the 19th century. Virtually overnight, he becomes famous in Paris thanks to the posters that he designs to announce actress Sarah Bernhardt’s plays. But at the height of his fame, Mucha decides to leave Paris to realize his lifetime project.
Follows the story of "Grizzly Man" Timothy Treadwell and what the thirteen summers in a National Park in Alaska were like in his attempt to protect the grizzly bears. The film is full of unique images and a look into the spirit of a man who sacrificed himself for nature.
An unnamed man narrates the downward trajectory of his life from beyond the grave, from delinquency to the string of fateful decisions and foolhardy moves that tied him inextricably to the opiate that was the elusive love of his life.
Mary Berry visits Harewood House in Yorkshire as it prepares for Christmas on a grand scale, and demonstrates how to make delicious recipes inspired by festive dishes of the past.
An offbeat, irreverent musical documentary that tells the story of a group of Jewish songwriters, including Irving Berlin, Mel Tormé, Jay Livingston, Ray Evans, Gloria Shayne Baker and Johnny Marks, who wrote the soundtrack to Christianity’s most musical holiday. It’s an amazing tale of immigrant outsiders who became irreplaceable players in pop culture’s mainstream – a generation of songwriters who found in Christmas the perfect holiday in which to imagine a better world, and for at least one day a year, make us believe.
A jaded lawyer wastes an afternoon trying to figure out if a dim-witted government employee has ever used a photocopier. All the dialogue in this short comes from an actual deposition filed with the Supreme Court of Ohio.
This documentary visits the towns and villages of the Alsace region of France at Christmastime. See the charmingly decorated storybook towns and learn of the unique holiday traditions and celebrations. The Alsatian landscape is covered with medieval towns, castle ruins and vineyards, and the communities of the region create a season of enchantment in their celebration of Christmas.
Amanda is a divorced woman who makes a living as a photographer. During the Fall of the year Amanda begins to see the world in new and different ways when she begins to question her role in life, her relationships with her career and men and what it all means. As the layers to her everyday experiences fall away insertions in the story with scientists, and philosophers and religious leaders impart information directly to an off-screen interviewer about academic issues, and Amanda begins to understand the basis to the quantum world beneath. During her epiphany as she considers the Great Questions raised by the host of inserted thinkers, she slowly comprehends the various inspirations and begins to see the world in a new way.
On October 12th, 1978, New York Police discovered the lifeless body of a young woman, slumped under the bathroom sink in a hotel room. She was Nancy Spungen, an ex-prostitute, sometimes stripper, heroin addict, and girlfriend of Sex Pistols' bassist Sid Vicious.
With Australia at war in Vietnam in 1967, suddenly Prime Minister Harold Holt disappeared without a trace—an event unparalleled in the history of western democracy. Four decades later, a coronial inquiry confirmed that Harold Holt had accidentally drowned. Some people may still believe that Holt was a spy and fled to China in a submarine. But most suspect there was more to his disappearance than has ever been revealed. Reconstructed from eyewitness accounts, this dramatised documentary tells the story of the Prime Minister's secret world in the months before he disappeared — a world of betrayal, blackmail, political treachery, a poisonous feud, mounting physical and mental strain, and near-death experiences. Featuring Normie Rowe as Harold Holt, Nicholas Hope as William McMahon and Tony Llewellyn-Jones as John McEwen, this film reveals explosive new aspects of the case.
Devastating hurricanes, torrential rains, the inexorably rising waters: coastal megacities are now up against the wall. The filmmakers have chosen three emblematic cities: New York, Singapore and Rotterdam. Cities that each face unique problems and must revisit their relationship with water in order to survive on the long run. In 50 years, all surge barriers in the world will be out of order. What solutions will then remain for coastal cities?
Year 1763, the Seven Years' War is about to end. August III, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, has died, leaving empty the royal treasury and an extraordinary collection of paintings, sculptures, jewelry and goldsmith masterpieces, which he considered a symbol of his greatness, and that of Dresden, one of the European capitals of Baroque art.
A different history of the Cold War: how Estonians under Soviet tyranny began to feel the breeze of freedom when a group of anonymous dreamers successfully used improbable methods to capture the Finnish television signal, a window into Western popular culture, brave but harmless warriors who helped change the fate of an entire nation.
Jamie Johnson takes the exploration of wealth that he began in Born Rich one step further. The One Percent, refers to the tiny percentage of Americans who control nearly half the wealth of the U.S. Johnson's thesis is that this wealth in the hands of so few people is a danger to our very way of life.
The life story of Vicente Miguel Carceller (1890-1940), a Spanish editor committed to freedom who, through his weekly magazine La Traca, connected with the common people while maintaining a dangerous pulse with the powerful.
In this true-life twist on a holiday fable, Jeremy Morris brings a whole new meaning to Christmas spirit when his extravagant seasonal display sparks a dispute with his neighbors that lands them all in court.
