Italia: Fire and Ashes

The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat(fr)

A group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.

The 'Frankenstein' Files: How Hollywood Made a Monster(en)

The history of Frankenstein's journey from novel to stage to screen to icon.

Les dents de la mer: Un succès monstre(fr)

In the summer of 1975, the young director Steven Spielberg set new standards for cinema worldwide with an oversized shark bite, a plastic shark fin and an unmistakable two-note main theme composed by John Williams. With the horror from the deep, a man-eating, gigantic great white shark, the film of the same name became a similarly traumatic reference as Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho": it triggered lasting primal fears across generations. On the beaches of the world, there was clearly a "before" and an "after". Steven Spielberg, who was only 28 at the time, not only set new standards for the thriller genre, but also hid his biting criticism of US capitalism in the 1970s behind it.

Stories of Our Cinema(es)

In Spain, on May 11, 1896, at the Price circus, the first moving images ever shown in the country are projected. From that event, the Spanish actor Antonio Resines intends to compile a series of anecdotes to shape the amazing history of Spanish cinema, holding several conversations with prominent figures of the Spanish film industry.

Comrades in Dreams(de)

Four lives that could not be more different and a single passion that unites them: the unconditional love for their cinemas, somewhere at the end of the world. Comrades in Dreams brings together six cinema makers from North Korea, America, India and Africa and follows their efforts to make their audiences dream every night.

Viva Zapata!(en)

The story of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, who led a rebellion against the corrupt, oppressive dictatorship of president Porfirio Díaz in the early 20th century.

Locations: Looking for Rusty James(es)

A personal meditation on Rumble Fish, the legendary film directed by Francis Ford Coppola in 1983; the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA, where it was shot; and its impact on the life of several people from Chile, Argentina and Uruguay related to film industry.

Casablanca revisitada(es)

A lyrical and nostalgic analysis of how Casablanca, the mythical film directed by Michael Curtiz in 1942, has influenced both film history and pop culture.

Making Apes: The Artists Who Changed Film(en)

Fifty years after its release, the special effects makeup team behind Planet of the Apes reflect on making the iconic film.

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

Examines the early 1980s Hong Kong filmmaking community. Tony Rayns interviews some of the new generation of filmmakers and figures from the wider film culture.

The Diary of a Projectionist(ca)

This is the story of my grandfather, Tiago Florit, who for 50 years was a film operator at the Teatre Principal de Maó, in Menorca. It is a review of his life, from his birth to his death, in a cinematographic key. A true love story to cinema.

Sherlock Jr.: Tour of Filming Locations(en)

This visual essay by John Bengtson, author of Silent Echoes: Discovering Early Hollywood Through the Films of Buster Keaton, reveals the locations where Keaton's 1924 comedy feature Sherlock Jr. was filmed in Hollywood and Orange County.

Raising the Bar: The Alma Richards Story(en)

In 1908, eighth grader Alma Richards quits school to work as a ranch hand. A chance meeting with a professor motivates him to resume his education, leading him to compete in high jump at the Stockholm Olympics and win a gold medal.

Tippi Hedren: The Birds and Other Wild Animals(de)

Tippi Hedren, the unforgettable actress who starred in The Birds (1963), made in her memoirs a relentless portrait of its director, the genius British filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980), the same one who, despite his disturbing personality and questionable working methods, made her a Hollywood star. From Minnesota to Hollywood, the true story of a unique performer and a free woman.

Counter Shot: Departure of the Filmmakers(de)

Documentary about filmmakers of the New German Cinema who were members of the legendary Filmverlag für Autoren (Film Publishing House for Authors). Among them are Werner Herzog, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and Wim Wenders.

Silent Echoes(en)

Four visual essays by Silent Echoes author John Bengtson identifying Buster Keaton's shooting locations for his many short films produced between 1920-1923, many in the streets surrounding his former Hollywood studio, the same studio where, a few years earlier, Charlie Chaplin had made his brilliant series of Mutual shorts.

Going Attractions: The Definitive Story of the Movie Palace(en)

Celebrating the splendor and grandeur of the great cinemas of the United States, built when movies were the acme of entertainment and the stories were larger than life, as were the venues designed to show them. The film also tracks the eventual decline of the palaces, through to today’s current preservation efforts. A tribute to America’s great art form and the great monuments created for audiences to enjoy them in.

