Director Ken Loach explores the politics of race, class and charity in a capitalist society in this documentary funded by the Save the Children foundation.
Probably the most atypical star in the history of popular music, Ian Dury overcame Polio to be one of the most iconic figures of the late punk movement. With his supercharged live performances and unique blend of sexually poetic lyrics, Ian Dury achieved critical aclaim from both his fans and fellow artists. From his early days with Kilburn and the High Roads to his superstardom with the Blockheads, Ian Dury was a complicated cocktail of warmth, wit, bile and bombast... quite simply he was unique and unforgettable. To discover the legend that is Ian Dury this DVD contains amazing live performances of Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, What A Waste, Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick, Sweet Gene Vincent and many other hits from his heyday, alongside in-depth interviews that give an insight to the man himself.
Documentary exploring the effect of mass immigration on the dwindling white community of the East End, from the perspective of those who remain and those who chose to leave.
Ilford's Fairlop Plain provides the battlefield for ploughing matches between local hands and Essex outsiders.
Picturesque scenes of land girls gathering hay on an Essex farm during WWI.
Billy has just scored an entry-level position with the local crime cartel. His first job is to mind Jason, a newly released thug with a vicious temper. Jason thinks it's his job to teach Billy about crime, drugs and women. Little does he know that Billy has his eyes on Jason's own wife, Lisa. When an ecstasy deal goes bad, Jason vows revenge on the boss, while Billy looks to take out Jason. Before long, bodies start turning up
A dramatization of the 1968 strike at the Ford Dagenham car plant, where female workers walked out in protest against sexual discrimination.
Based upon Paul Gallico's delicate novel, Patrick Garland's Golden Globe winning The Snow Goose is a stark and hauntingly beautiful drama set amongst the striking scenery of the Essex salt marshes during the early years of WWII. A bearded Richard Harris leads the modest cast with his sensitive portrayal of tormented soul Philip Rhayader, a lonely misshapen man shunned by society but with a great love of life; Harris isnt overly bitter of his treatment and expresses his compassion through his paintings and love of the waterfowl that surround him. Harris is ably supported by the waiflike Jenny Agutter as Frith, who radiates the requisite amount of youthful innocence and naivety, and won a best supporting actress Emmy Award for her performance.
Essex has been the central hub for many famous criminal activities. For generations Essex Boys have ruled the streets of Essex and East London in their underworld empires. Many people thought this ended in a Range Rover in 1995. They were wrong... Danny - an ex hooligan is driven back into a life of crime after his world is turned upside down on the streets of Essex.
Twenty years after Britain's most notorious gangland murders, the next generation of Essex Boys vie for control as revenge is sought by all sides.
After an incident at her high school pulls her into the orbit of the only other Black girl in her year, “Essex Girl” Bisola is plunged into a journey to discover a whole new side of herself.
The Doctor contemplates a journey to see an old acquaintance and digs a well. Released in cinemas alongside the 3D double-bill of Dark Water and Death in Heaven.
A trio of Essex girls offer their special brand of hospitality to a morose mysterious stranger.
In her award-winning stand-up show, Esther Manito (Live At The Apollo, The Stand Up Sketch Show) looks back at the era of lad mags, landlines and cock-n-ball graffiti. A time where the media said her Middle Eastern heritage was filled with misogynistic men, whereas the West absolutely had (and still has) sexism sorted. Has lad culture really improved? Does 90s Essex have the answers?
Includes videos of Mylène Farmer made by Laurent Boutonnat, Luc Besson, Abel Ferrara and Marcus Nispel.
Materia oscura tells the story of a war zone in peacetime. The film location is the Salto di Quirra test range (Sardinia, Italy) where, for over fifty years, governments around the world have tested 'new weapons' and where the Italian government has carried out controlled explosions of old weapon stocks, inexorably endangering the territory.
The 1920s saw a revolution in technology, the advent of the recording industry, that created the first class of African-American women to sing their way to fame and fortune. Blues divas such as Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Alberta Hunter created and promoted a working-class vision of blues life that provided an alternative to the Victorian gentility of middle-class manners. In their lives and music, blues women presented themselves as strong, independent women who lived hard lives and were unapologetic about their unconventional choices in clothes, recreational activities, and bed partners. Blues singers disseminated a Black feminism that celebrated emotional resilience and sexual pleasure, no matter the source.
Last year Edward Snowden downloaded tens of thousands of top-secret documents from a highly secure government computer network. The revelations that followed touched off a fierce debate over the massive surveillance operations conducted by the National Security Agency. Through exclusive interviews with intelligence insiders, cabinet officials, and government whistle-blowers, the film reveals how the U.S. government came to monitor the communications of millions of Americans and to collect billions of records on ordinary people around the world.
A collection of music videos and behind the scenes footage released to promote Kanye West's upcoming debut album, College Dropout. The compilation features the videos to the previously unreleased "Two Words", "Slow Jamz", "Through the Wire", "All Falls Down", the three versions of "Jesus Walks", and "The New Workout Plan", all previously unseen before its release.
Hosted by the one and only Disco Diva, Gloria Gaynor, "Disco: Spinning the Story" takes a comprehensive look at the evolution of the music that defined the 70's. From the recording studios to the dance floors, "Disco: Spinning the Story" examines the phenomenon in a way it has never been told before. Hear funk pioneer George Clinton, Donna Summer producer Giorgio Moroder, Nile Rodgers of Chic, Earl Young of the Trammps, hip-hop icon Kurtis Blow, remix legend Tom Moulton, "Saturday Night Fever" actress, Karen Lynn Gorney and even Bob Weir of The Grateful Dead talk about the roots of Disco, how it emerged, and how it has influenced music ever since. Included are vintage performance highlights from Donna Summer, KC & The Sunshine Band, Bee Gees, Chic, Gloria Gaynor, Rose Royce, Labelle, Hues Corporation and many more.