Lettera22

Alberto Casiraghy and Josef Weiss are true bibliophile artists. One in Osnago, the other in Mendrisio, they have been dedicating themselves for years to valuable editorial and typographical activities, still printing with mobile characters, preserving the memory of a perfect ingenuity made of manual skills and technique, but also of inventiveness and poetry. Silvio Soldini gives us a realistic and poetical portrait of these two artists-artisans, who chose one of the oldest professions in a modern world, finding great success and approval.

Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will celebrate its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. The film is an exploration of urban spaces in major cities and the type that inhabits them, and a fluid discussion with renowned designers about their work, the creative process, and the choices and aesthetics behind their use of type.

Máquinas de palabras

A fascinating documentary about Piet Zwart (1885–1977), an idiosyncratic and stubborn designer, who lived for innovation and prepared the way for the international success that is now known as Dutch Design. Piet Zwart worked as an interior and industrial designer, commercial typographer, photographer, critic and lecturer, playing a key role in defining the design climate in the Netherlands in the Twentieth Century. He is especially known for designing the famous ‘Piet Zwart’ kitchen for the Dutch company Bruynzeel: a kitchen that could be easily produced and consisted of standardized elements. His versatility and influence on present-day designers led the Association of Dutch Designers to award him the title of “Designer of the Century” in 2000.

Hanzi is a documentary exploring international design, visual culture, and identity through the lens of modern Chinese typography. The film covers a variety of topics such as how languages shape identity, and what role handwriting plays in the digital age.

A short, educational animation about the history of fonts and typography. In a paper cutout stop-motion style, it begins with Gutenberg's creation of the first typeface, travels through the innovations of Jenson, Caslon, and Bodoni, to the modern creation of Futura and the democratization of fonts in the digital age. A charming, engaging film about a technology that is all around us, but few people know much about.

A portrait of the inventor of the letterpress, who was a key figure in the history of mankind, but also an enthusiastic inventor, a daring businessman, a tenacious troublemaker: the life of Johannes Gutenberg (circa 1400-68).

Why has letterpress printing survived? Irreplaceable knowledge of the historic craft is in danger of being lost as its caretakers age. Fascinating personalities intermix with wood, metal, and type as young printers save a traditional process in Pressing On, a 4K feature-length documentary exploring the remarkable community keeping letterpress alive.

Documentary on the French graphic and visual artist and designer, editor, artistic director, and teacher who is known for his widely-used fonts.

Dedicated Dutch graphic designer Piet Schreuders visits Los Angeles to investigate all kinds of typeface as used in title-credits for movies and TV-series, letters on billboards, shop-windows or street-signs, the banner-headlines of The Los Angeles Times, and climbs finally to the giant letters of the HOLLYWOOD-sign. In the meantime he discovers, to his great satisfaction, the location and stairs where Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy shot their movie 'The Musicbox', by combining street-signs, partially shown on still-pictures of this movie: "…MONTE" and "…ENDOME", which turn out to be found on the street corner of Del Monte and Vendome in Culver City. This documentary is bluntly intercut with commercials, a phenomenon not yet known in the Netherlands in 1979. (Theo Uittenbogaard)

Words that end in -ake and start with ch-. A typographic animation.

Words that start with the letter O, P, and R. A typographic animation.

A young pair from Stuttgart fly to Shanghai to hop aboard the textile business of his father while she prepares for the birth of their son. A story about the ever more common movement of Germans into the East for professional gain.

This documentary provides a glimpse into the making of Jane Campion's 1990 film.

This is the definitive Documentary on Alien Abduction. A careful fact based study of the most credible cases, hoaxes, military historical involvement and expert interviews.

World famous Grizzly 399 attempts to raise four cubs, making choices amidst a warming climate, human encroachment and disputes over her Endangered Species protections.

In the following excerpt from an interview originally recorded for Swedish television in 1966, PERSONA’s director and lead actors discuss the evolution of the film and their individual interpretations of it.

A look into the history and tradition of Queen's Football in it's golden era, featuring never before seen footage of the university in the 1960s.

A look at the modern phenomenon of school and work shootings. It looks at the cases of Michael Carneal (1997), Joseph Wesbecker (1989), Charles Andrew Williams (2001, Neal Higdon (2008, and Steven Kazmierczak (2008) all of whom snapped and went postal. Based on the excellent book by Mark Ames ("Rage, Murder, and Rebellion: From Reagana's Workplaces to Clintona's Columbine and Beyond", 2005) who features in the film.

Facing Adversity: Choosing Earth, Choosing Life is a 70-minute documentary that explores the speed, depth and magnitude of our growing planetary crisis, and the opportunity we have to meet this crisis consciously - with eyes and hearts wide open. Through a broad, whole-systems perspective, the film examines key challenges (climate change, inequities, species extinction, overconsumption, and more) and explores the deeper transformation being called forth from humanity. Woven throughout are stories from around the world illustrating both heart-breaking impacts and inspiring resilience. Engaging with this paradox — an unfolding global crisis paired with the opportunity to awaken to and serve the well-being of all of life — is the work of our lifetimes. The film features Duane Elgin, Victoria Santos, Jack Kornfield, Joanna Macy, Nate Hagens, Beena Sharma, Lynne Twist, and other contributors who are grappling with this paradox and offering guidance for navigating the times ahead.