Emmanuelle in Ontario(2025)

Trintignant by Trintignant(fr)

A portrait of a man of rare elegance and enigmatic charm, versatile and successful: Jean-Louis Trintignant, one of the most critically acclaimed French actors of the last sixty years, known for his numerous roles on stage and screen.

This Is Not a Routine Expedition: Making of 'Land of the Lost'(en)

A three part documentary detailing the making of the Will Ferrell Land of the Lost remake.

Cinecittà Babilonia: Sex, Drugs and Black Shirts(it)

The story of Italian cinema under Fascism, a sophisticated film industry built around the founding of the Cinecittà studios and the successful birth of a domestic star system, populated by very peculiar artists among whom stood out several beautiful, magnetic, special actresses; a dark story of war, drugs, sex, censorship and tragedy.

Forbidden Films(de)

Between 1933 and 1945 roughly 1200 films were made in Germany, of which 300 were banned by the Allied forces. Today, around 40 films, called "Vorbehaltsfilme", are locked away from the public with an uncertain future. Should they be re-released, destroyed, or continue to be neglected? Verbotene Filme takes a closer look at some of these forbidden films.

A Forbidden Orange(es)

Spain, 1970s. A Clockwork Orange, a film considered by critics and audiences as one of the best works in the history of cinema, directed by Stanley Kubrick and released in 1971, was banned by the strict Franco government. However, the film was finally premiered, without going through censorship, during the 20th edition of the Seminci, the Valladolid Film Festival, on April 24, 1975. How was this possible?

Cinema Againts Power(bg)

There was an undeclared war for nearly half a century in Bulgaria between the then government and the majority of democratic-minded filmmakers during the Communist regime. Paradoxically, most of the banned or censored out movies were made by members of the Communist Party, believers in their party's ideas and justice. The Communist Party aesthetics against the freedom to tell truth.

Under Pressure: How Free Are Europe's Media?(de)

How free and independent is the press in Europe? In recent years, multiple crises and the rise of authoritarianism have put pressure on journalists. We take a look at these countries, where aggression towards the media seems to be undermining the very idea of democracy.

Censored: Kuhle Wampe(de)

A detailed reconstruction of the censorship case against the landmark Weimar-era communist film, Kuhle Wampe, or Who Owns the World? (1932). Directed by Slatan Dudow, the crew and cast included left-wing luminaries, such as playwright Bertolt Brecht, composer Hanns Eisler and balladeer Ernst Busch. The film was the subject of vehement disputes and was banned twice for revolutionary and communist tendencies that were perceived to threaten the state. About 230 meters of the original film fell victim to the censor’s shears. This historic censorship case was argued over the course of three sessions. Censored: Kuhle Wampe re-enacts the censorship hearings, based on original minutes and documents, as well as personal records of the case. In addition to footage from the original film, this docudrama includes original clips of Berlin in the 1920s and '30s and short testimonies, filmed in the 1970s, with some of the actors involved in the original Kuhle Wampe film production.

Exorcismo: The Transgressive Legacy of Clasificada “S”(en)

Spain, 1975. Franco's death opens the door to the possibility of uncensored cinema. After two years of relaxed censorship, it is abolished in 1977, and the “S” rating is created to protect viewers from films that may “offend their sensibilities.”

Theaters of War(en)

If you’ve seen Top Gun or Transformers, you may have wondered: Does all of that military machinery on screen come with strings attached? Does the military actually get a crack at the script? With the release of a vast new trove of internal government documents, the answers have come into sharp focus: the US military has exercised editorial control over thousands of films and television programs. As these activities gain new public scrutiny, new questions arise: How have they managed to fly under the radar for so long? And where do we go from here?

An Illustrated Story(en)

This short documentary explores how the Ilustrada section of the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper had to fight back against censorship from the military dictatorship in Brazil after Lourenço Diaféria, one of its columnists, published an article criticising the patron of the Brazilian army, Duque de Caxias.

Louis Malle, le rebelle(fr)

Chuck Norris vs Communism(ro)

In late eighties, in Ceausescu's Romania, a black market VHS bootlegger and a courageous female translator brought the magic of Western films to the Romanian people and sowed the seeds of a revolution.

Impressões do Brasil(pt)

"Impressões" rescues the history of the Brazilian press since 1808, when the "Correio Brasiliense" clandestinely reached Rio de Janeiro after being edited in London by Hipólito José da Costa, and spans until 1986. It's the first documentary to depict the history of the Brazilian journalistic press.

Diagram for Delinquents(en)

In 1950, America was in a state of panic. Juvenile delinquency was destroying the very fabric of society. Ninety percent of all children were reading comic books. In 1954, psychiatrist Dr. Fredric Wertham wrote a scathing indictment of comics called Seduction of the Innocent. Its central premise: Comic books were the leading contributing factor to juvenile delinquency. That same year, Dr. Wertham testified at special hearings on comic books at the Senate Subcommittee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency in the United States. Comics were on trial. Diagram for Delinquents captures the zeitgeist of late 1940s and early 1950s America and investigates how the funny books found themselves on the fire. Using expert and comic book insider interviews, never seen before historical photographs and films, and animation, DIAGRAM goes further than any previous comic book documentary to explore and understand the controversial figure at the center of this American tale: Fredric Wertham.

Batman Unmasked: The Psychology of The Dark Knight(en)

Delve into the world of Batman and the vigilante justice that he brought to the city of Gotham. Batman is a man who, after experiencing great tragedy, devotes his life to an ideal--but what happens when one man takes on the evil underworld alone? Examine why Batman is who he is--and explore how a boy scarred by tragedy becomes a symbol of hope to everyone else.

Das Haus der guten Geister(de)

A documentary about the Staatsoper Stuttgart (Stuttgart State Opera) in Germany.

The Cleaners(de)

A deep dive into the hidden industry of digital cleaning, which rids the Internet of unwanted violence, porn and political content.

In the Opinion of the Censor...(en)

A feature-length documentary that tells the story of the Censorship of Films Act 1923 and how one canny term in that statute has allowed consecutive holders of the role of Film Censor to reflect the prevailing values of Irish society over the last 100 years.

Fort Du Conquet Destruction of the Vautier Archives(fr)

Resistance fighter under the occupation, committed to the FLN during the Algerian war, member of the Medvedkine group after May 1968 and defender of Breton autonomy, René Vautier was a committed filmmaker, author of an anti-colonialist work in which he denounces the repression, torture and racism. In 1983, René Vautier discovered, by the light of a flashlight, his films cut up and scattered at Fort du Conquet. Police also came to check the damage.