Great Poets: In Their Own Words(2014)

Merhaba Güzel Vatanım(tr)

Biopic of the Turkish poet Nâzim Hikmet and Ahmet Ümit, who followed in his footsteps. Based on the real-life stories of the two writers, the film explores the impact of Nâzım Hikmet's journey to Moscow on Ahmet Ümit's turbulent life and his move to Moscow in the 1980s. The film, which also features important segments of Turkish history, highlights the most dramatic aspects of the writers' challenging journeys while emphasizing the redemptive power of art and literature. Embracing the slogan "Life is short, art is long," the film explores how two young people were transformed into writers by the influence of their era.

The Degenerates(it)

A series of bawdy and satirical episodes written during the reign of the emperor Nero and set in imperial Rome. Like the more famous version made by Federico Fellini, an adaptation of Petronius' Satyricon.

Niepewność. Zakochany Mickiewicz(pl)

The 22-year-old young man promises to be a great poet, but he also has a warm heart. He spends his summer time at a friend's mansion. The beautiful Maryla appears there. Young Adam's heart beats harder and harder, but his closest friend Thomas Zan is there, who also looks at Maryla. There is a confrontation between the two men, from which Adam emerges victorious. Tomasz leaves, leaving the field to his friend to find his life, happiness in Maryla....

A Fanatic Heart: Geldof On Yeats(en)

A biography of the poet W. B. Yeats and his contribution to the Irish independence movement as a Protestant nationalist.

A Season in Hell(it)

The tumultuous life of Arthur Rimbaud, the cursed poet, who completed his masterwork at the age of twenty, became an arms dealer and died at thirty-seven; and his passionate relationship with Paul Verlaine, full of wanderings, storms and falling out.

Fernanda Pivano: A Farewell to Beat(it)

Ashes(en)

Conversations with four people — an artist, a woman struggling with her identity as a high achiever, an actor, and a priest — exploring their inner worlds, their self-image and how they feel they fit into society.

Leopardi(it)

In 19th-century Italy, Giacomo Leopardi channels his debilitating illness and isolation into poetry.

The Garden That Doesn't Exist(fr)

Once upon a time there was a garden, a refuge, a safe haven - 'The Garden of the Finzi Continis'. It came to life in Giorgio Bassani's 1962 semi-autobiographical novel recounting an unfulfilled love story between two young Jews in Ferrara, while fascism was raging in Italy in the late 1930's. In 1972, Vittorio De Sica's film adaptation of the book won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Since then, the fictional space of the garden became so tangible that people from all over the world come to Ferrara to look for it. Fifty years after winning the Oscar, reality and fiction come together once more, as we walk through an imaginary garden and bring to life the book, its author, its main protagonists, history, love, friendships and betrayals.

Prometey(uk)

The life was cruel with Ivas. The landlord sent him at war, and his girlfriend – in the house of ill fame. In the troops an ordinary peasant gets acquainted with an ideological revolutionary and becomes inspired with the feeling of inequity to the existing social structure. And when the time comes to return to the native village, he will make the sir pays by his blood for all wrong-doings against the peasants. A film based on works and biography of the Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko (1814 - 1861).

Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love(en)

Tara and Maya are two inseparable friends in India. Their tastes, habits, and hobbies are the same. Years later, the two have matured, but have maintained their friendship. Tara gets married to the local prince, Raj Singh, who soon succeeds the throne as the sole heir. After the marriage, Raj gets bored of Tara and starts seeking another female to satisfy his sexual needs. He notices Maya and is instantly attracted to her. He has her included as one of his courtesans, and is intimate with her. Watch what happens when Tara finds out and the extent she will go to keep her marriage intact.

Genius(en)

New York in the 1920s. Max Perkins, a literary editor is the first to sign such subsequent literary greats as Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. When a sprawling, chaotic 1,000-page manuscript by an unknown writer falls into his hands, Perkins is convinced he has discovered a literary genius.

A Farra do Circo(pt)

This documentary highlights the evolution of Brazil's Circo Voador venue from homespun artists' performance space to national cultural institution.

The Color of Pomegranates(hy)

The life of the revered 18th-century Armenian poet and musician Sayat-Nova. Portraying events in the life of the artist from childhood up to his death, the movie addresses in particular his relationships with women, including his muse. The production tells Sayat-Nova's dramatic story by using both his poems and largely still camerawork, creating a work hailed as revolutionary by Mikhail Vartanov.

Set Fire to the Stars(en)

An aspiring poet in 1950s New York has his ordered world shaken when he embarks on a week-long retreat to save his hell raising hero, Dylan Thomas.

I Am Alfred Hitchcock(en)

Interviews and archival footage weave together to tell the story of the Master of Suspense, one of the most influential and studied filmmakers in the history of cinema.

J.T. LeRoy(en)

A young woman named Savannah Knoop spends six years pretending to be a transgender writer named JT Leroy, the made-up literary persona of her sister-in-law.

Cyrano de Bergerac(fr)

Famed swordsman and poet Cyrano de Bergerac is in love with his cousin Roxane. He has never expressed his love for her as he his large nose undermines his self-confidence. Then he finds a way to express his love to her, indirectly.

The Doors(en)

The story of the famous and influential 1960s rock band and its lead singer and composer, Jim Morrison.

Frost/Nixon(en)

For three years after being forced from office, Nixon remained silent. But in summer 1977, the steely, cunning former commander-in-chief agreed to sit for one all-inclusive interview to confront the questions of his time in office and the Watergate scandal that ended his presidency. Nixon surprised everyone in selecting Frost as his televised confessor, intending to easily outfox the breezy British showman and secure a place in the hearts and minds of Americans. Likewise, Frost's team harboured doubts about their boss's ability to hold his own. But as the cameras rolled, a charged battle of wits resulted.