Journey Along the Silk Road(2005)

Silk Road Ghosts(en)

Silk Road Ghosts takes the viewer off the beaten path as I ply a circuit, following in the footsteps of the ancient conquerors, passing through some of the more remarkable parts of Central Asia's Silk Road. From Almaty in Kazakhstan, I set out towards a daunting rendezvous with the Darvasa Gas Crater in Turkmenistan. Along the way I dot many of the road's pivotal locations, bearing witness to its myriad ghosts which served to glorify the annals of our planet's history.

The Silk Road(en)

The NHK Tokushu and China's CCTV documentary series The Silk Road began on April 7, 1980. The program started with the memorable scene of a camel caravan crossing the desert against the setting sun, with Kitaro's music and a sense of timelessness. It was the start of an epic televisual poem. The first journey described in the series began in Chang'an (now Xi'an), at the eastern end of the ancient route. On 450,000 feet of film, the NHK crew recorded the path westward to the Pamir Heights at the Pakistan border and this material was edited to make 12 monthly broadcasts. In response to viewers' requests that the series be extended to cover the Silk Road all the way to Rome, sequels were made over the next 10 years. Seventeen years after the program was conceived, the project was completed.

Mysterious China: Marco Polo's Silk Road(en)

Part two of the Mysterious China series chronicles Marco Polo's adventures and discoveries along the Silk Road as he heads toward the Mongol Empire in China. This documentary reveals the pivotal trade route as experienced and written about by the 13th-century explorer. Follow the tracks of the Venetian adventurer -- one of the first Westerners to journey into China -- and uncover the mysteries of the Silk Road.

The Yellow Cruise(fr)

The Yellow Cruise is a French documentary film initially directed by André Sauvage and taken over by Léon Poirier following the intervention of André Citroën. The film was presented in Paris in 1934. André Sauvage was hired by the Pathé-Natan company to follow the yellow cruise through Asia. In 1931 and 1932, forty-two men, including Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, scholars and doctors traveled thirty thousand kilometers on the Silk Road through the Middle and Far East, in caterpillar propellants. Together, despite the bad weather, the difficulties of the terrain, the mechanical failures and the political conflicts, they reached Beijing on February 12, 1932. André Citroën who asked to see the film, dissatisfied with the result, bought it from Bernard Natan and entrusted the editing by Léon Poirier, who had filmed La Croisière Noire in Africa in 1926. This film will mark the break in the film career of André Sauvage.

Secrets of the Silk Road(en)

The Silk Road, one of history's most famed trade routes, linked China to Europe, the Middle East and India and was traveled by such legends as Alexander the Great, Marco Polo and Genghis Khan's Mongol warriors. Follow in the footsteps of the iconic figures and see how the road's ancient past is wrapped up in the fast-changing world of modern China, particularly the country's remote western region.

Internet Urban Legend(ja)

A collection of 11 various urban legends from the internet.

Silk Road(en)

Philosophical twenty-something Ross Ulbricht creates Silk Road, a dark net website that sells drugs, while DEA agent Rick Bowden goes undercover to bring him down.

Jeanne Moreau: Free Spirit(fr)

An account of the life of actress Jeanne Moreau (1928-2017), a true icon of the New Wave and one of the most idolized French movie stars.

Valiant(en)

The powerful story of the Vegas Golden Knights in their very first year of existence, when they healed and unified their home city after the worst mass shooting in U.S. history and took an unprecedented run for the Stanley Cup.

Konstantin Koca Popovic(sr)

Who is Koca Popovic? Artist, poet, surrealist, philosopher, warrior, general, cynic, statesman, spoiled son of a rich man, genius war leader or a bon vivant? A Serb who learned French language before his own, a convinced communist who made fun of the communist dogma, sportsman, vice-president of Yugoslavia who drove to work in his Spacek? Answers to these questions could be: all of this and none of it really. In fact, who is Koca Popovic remains a mystery even today. A mystery that this film will at least try to unravel.

Backyard Wilderness(en)

The wonders of nature are viewed from the backyards of communities across the nation.

Two, Three Times Branco(fr)

Akerman, Monteiro, Oliveira, Ruiz, Schroeter and Wenders are among the directors he produced: Deux, trois fois Branco is a portrait of Portuguese producer Paulo Branco, between life and legend.

Reconstruction: America After the Civil War(en)

The series explores the transformative years following the American Civil War, when the nation struggled to rebuild itself in the face of profound loss, massive destruction, and revolutionary social change. The twelve years that composed the post-war Reconstruction era (1865-77) witnessed a seismic shift in the meaning and makeup of our democracy, with millions of former slaves and free black people seeking out their rightful place as equal citizens under the law. Though tragically short-lived, this bold democratic experiment was, in the words of W. E. B. Du Bois, a ‘brief moment in the sun’ for African Americans, when they could advance, and achieve, education, exercise their right to vote, and run for and win public office.

Santa Brigida(it)

Approximately ten minutes of 35mm footage survives at the Svenska Filmminstitutet from a documentary (probably not completed or even edited) shot in the convent of the Swedish sisters of Saint Brigid, Rome, at the request of the Swedish Red Cross, for victims of the Polesine flood of November 1951.

Confessions From the Grassy Knoll: The Shocking Truth(en)

An investigation into the story of a man who confessed to firing the fatal shot that killed JFK from the Grassy Knoll in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. His story becomes one more compelling piece of evidence for what most Americans have long suspected: that their government covered up critical facts about the CIA's collaboration with Organized Crime to assassinate the President of the United States.

Michel Serrault, un clown en liberté(fr)

Kill Hitler! The Luck of the Devil(fr)

When Hitler committed suicide in his bunker in Berlin, he managed to do what many others had tried to do for 20 years. This film explores how the fate of Europe and countless lives may have been very different if it hadn't been for the luck of the devil.

Roxette(en)

Documentary profiling young Roxy Music fans. They talk about the band and the music, are seen out and about in Manchester, they prepare for a concert at the Opera House. Includes footage of a tribute band, who, due to a lack of musical instruments, use household appliances to make music.

Un théâtre d'appartement(fr)

Open Outcry(en)

A fascinating look at the high-speed, high-power trading floor of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. Director Jon Else explores this hectic, noisy, seemingly chaotic workplace with his signature style -- eschewing narration in favor of long, real-time shots that bring the viewer right into the heart-stopping action of the trading floor. He reveals the traders' sudden wealth, sudden disaster, and grace under pressure as they exchange billions of dollars in futures and options contracts - for cattle, pork bellies, Eurodollars and the Nasdaq-100 futures. Also revealed is the endangerment of the open outcry trading system as the digital revolution replaces it at many of the world's financial exchanges.