Passions Just Like Mine

It's 30 years since Manchester four-piece The Smiths changed the face of British pop with their debut single Hand In Glove. In this half-hour Culture Show special, fellow Mancunian and lifelong fan Tim Samuels sets out to find out why The Smiths have such a special place in the hearts of a generation of Brits. The Smiths were only around for five years in the mid-eighties, but to this day the sentiment their music evokes is strong. Samuels pays visits to a variety of dedicated fans including fashion designer Wayne Hemingway, poet Simon Armitage, Labour MP Kerry McCarthy and Oasis songwriter Noel Gallagher to analyse the look, the lyrics, the issues and the riffs that made The Smiths Britain's first, and arguably best ever, indie rock band.

A documentary about The Smiths.

Based on Jo Brand's critically acclaimed novel of the same name, The More You Ignore Me is a warm, comedy drama focusing on the life of an unconventional family in 1980s rural England. The film focuses on Gina, a young mother, whose efforts to be a loving mother and wife are undermined by her declining mental health. Things deteriorate when she develops an obsession with the local weatherman, which leads to an admission to the nearby psychiatric hospital. Over the years, as she grows up, her daughter Alice struggles to relate to her heavily medicated mum, and causes chaos when she comes up with a plan to reconnect with her, which divides the family forever and leads to a moving climax. Set to the songs of The Smiths, The More You Ignore Me provides a sometimes stark, yet comical insight into life within this quirky household, whilst addressing mental health issues and their impact on the family.

An authentic story of four Slovak and Russian polar explorers who tried to cross the Arctic Ocean from Russia to Canada through the North Pole, thus fulfilling the last remaining, almost impossible dream of Arctic explorers.

Director Garry S. Grant’s insightful documentary celebrates the work and legacy of auteur filmmaker Mario Bava, the grand master of Italian horror and the man known by many as “the Italian Hitchcock.”

The classic board game, Scrabble, has been popular for decades. In addition, there are fanatics who devote heart and soul to this game to the expense of everything else. This film profiles a group of these enthusiasts as they converge for a Scrabble convention where the word game is almost a bloodsport.

In 20 years, he's directed more films than Martin Scorsese, He's produced more profitable movies than Jerry Bruckheimer, And he's infuriated more actors than Alfred Hitchcock. The ultimate B Movie Documentary, focusing on B Movie Giant Jim Wynorski (and B Movie Celebration Mentor) and his attempt to make a feature film in 3 days. He's directed seventy feature films, but he's never made one... in THREE DAYS. Jim cuts the shooting schedule, has the actors cook their own food. A documentary featuring B-Movie legends Roger Corman, Andy Sidaris, Julie Strain, Julie K. Smith and Stormy Daniels, Popatopolis follows Jim Wynorski as he begins to film one of his many opuses "Witches of Breastwick" Jim's frenetic pace demands 100 setups per day (the Hollywood standard is 20), and he reduces his electric package to just two lights so he can concentrate on the task at hand.A great overview of a true master at work and in many ways a laser sharp dialectic on the state of B filmmaking today.

A cinematic narrative about the lives of emotionally hurt children whose destinies have brought them to the school for students with special educational needs.

A documentary about the eventful lives of famous Jewish photographers Grete Stern and Ellen Auerbach. The film interweaves artistic, professional and personal aspects.

In this short film Ira decided to pay tribute to another one of Strand’s filmmakers, Jacques Nolot. His film is a meditation on not only the passage of time but on how we remember our lives through recorded images

Honor: This extraordinary documentary is the truest, most current, most realistic and inspiring documentary ever to capture the challenging and unforgettable experience of Marine Corps Recruit Training. Courage: You'll share their trials, pain and triumphs. You'll be there with them from Day One to Graduation, and for the hundreds of training highlights between which lead to the defining challenges of "the Crucible" and the emotion-charged moment when they are first addressed as "Marines." Commitment: "Once a Marine, always a Marine." The changes last forever. Though valued memories of Recruit Training may fade, in this documentary these memories are vividly recorded forever. For Marines. And for those who honor them and their proud achievement of earning the title which will last a lifetime, the title of United States Marine.

James’s film provides us with a thoughtful history of photography and the moving image that both pays tribute to the past and celebrates how advancements in technology support the ever-evolving nature of cinema. His film elaborates on a history of storytelling through image and how we can use the iPhone and other new technologies to create, reflect and inspire in our day-to-day lives.

A brief reflection on faith, self-loathing and Studs Lonigan.

About men whose lives and work are motorcycles, racing to the brink of risk. We watch them on the circuit, in a pit box and in workshops together with teammates and mechanics preparing their competition bikes.

Commissioned for the 2019 30th Anniversary shorts omnibus, 30/30 Vision: 3 Decades of Strand Releasing.

Hitler sur table d'écoute

Images of Gaucin captured in February 2019.

A chilling documentary for which Holocaust survivor Henryk Mandelbaum returned to Auschwitz to talk about the horrific year he spent as a ‘‘Sonderkommando’’, a slave labourer forced to search and burn the corpses of fellow Jews murdered in the gas chambers. Until his death in 2008, Mandelbaum was one of very few Sonderkommando to have survived the death camps, execution as collaborators by the Soviets and later reprisals by other Jews. The stories he tells and the photographs used are stomach-churning.

Among the stories about the family, the values embraced by Berbeka and the most important expeditions, there is one related to the winter expedition to Broad Peak. On 5th March 2013, the protagonist reached the summit, making his dream come true, but died on his way down to the base.

Drum & Bass: The Movement explores how a unique UK club culture rose from an underground movement to become a global phenomenon infiltrating and influencing disciplines from mainstream pop music to video games. From dubplates to mainstream crossovers, to the labels, the tracks and the clubs that shaped the game, Drum & Bass: The Movement is a snapshot of jungle drum & bass history and how it’s always been much more than a genre of dance music: it’s a lifestyle. The movement continues...