A fleur d'eau

In December 2021, Hideki Kuriyama began devoting his days to one singular goal: hoisting the championship trophy at the 2023 World Baseball Classic. How did he mold his players into one of the best and strongest Samurai Japan teams in history? A close-up documentary that looks back on Samurai Japan's path to becoming world champions, along with valuable behind-the-scenes footage captured by the team's dedicated crew.

Art in glorious motion. Bright, colourful and often intensely dynamic, the 1970 'Kinetics' show at London's Hayward Gallery was a major international showcase of the new active sculptural art. Works by Jean Tinguely, Nam June Paik, Peter Logan, Takis, Jesus Raphael Soto and many others dazzled a wide-eyed public. This priceless film record of the show captures a kaleidoscope of neon lights, rotating metal, squirting water and stroboscopic projections. Director Lutz Becker, of the Slade School of Art Film Unit - who would go on to direct Double-Headed Eagle (1973), a documentary account of Hitler's rise to power - uses a variety of textural, electronic sounds (courtesy of Peter Sahla) to evoke the unusual experience. The show was enormously popular, with visitors filling out the gallery day after day.

Adventurer, filmmaker, inventor, author, unlikely celebrity and conservationist: For over four decades, Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his explorations under the ocean became synonymous with a love of science and the natural world. As he learned to protect the environment, he brought the whole world with him, sounding alarms more than 50 years ago about the warming seas and our planet’s vulnerability. In BECOMING COUSTEAU, from National Geographic Documentary Films, two-time Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Liz Garbus takes an inside look at Cousteau and his life, his iconic films and inventions, and the experiences that made him the 20th century’s most unique and renowned environmental voice — and the man who inspired generations to protect the Earth.

A review of an enthralling 2023 Wimbledon Championships that was headlined by Carlos Alcaraz of Spain dethroning seven-time champion Novak Djokovic in an epic five-set men’s final. There is also be a look back at Marketa Vondrousova’s dream run to winning the ladies’ singles. British success was yet again secured in the wheelchair doubles as Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid secured a fifth title, while Neal Skupski claimed his first men’s doubles crown with Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof. History was made in the boys’ singles as Henry Searle became the first British winner since Stanley Matthews in 1962.

Cormac McCarthy has spent the last 25 years writing his novels at the mountain top retreat of the Santa Fe Institute (SFI) in New Mexico. An institute dedicated to the formal analysis of complex systems. In this documentary filmed at the library at SFI (and in the desert), Cormac in conversation with his colleague David Krakauer, reflects on isolation, mathematics, character, and the nature of the unconscious

When governments use Covid emergency act edicts to restrict the gathering and worship of the Church, three pastors facing the risk of imprisonment, unlimited fines, and their own Churches splitting apart take a courageous stand and re-open in the face of a world that has chosen to comply.

Avions de chasse : Une technologie XXL

Shot over the course of 30 days at sea, filmmaker Alizé Jireh documents the group’s voyage across the North Atlantic—from moments of stillness and calm to the chaos of storms and setbacks. With an observational approach and an eye for the emotional and physical rhythms of life at sea, Jireh captures not just the external landscape, but the internal shifts that come with navigating the vast unknown.

Mila and María are two teenagers who get to know each other through video correspondences they send to each other. One day, they arrange to meet in person.

55 years ago, on October 1 1968, the first brand advertising spot appeared on the French television screen. Over the next three decades, thousands of creative little films would seduce and build our collective memory. Kitschy or cult spots, humor, slogans, music, stars, gimmicks, grand spectacle or sex appeal: during its golden age, how did advertising convince? Thierry Ardisson has brought together almost 400 advertising clips to relive the era of the conquest of minds and wallets.

On New York’s packed subways, violations of personal space are unavoidable—an inevitability that emboldens more predatory behavior. Underground brings these stories into the light.

Mondo

a “making of” documentary on Smokey and the Bandit

On the Puerto Rican diaspora, which includes renowned artists who have converted New York, Florida, Chicago, Hawaii, Santa Cruz and Dominican Republic into their second home, but with Puerto Rico in their hearts.

"Clio Capers" is a short film about the Clio Club, the Latin club James Blue belonged to at Jefferson High School in Portland, Oregon. The film features "Jupiter" and his fellow immortals atop Mt. Olympus looking back through the "Clio scrapbook," actual home movie footage James Blue shot of club activities between 1946-1948. Originally shot on 8mm film. No sound.

Grow Vasu is a biographical documentary on the life of comrade Ayinoor Vasu aka Grow Vasu, a leader of the working class, as well as a champion of Muslim, Dalit, and marginalized communities and human rights movements. At 94 years young, he was jailed for questioning the authority, yet, Vasu continues his fight against oppression, for justice, and for the revolution. The film follows a narrative style divided into ten chapters consists of his personal-political up and downs.

Since Rosa was little, people used to say around town that her grandfather was a black dog. The legend, belonging to the Valley of Oaxaca, spoke of a man who had the ability to turn into a black dog and roam the streets at night. Through images of the town, interviews with the brothers and animated interventions, the documentary tells the story of the myth and its importance in the collective memory.

When March of 1971 knocked on the door, a military intervention was imminent in the country. Bombs were exploding in a strange way from right to left, and the urban guerrilla was resorting to unconventional acts such as bank robbery and kidnapping. The generals had decided to put a stop to this trend. Dynamite was placed under Prime Minister Demirel. The question now was who would ignite the fuse of the dynamite. President Sunay was waiting to watch the approaching explosion silently from Çankaya. Tuğmaç, Chief of General Staff, tried to delay the explosion as much as possible, preferring Demirel to self-destruct. The two generals were watching each other to see who would ignite the fuse first. These two generals were Faruk Gürler and Muhsin Batur. The fire was in their hands. They were going to detonate the dynamite...

An 88-Minute documentary about how Jackie Chan broke the mold (and his bones) with his daring choreography in the 1980s.

Jack & Pete Tell it All is a documentary about how creativity, family, faith, and risk took a small cave in the Ozarks from a regional anomaly to one of America's largest family owned entertainment companies, known today as Herschend Enterprises. Shot on location at both Dollywood and Silver Dollar City in the fall and spring of 2016 and 2017, the film follows the stories as told by the brothers Jack and Pete Herschend; their wives, Sherry and JoDee; and the many others who were there in the early days of the company's inception. It's a celebration of the American spirit, Ozark ingenuity, love and humble beginnings...and serves as an inspiration even today.