The birth date of film can be established: December 28, 1895. The place where it happened is also known: Paris, Boulevard des Capucines, Grand Caffe. It is also known who did it first: Louis Lumiere. However, the history of film starts in distant, almost unknown times: from drawings of cave people, through reliefs from Egyptian times, to the discovery of photography. Development of film technique: silent film, sound film, color film. Development of film expression: film as a recording of reality, film as an interpretation of reality, film as fiction or new reality. Development of film as an industry.
Built in 1942 by a maverick film preservationist, this small Los Angeles theater championed silent film at the very moment when the Hollywood studios across town were busily destroying their nitrate inventories. With hard chairs, phonograph-record accompaniments, and mostly original vintage prints, the dingy mom-and-pop operation was nonetheless a palace to the fanatical few who became its loyal audience.
A compilation of scenes and trailers from horror movies having to do with wolfmen.
Documentary short regarding the preservation and restoration of the worldwide remains of the Keystone films.
A documentary concerning the violent Italian 'poliziotteschi' cinematic movement of the 1970s which, at first glance, seem to be rip-offs of American crime films like DIRTY HARRY or THE GODFATHER, but which really address Italian issues like the Sicilian Mafia and red terrorism. Perhaps even more interesting than the films themselves were the rushed methods of production (stars performing their own stunts, stealing shots, no live sound) and the bleed-over between real-life crime and movie crime.
A subjective documentary that explores various theories about hidden meanings in Stanley Kubrick's classic film The Shining. Five very different points of view are illuminated through voice over, film clips, animation and dramatic reenactments.
A discussion between John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones about their film The Meaning of Life
A documentary from Universal about the movie "Dracula" (1931) starring Bela Lugosi.
Martin Slivka's documentary film about Karol Plicka (1894-1987), the founder of Slovak cinematography.
Filmmaker Lawrence Shapiro discusses voice-over acting with the talented people behind the characters.
This is not a documentary about the making of Midnight Cowboy. It is about a humane and groundbreaking masterpiece and the flawed but gifted people who made it. It is about a troubled era of cultural ferment, social and political change, about broken dreams and strivers, then and now. It is about an era that made a movie and a movie that made an era.
Feature-length documentary on the making of HOT DOG... THE MOVIE.
The story lives forever in this feature-length documentary that charts the making of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
An inventive remembrance of the impact of the Hollywood blacklist on two American classics, rendered as a visually mesmerizing dialogue between Carl Foreman and Elia Kazan.
An intimate documentary delving into Rian Johnson's process as he comes in as a director new to the Star Wars universe.
An homage to Italian director Sergio Corbucci of the 1960s and contemporary director Quentin Tarantino, recounting a memorable period in Italian cinema with the sensibility of today.
A glimpse at how genre film-focused home video companies have taken the charge in preserving, restoring, and releasing so many works which otherwise might have been lost to time.
At 18 hours and 43 minutes long, 'The Complete Story of Film' collects two epic documentaries by Mark Cousins into a stunningly expansive global journey through film history from the birth of cinema to today. The Story of Film: An Odyssey is an inclusive and ground-breaking journey through the history of world cinema and a treat for movie lovers around the globe. Guided by filmmaker and historian Mark Cousins, this wonderfully insightful 15-hour love letter to the movies begins with the invention of motion pictures at the end of the 19th century, continuing through the entire 20th century of moviemaking and concluding with the globalized digital industry of the 21st. In The Story of Film: A New Generation, Cousins picks up where Odyssey left off, returning with a new epic and hopeful tale of modern cinematic innovation in the new millennium, exploring how movies and moviegoing have evolved and will continue to transform to our collective joy and wonder.