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Williamstown, Kentucky, is home to the Ark Encounter – a “life-size” creationist museum filled with all of the creatures that traveled in Noah's Ark, including dinosaurs. With incredible access to the park leading up to its opening, the filmmakers expose the larger system behind the creationist movement, piecing together the many factors that have led to the museum presenting its information as historical fact, and the people who are fighting to set the scientific record straight. Amid a climate of science denial and a well-funded corporate behemoth, three Kentuckians (a local geologist, an ex-creationist, and an atheist activist) try their best to challenge the movement that is taking over their home state. Meanwhile, fervent believers work diligently to create the lifelike animatronics that will be on display in the Ark.
In 2018 Japan’s NHK television network was given unprecedented access to the Freer Gallery of Art’s collection of works by Katsushika Hokusai so they could film the details of paintings using a state-of-the-art 8K video camera. The resulting documentary is hosted by actor Iura Arata and features commentary from the James Ulak, former curator at the National Museum of Asian Art, and Tim Clark, former curator at the British Museum. The film’s intended premiere in April 2020 was canceled due to the pandemic. We are proud to finally screen it. Explore masterpieces at a never-before-seen level of detail and enjoy new insights into the artist’s genius.
The Kabul National Museum, once known as the "face of Afghanistan," was destroyed in 1993. We filmed the most important cultural treasures of the still-intact museum in 1988: ancient Greco-Roman art and antiquitied of Hellenistic civilization, as well as Buddhist sculpture that was said to have mythology--the art of Gandhara, Bamiyan, and Shotorak among them. After the fall of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan in 1992, some seventy percent of the contents of the museum was destroyed, stolen, or smuggled overseas to Japan and other countries. The movement to return these items is also touched upon. The footage in this video represents that only film documentation of the Kabul Museum ever made.
Sámi artefacts from the Finnish National Museum are returning home to Sápmi, while the holy drums of the Sámi people are still imprisoned in the basements of museums across Europe. The returning objects symbolise the dignity, identity, history, connection to ancestors and a whole world view that was taken from the Sámi people. Director Suvi West takes the viewer behind the scenes of the museum world to reflect on the spirit of the objects, the inequality of cultures and the colonialist burden of museums.
At the peak of Perestroika, in 1987, in the village of Gorki, where Lenin spent his last years, after a long construction, the last and most grandiose museum of the Leader was opened. Soon after the opening, the ideology changed, and the flow of pilgrims gradually dried up. Despite this, the museum still works and the management is looking for ways to attract visitors. Faithful to the Lenin keepers of the museum as they can resist the onset of commercialization. The film tells about the modern life of this amazing museum-reserve and its employees.
Commentator-comic Bill Maher plays devil's advocate with religion as he talks to believers about their faith. Traveling around the world, Maher examines the tenets of Christianity, Judaism and Islam and raises questions about homosexuality, proof of Christ's existence, Jewish Sabbath laws, violent Muslim extremists.
Regular opening times do not apply as we accompany Sir David Attenborough on an after-hours journey around London’s Natural History Museum, one of his favourite haunts. The museum's various exhibits come to life, including dinosaurs, reptiles and creatures from the ice age.
"The Last Dragon" is a nature mockumentary about a British scientific team that attempts to understand the unique incredible beasts that have fascinated people for ages. CGI is used to create the dragons.
Philippe de Montebello, Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1977 to 2008, guides viewers through The Cloisters, pointing out Romanesque and Gothic architecture and artwork, beautiful tapestries, and the diverse species in the gardens. He outlines the history of the building and it's many influences and highlights significant works of art in the collection. It was produced in 1989 by The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Office of Film and Television.
A documentary about the fascinating and complicated process of the rebuilding of Holland's most famous museum, The Rijksmuseum. The film shows the people behind the scenes during the years of demolition, restoration, and political and financial debate. We witness their efforts, joys and struggles with one goal in common: the love of art.
A documentary about Sir Len Southward OBE and his collection of vehicles at his Southward Car Museum in Paraparaumu, New Zealand, among the largest car museums in the world.
Curator Robert Storr takes us through the 2002 MoMA Gerhard Richter retrospective.
To celebrate its 250th anniversary, this documentary tells the story of one of the world’s greatest museums, from its foundation by Catherine the Great, though to its status today as a breathtakingly beautiful complex which includes the Winter Palace. Showcasing a vast collection of the world’s greatest artworks together with contemporary art galleries and exhibitions, it holds over 3 million treasures and world class masterpieces in stunning architectural settings. This is its journey from Imperial Palace to State Museum, encompassing a sometimes troubled past, surviving both the Revolution in 1916 and the siege of Leningrad by the Nazis in 1941-44.
This documentary delves into the history behind the Wellington New Zealand based private LOTR Fan museum, run by Kathy. It plays on request at the museum.
Fifteen naturally mummified bodies were found during the excavations of 2011 in the old church of El Piquete, —a building that suffered almost total devastation as a consequence for being a refuge for civilians during the Spanish Civil War—, this discovery allowed the creation of the Museum of the Mummies of Quinto where this collection with unique characteristics in Spain is exhibited thanks to the research of historians, scientists, bio anthropologists and archaeologists.
As part of a high-tech forensic probe into the demise of Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun, scientists use X-rays and CT scans as they attempt to reach a conclusion about just how this famed king died. In addition, they explore the mysterious curse on explorers linked to Tut's tomb excavation.
Originally produced in 1997 on the threshold of the Third Millennium of the Christian Era, and in celebration of the Jubilee of the Year of Our Lord 2000, The Vatican Museums was the culmination of three years of research and filming, the collaboration of thirty-two scholars and historians from around the world, a crew of forty directors of photography, operators, and lighting technicians, state-of-the-art digital cinematography, lighting, animation, and computerized editing, and the work of a famous composer with original performances by master musicians. Now available on DVD for the first time, this historic three-disc collection features seven hours of magnificent documentary film that illuminates and chronicles the great journey of the human spirit. Here then is the world's most spectacular and sacred repository of art, history, and faith.
Some of them move. Others make noise. One weighs in at 700 pounds. Collectively, they represent the future of contemporary craft. Go behind the scenes of the "40 under 40: Craft Futures" exhibition, featuring traditional and non-traditional works of decorative art created by the top 40 American craft artists under the age of 40. Observe this wildly creative and diverse exhibition, assembled for the 40th anniversary of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery, and witness the challenges and rewards of bringing together 40 unique artists at the top of their craft.