Time Is Illmatic is a feature length documentary film that delves deep into the making of Nas' 1994 debut album, Illmatic, and the social conditions that influenced its creation.
The tender and tragic love story of French painter Pierre Bonnard and his wife and lifelong model Marthe. The artist recorded their relationship on canvas and, 50 years after his death, these paintings have established him as one of the masters of colour and light.
This new intimate documentary looks at the extraordinary journey of the 75-year-old American rocker, who has come back from everything, and especially from the worst, but with his capacity for wonder intact.
She was a prolific self-portraitist, using the canvas as a mirror through all stages of her turbulent and, at times, tragic life. This highly engaging film takes us on a journey through the life of one of the most prevalent female icons: Frida Kahlo. Displaying a treasure trove of colour and a feast of vibrancy on screen, this personal and intimate film offers privileged access to her works and highlights the source of her feverish creativity, her resilience and her unmatched lust for life, men, women, politics and her cultural heritage.
“I laugh out of life’s void” Korea’s very first hippie, Han Dae Soo, bursts out a laughter. Some musicians talk about love or hope, Han Dae Soo’s music roots in pain. His songs are about freedom even in the most oppressive circumstances. He prepares to release his last album in 2020. A master’s recording session is full of improvisation and energy. As a man of over 70 years old, his voice has gotten deeper and stronger with age. His is a husband and a father and a human dwelling upon the possibility of death approaching. As a youngster he exerted sharp criticism towards society, but on his last album it leans more towards reflection and regret rather than anger. Han Dae Soo tells us his last story strolling through the streets of Manhattan and Namdaemun. The aged hippie’s laughter still resonates with joy.
WAR OF WORDS is an energizing, controversial and inspiring feature documentary that lifts the lid on the fast growing UK Battle Rap scene. The documentary is an examination of an exciting subculture of youth in the UK today; their creativity and work ethic, their passion for language and ability to control their own destiny. It investigates freedom of expression and respect for other cultures and lifestyles. While the language is often harsh and unflinching, the 'anything goes' philosophy of the battle arena results in one of the most harmonious and creative scenes in youth culture. The film is a truly entertaining expose on how the UK has embraced this American art form, creating one of the most exciting youth subcultures happening right now.
200 years after its opening and a century after acquiring its first Van Gogh works, the National Gallery is hosting the UK’s biggest ever Van Gogh exhibition. Van Gogh is not only one of the most beloved artists of all time, but perhaps the most misunderstood. This film is a chance to reexamine and better understand this iconic artist. Focusing on his unique creative process, Van Gogh: Poets & Lovers explores the artist’s years in the south of France, where he revolutionised his style. Van Gogh became consumed with a passion for storytelling in his art, turning the world around him into vibrant, idealised spaces and symbolic characters.
In the city that never sleeps, five families hustle each winter to turn sidewalks into holiday outposts.
The 30-year legacy of the murder of black teenager Yusuf Hawkins by a group of young white men in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, as his family and friends reflect on the tragedy and the subsequent fight for justice that inspired and divided New York City.
From Brooklyn to the Bronx, Soho to Greenwich, Union Square to Wall Street... Join us and the friends, collaborators and gallery owners who supported Jean-Michel Basquiat throughout his life. The first ever recognized graffiti artist, who saw international success as a neo-expressionist painter in the 80s, Basquiat is a true contemporary hero who died at the peak of his career.
At work on his Elegies and Windows series, Motherwell examines his place in the Abstract Expressionist movement, which he calls the first original American movement in the "mainstream," and its practitioners "the last romantics." He distinguishes between his large paintings and his intimate papier collée. Motherwell recollects the state of American art in the 1940s and the impact of European emigré painters on the younger generation of emerging artists. He discusses the significance of collage, or papier collée, as an artist's medium and explains how he first became involved with this process. Motherwell offers his interpretations of earlier directions in art and his response to the object oriented painting that emerged in America in the 1960s. A unique document of one of the founding members of the New York School. He died in 1991.
Follows Basquiat’s early life as the child of middle-class Haitian and Puerto Rican parents in Brooklyn, through his adventures in the punk subculture and up to his breakout as a major American artist. All the while, special attention is paid to Basquiat’s mental and emotional state, with interviews from former friends and colleagues to supplement his sisters’ impressions.
In the spotlight of global media coverage, the first transgender woman ever to perform as Don Giovanni in a professional opera, makes her historic debut in one of the reddest states in the U.S.
One of Britain’s greatest landscape artists, Eric Ravilious, is killed in a plane crash while on commission as Official War Artist in Iceland in 1942. His life is as compelling and enigmatic as his art, set against the dramatic wartime locations that inspire him. This film brings to life this unique and still grossly undervalued British artist caught in the crossfire of war 80 years ago, whose legacy largely sank without trace, until now…
In 1910, the Pennsylvania Railroad successfully accomplished the enormous engineering feat of building tunnels under New York City's Hudson and East Rivers, connecting the railroad to New York and New England, knitting together the entire eastern half of the United States. The tunnels terminated in what was one of the greatest architectural achievements of its time, Pennsylvania Station. Penn Station covered nearly eight acres, extended two city blocks, and housed one of the largest public spaces in the world. But just 53 years after the station’s opening, the monumental building that was supposed to last forever, to herald and represent the American Empire, was slated to be destroyed.
Die Menschenfischer
Blind Skateboard's 2nd video since the release of the 1991 film "Video Days"
A documentary that follows the life of photographer Daido Moriyama in the present, which has never been revealed before. Even though his charismatic presence has reigned over the world of photography since the late 60’s, his true persona had been hidden behind a veil of mystery, since he had refused any major appearances in front of any media in the past. Follow the charismatic photographer Daido Moriyama as he takes his first digital photos and observe his style of quick snapshots without looking in the finder. His stark and contrasting black and white images symbolize his fervent lifestyle.
This retrospective exhibition gives brilliant insight into the artist’s work of the last 4 decades. Credit for this highly sensitive selection of Morris’ work goes to Rosalind Krauss, who curated the exhibition. We invited artist and curator to come back to the Guggenheim Museum for a second look at the exhibition. The filmed walk-through gives a vivid sense of the artist’s progress and documents the views of the artist and Rosalind Krauss, one of the most significant critics of our time.
Seemayer Studios presents a new documentary about the American Hotel in downtown Los Angeles and the Arts District that surrounds it. Since 1979, the American Hotel has been the beating heart of a rich community of artists who began moving into the deserted factory buildings between Alameda and the Los Angeles River.