Lettera22(2009)

Helvetica(en)

Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will celebrate its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. The film is an exploration of urban spaces in major cities and the type that inhabits them, and a fluid discussion with renowned designers about their work, the creative process, and the choices and aesthetics behind their use of type.

Hanzi(zh)

Hanzi is a documentary exploring international design, visual culture, and identity through the lens of modern Chinese typography. The film covers a variety of topics such as how languages shape identity, and what role handwriting plays in the digital age.

Máquinas de palabras(es)

The Gutenberg Enigma(fr)

A portrait of the inventor of the letterpress, who was a key figure in the history of mankind, but also an enthusiastic inventor, a daring businessman, a tenacious troublemaker: the life of Johannes Gutenberg (circa 1400-68).

Étienne Robial, un spécimen de caractère(s)(fr)

Documentary on the French graphic and visual artist and designer, editor, artistic director, and teacher who is known for his widely-used fonts.

Pressing On: The Letterpress Film(en)

Why has letterpress printing survived? Irreplaceable knowledge of the historic craft is in danger of being lost as its caretakers age. Fascinating personalities intermix with wood, metal, and type as young printers save a traditional process in Pressing On, a 4K feature-length documentary exploring the remarkable community keeping letterpress alive.

Everything Must Change: Piet Zwart(nl)

A fascinating documentary about Piet Zwart (1885–1977), an idiosyncratic and stubborn designer, who lived for innovation and prepared the way for the international success that is now known as Dutch Design. Piet Zwart worked as an interior and industrial designer, commercial typographer, photographer, critic and lecturer, playing a key role in defining the design climate in the Netherlands in the Twentieth Century. He is especially known for designing the famous ‘Piet Zwart’ kitchen for the Dutch company Bruynzeel: a kitchen that could be easily produced and consisted of standardized elements. His versatility and influence on present-day designers led the Association of Dutch Designers to award him the title of “Designer of the Century” in 2000.

The History of Typography(en)

A short, educational animation about the history of fonts and typography. In a paper cutout stop-motion style, it begins with Gutenberg's creation of the first typeface, travels through the innovations of Jenson, Caslon, and Bodoni, to the modern creation of Futura and the democratization of fonts in the digital age. A charming, engaging film about a technology that is all around us, but few people know much about.

Il fiume ha sempre ragione(it)

Alberto Casiraghy and Josef Weiss are true bibliophile artists. One in Osnago, the other in Mendrisio, they have been dedicating themselves for years to valuable editorial and typographical activities, still printing with mobile characters, preserving the memory of a perfect ingenuity made of manual skills and technique, but also of inventiveness and poetry. Silvio Soldini gives us a realistic and poetical portrait of these two artists-artisans, who chose one of the oldest professions in a modern world, finding great success and approval.

Hollywood at Last!(en)

Dedicated Dutch graphic designer Piet Schreuders visits Los Angeles to investigate all kinds of typeface as used in title-credits for movies and TV-series, letters on billboards, shop-windows or street-signs, the banner-headlines of The Los Angeles Times, and climbs finally to the giant letters of the HOLLYWOOD-sign. In the meantime he discovers, to his great satisfaction, the location and stairs where Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy shot their movie 'The Musicbox', by combining street-signs, partially shown on still-pictures of this movie: "…MONTE" and "…ENDOME", which turn out to be found on the street corner of Del Monte and Vendome in Culver City. This documentary is bluntly intercut with commercials, a phenomenon not yet known in the Netherlands in 1979. (Theo Uittenbogaard)

Letters O, P, and R(en)

Words that start with the letter O, P, and R. A typographic animation.

Ake & Ch(en)

Words that end in -ake and start with ch-. A typographic animation.

Just for Laughs: Launching Pad(en)

Russell Peters, Jon Stewart, Flight of the Conchords, Dave Chappelle and more.

WWE: Cheating Death, Stealing Life: The Eddie Guerrero Story(en)

Born into Mexico's first family of sports-entertainment, Eddie Guerrero's career choice was only natural. In the ring, Eddie was unbeatable. He was part of the most popular tag team in Mexico. Fans worldwide were captivated with his high-flying style. Soon, he moved to Japan and experienced similar success. After returning to the United States, Eddie faced a challenge he was not prepared for - addiction. Surviving a car accident that almost killed him, Eddie felt he was bulletproof, resulting in reckless behavior that put his life, career and marriage in jeopardy. Then it all fell apart. The true test of any man is how he handles adversity. In one of the most inspiring stories in the history of sports-entertainment, Eddie Guerrero not only regained his life, he surpassed his wildest dreams. This is his story.

Heroes of World Class(en)

In 1983 World Class Championship Wrestling and its franchise stars, the Von Erich brothers, were known around the world. A small Dallas based promotion running out of a shack of a venue, the Sportatorium, World Class was one of the most syndicated television programs in America, making the Von Erichs household names. Run by legendary wrestler Fritz Von Erich, a.k.a. Jack Adkinsson, World Class made his oldest sons, Kevin, David and Kerry, three of hte biggest stars in the world of wrestling. Little did anyone know that just as the Von Erichs and World Class were reaching worldwide stardom they would begin a downfall that would cast a full eclipse on their meteoric rise to fame. Directed by Brian Harrison who, as a ten year old in 1983, watched on television as wrestling's world of staged combat between good and evil took a sharp turn into a surreal and tragic reality.

Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood(en)

A TV special on the 100th anniversary of the birth of film.

PQ17: An Arctic Convoy Disaster(en)

Jeremy Clarkson tells the dramatic story of the Arctic convoys of the Second World War, from Russia to the freezing Arctic Ocean.

The Making of 'The Big Lebowski'(en)

A short documentary about the production of "The Big Lebowski" (1998).

The Endless Summer(en)

Bruce Brown's The Endless Summer is one of the first and most influential surf movies of all time. The film documents American surfers Mike Hynson and Robert August as they travel the world during California’s winter (which, back in 1965 was off-season for surfing) in search of the perfect wave and ultimately, an endless summer.

Land Without Bread(es)

An exploration —manipulated and staged— of life in Las Hurdes, in the province of Cáceres, in Extremadura, Spain, as it was in 1932. Insalubrity, misery and lack of opportunities provoke the emigration of young people and the solitude of those who remain in the desolation of one of the poorest and least developed Spanish regions at that time. (Silent short, voiced in 1937 and 1996.)