Katja Mann: A Life with Thomas Mann

Emmy Award-winning chronicle of the history of Orchard House, the home in Concord, Massachusetts where Louisa May Alcott wrote and set Little Women.

The Spanish author Enrique Jardiel Poncela (1901-1952) was one of the best comedy writers of all time, a novelist and newspaper columnist, misunderstood, even censored, both by the Second Republic government and Francoism, an outsider ahead of his time; also a filmmaker and screenwriter in Hollywood, architect of a revolutionary theatrical building and scenographer, cartoonist and illustrator. An implausible genius.

This in-depth program explores Philip K. Dick`s world, a universe full of mysteries and intrigues.

A docu-drama portrait of the early-20th-century French author Marcel Proust, based on Alain de Botton's updated analysis of his work as a modern-day self-help guide. Ralph Fiennes plays Proust, with Phyllida Law and Donald Sinden as his contemporaries, while commentators including de Botton, Louis de Bernières and Doris Lessing explain their enthusiasm for his work.

Writers, publishers, fans, and friends share their perspectives and memories of sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick. In his career, Philip Kindred Dick (1928–82) published dozens of science fiction novels and short stories. His work has reached a wider audience due to such film adaptations as BLADE RUNNER (1982), TOTAL RECALL (1990), MINORITY REPORT (2002), and A SCANNER DARKLY (2006).

John Irving's literary worlds are satirically exaggerated, socially critical, unexpectedly magical. But how do these dazzling, sometimes bizarre, narrative worlds emerge? A unique insight into his writing workshop and a search of the places and people who have become part of his stories.

Dorothy Johnson was a Western writer ahead of her time. Women saved men, heroes died unwept and unsung, whites lived with Indians and benefited from the experience. Three of her stories were made into films and many critics consider "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" to be the cornerstone of the modern western. This documentary looks back on Dorothy's life, and her place in history.

Hosted by Keeley Hawes, star of the popular television series The Durrells, this documentary reveals the adventures of the eccentric Durrell family once they left Corfu, Greece.

An elderly man is working tirelessly to revive the Jewish world lost in the Holocaust. His name is Aharon Appelfeld, and he became one of the greatest Jewish writers of our time. Every day, through his murmuring voice and handwriting, the survivors, the children of Ukraine, the peasants of Yiddishland come alive in the tiny office of a Jerusalem apartment. Aharon Appelfeld, solitary, wants to fight this battle to his last breath.

In this artistic exploration of the life and work of writer Henry Miller, filmmaker Joe Kishton skillfully weaves clips of films and interviews of Miller with the music of Laurie Anderson. From Miller himself we hear of his difficult relationship with his parents, and of his need to create, even (or especially) when his message abrades social mores.

A year in the company of Scottish writer Irvine Welsh, as he publishes a new novel, launches a record label, works on two television series and adapts his most famous work Trainspotting into a West End musical.

The film focuses on the exciting life journey of Swiss writer Katharina Zimmermann. She follows her husband on a mission to the jungle in Indonesia where she raises their four children and five foster children and lives through the military coup. Back in Switzerland Katharina discovers her voice and finds her path. Now, at eighty, she is writing her life story. Yet suddenly she faces another battle because her publisher is threatening to let her go.

With precisely articulated turns of phrase, Sibylle Berg - celebrated novelist, playwright and columnist known for her provocations and the sharpness of her comments - takes the film's two directors on an anecdotal and humorous foray through her eventful life.

Harold Crick is a lonely IRS agent whose mundane existence is transformed when he hears a mysterious voice narrating his life.

Apu is a jobless ex-student dreaming vaguely of a future as a writer. An old college friend talks him into a visit up-country to a village wedding. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 1996.

Liam White's career has peaked—to put it kindly. Uninspired and burnt-out, the titular character loses his will to finish his next novel and even shirks his public appearance commitments. To top it all off, Liam is told by his oncologist that his cancer has returned. Resigned to the fact that his life will soon come to an end, he begins a journey of reflection as he comes to grips with his life thus far and the people who shaped him, for better and worse.

When a US Naval captain shows signs of mental instability that jeopardize his ship, the first officer relieves him of command and faces court martial for mutiny.

Joan Wilder is thrust back into a world of murder, chases, foreign intrigue... and love. This time out she's duped by a duplicitous Arab dignitary who brings her to the Middle East, ostensibly to write a book about his life. Of course, he's up to no good, and Joan is just another pawn in his wicked game. But Jack Colton and his sidekick Ralph show up to help our intrepid heroine save the day.

This comical love story follows the story of A.J. Fikry, whose life is not at all what he expected it to be. His wife has died, his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history and now his prized possession, a rare edition of Poe poems, has been stolen. He’s given up on people and even the books in his store offer another reminder that the world is changing too rapidly. But when a mysterious package arrives at the store, it gives Fikry the chance to make his life over and see things anew.

A cunning and resourceful housewife vows revenge on her husband when he begins an affair with a wealthy romance novelist.