We Called Him the Ugly King(1987)

Yellow Door: '90s Lo-fi Film Club(ko)

This intimate documentary explores a bygone era of cinematic passion and the emergence of young film enthusiasts in South Korea, including Bong Joon Ho.

Amir Naderi by Amir Naderi(fa)

Iranian film director Amir Naderi talks to Zar Amir Ebrahimi about his career in this documentary directed and produced by Ebrahimi and broadcast by BBC World Service and BBC Persian. Amir Naderi is one of the most influential figures of Iranian modern cinema. He was born in 1945 in the Persian Gulf port of Abadan. Orphaned at an early age and living the life of a street urchin, Naderi had to survive by selling ice, working as a shoeshine boy and recycling empty beer bottles. He developed his knowledge of cinema by watching films in the theaters where he worked at a very young age. He began his career by taking pictures for some notable Iranian features. In the 1970’s, he started directing his own films, and made some of the most important movies of the New Iranian Cinema. After moving to New York in the early 90’s, Amir Naderi continued to make films. They have premiered at the Venice, Cannes, Tribeca, and Sundance Film Festivals.

Fellini of the Spirits(it)

2020 marks 100 years since the birth of Federico Fellini, the most prominent Italian director and one of the symbols of the insuperable cinematic heyday of mid-20th century. Fellini had always been a mysterious director, not only in his cryptic symbolism but also in his idiosyncratic, excessive mixture of psychoanalysis, Catholicism and faith in the mysterious. In this documentary, his relationship with the paranormal, luck and fate, alongside the coexistence of organized discourse and transcendence to the imaginary, is examined via friends, collaborators and distinguished fans (Friedkin, Gilliam, Chazelle). A great testimony to why rationalists and ideologists have a hard time with his work, ‘Fellini and the Spirits’ is an appropriate yet unexpected tribute.

Jacques Rozier: From One Wave to Another(fr)

Jacques Rozier or the fierce, independent itinerary of a filmmaker in perpetual disarray, admired by his peers and pampered by the critics.

Jacques Demy: The Pink and the Black(fr)

Jacques Demy’s ability to enchant audiences was rooted in his personal struggles and doubts as a showman, establishing him as one of French cinema’s greatest artists.

Köy(de)

KÖY (Turkish for village) is about the longing for home, for belonging and the freedom of the self. Three women from three generations are united by their Kurdish roots.

Kubrick by Kubrick(fr)

American filmmaker Stanley Kubrick (1928–1999), one of the greatest in history, but also one of the most reserved, gave few interviews throughout his long career, and none of them were filmed. A first-person journey through his life and work, based on a recorded conversation with French film critic Michel Climent.

Clint Eastwood: Hollywood Outlaw(en)

Film clips and interviews with biographers and colleagues chart the prolific, six-decade career of maverick actor-director Clint Eastwood.

The Legend of the Ugly King(de)

Director Hüseyin Tabak explores the legacy of Yilmaz Güney — political dissident, convicted murderer, and visionary Kurdish filmmaker — who directed the 1982 Palme d'Or–winning Yol from inside prison and died in exile just two years later.

Quicksand(en)

"A week before he passed away, my grandfather shared with me his former aspirations of becoming a filmmaker. After many trials, a narrow escape from the Nazis and immigration to the United States, the dream slowly but surely came true. surely passed out. After his passing, I discovered a treasure trove of dust-covered 8mm film archives that had apparently not been seen by anyone for at least a generation. Mesmerized, what unfolded before me was something something most people, myself included, had never seen before: the development and complete decline of the human body and mind. Motivated by my grandfather's unrealized cinematic dreams, I decided to reconstruct a film that he had already made involuntarily." Lance Oppenheim

Sous le soleil de Pialat(fr)

In just ten films, Maurice Pialat painfully rose to the top of the cinema, draining into his legend a mad demand for truth as much as memorable fury to achieve it. With "L'Enfance nue", his first feature film at the age of 43, the filmmaker immediately made his mark, this "art of making things authentic", according to Chabrol. But throughout an unclassifiable filmography in the form of an autobiography, from a break-up to his fatherhood in wonder, through the agony of his mother, the filmmaker does not get rid of the feeling of being misunderstood, despite international recognition.

Martin Ťapák(sk)

My Best Fiend(de)

A film that describes the love-hate relationship between Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski, the deep trust between the director and the actor, and their independently and simultaneously hatched plans to murder one another.

Altman(en)

Robert Altman's life and career contained multitudes. This father of American independent cinema left an indelible mark, not merely on the evolution of his art form, but also on the western zeitgeist. With its use of rare interviews, representative film clips, archival images, and musings from his family and most recognizable collaborators, Altman is a dynamic and heartfelt mediation on an artist whose expression, passion and appetite knew few bounds.

Teruo Ishii Fan Club(ja)

A documentary on Teruo Ishii, the Japanese "King of Cult".

Clerk(en)

A look at Kevin Smith's life and career from his childhood in New Jersey, to the day they cemented his footprints at the world famous TCL Chinese Theater, with a flock of famous folks testifying on Silent Bob's behalf!

Compañero Fernando(es)

This documentary is a portrait made in Mexico by a group of Argentine exiles, directed by the painter Nicolás Amoroso.

Bilge and Her Apprentice: Diary of an Assistant Director(tr)

The story of a young woman entering the world of filmmaking as assistant director to Bilge Olgaç and the two years they worked together. Through her diary, Belmin Söylemez explores what she learned from Bilge Olgaç, the most productive woman director in the history of Turkish Cinema. The film also gives us clues on filmmaking in Turkey in the late 80’s. From tough shooting conditions to 35 mm editing, we discover Olgaç’s world through her assistant’s eyes. ‘Bilge and Her Apprentice’ pays tribute to the life and work of Bilge Olgaç, who passed away in 1994.

Entretien en six temps avec Gilles Groulx(fr)

This feature-length documentary brings together six of the rare television interviews given by Gilles Groulx between 1966 and 1983. Through these interviews, the filmmaker's ethical and aesthetic concerns are revealed. A striking coherence emerges in his thinking regarding his conception of cinema and the role the filmmaker should play in his culture and society.

Safe Space(tr)

This documentary discusses how LGBTIQA+ people experience the streets and nightlife of Istanbul in terms of a safe space through the unique, yet common experiences of queers from different backgrounds, and focuses especially on nightlife and the issue of safe space there, which is a very critical area for queers to exist as they are.