Lettera22(2009)

Máquinas de palabras(es)

Il fiume ha sempre ragione(it)

Alberto Casiraghy and Josef Weiss are true bibliophile artists. One in Osnago, the other in Mendrisio, they have been dedicating themselves for years to valuable editorial and typographical activities, still printing with mobile characters, preserving the memory of a perfect ingenuity made of manual skills and technique, but also of inventiveness and poetry. Silvio Soldini gives us a realistic and poetical portrait of these two artists-artisans, who chose one of the oldest professions in a modern world, finding great success and approval.

Helvetica(en)

Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will celebrate its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. The film is an exploration of urban spaces in major cities and the type that inhabits them, and a fluid discussion with renowned designers about their work, the creative process, and the choices and aesthetics behind their use of type.

Everything Must Change: Piet Zwart(nl)

A fascinating documentary about Piet Zwart (1885–1977), an idiosyncratic and stubborn designer, who lived for innovation and prepared the way for the international success that is now known as Dutch Design. Piet Zwart worked as an interior and industrial designer, commercial typographer, photographer, critic and lecturer, playing a key role in defining the design climate in the Netherlands in the Twentieth Century. He is especially known for designing the famous ‘Piet Zwart’ kitchen for the Dutch company Bruynzeel: a kitchen that could be easily produced and consisted of standardized elements. His versatility and influence on present-day designers led the Association of Dutch Designers to award him the title of “Designer of the Century” in 2000.

Hanzi(zh)

Hanzi is a documentary exploring international design, visual culture, and identity through the lens of modern Chinese typography. The film covers a variety of topics such as how languages shape identity, and what role handwriting plays in the digital age.

Étienne Robial, un spécimen de caractère(s)(fr)

Documentary on the French graphic and visual artist and designer, editor, artistic director, and teacher who is known for his widely-used fonts.

The Gutenberg Enigma(fr)

A portrait of the inventor of the letterpress, who was a key figure in the history of mankind, but also an enthusiastic inventor, a daring businessman, a tenacious troublemaker: the life of Johannes Gutenberg (circa 1400-68).

Pressing On: The Letterpress Film(en)

Why has letterpress printing survived? Irreplaceable knowledge of the historic craft is in danger of being lost as its caretakers age. Fascinating personalities intermix with wood, metal, and type as young printers save a traditional process in Pressing On, a 4K feature-length documentary exploring the remarkable community keeping letterpress alive.

Hollywood at Last!(en)

Dedicated Dutch graphic designer Piet Schreuders visits Los Angeles to investigate all kinds of typeface as used in title-credits for movies and TV-series, letters on billboards, shop-windows or street-signs, the banner-headlines of The Los Angeles Times, and climbs finally to the giant letters of the HOLLYWOOD-sign. In the meantime he discovers, to his great satisfaction, the location and stairs where Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy shot their movie 'The Musicbox', by combining street-signs, partially shown on still-pictures of this movie: "…MONTE" and "…ENDOME", which turn out to be found on the street corner of Del Monte and Vendome in Culver City. This documentary is bluntly intercut with commercials, a phenomenon not yet known in the Netherlands in 1979. (Theo Uittenbogaard)

The History of Typography(en)

A short, educational animation about the history of fonts and typography. In a paper cutout stop-motion style, it begins with Gutenberg's creation of the first typeface, travels through the innovations of Jenson, Caslon, and Bodoni, to the modern creation of Futura and the democratization of fonts in the digital age. A charming, engaging film about a technology that is all around us, but few people know much about.

Ake & Ch(en)

Words that end in -ake and start with ch-. A typographic animation.

Letters O, P, and R(en)

Words that start with the letter O, P, and R. A typographic animation.

Dounreay: The Atomic Dream(en)

Documentary telling the story of the rise and fall of a daring experiment into atomic energy as the history of the Dounreay fast reactor is charted by the pioneers involved.

Nosferatu and the Birth of Vampires in Cinema(fr)

A documentary look at F.W. Murnau's iconic — and unauthorized – 1922 vampire film, and its influence on bloodsuckers in film.

Steve Roach: Life in the Soundcurrent(en)

Struggling as a "high-sensitive" from childhood, musician Steve Roach found peace in the desert and takes the qualities of the desert and turns it into a creative compass for his life and music.

The Grotto of Death(en)

At its peak in the 1970s, Mexico was the world's largest per capita producer of comics. Since then, the comics industry in Mexico has severely declined. This is an overview of the life and work of Julio Camarena Perez, who, at his career peak, was the highest paid "micro comics" artist published by Editorial Continente in Mexico.

Nude(lv)

Some people collect family albums. Sarmīte Sīle, an accomplished arts scholar, takes a nude photo of herself every ten years. Behind this unique series of nude photos that span a lifetime, is her story.

Ruch and Norie(lv)

A human interest story about two people from very different backgrounds striking up a suprising, emotional and spiritual relationship. Japanese student Norie Tsuruta travels to Latvia to study Suiti community. There she meets one of the oldest Suiti women nicknamed Ruch, and develops a very personal bond with her. It doesn't break even when she's back in Japan. Norie wishes she had two bodies to be in both places at the same time. An invisible and inexplicable link connects her with Ruch. Norie thinks she has found her deceased grandma in Ruch while Ruch worries about Norie being "far out there" and trembles at every earthquake in Japan. Ruch and Norie prove us all there are no borders to a genuine relationship filled with humour and love.

Rain, Drizzle, and Fog(en)

St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, is North America's most easterly landfall. For half a millennium, its perfect harbour has provided a safe refuge in the middle of the treacherous North Atlantic. For 300 years of its history it was an actual crime to try and settle--Newfoundland was the private preserve of British fishing merchants. But people stayed, despite the colonial masters, despite the lack of law and order, despite hellish weather and raging seas. And the city grew--lurching through centuries of crisis, disaster, privation. For filmmaker Rosemary House, "This is still a hard rock land, a dirty old town at the back of beyond. And yet the St. John's townie is so proud, you'd swear we lived in Paris." In this documentary, she explores her city with the help of six locals, Mary Walsh, Andy Jones, Anita Best, Brian Hennessey, Ed Riche, Des Walsh, writers and performers all. (Source: National Film Board)

At Their Fingertips(ru)

Nadia Kuznetsova is 28 years old, she lives in Veliky Novgorod, graduated from school and University here, and dreams of going to the sea - and getting her fingers back. Nadia has a rare genetic disease-epidermolysis bullosa, which is called "butterfly syndrome". The patient's skin is injured by any touch. The disease is incurable: as Nadia herself says, "I don't fight it – I live with it." She is fighting for something else - to lead the life of an ordinary person.