Celso: a portrait, a place(NaN)

Evan Dalton Smith on Andy Griffith(en)

'A Face in the Crowd' was Andy Griffith's first film role; he would go on to be most famous for his folksy portrayal of Sheriff Andy Taylor on television's The Andy Griffith Show. In this interview, filmed by the Criterion Collection in 2018, Griffith expert Evan Dalton Smith discusses the actor's difficulties with the role of Lonesome Rhodes and how it led to his career-defining television show.

Jay Cocks and Farran Smith Nehme on 'The Heiress'(en)

In this 2018 Criterion Collection program, screenwriter Jay Cocks and film critic Farran Smith Nehme discuss the adaptation for the film version of 'The Heiress' (1949) of the 1947 play by Ruth and Augustus Goetz, which was itself inspired by the 1880 Henry James novel 'Washington Square'.

2020: A Very Particular Year(de)

At the beginning of the year 2020, a relentless plague sweeps the planet and, as a consequence, a global lockdown is gradually decreed: how did people from very different latitudes, living necessarily very different situations, experience this shared solitude? How did people adapt to the restriction by decree of their personal freedoms and the transformation of many bustling metropolises into ghost cities?

Pablo Picasso: The Legacy of a Genius(en)

An assessment of the 20th century's best known artist and his vast achievements through the insights and speculations of over a dozen participants. Filmed on the 100th anniversary of Picasso's birth at MoMA, Musée Picasso, Walker Art Center, Museu Picasso Barcelona. Featuring Henry Moore, Anthony Caro, David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rosenblum, Clement Greenberg, Roland Penrose and others.

A Message to the Stars(en)

For more than 50 years, we’ve been unsuccessfully searching for any evidence of intelligent extraterrestrial life. But, the discovery of thousands of exoplanets has meant the hope of finding them is higher than ever. If any messages could eventually be decoded and answered in any far, far away star, it could radically transform our consciousness as species and our place in the universe. A message from the stars changes life on Earth… forever.

I Was Possessed by God(en)

On Valentine's Day, 1993, Caveh Zahedi decided to ingest 5 grams (a very large dose) of hallucinogenic mushrooms. For the first time in his mushroom-taking history, he had an experience of "divine possession," in which he felt that a divine being took possession of his body and spoke through him, in a voice that was not his, and with knowledge that he himself did not possess. He later tried several times to repeat the experience. I WAS POSSESSED BY GOD is the documentary record of one such attempt.

Despropósito(pt)

To the sound of Politicar (Tom Zé) we follow human beings altered by their environment, becoming something new. Through this aesthetic, the short seeks to explore man's stance in relation to his environment and the idiosyncrasies, hypocrisies and positions that come with this interaction.

Witnesses of Jehovah(en)

This documentary scrutinizes the Jehovah's Witnesses, and argues that the Watch Tower Society holds tyrannical control over the lives of its members.

Atatürk - Father of the Turks(en)

In the documentary, the life of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the last period of the Ottoman Empire, the War of Independence and the developments in the first years of the Republic of Turkey are told in parallel. The documentary prepared by Michael Adams consists of recordings made by the BBC in 1970 in Çanakkale, Samsun, Amasya, Sivas and Ankara, as well as historical footage.

Blackadder: The Lost Pilot(en)

Sir Tony Robinson takes a journey back in time to find out where Blackadder really began, and to uncover the story of the previously-unseen pilot episode.

O Voo(pt)

I, Kaća, Got Diabetes, So What Now?(sr)

An intimate confession of a girl who was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 23, created as an assignment for a Documentary Film course. In the form of a conversation with herself and her mother, she examines the impact of the disease on her life. The film thematically explores the mental space occupied by the illness and the way she copes with the new circumstances.

Zoofobia(es)

The tragic death of a polar bear triggers the end of the Buenos Aires Zoo. A superhero lover lawyer asks a court to declare the orangutan Sandra a Non-Human Person and revolutionizes the planet. A very Argentine story, full of passions, embarrassing missteps and memorable characters.

Fall 2(en)

Bas Jan Ader rides his bike into a canal in Amsterdam.

I'm Too Sad to Tell You(en)

This short film is part of a mixed media artwork of the same name, which also included postcards of Ader crying, sent to friends of his, with the title of the work as a caption. The film was initially ten minutes long, and included Ader rubbing his eyes to produce the tears, but was cut down to three and a half minutes. This shorter version captures Ader at his most anguished. His face is framed closely. There is no introduction or conclusion, no reason given and no relief from the anguish that is presented.

To Open Eyes(en)

The genesis of To Open Eyes: A Film on Josef Albers developed from Arnold Bittleman's appreciation for Albers while Bittleman was a student at Yale University in the 1960s. Wanting to preserve Albers’s teaching method—learning by doing—Bittleman set out with filmmaker and editor Carl Howard to make a visual record of Albers teaching students how to see and use color as a visual grammar. The film includes archival footage of Josef Albers at home in conversation with Bittleman, as well as footage from Black Mountain College and Yale University.

Le Luron en campagne(fr)

The Third Way(en)

Documentary film about Catholic Church teachings about homosexuality. Describes the "third way", the lifestyle lead by orthodox gay Catholics practicing celibacy out of personal choice, an often overlooked demographic in the debates about homosexuality in the Church.

Samurai Beyond Their Dreams: Becoming the Best in the World(ja)

In December 2021, Hideki Kuriyama began devoting his days to one singular goal: hoisting the championship trophy at the 2023 World Baseball Classic. How did he mold his players into one of the best and strongest Samurai Japan teams in history? A close-up documentary that looks back on Samurai Japan's path to becoming world champions, along with valuable behind-the-scenes footage captured by the team's dedicated crew.

Curt Schilling's Imperfect Game(en)

Even when he was throwing strikes for the Red Sox, Curt Schilling was not like other baseball players. He would spend late nights buried in the computer screen, dreaming of building the greatest multiplayer game empire to rival World of Warcraft. When he retired, he took some of his own money and lots of others, including 75 million from the state of Rhode Island, to try and realize his dream. Instead, his company, 38 Studios, ran through millions with little to show for it, ultimately collapsing into a mountain of debt. Through animation and interviews, the film tells us what happens when the aura of a legend overwhelms good sense. Game over.