Here's a strange one. First, a song on a blackboard: a Polish translation of “I love my little rooster” by American folk writer Almeda Riddle. Then, two men roll around trash bins and lift them to the garbage truck. They do it several times. A woman shouts in the distance. At the end, the picture stops, and the woman sings the song. An early short by Piotr Szulkin.
During the Second World War, the allies' key objective was to crack the German army's encrypted communications code. Without a doubt, the key player in this game was Alan Turing, an interdisciplinary scientist and a long-forgotten hero.
The majestic Neil Diamond live! Prepare to melt.
"Green Day: The Early Years" chronicles the rise of the world's most influential punk band, from their origins playing shows at Berkley's notorious Gilman Street venue in the late 80s, through the release of the platinum-selling Dookie in 1994.
The life and career of the hailed Hollywood movie star and underappreciated genius inventor, Hedy Lamarr.
František Fajtl and Filip Jánský were among the few Czechoslovak airmen who actively fought on all major European battlefronts during World War II and lived to tell the tale. This unique documentary edit, which combines authentic eyewitness accounts of historic events with little-known archival footage, examines various fates and places as well as the journeys associated with them. The resulting amalgam of images, speeches, and music/sound files is far from your typical historical illustration. A suggestive portrayal of life under bleak conditions, far away from home and on the cusp of death, unfolds before our very eyes.
Tango of Yearning (1998) is the first episode of an autobiographical trilogy on postwar Lebanon, later including Nightfall (2000) and Civil War (2002). Taking its title from Tango of Hope, a classic ballad by Nur al-Huda, the film draws from the director’s reflections on war, love, and cinema, as well as his personal experience at the public television channel TéléLiban. Conjuring various snippets of audiovisual archival material, the film is a poetic elegy to film, Beirut’s movie theaters, and a city undergoing radical transformation. Mohamed Soueid has long been a proponent of the experimental video documentary movement in Lebanon, playing a significant role in the country’s creative renaissance since the end of the civil war. Originally trained as a news videographer during the war, the experience offered him a facility with the medium, which he further developed by making non-linear documentary films with a distinctly personal take.
After “Letter From a Time of Exile”, the director is back in Lebanon where he discovers that his dreams about his country are an illusion and that the exile in your homeland is by far the worst exile. Programmer's Note: Borhane Alaouié returns to Beirut from his exile. His documentary film constitutes a new letter at the start of the 21st century in reply to the letters of the 1980s. The reconstruction process appears to affect stones more than people.
Adolfo Kaminsky started saving lives when chance and necessity made him a master forger. As a teenager, he became a member of the French Resistance and used his talent to save the lives of thousands of Jews. The Forger is a well-crafted origin story of a real-life superhero.
The documentary goes through the 23 years of MTV Brazil, taking stock from the avant-garde to the ostracism of the broadcaster that was the main guide for the musical, cultural and social formation of young people in the 90's and 2000's with interviews and testimonials from former VJ's and artists that emerged and became popular in the country because of the channel.
This richly illustrated historical documentary investigates the mechanism of nationalist feelings that radicalise. It shows how fascism was on the rise even a decade before the founding of the NSB, due to a number of anti-democratic initiatives led by a millionaire with a predilection for one-legged women, a market vendor, a cleric, and an artist. Historians, writers and collectors of fascist curios reveal how an initially marginal and fragmented movement grew into a radical populist party.
Children get ready to start the first grade. They start learning the first letters.
One famous day. Five heroes. Five key turning points that changed the course of World War Two during the D Day landings, told through the eyes of the people who made a difference. Using rarely seen archive, dramatic reconstruction and written accounts from eye witnesses and personal testimony from our five heroes, this is D Day as never seen before.
For the first time on DVD, the Alpha Archives Collection proudly presents a two part feature length documentary celebrating the history of the Amicus Productions film company. Founded in the early 1960s by Americans Milton Subotsky and Max J. Rosenberg, Amicus produced some classic (now cult) horror movies, including Dr. Terror's House Of Horrors, The House That Dripped Blood, Tales From The Crypt, Asylum and From Beyond The Grave. Featuring interviews with key individuals who worked for Amicus (actors, directors, etc.), and with many rare photographs and production designs throughout, this documentary is a must-see for fans of British horror cinema.
Denise Crosby takes a first look at the huge fans of "Star Trek" from around America and how the series has affected and shaped their lives.
The first woman to appear in front of an Edison motion picture camera and possibly the first woman to appear in a motion picture within the United States. In the film, Carmencita is recorded going through a routine she had been performing at Koster & Bial's in New York since February 1890.
LONDON SYMPHONY is a brand new silent film - a city symphony - which offers a poetic journey through the city of London. It is an artistic snapshot of the city as it stands today, and a celebration of its culture and diversity.
September 1st, 1939. Nazi Germany invades Poland. The campaign is fast, cruel and ruthless. In these circumstances, how is it that ordinary German soldiers suddenly became vicious killers, terrorizing the local population? Did everyone turn into something worse than wild animals? The true story of the first World War II offensive that marks in the history of infamy the beginning of a carnage and a historical tragedy.
2,000 US soldiers board a British transport ship without any idea that the lifeboats are rusted so badly that they could never be launched. They’re issued lifebelts that need to be inflated instead of standard Naval life jackets. The following day the ship is sunk by one of the first radio-guided missiles ever used in war, killing 1157 soldiers and crew in what remains the greatest loss of life at sea due to enemy action in the history of US war. The government deflected responsibility for the large loss of life by declaring the attack classified indefinitely and ordering all survivors to remain silent.
On 15 May, 2006, double amputee Mark Inglis reached the summit of Mt Everest. It was a remarkable achievement and Inglis was feted by press and public alike. But only a few days later he was plunged into a storm of controversy when it was learned that he had passed an incapacitated climber, Englishman David Sharp, leaving him to a lonely end high in the Death Zone.