Die Prinzipalin - Maria Becker: Leben fürs Theater

A very special encounter between legendary American cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond and young French director Pierre Filmon. A personal journey with the brightest shadowmaker and his friends.

A joyful tale filled with music. The rise of radio. The jazz big bands. The legendary clubs and ballrooms. The soundtracks of the great musical films and TV shows. Sex and romance, gangsters, luxury cars and palm trees. From Barcelona to New York, with a stop in Cuba. The birth of Las Vegas. The sound of the maracas. Chihuahuas everywhere. The incredible life story of Xavier Cugat (1900-90).

Seoane

The story of Austrian, Johann "Jack" Unterweger, who wrote a book about his criminal past while serving a life term in prison for assault. In 1974, Unterweger murdered 18-year-old German citizen Margaret Schäfer by strangling her with her own bra, and in 1976 was arrested and sentenced to life in prison.

Although he'd starred in just three films before his untimely death at age 24, James Dean cast a long shadow that came to define cool. Using excerpts from Dean's personal diaries, found footage from screen and wardrobe tests and interviews with those who knew him best (including Dennis Hopper, Dick Van Patten, Graham Nash and Rod Steiger), this fascinating documentary explores the screen icon's lingering mystique.

Walter Bonatti is THE mountaineering legend, capable of meeting the great challenges of mountaineering: K2, Drus, G4, Matterhorn, to name a few. But the summits reached are not points of arrival, they are intermediate stages which then push him on a journey around the world, in search of himself. His exploration, starting from the vertical walls, then moved towards horizontal paths and was always expressed towards the interior space where our fears and our desires reside. Where the man, sitting alone in front of himself, must decide to surpass himself or to adapt. And Walter never complied with them, he wrote his own rules and followed them all his life, allowing himself no loopholes or shortcuts. He built himself as a mountaineer, as an explorer, as a photojournalist and as a writer, but always and only with the intention of being an uncompromising man with his hands, his muscles, his heart and his head.

A portrait of photographer Abisag Tüllmann (1935-1996). Abisag Tüllmann’s photographs have become deeply engraved into our cultural memory. Using more than 500 black-and-white photos, all of which taken by Abisag Tüllmann, this cinematic tribute places her life and work in the context of the 1960s to the 1990s. Claudia von Alemann tries to get close to her friend via pictures and archival documents, excerpts from films by Carola Benninghoven, Helke Sander, Alexander Kluge, Günther Hörmann, and Ulrich Schamoni, via the music of composer José Luis de Delás, and via letters and memories, such as those of photographer Barbara Klemm, who still vividly remembers her former Frankfurt colleague.

Follow the winding career and personal life of professional poker phenom Daniel Negreanu, who rose from humble roots to become the game's top ace.

Invasion 1897 is an epic film based on the invasion of the Benin Kingdom by the British Empire in 1897 and the looting the priceless ancient artifacts of the Benin kingdom.

An in-depth feature length documentary of one of America's greatest and least understood authors, Nelson Algren. This never before told compelling life story reveals a unique literary voice through rare interviews, archival footage and the gritty noirish voice of Algren on Algren. Kurt Vonnegut and Studs Terkel, literary giants in their own right, sing songs of praise along with many of his old friends, which makes this film seem like a hymn from the grave. This stylishly produced film embeds us in the 1950's cold war world when Algren worked. Algren's touching love affair with Simone de Beauvoir weaves it's way through the film along with the damaging impact of FBI and CIA surveillance.

Portrait of an exceptional musical talent and one of opera’s biggest stars, mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli. With interviews from her illustrious friends and colleagues from the world of classical music: Daniel Barenboim, Antonio Pappano, Gustavo Dudamel and more.

Legendary western swing band leader Bob Wills rose up in the Great Depression to fame in Oklahoma and Texas that soon swept the entire nation. The documentary FIDDLIN MAN offers a full biography of Wills, using a vast array of on camera interviews with his friends, family, and fellow musicians. The film also draws on a wealth of rare archival footage.

Sachin Tendulkar plays himself in this sports-docudrama that traces the life and times of one of the world’s biggest cricket phenomenas.​

NHK has followed baseball sensation Shohei Ohtani closely since his 2018 Major League debut. We look at Ohtani’s ability to both pitch and bat at the highest level. We hear from those who have supported him on and off the field and examine the importance of his father’s training regime. Join us behind the scenes at such pivotal points as Ohtani’s battle to recover from elbow surgery and reclaim his place as a baseball virtuoso like no other.

Leslie Caron, beloved star of Gigi and An American in Paris, is one of the last witnesses to the golden age of American cinema of the mid 20th century. Discovered by Gene Kelly when she was a teenager, she became one of the great talents in the worlds of film, dance, and theatre, still performing to this day! The film reveals a story told through the prism of a living legend who reveals secrets of her work and life- a world of contradictions, ambitions and dreams, lived by one of its most luminous personalities.

Programming prodigy and information activist Aaron Swartz achieved groundbreaking work in social justice and political organizing. His passion for open access ensnared him in a legal nightmare that ended with the taking of his own life at the age of 26.

Dock Ellis pitched a no-hitter on LSD, then worked for decades counseling drug abusers. Dock's soulful style defined 1970s baseball as he kept hitters honest and embarrassed the establishment. An ensemble cast of teammates, friends, and family investigate his life on the field, in the media, and out of the spotlight.

A reckless joyride into the darkest corners of popular music that delves deep into the mind of Mick Rock, the genius photographer who immortalized the seventies and the rise to rock stardom of many legendary musicians.

20 Moves is the story of how the best-selling puzzle toy came to market and the impact it had on the world around it. Tom Kremer stumbled upon an unwanted, unpatented puzzle game at the Nuremberg Toy Fair in 1979. It had been invented in Hungary in 1974 by Professor Erno Rubik who used it as a pedagogical aid for his architecture students and would go on to be played with by 1/5th of the world's population. We explore the cube's story - from its creation behind the Iron Curtain to the role it played in the fall of communism and the creation of free market trading in the former communist nations. We show how the cube was brought to the west - how it was introduced and marketed and what caused it to be the biggest fad of the 1980's. The cube would go on to symbolize an entire generation like nothing before it. The many faces, layers, and sides of 20 Moves is exactly like the cube. With each act our audience discovers another twist, another turn, another solve in the history of the Cube.

Documentary about the life and career of Elvis Presley produced for Sky Arts. Includes rarely seen clips and photos from throughout Elvis' career as well as comments from music historians and musicians, songwriters, producers, actors, etc. who worked with him. Narrated by producer/director David Upshal.