Visions Cinema: Film as a Way of Life: Hong Kong Cinema - A Report by Tony Rayns

My Village in Nunavik(en)

Shot during three seasons, Kenuajuak's documentary tenderly portrays village life and the elements that forge the character of his people: their history, the great open spaces and their unflagging humour. Though Kenuajuak appreciates the amenities of southern civilization that have made their way north, he remains attached to the traditional way of life and the land: its vast tundra, the sea teeming with Arctic char, the sky full of Canada geese. My Village in Nunavik is an unsentimental film by a young Inuk who is open to the outside world but clearly loves his village. With subtitles.

Díky, pane Kříženecký(cs)

Spitfire: The Birth of a Legend(en)

‘Spitfire— Birth of a Legend‘ tells the story of the Spitfire from a radical design on the drawing board to the fighter aircraft that became the symbol of Britain’s determination to fight on to victory. It celebrates the history of this acclaimed aircraft, the men who designed and built it, and those who flew and fought in it. The story, along with dramatic archive and colour film of aerial combat, graphically illustrates the appeal and fascination the Spitfire has maintained since it faced and fought the fighter and bomber formations of the Luftwaffe.

The Wars of the Roses: A Bloody Crown(en)

Using historically-accurate, battle-filled re-enactments and interviews with expert historians and noted authors, this two-part documentary series brings to vivid life the captivating true stories behind Britain's bloody civil wars.

The China Hustle(en)

An unsettling and eye-opening Wall Street horror story about Chinese companies, the American stock market, and the opportunistic greed behind the biggest heist you've never heard of.

His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th(en)

A retrospective documentary about the groundbreaking horror series, Friday the 13th, featuring interviews with cast and crew from the twelve films spanning 3 decades.

Atari: Game Over(en)

The Xbox Originals documentary that chronicles the fall of the Atari Corporation through the lens of one of the biggest mysteries of all time, dubbed “The Great Video Game Burial of 1983.” Rumor claims that millions of returned and unsold E.T. cartridges were buried in the desert, but what really happened there?

The Volcano That Changed The World(de)

Unlike what people may think, Krakatoa was not the biggest volcanic eruption in history. More than two hundred years ago, on April 10th 1815, Mount Tambora in Eastern Indonesia became a merciless killer. It unleashed the most deadly volcanic eruption in human memory, wiping out at least 117,000 people. And an entire civilization and its language disappeared. But the killing didn’t stop there. It has now been proven that this eruption could have triggered an extraordinary and little known cataclysmic event: worldwide climate change.

Turquie, voyage à la croisée des mondes(fr)

For two thousand years, caravans traveled from Xian in China along the Silk Road to Istanbul, a hub of world trade at the time. Julien Berjeaut begins his journey through Turkey on the banks of the Bosphorus. Istanbul, once called Byzantium and then Constantinople, is still a bubbling center of international trade in the 21st century: In the Grand Bazaar, with its thousands of stores, this half-mythical, half-historical past is brought back to life for customers and traders alike.

A Night at the Garden(en)

Archival footage of an American Nazi rally that attracted 20,000 people at Madison Square Garden in 1939, shortly before the beginning of World War II.

Moon Landing Live(en)

July 1969. America made history and sent the first humans to the moon. High-quality NASA footage and extensive news broadcasts bring this sensational moment in history bursting back into life. Live news footage from every corner of the globe recreates the excitement and elation that surrounded the event, as 600 million people tuned in to watch Neil Armstrong's remarkable first steps.

Silent Victory Submarine Warfare in WWII(en)

This World War II documentary rests on an unusual thesis: it argues that, in the wake of Pearl Harbor, the actions precipitated by the U.S.A.F. that truly helped turn the tide were perpetrated not by the widely-ballyhooed U.S.N. aviators or aircraft carriers, but by the American submarines - silent warriors beneath the deceptively placid ocean surface. The subs, after all, were responsible for gravely wounding Japan's industry, all but destroying the Japanese merchant fleet, and therefore preventing reinforcement of Japanese military garrisons. In relaying this story, the program draws on a series of interviews with military veterans, and endless archival footage of naval battles that chronologically tells the gripping story of the Pacific Front of the war.

Devil Boat: The Saga of PT 658(en)

Sixty-years after setting sail on the PT 658, a group of World War II veterans reminisce about their extraordinary experiences on the boat while attempting to restore it to it's original condition in a documentary that has a little something for war buffs and amateur historians alike.

Not Quite Hollywood(en)

As Australian cinema broke through to international audiences in the 1970s through respected art house films like Peter Weir's "Picnic At Hanging Rock," a new underground of low-budget exploitation filmmakers were turning out considerably less highbrow fare. Documentary filmmaker Mark Hartley explores this unbridled era of sex and violence, complete with clips from some of the scene's most outrageous flicks and interviews with the renegade filmmakers themselves.

Who's afraid of Huawei?(fr)

The Chinese company Huawei wants to expand 5G worldwide and is well advanced in the development of the technology. With the help of 5G, entire communities can function wirelessly, self-driving cars become possible and advanced medical care can be performed remotely in real time. However, many are worried that Huawei is incorporating backdoors that allow vast amounts of data to be collected and then used by China for espionage.

Deep Throat: When Porn Makes Its Premiere(fr)

Deep Throat, a pornographic film directed by Gerard Damiano, a film-loving hairdresser, and starring Linda Lovelace, a shy girl manipulated by a controlling husband, was released in 1972 and divided audiences, who began to talk openly about sex, desire and female pleasure; but also about violence and abuse; and about pornography, until then an almost clandestine industry, as a revolutionary cultural phenomenon.

How the Monuments Came Down(en)

How the Monuments Came Down is a timely and searing look at the history of white supremacy and Black resistance in Richmond. The feature-length film-brought to life by history-makers, descendants, scholars, and activists-reveals how monuments to Confederate leaders stood for more than a century, and why they fell.

The Complete History of America's Railroads(en)

No matter what your age you'll love watching this impressive and comprehensive story of the development of railroading in America. Rail enthusiasts as well as history buffs, teachers and home schoolers, plus kids of all ages will appreciate this magnificent rail adventure covering live action historic operating railroads, rare photos of drawings and valuable memorabilia, and live action re-enactments. Featuring spectacular cinematography and an inspiring musical score, this Award-Winning four part DVD covers over one-hundred years of railroading evolution.

China Jam(en)

In their infinite quest for virgin big walls, adventurers Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll, Nicolas Favresse, Stephane Hanssens and Evrard Wendenbaum, head in September 2013 to a remote valley in the westernmost region of China. There, they found a fantastic 1200m vertical pillar, culminating at 5842m. They spent 14 days on the wall facing snow storms and harsh conditions to finally achieve this amazing ascent with some frost bites but never forgetting to have a lot of fun and to play unreal musical sessions.

Memories Revealed(es)

Over the course of 10 months, a camera travels to Buenos Aires, Argentina and Hanover, Germany to meet with Magalí, María Belén, Ivana and Carla, the founding members of the Archivo De La Memoria Trans Argentina, the first existing Trans Archive in the world. Taking the shape of a photo-novel, the documentary not only recounts the founding members lives as trans women under the Argentine dictatorship (1976-1983), the AIDS epidemy, state repression and mass assassinations but also years of fighting for their rights, sorority and the exaltation of life and laughter in times of death. Filming each one of them is filming them embracing their new role as curators, archivists and historians while a collection of 7,000 photos goes through the filter of their memories.