Documentary about Queen Elizabeth Square, Sir Basil Spence's block of Brutalist style flats built to replace the Gorbal's tenements in Glasgow during the 1960s. His vision was based on architect Le Corbusier's ideas and inspired him to transform the Gorbals into a Modernist Utopia. The film is about the life and times of one building told by some of the people involved in its history. The block was dynamited in 1993 amidst controversy and the death of a spectator. It is mentioned in Pevsner's Notable Buildings of Britain. This film was shown on BBC Scotland's Ex-S strand in 1993. Produced by May Miller and directed by Conrad Blakemore. This film is posted for educational and research purposes only and is copyright of BBC Scotland. Archive material courtesy of the Scottish Film Archive and the film's contributors.
Self (Archival Footage)
Self, Professor of Architecture
Self, Graphic Designer
Self, Artist
Self, Gorbals Councillor
Based on a series of interviews documentary film maker Anders Wahlgren made with architect Sven Markelius in 1969. Sven Markelius was one of the most radical architects in Sweden for many years. Since these interviews were the only recorded interviews made with Markelius we can get some insight into his philosophy 50 years later.
Everyone knows the view of Via della Conciliazione with St. Peter's Basilica framed behind it. The most famous postcard of Rome, the background used by correspondents all over the world. Few know that this street hasn't always been there, and in fact shouldn't have been from the premises.
Rule of Stone is a documentary film that exposes the power of architecture and the role it has played – aesthetically, ideologically and strategically – in the creation of modern Jerusalem after the 1967 war.
One of the most significant cases in European archaeology is the grave of the shaman woman of Bad Dürrenberg, a key finding of the last hunter-gatherer groups. From a time when there were no written records, this site was first researched by the Nazis, who saw a physically strong male warrior from an ‘original Aryan race’ in the buried person. It was, in fact, the most powerful woman of her time. The latest research shows that she was dark-skinned, had physical deformities, and was a spiritual leader. The documentary – using high-end CGI and motion capture – compares the researchers of the Nazi era, who misrepresented and instrumentalised their findings, to today’s researchers, who meticulously compile findings and evidence, and use cross- disciplinary methods to examine and evaluate them. It also substantiates the theory of the powerful roles women played in prehistoric times. The story of this woman, buried with a baby in her arms, still fascinates us 9,000 years after her death.
In order to invent a region, it is necessary to create its culture, preferably with the help of cinema. Inspired by the book and play “A Invenção do Nordeste”, this is a re-editing of Brazilian films essential to the foundation of the Northeastern imaginary.
Screen icon Charlotte Rampling has fascinated the world of cinema, fashion and photography with her mysterious and almost inaccessible beauty. A major figure in genre and auteur films, she is unclassifiable: between presence and absence, shyness and audacity, she's always hypnotic, magnetic and fascinating. From her film debut in the mid-1960s in England, to her unconventional career path, through the tragic loss suicide of her older sister that will irremediably mark her acting, this film is a dive into the existential quest of a complex actress, whose every facet is discovered through her roles. Through a conversation with the actress herself, along with personal archives and extracts from her films, this documentary raws a dazzling portrait of her life and career.
Multi-talented, Paul Newman is one of the greatest American actors of all time. With his silhouette of a Greek statue and his unreal blue eyes, he embodied the quintessential Hollywood star. But he never seemed satisfied. The son of a Jewish sporting goods retailer who despises him and a Catholic mother who adores him, driven by self-doubt and an inherited need for approval from his childhood, he has worked throughout his fifty-year career to break the image of the pretty boy. He made his first experiences in the famous Actors Studio. The breakthrough as a screen star came in 1958 with "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof". From then on he preferred characters on the edge of the American dream. With archive images and film excerpts, the documentary paints a portrait of a socio-politically committed man with many facets and also pays tribute to the role of his wife Joanne Woodward.
Dalida was an international star, selling over 140 million records in 10 languages. But behind her glittering career and dramatic and tragic personal life, was her ever supportive younger brother Orlando. The documentary sheds light on the professional and personal relationship between the music icon and her producer, between sister and brother.
An atypical portrait of singer, songwriter, poet Georges Brassens.
How can structures, which take up defined, rigid portions of space, make us feel transcendence? How can chapels turn into places of introspection? How can walls grant boundless freedom? Driven by intense childhood impressions, director Christoph Schaub visits extraordinary churches, both ancient and futuristic, and discovers works of art that take him up to the skies and all the way down to the bottom of the ocean. With the help of architects Peter Zumthor, Peter Märkli, and Álvaro Siza Vieira, artists James Turrell and Cristina Iglesias, and drummer Sergé “Jojo” Mayer, he tries to make sense of the world and decipher our spiritual experiences using the seemingly abstract concepts of light, time, rhythm, sound, and shape. The superb cinematography turns this contemplative search into a multi-sensory experience.
Rising sea levels and sinking land threaten to destroy Venice. Leading scientists and engineers battling the forces of nature to try to save this historic city for future generations. Discover the innovative projects and feats of engineering currently underway, including a hi-tech flood barrier, eco-projects to conserve the lagoon, and new efforts to investigate erosion beneath the city.
Through first person accounts and searing archival footage, this documentary tells the story of the local movement and young Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) organizers who fought not just for voting rights, but for Black Power in Lowndes County, Alabama.
The Richardson Olmsted Campus, a former psychiatric center and National Historic Landmark, is seeing new life as it undergoes restoration and adaptation to a modern use.