Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream

Emanuelle in America(it)

Untameable photo reporter Emanuelle goes around the world to document the sex practices of the rich and powerful, getting dangerously close to the most disturbing and hidden schemes.

Pré-Práxis(pt)

a documentary and a fiction about reflecting on "pre-cinema".

3 Still Standing(en)

Three stand-up comedians seek fame and fortune in the hottest comedy scene in the world: San Francisco in the 1980s.

Our Cinema(ru)

Alexeï Guerman, cinéaste bien interdit(fr)

This film was broadcast on La Sept in October 1990 as a part of Hélène Mochiri's Cinéma de poche program devoted to Soviet cinema. The documentary was produced in-house at La Sept and based on an exclusive interview with Alexei Guerman in May of that year. It has not been seen since.

Color Me Blood Red(en)

A crackpot painter kills people to use their blood as his new crimson red color for his art.

Mark of the Devil Part II(de)

A tribunal interrogates, tortures and murders "witches" and "heretics" during the Inquisition.

Inland Empire(en)

When actress Nikki Grace gets the lead role in a cursed film, her world becomes more and more surreal, blending realities and ideas of infidelity, reincarnation, and supernatural forces.

Manhole(ko)

A young girl is kidnapped by a serial killer. The serial killer uses manholes to kidnap and kill his victims. The young girl's older sister tries to save her before it's too late.

Impromptu(xx)

A journey to the origins of cinema, starting with its forgotten fathers: the pioneers who achieved moving images before 1895, the official year of the Lumière cinematograph. Through five studies by Frédéric Chopin, 'Impromptu' is also a tribute to the end of the 19th century, to its immortal muses, and to the fascination with movement itself.

The Blair Witch Project(en)

In October of 1994 three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland, while shooting a documentary. A year later their footage was found.

Ring(ja)

A mysterious video has been linked to a number of deaths, and when an inquisitive journalist finds the tape and views it herself, she sets in motion a chain of events that puts her own life in danger.

Vivement Truffaut(fr)

A tribute to the late, great French director Francois Truffaut, this documentary was undoubtedly named after his last movie, Vivement Dimanche!, released in 1983. Included in this overview of Truffaut's contribution to filmmaking are clips from 14 of his movies arranged according to the themes he favored. These include childhood, literature, the cinema itself, romance, marriage, and death.

Monsieur Truffaut Meets Mr. Hitchcock(en)

When Francois Truffaut approached Alfred Hitchcock in 1962 with the idea of having a long conversation with him about his work and publishing this in book form, he didn't imagine that more than four years would pass before Le Cinéma selon Hitchcock finally appeared in 1966. Not only in France but all over the world, Truffaut's Hitchcock interview developed over the years into a standard bible of film literature. In 1983, three years after Hitchcock's death, Truffaut decided to expand his by now legendary book to include a concluding chapter and have it published as the "Edition définitive". This film describes the genesis of the "Hitchbook" and throws light on the strange friendship between two completely different men. The centrepieces are the extracts from the original sound recordings of the interview with the voices of Alfred Hitchcock, Francois Truffaut, and Helen Scott – recordings which have never been heard in public before.

Scream 2(en)

Two years after the Woodsboro murders, Sidney Prescott acclimates to college life while someone donning the Ghostface costume begins a new string of killings.

Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory(fr)

Working men and women leave through the main gate of the Lumière factory in Lyon, France. Filmed on 22 March 1895, it is often referred to as the first real motion picture ever made, although Louis Le Prince's 1888 Roundhay Garden Scene pre-dated it by seven years. Three separate versions of this film exist, which differ from one another in numerous ways. The first version features a carriage drawn by one horse, while in the second version the carriage is drawn by two horses, and there is no carriage at all in the third version. The clothing style is also different between the three versions, demonstrating the different seasons in which each was filmed. This film was made in the 35 mm format with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and at a speed of 16 frames per second. At that rate, the 17 meters of film length provided a duration of 46 seconds, holding a total of 800 frames.

Rakka(en)

A story of broken humanity following the invasion of a technologically superior alien species. Bleak, harrowing, and unrelenting, the humans must find enough courage to go on fighting.

The Making of Anna and the Apocalypse(en)

A brand new feature-length documentary featuring new interviews with the cast and crew of Anna and the Apocalypse, produced exclusively by Second SIght Films for their 2-disc Blu-ray release of the movie.

Roar(en)

Roar follows a family who are attacked by various African animals at the secluded home of their keeper.

Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond(en)

Offbeat documentarian Chris Smith provides a behind-the-scenes look at how Jim Carrey adopted the persona of idiosyncratic comedian Andy Kaufman on the set of Man on the Moon.

Main Street(es)

A small town in Spain, October 1955. Isabel, a 35-year-old dreamer who feels like a failure because she is not married yet, becomes the new target of a group of soulless pranksters.

Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya?(hi)

Dr Samir is an absolute charmer when it comes to women, but he poses as a married man to keep them at bay. Love becomes a three-ring-circus for him after he ends up tangled in his web of lies with his girlfriend Sonia and pretend wife Naina.

Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara(hi)

Once known for his intellectual prowess, a retired professor (Anupam Kher) begins experiencing memory gaps and periods of forgetfulness. But while he tries to laugh it off, it soon becomes clear that the symptoms are a sign of a more serious illness, prompting his grown daughter (Urmila Matondkar) to move in as his caretaker. Meanwhile, as his mind regresses, he recalls a traumatic childhood memory involving the death of Mahatma Gandhi.

Maine Pyar Kiya(hi)

After Suman's father leaves her in the care of another family while he travels abroad, she falls in love with Prem. However, in order to for them to marry, Prem has to prove to Suman's father that he is not the same as his own dad.

Main Aurr Mrs Khanna(hi)

Three people, each having different aspirations from life, are caught in a tangle of emotions and don’t know the way out. There’s a husband and wife with love eroding from their life. And there’s a single, happy-go-lucky dude who falls in love with the wife.

Travelling Hawkers in Frankfurt am Main(de)

A documentary about unemployed people who bought fruit and vegetables at moderate prices at the wholesale market and sold these in the streets of Frankfurt. Since they had no permits they were constantly with their bulky carts on the run from the police. One part of the film was shot at the fairgrounds in front of the wholesale market. Newspaper and lottery ticket vendors, propagandists offering their ware for a few pfennigs, all convey the mood of a time when need made people inventive.

Main Theme(ja)

A kindergarten teacher meets a novice magician and together they travel to another city to find love.

Sweekar Kiya Maine(hi)

Gopika Sharma lives a middle-classed lifestyle along with her widowed mother in Bangalore. She expresses a desire to sing and is encouraged by her maternal uncle, Dubey, who takes her with him to Bombay along with her maid, Lajjo. Once there, they are molested and Dubey goes missing. They then attempt to find a decent place to live, and after many frustrations make an agreement with a single male, Kishankumar Shukla, who poses as Gopika's husband, and move into an apartment owned by Lala Dhaniram.

Striking The Palace(fr)

Eva, 20, joins Safietou, Djaoua, Violette and Simone, a team of chambermaids at one of Paris’s finest Palace Hotels. She discovers the poor working conditions of these invisible women, who work tirelessly to keep the high standards of these luxurious hotels, where one night can cost their annual salary. Many are not even employed by the hotels directly but by sub-contractors, and are therefore particularly vulnerable. While on strike to fight against subcontracting and to obtain better working conditions, they come up with a colorful idea : having their own “Fashion Week” in front of the hotel!

This Film Is Not Yet Rated(en)

Kirby Dick's provocative documentary investigates the secretive and inconsistent process by which the Motion Picture Association of America rates films, revealing the organization's underhanded efforts to control culture. Dick questions whether certain studios get preferential treatment and exposes the discrepancies in how the MPAA views sex and violence.

Main Zaroor Aaunga(hi)

A successful businessman, Yash Malhotra falls in love and marries a beautiful model named Lisa. Their marital bliss is disrupted by the entry of a fashion photographer named Peter who connects with Lisa and this betrayal leads to a series of dangerous consequences.

The Severed Heads(fr)

A short mime adaptation of a Thomas Mann story about a Parisian urchin who makes her living selling human heads.

Chain Kulii Ki Main Kulii(hi)

An orphan boy with dreams of finding a family and fame as a cricketer, finds a bat with magical powers and lands a spot in the Indian cricket team.

Où es-tu maintenant ?(fr)

Mathieu disappeared ten years ago. Every year, he calls on Mother's Day. But his mother cannot stand it anymore. Believing she sees her son in the street, she has a heart attack. Mathieu's sister, Caroline, decides to look for her brother.

How Arnold Won the West(en)

How Arnold went from Terminator to Governator.

Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story(en)

Chronicles the last great American showman, filmmaker William Castle, a master of ballyhoo who became a brand name in movie horror with his outrageous audience participation gimmicks.

Brent Weinbach: Appealing to the Mainstream(en)

Brent Weinbach is weird. In this show, Brent attempts to adjust his quirky personality so that he can fit in with the world around him, which would be valuable to his career as a comedian and entertainer. Through an absurd and abstract discourse, Brent explores the ways in which he can appeal to a broader, mainstream audience, so that ultimately, he can become successful in show business.

East of Main Street: Asians Aloud(en)

In celebration of Asian Heritage Month, HBO presents a collection of perspectives from a diverse group of Asian Americans.

Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu(hi)

Rahul and Riana meet each other for the first time, get drunk, and awake the next morning to find that they have gotten legally married to each other.

Maine-Ocean Express(fr)

"Maine-Ocean" is the name of a train that rides from Paris to Saint-Nazaire (near the ocean). In that train, Dejanira, a Brazilian, has a brush with the two ticket inspectors. Mimi, another traveler and also a lawyer, helps her. The four of them will meet together later and live a few shifted adventures with a strange-speaking sailor (Mimi's client).