Louis Theroux: Selling Sex

Renowned documentarian Louis Theroux dived into the BBC Archives and selected his favourite documentaries. Each of them had an impact on Louis and explains why he chose the documentaries and how they have inspired his work.. Covering a range of styles - some vérité-driven, others told more through interview - but in all of them you see life at its most raw, its most strange and therefore its most human.

Louis Theroux is in Lagos, following the local gangs and a paramilitary task force.

Loosely based on the true story of the killing of Kitty Genovese: A young woman's murder is witnessed by fifteen of her neighbors who do nothing to help and refuse to cooperate with the police.

Churchill, a name typically associated with braveness and altruism. Recently found evidence from Soviet and British sources however brings up questions about Churchill's doings in the conferences of Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam. Why did he agree to give Stalin large parts of Poland? The story of two world leaders in times of war - it is also the story of Poland.

Raised in the drug infested, crime-ridden streets of West Oakland, California, Demetrius "Hook" Mitchell was born to a drug addicted mother and a father he never knew. Growing up on basketball, he became close friends with some of basketball's greatest players, including: Gary Payton, Jason Kidd, Brian Shaw, J.R Rider, Greg Foster and Antonio Davis, and they all exclaim that he was better than they were. The story of how "Hook" wound up incarcerated is told in this poignant tale of a life gone wrong by his NBA friends, his family and Hook himself. "Hook" Mitchell is considered one of the greatest basketball player to never make it to the NBA

This film explores the consequences of the decisions we take and shows those things which really matter. After leaving his wife and children and promising he would be back, a man lives in a tent at a Mexico City park. There, he earns his living by selling balloons. After 30 years, he needs to fulfill his promise and return home. Will his family accept him back? Is he going to be able to change a life on the streets for the comfort of his home?

An experimental sports film made partly during the Scandinavian Open Championships in Halmstad in 1970, partly during the Chinese players' exhibition tour in Denmark immediately after the SOC. First of all, it is a film about their style, about the artistic culmination that is ping-pong at its best, it records China's comeback into the international sports world.

A teenage son of an astronaut tries to help his father after he and a chimpanzee switch brains as the result of a space flight mis-hap in which the boy must protect the "chimp" in which his...

In hopes of unraveling the causes and cure for various forms of insanity, a psychiatrist in Brazil created the Museum of Images from the Unconscious in 1952. It gathered paintings and drawings made by mental patients from all over Brazil. Many of the works in the museum are paired with the case-histories of the patients who created them in this fascinating film.

A drama-documentary presented by Alan Yentob, with Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead role. Every word spoken by the actors in this film is sourced from the letters that Van Gogh sent to his younger brother Theo, and of those around him. What emerges is a complex portrait of a sophisticated, civilised and yet tormented man.

Documentary commemorating the 40th anniversary of the 'Carry On' comedy film series. Archive clips and out-takes are mixed with interviews with the cast.

The massive exploitation and extraction of sand throughout the world is leading to an alarming conclusion: all beaches will have disappeared by the end of the 21st century.

When the daughter of the miserly cooper Grandet is up for marriage, both families Des Grassins and Cruchot want to marry their sons to her and her substantial dowry. But the girl shows more interest in the impoverished cousin, whom she entrusts her entire fortune to.

Scénarios sur la drogue

Joseph, favored son of Jacob and great-grandson of Abraham, is sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. Rising to become prime minister of Egypt. Joseph governed the country during a seven year famine, during which his brothers visit Egypt seeking grain, only to encounter their brother, presumed long dead.

A bracingly honest new documentary sourced from hundreds of hours of unseen archive and all-new conversations captured during the pandemic, the film features open and frank insights from each band member plus collaborators inextricably linked to the group’s orchestral adventures. Alongside dramatic re-interpretations of their hit songs, ReOrchestrated charts the very beginning of the band’s foundations all the way through the highs and lows of their three albums to date, via landmark, full orchestra appearances at Royal Albert Hall, Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and The London Palladium, not to mention the inevitable tensions encountered en route.

Filmed inside Pharmacy No. 3 in Shanghai, Joris Ivens and Marceline Loridan-Ivens document the daily work of a state pharmacy that functions as both a dispensary and a neighborhood medical center. The film focuses on routine interactions between staff and patients, revealing an integrated model of urban healthcare in 1970s China.

A documentary view of the Basque ball-game in which a small hard leather ball is hit against a wall. The film gives an impression of the game itself and of those who play it, not only the star performers (and the myths that surround them), but also those who just play in the streets and alleyways. The film sees the game it its cultural context and conveys the emotions and stories that are peculiar to the Basque country.

Kina & Yuk are two Arctic foxes, ready to start a family. But the climate is warmer, and the food is more and more rare. Kina & Yuk are obliged to venture far and far away.