2024-12-17
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Why did Simenon, a novelist who contributed so much to the seventh art, like to say that he hated the cinema? Because he could never become a director? Because, claustrophobic, he was unable to lock himself in a projection room? Clearly, there is an affair between the writer and the cinema and Georges Simenon is the main protagonist. An investigation that is more than ever topical as Patrice Leconte has announced his plan to adapt an investigation by the famous Inspector Maigret.
The story of Dr. George Washington Carver (1864-1943), black educator and horticulturist. He is perhaps most well known for developing over 140 products from all parts of the peanut plant, including the shells and husks. He also developed products based on sweet potatoes and soybeans, and developed a cotton hybrid that was named after him.
This acclaimed documentary depicts the sad life of the greatest of all jazz singers, Billie Holiday, a life engraved with personal tragedy and ultimately shortened by drug abuse and alcoholism. Her story and career are portrayed through rare archival film and television appearances, memorable renditions of her greatest songs, and interviews with friends and colleagues.
Director Carolin Genreith takes a warmly ironic look at her mother and her female friends but also addresses her own fears and vanities. A vibrant portrait which looks beyond the borders of one twentysomething’s coolly urban lifestyle in Berlin to examine the travails of menopause – as well as the art of banishing one’s fear of ageing with a well-placed hip thrust.
European philosophers: Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger and Jean-Paul Sartre. The theme revolves heavily around the school of philosophical thought known as Existentialism, although the term had not been coined at the time of Nietzsche's writing and Heidegger declaimed the label. The documentary is named after the 1878 book written by Nietzsche, titled Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits.
A revealing look at the great Quebecois director who gave us such classic films as Mon Oncle Antoine, A toute prendre and Kamouraska: Power of Passion. Amidst the rise of French-Canadian identity and the political struggles of the '60s, Jutra was at the forefront of a group of artists dedicated to social change and attacking taboo.
Showcases incidents based on the life of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This mostly accurate privately produced biography of FDR is a cinema and political curiosity. Its lavish praise for the new president who had been in office for less than a month indicates how desperate the nation was for hope and change. The projections of FDR's future accomplishments and powerful leadership likewise were based more on hope than prior knowledge. Fortunately many of these projections proved to be accurate. Another oddity is about 1/3 of this biopic is devoted the life of the UK's Labor ex-PM Ramsey MacDonald.
King of Horror, legendary actor, scriptwriter and director, Paul Naschy is regarded as the Spanish Lon Chaney and the most prolific filmmaker dedicated to the fantastic cinema in Spain.
TV Documentary about Ingmar Bergman from 1998.
One day filmmaker Andres Pardo stumbles across 2,000 feet of Super 8 family footage at a flea market. Featured in all these 1970's home movies is a lovely young blond-haired girl, Larisa. Teaming up with a photographer friend, Pardon decides to investigate, uncovering the fascinating story behind the footage.
A documentary on the 1956 Olympic semifinal water polo match between Hungary and Russia. Held in Australia, the match occurred as Russian forces were in Budapest, stomping out a popular revolt.
A performance artist works tirelessly to fulfill her dream of adopting Sudanese twins, placing her marriage and career at risk in this documentary.
The life story of ‘Zen Anarchist’ filmmaker John Milius, one of the most influential storytellers of his generation.
Bambi was born Jean-Pierre Pruvot in a tiny Algerian village in 1935. Even as a child, she refused to meet the expectations of her extended family, choosing instead to find a way to become the woman she always knew herself to be. A Cabaret Carrousel de Paris performance in Algiers in the 1950s proved to be all the encouragement she needed to emigrate to the French capital, assume the stage name of ‘Bambi’ and lead the life she longed for on the music-hall stages.
Interview film with German director Werner Herzog revisiting the films he made up to ca. 1977.
How do you make one of the world's most revered fashion brands your own? A look at the life and work of Gucci fashion designer, Frida Giannini. Taking advantage of rare, behind-the-scenes access, director Christina Voros shows how the Florentine trendsetter has been re-imagined in the past few years.
Mike Epps, Richard Pryor Jr. and others recount the culture-defining influence of Richard Pryor - one of America's most brilliant, iconic comic minds.
Brash boxer Cassius Clay burst into the American consciousness in the early 1960s, just ahead of the Civil Rights movement. His transformation into the spiritually enlightened heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali is legendary, but this religious awakening also led to a bitter legal battle with the U.S. government after he refused to serve in the Vietnam War. This film reveals the perfect storm of race, religion and politics that shaped one of the most recognizable figures in sports history.
Director Christina Voros and producer James Franco pull back the curtain on the fetish empire of Kink.com, the Internet's largest producer of BDSM content. In a particularly obscure corner of an industry that operates largely out of public view, Kink.com's directors and models strive for authenticity. In an enterprise often known for exploitative practices, Kink.com upholds an ironclad set of values to foster an environment that is safe, sane, and consensual.