Private Screenings: Stanley Donen

A rag-tag group of young film lovers gets a once in a lifetime opportunity to make their own movies to be screened for a powerful director. However, not all of the films come out how the creators had hoped.

Acclaimed Finnish director Rauni Mollberg made several scandalous yet widely appreciated films. Former co-worker Veikko Aaltonen’s eye-opening documentary The Dinosaur looks at the relentless, often disturbing directing techniques behind Mollberg’s art and success.

London bookstore owner William Thacker's quiet life turns upside down when a chance encounter with famous actress Anna Scott sparks an unlikely romance challenged by their vastly different worlds.

Follows the story of "Grizzly Man" Timothy Treadwell and what the thirteen summers in a National Park in Alaska were like in his attempt to protect the grizzly bears. The film is full of unique images and a look into the spirit of a man who sacrificed himself for nature.

Hollywood producer Alexander Meyerheimer has hired drunken writer Richard Benson to write his latest movie. Benson has been in Paris supposedly working on the script for months, but instead has spent the time living it up. Benson now has just two days to the deadline and thus hires a temporary secretary, Gabrielle Simpson, to help him finish on time.

Alfa, a famous porn actor, must deal with his fears, insecurities and memories when he begins work on a new film without Yerry, his former partner in life and porn. On his first day of shooting without him, Alfa tries to act as in the past but can things be like before?

This documentary examines Borges' extraordinary life and work, using dramatizations of his most memorable stories and rare interview footage with the author at his Buenos Aires home.

Johnny and his young nephew forge a tenuous but transformational relationship when they embark on a cross-country trip to see life away from Los Angeles.

Nous les ouvriers

5 years ago Kevin Smith tried to end his career with the movie Tusk. Enjoy this documentary on the making of Tusk 'Walrus Yes'.

Robert Altman's life and career contained multitudes. This father of American independent cinema left an indelible mark, not merely on the evolution of his art form, but also on the western zeitgeist. With its use of rare interviews, representative film clips, archival images, and musings from his family and most recognizable collaborators, Altman is a dynamic and heartfelt mediation on an artist whose expression, passion and appetite knew few bounds.

A notorious gangster is incited to transform into a film hero and opts for a filmmaker and their project descends into a scenario they had never anticipated.

A small-time thug who collects debts for the local triad is torn between his criminal aspirations and his devotion to family.

French documentarist Sonia Kronlund follows actor and director Salim Shaheen, an Afghan movie star who produced more than 110 low-budget movies in a country devastated by war.

In the year 2000, Maixabel Lasa’s husband, Juan Maria Jauregi, was killed by ETA. Eleven years later, she receives an incredible request: one of the men who killed Juan wants to meet with her in the Nanclares de la Oca prison in Araba (Spain), where he is serving his sentence after breaking ties with the terrorist group. Despite her reservations and her immense pain, Maixabel Lasa agrees to meet face to face with those who ended the life of the person who had been her companion since she was 16 years old. ‘Everyone deserves a second chance’, she said, when asked why she was willing to confront the man who killed her husband.

How are the sex scenes filmed? What tricks are used to fake the desire? How do the interpreters prepare and feel? Spanish actors and directors talk about the most intimate side of acting, about the tricks and work methods when narrating exposed sex. In Spain the general rule is that there are no rules. Each film, each interpreter, faces it in very different ways.

For a book project, photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders took photographs of 30 stars of adult movies, each pair of photographs in the same pose, clothed and nude. This film records the photo shoots and includes interviews with the performers and commentary from eight writers (and John Waters). The actors and writers discuss economics, nudity and exhibitionism, careers, and private lives.

A walk through the incredible personal and artistic history of legendary actor, race car driver and cultural icon Steve McQueen (1930-80).

Dives deep into the tragicomic world of the"towns-people" stand-ins working at Warp Station Edo, a popular shooting location for samurai dramas, through a piercing study of a 63-year-old extra. Utilizing mockumentary stylings, this ambitious film forms a compelling commentary on the aspirations that shape film production and the feelings that a simple, ho-hum life can evoke.

Sought by police and criminals, a small-time huckster makes a deal with a TV newsman for protection.