Zkouška vyspělosti(1952)

Beyond Fordlandia(en)

An environmental account of Henry Ford’s Amazon experience decades after its failure. The story addressed by the film begins in 1927, when the Ford Motor Company attempted to establish rubber plantations on the Tapajós River, a primary tributary of the Amazon. This film addresses the recent transition from failed rubber to successful soybean cultivation for export, and its implication for land usage.

Aston Martin: Sophistication on Wheels(en)

Aston Martin is a name that has personified high quality, hand-built cars since early in the 20th century. Cars which have proudly carried the British Racing Green to a World Sports Car Championship and victories in major races around the world. Take a look back at one of Aston Martins most iconic models.

504(fr)

It was aboard the legendary and sturdy Peugeot 504 and Renault 12 that most North African families made the "route du bled," a ritual return to their homeland for summer vacations in Morocco or Algeria. The film chronicles a summer migration across the Mediterranean from the 1970s to the 1990s. The memory of these epic journeys punctuates the history of North Africans in France with bittersweet nostalgia, where travel stories blend industrial automotive heritage with personal memories.

American Harvest(en)

Shows the interdependence of all workers, jobs, and mechanization in the manufacturing process from raw materials to finished product, focusing on the car industry, and argues that this leads to greater personal independence and freedom.

Blow It to Bits(fr)

A mix of Rock and Roll and Blues are the secret for successful rebellion. When I took my camera to the middle of France where the GM&S factory was threatened by a permanent shut down, I felt like something extraordinary was about to take place. And it did. The lyrics were written by workers who have had enough! The tune was composed by people not afraid to go against even the rules of revolt! The volume was loud enough to attract the media. Their working-class concert spread across France like wild fire. I sat out of sight, camera in hand, filming like catching fish in a barrel.

The Story of The Escort Cosworth(en)

Everything Ford had hoped for - and more, much, much more. Not many cars become legends the moment they roll out of the factory but Ford's Escort RS Cosworth is one of them. Hand-built to take on the emerging Japanese dominance in World Rally, the "Cossie" proved a success on the forecourt as much as on the World's rally stages. But what is the true story behind this memorable car? Was the prototype really a hacked-about Sierra? Was it really driven incognito up and down the A12 This fascinating 1990s film, finally available on DVD, holds all the answers as the men behind the project explain its development… and the men behind the wheel show us what it was made of!

Motory – naše chlouba(cs)

Car Crash: The Delorean Story(en)

Former General Motors high-flyer John DeLorean had a plan to build a stylish European sports car, at a price that would make it attractive to the American market. The site he chose for his state-of-the-art factory was on the outskirts of Belfast, a city best-known for sectarian violence and high levels of unemployment. The unexpected marriage of high-tech glamour with the gritty reality of 1970s Northern Ireland captured the public's imagination but this early optimism would end in failure. Although the cars looked great, the windows leaked and the engines seized; as his financial problems mounted the maverick DeLorean faced charges of drugs trafficking. Adrian Dunbar narrates the story.

Henry Ford's America(en)

A study of the automobile and its pervasive effect on the history of North America. Focusing on the Ford dynasty, from the original Henry car through to Henry II, the film demonstrates how society has adapted to fit the needs of the automobile.

Wagonmasters(en)

Station wagons were America's "workhorses on wheels." Today, they conjure images of outdated family photos, over-sized hairdos and unfashionable wooden siding. In 2011, Volvo - the leading premium wagon manufacturer - will discontinue the sale of its last wagon model in the United States. There are some, however, who still cling to these vehicles and what they stand for in American culture. Wagonmasters, a full-length documentary film, offers glimpses into the lives of such wagon enthusiasts, and tells the story of the station wagon as it represents a changing America over the last one hundred years.

Jaguar: Going Electric(en)

The remarkable story of how luxury car maker Jaguar made its first electric car. With exclusive, behind-the-scenes access to Jaguar's state-of-the-art engineering laboratories and top-secret design studios, Going Electric shows what it takes to make a sophisticated new car and provides an intriguing, inside view of one of the world's most iconic companies as it grapples with the future. It reveals a world where technical excellence meets exquisite craftsmanship – where testing is taken to the extremes and the car pushed to the limit. Going Electric was directed by award-winning filmmaker Ben Lawrie and narrated by Hollywood actor Mark Strong.

In Pursuit of Excellence: The Story of Mercedes Benz(en)

"In Pursuit of Excellence" is the story of the oldest and most well know automobile company in the world. Tracing the extensive history of Mercedes Benz from its first car, the three-wheeler, built before 1900 through the Indy winning race cars of the 1990s. Our cameras take you on a journey to meet the men and machines behind this legendary brand. In Pursuit of Excellence also includes exclusive interviews with senior company management and access to the Mercedes Benz company archives (one of the largest corporate archives in the world). We take you inside "The Hidden Garages" to see what can best be described as the Holy Grail for Mercedes Benz enthusiasts, as well as extensive footage from the Mercedes Benz Classic Car Restoration center in Fellbach, Germany, and material shot at the official Mercedes Benz Museum in Germany.

Henry Ford, l'inventeur du siècle américain(fr)

Attention! … Painting(pl)

Intended as a documentation of Polish artist and theatre-maker Tadeusz Kantor’s “informal painting”, Mieczysław Waśkowski’s film develops a hectic experimental life of its own. The gestural application of paint is staged on changing spatial levels by means of glass plates, camera movements and lighting, making not the painter but the abstract form-finding the movie star.

Terror, Tote, Völkerfreundschaft: Die DDR und der Nahost-Konflikt(fr)

Prey(fr)

Bandits of the Ballad(cs)

“A burned-out group of Brno intellectuals decides to go to Kolochava in Ukraine to perform ‘A Ballad for a Bandit’ there.” With these words, the author's collective presents their film, in which they use primarily documentary imagery to compose a lyrical grotesque about an epochal trip, which might be their goal. But it doesn't have to be. The main tool of expression here is the film’s edit, which places various shots, statements, and meanings next to each other, often in a sort of productive conflict. Just like in a poem, the “poetic function” of art and its ability to serve as the primary tool for expressing beauty is manifested in full force before our very eyes.

Once You’ve Worn Out the First Pair of Wooden Shoes …(de)

A handful of quarrymen in the Reinhardtsdorf open cast mine near Bad Schandau dig out the coveted Elbe natural stone. Gabriele Denecke’s approach to the men, who are of different ages, is almost trance-like, the movement to and from the stones marks the transition to another world. We hear about the merciless working conditions of the past, about alcohol, people worn out before their time. Today, digging out the massive rocks in the midst of nature also constitutes a degree of freedom. Open cast miners share a special mindset. And: Once you’ve worn out your first pair of wooden shoes, you’ll stay – probably forever.

Bukowski: The Last Straw(en)

The Last Straw is a film documenting the very last live poetry reading given by Charles Bukowski at The Sweetwater, a music club in Redondo Beach, California on March 31, 1980

Marilyn Manson: Fear of a Satanic Planet(en)

"Marilyn Manson : Fear of a Satanic Planet" tells the full story of a legend, revealing how a boy named Brian from small town Ohio broke the mould for Alternative Metal and managed to gain worldwide critical acclaim in the process. For the first time this DVD documentary charts his early career with the Spooky Kids, his progression through various line-up changes. It explains how one man managed to become the soundtrack for jilted youth worldwide, going from strength to strength with every new album.