Marcel Theroux investigates the Russian art scene and the multi-millionaires who are acquiring the works of art.
Podkarpatská rusínska maliarska škola
Kunst aus dem Todeslager
Poème Électronique is an 8-minute piece of electronic music by composer Edgard Varèse, written for the Philips Pavilion at the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair. The Philips corporation commissioned Le Corbusier to design the pavilion, which was intended as a showcase of their engineering progress. The pavilion was shaped like a stomach, with a narrow entrance and exit on either side of a large central space. As the audience entered and exited the pavilion, the electronic composition Concret PH by Iannis Xenakis (who also acted as Le Corbusier's architectural assistant for the pavilion's design) was heard. Poème électronique was synchronized to a film of black and white photographs selected by Le Corbusier which touched on vague themes of human existence.
A portrait of the painters Edgard Tytgat, Albert Dasnoy, Jean Brusselmans, and Paul Delvaux. Under the eye of the camera, the artists present a large glass panel depicting the four seasons representing a stage in human life (adapted from Wikipedia)
A 60-minute salute to American International Pictures. Entertainment lawyer Samuel Z. Arkoff founded AIP (then called American Releasing Corporation) on a $3000 loan in 1954 with his partner, James H. Nicholson, a former West Coast exhibitor and distributor. The company made its mark by targeting teenagers with quickly produced films that exploited subjects mainstream films were reluctant to tackle.
An unconventional portrait of painter Frida Kahlo and photographer Tina Modotti. Simple in style but complex in its analysis, it explores the divergent themes and styles of two contemporary and radical women artists working in the upheaval of the aftermath of the Mexican Revolution.
A short-animated film interpreting famous war photographer Don McCullin's contemplation on his professional experience and impact it had on his life. Frame-by-frame Charcoal animation.
There is a popular theory that it takes at least 10,000 hours of focused practice for a human to become expert in any field. In Japan, there are craftspeople who go far beyond this to reach a special kind of mastery. These people are called Takumi and they devote 60,000 hours to their craft. That's 8 hours a day, 240 days a year, for over 30 years. It's an almost superhuman level of dedication to a life of repetition and no shortcuts. This film asks the question: Will human craft disappear as artificial intelligence reaches beyond our limits?
Larry Wessel invites you to explore the phantasmagorical worlds created by a variety of artists, writers, photographers, musicians and collectors.
A portrait of the day-to-day operations of the National Gallery of London, that reveals the role of the employees and the experiences of the Gallery's visitors. The film portrays the role of the curators and conservators; the education, scientific, and conservation departments; and the audience of all kinds of people who come to experience it.
A documentary about the statue Winged Victory of Samothrace, unquestionably one of the most complete expressions of Hellenistic sculpture
During the 1980 exhibition of Burden's monumental kinetic sculpture The Big Wheel at Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York, Burden and Feldman were interviewed by art critic Willoughby Sharp. Burden articulates the process of creating The Big Wheel, a 6,000-pound, spinning cast-iron flywheel that is initially powered by a motorcycle, and discusses its relation to his earlier performance pieces and sculptural works. Addressing his motivations and the meaning of this potentially dangerous mechanical art object, Burden discusses such topics as the role of the artist in the industrial world, "personal insanity and mass insanity," and "man's propensity towards violence."
Through post-porn, performance and wrestling, Puck tries to figure out her place in the world.
Mannen Henger
For years, artist Drew Friedman has chronicled a strange, alternate universe populated by forgotten Hollywood stars, old Jewish comedians and liver-spotted elevator operators. Drew Friedman: Vermeer of the Borscht Belt is an in-depth documentary tracing artist Friedman's evolution from underground comics to the cover of The New Yorker. The film, directed by Kevin Dougherty, features interviews with Friedman's friends and colleagues, including Gilbert Gottfried, Patton Oswalt, Richard Kind, Mike Judge, Merrill Markoe and many others.
In 1974, a group of friends, inspired by what they had seen in Italy and driven by their common passion, organized a comic book fair in their Charente town of Angoulême. Half a century later, the event has become an internationally renowned festival, which is about to celebrate its 50th edition. This documentary tells the story of the creation of the Angoulême International Comics Festival in the context of the 1970s, and the evolution of the event since then, which has made the city a world reference in an exponentially growing bubble market.
Hidden away at the end of Mulholland Drive, just north of Los Angeles, lies the Motion Picture & Television Fund. Its residents were once the backbone of American showbiz. The Fund gives them a home and new meaning in their old age. Still going strong in their own studio, they produce short films and pursue other creative projects. This documentary follows one such project from the first brainstorming session all the way to the premiere, revealing enduring dreams and hopes beyond the limelight — and lessons in life and love.
A documentary on the life of Jack Kirby, co-creator of Captain America, The Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Thor, The Avengers, The Hulk, The X-Men and the New Gods, among other classic comic book superheroes.
Jim Dine: A Self-Portrait on the Walls is a 1995 American short documentary film about artist Jim Dine produced by Nancy Dine and Richard Stilwell. The film follows Dine as he produces an exhibition by drawing in charcoal directly on the walls of a German museum. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short.