A portrait of the inventor of the letterpress, who was a key figure in the history of mankind, but also an enthusiastic inventor, a daring businessman, a tenacious troublemaker: the life of Johannes Gutenberg (circa 1400-68).
A canceled Thanksgiving parade and no options professionally or personally, Kimberly DiPersia and Alex R. Wagner decide it would be a perfect opportunity to travel to Florida.
Two women, one American and one British, swap homes at Christmastime following bad breakups. Each woman finds romance with a local man but realizes that the imminent return home may end the relationship.
George Bailey has spent his entire life giving to the people of Bedford Falls. All that prevents rich skinflint Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town is George's modest building and loan company. But on Christmas Eve the business's $8,000 is lost and George's troubles begin.
A doctor returns home for Christmas to find that her father has decided to retire from his own practice. After reuniting with her high school sweetheart, she wonders if she should stay and take over her father's practice.
Chelsea inherits a house in Vail. She meets Owen and gets a much needed break. Together, they put on Strudelfest to highlight the charm of Old Vail.
An aspiring fashion designer falls in love with her socialite client's prospective fiance, Prince Jeffrey.
Film adaptation of French economist Thomas Piketty's ground-breaking global bestseller of the same name: an eye-opening journey through wealth and power.
A prince finds his way to Queens during Christmas when a local woman enlists his help with a children's Christmas show.
As Christmas approaches, Elizabeth Bennett, a New York event planner is sent to a quaint, small town to organize a holiday festival. When she arrives, she finds William Darcy, a high-profile billionaire lacking in holiday spirit, in the process of selling the charming estate she hoped to use as a venue. Elizabeth persuades the reluctant Darcy to let her hold the festival on the historical estate and, before long, the unlikely pair begins falling for each other.
Step brothers Drake and Josh must give a foster family the best Christmas ever or face years in jail for a Christmas party gone wrong.
When Anna Parisi, an unemployed fine arts painter, is unable to make ends meet, she is hired to become a personal Christmas shopper for Marc, an uptight corporate exec. As they begin working together, Marc learns that Christmas giving has less to do with the amount of money spent and more to do with the importance of the gift, while Anna discovers she might find success as an artist in a way she never expected. The best gift of all of course is the love they discover with one another.
A recently single Jessica sends Christmas cards to people who have impacted her life—the aunt who raised her, her younger brother in the military, a popstar who was part of the soundtrack of her life, the music teacher who inspired her, and the best friend who always tells the truth.
Two longtime rivals and elementary school teachers duke it out during the holidays in a Christmas cookie bake-off, but their real feud ignites over a shared interest in a handsome single dad. With both determined to win the prize and the romance, their competitiveness could jeopardize what matters most this Christmas season.
A young working girl with a blue-collar background is surprised when her new fiancé announces he is actually a prince of a small sovereign country in Europe. After the couple quickly takes off to spend the holidays at his family’s sprawling, royal castle, she must work hard to win over her disapproving and unaccepting future mother-in-law—the Queen—and find out if love truly can conquer all.
An actor in low hours and a young interpreter who threatens to displace the former thanks to the tricks of their agent; the owner of the high mountain hotel and her estranged sister, creator of a new and unique discipline that mixes yoga and fengshui; a group of children wanting to have fun, but also to discover hidden secrets; a taciturn bellboy who sees everything; and a tremendous storm that will leave everyone isolated just before Christmas. A weekend in which everything can happen, and in which everything will happen.
Luca Cupiello, like every Christmas, prepares the crib, amid the disinterest of his wife Concetta and his son Tommasino. Ninuccia, the other daughter, writes a letter to her husband in which she communicates that she leaves him for her lover. The letter happens in the hands of Luca who hands it over to his son-in-law, who thus learns of his wife's betrayal. During lunch on Christmas Eve, the two rivals, who were confronted by Luca's carelessness, clash violently.
Christmas is a busy, busy time for the residents of Green River, particularly for Grace Long, the third generation of her family to steward the New England town’s signature Christmas Eve parade. This year’s audience for the parade promises to be in the millions, thanks to a national morning show that has chosen Green River as the site of its Christmas Eve day program.
Sarah Davis heads to her uncle’s struggling ranch to escape New York and the spotlight from a recent breakup. Returning home for the first time since her aunt passed, complications arise when Graham, an entitled Hollywood star, arrives at the ranch to prepare for his next film. As Sarah and Graham start to bond, Sarah may get more for Christmas than she bargained for.
With mesmerizing footage and time lapses of animators at work, this behind-the-scenes special captures the artistry of a unique tale years in the making.
Faced with a holiday cheer crisis, the North Pole knows there's only one person who can save the day: Santa's great friend Mariah Carey. The Queen of Christmas creates a fabulous and star-studded spectacular to make the whole world merry!
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.