This is a story of a seemingly quiet and unobtrusive man, author of a colossal and partly unfinished literary work. We will try to trace back to the origins of his inspiration so as to understand why his work met and still meets with so much success. How did JRR Tolkien manage, through the power of words alone, to so widely instill wisps of magic in the midst of a particularly disenchanted 20th century?
THE BANDIT is a film about 70s superstar Burt Reynolds, his best friend, roommate and stunt-double Hal Needham, and the making of their unlikely smash-hit SMOKEY & THE BANDIT. The film tells the action-packed story of the making of SMOKEY, while tracing the vivid personal journeys of Reynolds and Needham from obscurity to stardom and highlighting one of the most extraordinary relationships in Hollywood history. Featuring new interviews with Reynolds, rare archive material, including footage from Reynolds’ personal archive, as well as candid interviews with the late Hal Needham, the documentary tells an exhilarating and moving story about loyalty, friendship and creative risk.
Pianist Richard Glazier offers a unique view of Broadway and Hollywood music using fascinating interviews, piano performances and commentary in this broadcast special.
Hold mig fast. Før jeg forsvinder
Jean Marais par Jean Marais
Filmmaker Eva Ziemsen was determined to interview renowned film director, Lars von Trier. Her provocative offer, to conduct the interview nude, led to a revealing and truthful conversation about filmmaking.
Sophia Loren, who was born in Rome and lived there as a child, returns to the city that will forever be in her blood and gives her impressions of and reactions to the mosaic of Rome and the people she encounters there during her visit. She meets Marcello Mastroianni and Vittorio de Sica as she visits the sights, affectionately commenting on the grandeur of the Eternal City and the irrepressible nature of its people.
This promotional short film for "Soylent Green" (1973) begins by showing clips of films that depicted what the future might be like beyond Earth. The narrator then discusses the origin of the idea depicted in "Soylent Green." Director Richard Fleischer and star Charlton Heston discuss how an upcoming crowd scene will be filmed. Then we see what happens when the crowd riots because there is not enough food available to be distributed to everyone. "Soylent Green" was Edward G. Robinson's 101st (and, as it turned out, his last) feature film. During a break in filming, the cast and crew hold a ceremony celebrating the first film of his "second hundred," and Robinson makes appreciative remarks to the crowd. Studio head Jack L. Warner and friend George Burns are among those in attendance.
Here's a little story they're about to tell... Mike Diamond and Adam Horovitz share the story of their band and 40 years of friendship in a live documentary experience directed by friend, collaborator, and their former grandfather, Spike Jonze.
Thirty years after recording "Rapper's Delight," Master Gee & Wonder Mike come back to reclaim their identities and rightful place in Hip Hop history.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest Rugby League players ever, kiwi hard-man Mark Graham was feared off and, on the field, though little knew the real man or the destruction behind his success. SHARKO, portrays an intimate look at the life of a father, a son and the cost of greatness.
The work and unexplained death of Michael Ventris, the English architect, classicist, and philologist who deciphered the ancient Mycenaean Greek script Linear B, are portrayed.
Black City Parade : Le Film
A portrait of the internationally acclaimed Spanish film director Isabel Coixet and an analysis of her particular world and her sensibility as a creator: her fictional universe, her career and her life through the words of actors, technicians, family, friends, journalists, specialized critics and those filmmakers who have been inspired by her work.
The tortured life of Paul Morphy (1850s New Orleans chess prodigy) is examined.
Long treated with indifference by critics and historians, British silent cinema has only recently undergone the reevaluation it has long deserved, revealing it to be far richer than previously acknowledged. This documentary, featuring clips from a remarkable range of films, celebrates the early years of British filmmaking and spans from such pioneers as George Albert Smith and Cecil Hepworth to such later figures as Anthony Asquith, Maurice Elvey and, of course, Alfred Hitchcock.
Django
This shows physicist Stephen Hawking's life as he deals with the ALS that renders him immobile and unable to speak without the use of a computer. Hawking's friends, family, classmates, and peers are interviewed not only about his theories but the man himself.
A three-part study that introduces audiences to the celebrated Martinican author Aimé Césaire, who coined the term "négritude" and launched the movement called the "Great Black Cry".
Singer, songwriter, business man, family man, civil rights activist: Sam Cooke transcends all barriers of race, faith and talent. This first-ever biography of the definitive soul singer looks at his extraordinary career and personal life - from his gospel-singing roots through his R&B and pop music career.