Omnibus: François Truffaut(en)

A Cast of Characters: My Wife's Relations(en)

The actors in My Wife's Relations (1922) are discussed in this documentary.

Las cinéphilas(es)

Six elderly retired women, two from Buenos Aires, Argentina; two from Montevideo, Uruguay; and two from Madrid, Spain, have something in common, despite their different interests and lives: they go to the movies almost every day.

The Wild Chicks and Life(de)

The Wild Chicks are slowly growing out of their youthful gang years and have to face the worries of growing up on the sidelines of a big class trip before graduation.

Kill, Baby... Kill!(it)

A 20th century European village is haunted by the ghost of a murderous little girl.

Main Krishna Hoon(hi)

In answer to an orphan boy's prayers, the divine Lord Krishna comes to Earth, befriends the boy, and helps him find a loving family.

Hello(en)

In a digital world, can analogue find true love? It is the wise old gramaphone who has the answers for a lovesick loner.

Dave Chappelle: For What It's Worth(en)

Comedian Dave Chappelle does what he does best in this outrageous and hilarious standup performance, which allows him to push the envelope far beyond what he does on his TV show. Taped in San Francisco at the famed Fillmore, Chappelle lets loose on such topics as black celebrities, what it's like to have raunchy fans of his TV show approach him while he's trying to enjoy Disneyland with his kids, Michael Jackson, Kobe Bryant... and crackheads, of course. It's comedy Chappelle-style and, for what it's worth, no one is safe from his barbs. But you already knew that!

Divers at Work on the Wreck of the "Maine"(fr)

Divers go to work on a wrecked ship (the battleship Maine that was blown up in Havana harbour during the Spanish-American War), surrounded by curiously disproportionate fish.

Hello(en)

The film tells the story of three best friends named Ako, Aki and Awang, who are well-known in their village for their mischievous and humourous pranks. The trio work for Pak Man. One day, they are assigned to pick up his daughter Misha, who has just returned from overseas and dreams of becoming a doctor. The trio have been in love with her for a long time but she does not pay them any heed. When Misha is robbed by a snatch thief one day, she is rescued by a doctor named Shafiq. Her face reminds the doctor of his late wife, and he begins to pursue her, which annoys the trio.

The Big Hit of Surcouf(fr)

The continuation of the adventures of Captain Robert Surcouf and his crew.

NULL(en)

A hitman is tasked to take out ex-mobsters when he suddenly hears a voice that questions his morality.

Stop at Nothing: The Lance Armstrong Story(en)

A portrait of the man behind the greatest fraud in sporting history. Lance Armstrong enriched himself by cheating his fans, his sport and the truth. But the former friends whose lives and careers he destroyed would finally bring him down.

Three Monkeys(tr)

A family battles against the odds to stay together when small lies grow into an extravagant cover-up. In order to avoid hardship and responsibilities that would otherwise be impossible to endure, the family chooses to ignore the truth, not to see, hear or talk about it. But does playing “Three Monkeys” invalidate the truth of its existence?

GO(ja)

Sugihara, a Japanese-born, third-generation Korean teenager struggles to find a place in a society that will not accept him.

Nullarbor(en)

An animated road-movie set across the vast and barren landscape of Australia's Nullarbor Plain.

The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie(en)

Desperate to raise money for the experimental surgery that could restore his blind fiancee's eyesight, Toxie accepts a lucrative job with the evil multinational conglomerate Apocalypse Inc.

Julius Caesar(en)

The assassination of the would-be ruler of Rome at the hands of Brutus and company has tragic consequences for the idealist and for the republic.

Staten Island Summer(en)

Pals Danny and Frank spend the summer after high school working as lifeguards while figuring out their future.

Murphy's Romance(en)

Emma, a divorced single mother seeking to start her life over, moves to a small town in Arizona. She befriends Murphy, the older local pharmacist, but things turn complicated when her ex-husband shows up.

The Kiss(xx)

They get ready to kiss, begin to kiss, and kiss in a way that brings down the house every time.

Jim Jefferies: I Swear to God(en)

Jim Jefferies: I Swear to God: The easily offended might do best to avoid Jim Jefferies’ raunchy, rude humor (or at least imbibe the two-drink minimum beforehand), but the Australian-born comedian provides plenty of laughs for everyone else in this HBO special. In I Swear to God, Jefferies continues his patented brand of comedy that once got him punched by an audience member, discussing the idiocy of no-smoking signs, sluts vs. studs, and his father’s Holocaust jokes.