Symphonic Sketches

Documentary short film depicting the filmmaking activity at the Paramount Studios in Hollywood, featuring dozens of stars captured candidly and at work.

The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), formed upon nationalization of the British Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, employed film systematically, producing many films on oil and petrochemical subjects. It also made films depicting Iran's progress and modernization, highlighting the role of the Shah and NIOC in that direction. Under its auspices, Ebrahim Golestan directed A FIRE (1961), a highly visual treatment of a seventy-day oil well fire in the Khuzestan region of southwestern Iran. This film was edited by the Iranian poet Forough Farrokhzad and won two awards at the Venice Film Festival in 1961.

Ed is commissioned to make a documentary intending to change those habits of society that are harmful to animals. But completely alien to the animal protection movement, he will realize that to carry out the project, he must first convince himself.

This short film is made for the "Chopin-Pletnev" disc which marked Mikhail Pletnev's debut as a pianist on Deutsche Grammophon. In the film, we witness Mr. Pletnev's journey, starting from him on his way to studio, through his performance of Chopin's Etude Op. 25 No. 7 in C sharp minor "The Cello" and the process afterwards. One is struck repeatedly by Pletnev's crystalline arpeggiations, the velocity of his passage work, his singing tone, his rhythmic suppleness, and, above all, the grandeur of his sound.

Filmmaker Alain Resnais documents the atrocities behind the walls of Hitler's concentration camps.

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.

A behind-the-scenes look at the production of Baby Assassins: Nice Days.

In 1967, de Andrade was invited by the Italian company Olivetti to produce a documentary on the new Brazilian capital city of Brasília. Constructed during the latter half of the 1950s and founded in 1960, the city was part of an effort to populate Brazil’s vast interior region and was to be the embodiment of democratic urban planning, free from the class divisions and inequalities that characterize so many metropolises. Unsurprisingly, Brasília, Contradições de uma Cidade Nova (Brasília, Contradictions of a New City, 1968) revealed Brasília to be utopic only for the wealthy, replicating the same social problems present in every Brazilian city. (Senses of Cinema)

Set to a classic Duke Ellington recording "Daybreak Express", this is a five-minute short of the soon-to-be-demolished Third Avenue elevated subway station in New York City.

This thirty minute documentary features interviews with Giovinazzo's key contemporaries discussing the continued impact and influence of Combat Shock twenty-five years later.

A portrait of the daily life of Zé de Sabino, a fisherman who works and lives in the breathtaking village of Regência, Espirito Santo (located near the Rio Doce, which suffered one of the greatest environmental tragedy in Brazil's history). The vastness of man is a place suspended in time, bordered by sky, land, river, and sea.

Working men and women leave through the main gate of the Lumière factory in Lyon, France. Filmed on 22 March 1895, it is often referred to as the first real motion picture ever made, although Louis Le Prince's 1888 Roundhay Garden Scene pre-dated it by seven years. Three separate versions of this film exist, which differ from one another in numerous ways. The first version features a carriage drawn by one horse, while in the second version the carriage is drawn by two horses, and there is no carriage at all in the third version. The clothing style is also different between the three versions, demonstrating the different seasons in which each was filmed. This film was made in the 35 mm format with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and at a speed of 16 frames per second. At that rate, the 17 meters of film length provided a duration of 46 seconds, holding a total of 800 frames.

In the 1920s, the rivalry between fashion icon Gabrielle Chanel and her stylistic rival Elsa Schiaparelli gave rise to innovations in haute couture.

Five years after she was groomed and abducted by the most popular teacher in school, Elizabeth Thomas shares new revelations about her ordeal, with famed kidnapping survivor Elizabeth Smart.

The passionate advocates of the ‘Cigar Box Guitar Revolution’ express their love of making unique hand-made instruments and the democratic, re-cycling ethos of the movement. Many of these musicians are from northern, post-industrial British towns, and create a self-identity through making these three-stringed guitars. Born from the Blues, the emotional connection they feel for their instruments creates a unique and evocative sound that transports musicians and audiences alike. Screened on BBC1 & BBC4 & iplayer

Live at the Royal Albert Hall is the second live album and video by British rock band Bring Me The Horizon. It was recorded on 22 April 2016 at thr Royal Albert Hall, with accompaniment from the Parallax Orchestra.

At its peak, The Black and White Minstrel Show was watched by a Saturday night audience of more than 20 million people. David Harewood goes on a mission to understand the roots of this strange, intensely problematic cultural form: where did the show come from, and what made it popular for so long? With the help of historians, actors and musicians, David uncovers how, at its core, blackface minstrelsy was simply an attempt to make racism into an art form - and can be traced back to a name and a date.

At just 22 years old, Nigerian superstar Ayra Starr has toured the world, bagged a Grammy nomination and captured the hearts of millions. The short docu-film chronicles her rise to fame and her journey across London, Los Angeles, Lagos and Cotonou as she shapes the future of Afrobeats and becomes a globally recognised artist.

Exploring the art of Armenian portraitist Hakob Hovnatanyan, Parajanov revives the culture of Tbilisi of the 19th century.

Told in her own words, this candid documentary charts the unstoppable rise, sudden fall and hard-won comeback of lifestyle icon Martha Stewart.