Never a Backward Step

Primary(en)

Primary is a documentary film about the primary elections between John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey in 1960. Primary is the first documentary to use light equipment in order to follow their subjects in a more intimate filmmaking style. This unconventional way of filming created a new look for documentary films where the camera’s lens was right in the middle of what ever drama was occurring. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation in 1998.

Sylvia Kristel – Paris(en)

Sylvia Kristel – Paris is a portrait of Sylvia Kristel , best known for her role in the 1970’s erotic cult classic Emmanuelle, as well as a film about the impossibility of memory in relation to biography. Between November 2000 and June 2002 Manon de Boer recorded the stories and memories of Kristel. At each recording session she asked her to speak about a city where Kristel has lived: Paris, Los Angeles, Brussels or Amsterdam; over the two years she spoke on several occasions about the same city. At first glance the collection of stories appears to make up a sort of biography, but over time it shows the impossibility of biography: the impossibility of ‘plotting’ somebody’s life as a coherent narrative.

Sanctuary(en)

Donkeys inhabit and communicate with each other - and the filmmakers - in a Sanctuary.

Media Mafia: a Tale of Two Newspapers(ko)

The 100 years of history of the Chosun Ilbo and the Dong-A Ilbo show that wrong press can be a social weapon.

Stuart Hall: Representation & the Media(en)

Cultural theorist Stuart Hall offers an extended meditation on representation. Moving beyond the accuracy or inaccuracy of specific representations, Hall argues that the process of representation itself constitutes the very world it aims to represent, and explores how the shared language of a culture, its signs and images, provides a conceptual roadmap that gives meaning to the world rather than simply reflecting it. Hall's concern throughout is the centrality of culture to the shaping of our collective perceptions, and how the dynamics of media representation reproduce forms of symbolic power.

TYSON(en)

Mike Tyson escaped a life of poverty and petty crime to make a name for himself, becoming the youngest Heavyweight Champion of the World and a household name—but his rise was followed by a very public fall. In this remarkably candid portrait, the boxer addresses his controversial past, including the rape charge that sent him to prison and his struggles with substance abuse, while also detailing his ultimate recovery and comeback.

Show!(cs)

A surprisingly intimate portrait of how the dream of running one’s own business can take on monstrous contours. Managed by the father of one of the singers, over the course of five years the girl band 5Angels had reached the gates of pop fame. But it is a path paved not only with the songs of Michal David, but also with the dogged determination of a man who loses any notion of where his role as manager ends and his role as parent begins. An emotionally moved Karel Gott, five angelic girls, and one overly involved father, thanks to whom the behind-the-scenes pre-Christmas atmosphere melts away just as rapidly as the fat should disappear from the belly. “A singer can’t be a lard bucket!”

Hell on Wheels(de)

Year after year hundreds of thousands of fans line the route of the Tour de France, cheering on their heroes and willing them to victory, while millions of viewers worldwide tune in on their televisions. Academy Award-winning director Pepe Danquart, fascinated by the spectacle of the three week race, chose to focus on the courage, the pain and the fear of the riders of the Tour. Training his lens on German superstar sprinter Eric Zabel and his loyal domestique Rolf Aldag, Danquart captures the thrill of the race and the teamwork behind the stars of the peleton. He also shines light on the Tour's supporting cast - the director sportifs, masseurs, and, of course, the wildly enthusiastic fans. Reveling in the stunning landscape - from the Alps to the Pyrenees to the Massif Central to Paris - and with a nice dollop of Le Tour's history, HELL ON WHEELS transcends the sport it celebrates to reveal an astonishing human endeavor.

Seven Years-Journalism without Journalist(ko)

A total of 17 journalists have been fired since 2008, the beginning of LEE Myung-bak’s presidential term. They fought against the companies that they worked for succumbing to power and are now frustrated at reality where censorship of the press by authority has now become a norm. Can they continue their activities as journalists?

Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism(en)

This film examines how media empires, led by Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, have been running a "race to the bottom" in television news, and provides an in-depth look at Fox News and the dangerous impact on society when a broad swath of media is controlled by one person. Media experts, including Jeff Cohen (FAIR) Bob McChesney (Free Press), Chellie Pingree (Common Cause), Jeff Chester (Center for Digital Democracy) and David Brock (Media Matters) provide context and guidance for the story of Fox News and its effect on society. This documentary also reveals the secrets of Former Fox news producers, reporters, bookers and writers who expose what it's like to work for Fox News. These former Fox employees talk about how they were forced to push a "right-wing" point of view or risk their jobs. Some have even chosen to remain anonymous in order to protect their current livelihoods. As one employee said "There's no sense of integrity as far as having a line that can't be crossed."

Joanne(en)

Joanne is a model, a teacher, a fighter, a chameleon. But when her private semi-nude photos went public, this woman of many talents came to be simply known as 'the topless teacher'. Together with her former student, artist Simon Fujiwara, she seeks to reclaim her image through social media and branding tactics. Shifting between advertisement and portraiture, this meta-narrative on identity manages to infuse playfulness in its layered commentary on who you are and how you're seen.

Paper Run(en)

A panorama of scenic beauty unfolds as the newspaper delivery man works his run along Sydney's northern beaches of Newport and the Palm Beach area.

The Grass Dwellers(es)

Juan Méndez Bernal leaves his house on the 9th of april of 1936 to fight in the imminent Spanish Civil War. 83 years later, his body is still one of the Grass Dwellers. The only thing that he leaves from those years on the front is a collection of 28 letters in his own writing.

Moi, Magyd Cherfi : portrait intimiste d'un chanteur devenu écrivain(fr)

The Three Michaels(en)

Desperate to become as rich and successful as their idol, a trio of Michael Jackson impersonators hustle their way into Hollywood agencies, are accosted by paparazzi, and cross paths with Grammy-winning musicians as the American dream seems tantalisingly close. But as they perform for dollar bills and sleep in their car, the reality of the ruthless entertainment industry they dream about hits home.

The Celluloid Closet(en)

What "That's Entertainment" did for movie musicals, "The Celluloid Closet" does for Hollywood homosexuality, as this exuberant, eye-opening movie serves up a dazzling hundred-year history of the role of gay men and lesbians have had on the silver screen. Lily Tomlin narrates as Oscar-winning moviemaker Rob Epstein ("The Times of Harvey Milk" and "Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt") and Jeffrey Friedman assemble fabulous footage from 120 films showing the changing face of cinema sexuality, from cruel stereotypes to covert love to the activist triumphs of the 1990s. Tom Hanks, Susan Sarandon, Whoopi Goldberg, Tony Curtis, Harvey Fierstein and Gore Vidal are just a few of the many actors, writers and commentators who provide funny and insightful anecdotes.

The Cable That Changed the World(en)

The first transatlantic communications cable, traversing the ocean floor from Valentia Island, County Kerry, to Newfoundland, Canada, 165 years ago was an 8 year endeavor that helped lay the foundation of the modern technology industry and explains the fragility of undersea cables today.

Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story(en)

Boogie Man is a comprehensive look at political strategist, racist, and former Republican National Convention Committee chairman, Lee Atwater, who reinvigorated the Republican Party’s Southern Strategy to increase political support among white voters in the South by appealing to racism against African Americans. He mentored Karl Rove and George W. Bush and played a key role in the elections of Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

One Rogue Reporter(en)

Rich Peppiatt delivers a satirical dissection of the newspaper trade by turning the tables on unscrupulous editors. Through a series of mischievous stunts and interviews with heavyweights of journalism, comedy & politics, Peppiatt hilariously exposes the hypocrisy at the heart of modern journalism.

Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media(en)

A film about the noted American linguist/political dissident and his warning about corporate media's role in modern propaganda.