Some of the Best

This documentary explores the enduring popularity of one of Britain's best loved crime dramas, Midsomer Murders, as it celebrates its 25th anniversary.

Edgar Morin, un penseur à Paris

A documentary exploring the 50-year legacy of Bengali fictional detective Feluda, created by Satyajit Ray.

An in-depth oral history of the production and development history of Robert Altman's "O.C. and Stiggs," featuring commentaries from the film's cast and crew.

The 1920s was a time of great change in Hollywood. This program tells the story of the advent of sound technology for movies and the emergence of talkies and musicals in Hollywood. While audiences cried out for more, the movie industry struggled to adapt to the strange new technology. The result was an explosion of movie musicals by the end of the decade.

A retrospective of documentary films by Donald Brittain offering a glimpse of the man and the restless energy that informed his work. Dedicated and hard-working Brittain left nothing to chance, driving himself and his colleagues at the NFB and the CBC until perfection was achieved, or until airtime -- whichever came first.

The Death of 'Superman Lives': What Happened? feature film documents the process of development of the ill fated "Superman Lives" movie, that was to be directed by Tim Burton and star Nicolas Cage as the man of steel himself, Superman. The project went through years of development before the plug was pulled, and this documentary interviews the major filmmakers: Kevin Smith, Tim Burton, Jon Peters, Dan Gilroy, Colleen Atwood, Lorenzo di Bonaventura and many many more.

Interview-based documentary looking back on the making and reception of Nobuhiko Ōbayashi's 1977 film House.

Der Maler Willi Sitte - Ein Leben zwischen Kunst und Politik

Retrospective documentary taking a look back at the making of House, the 1985 horror film that became a nice little hit when it was originally released. Featuring interviews with producer Sean S. Cunningham, director Steve Miner, story creator Fred Dekker, cast members William Katt, George Wendt and Kay Lenz, composer Harry Manfredini, stunt coordinator Kane Hodder and various members of the special effects crew.

Walter Hill sits down for a rare retrospective interview for his 1981 film "Southern Comfort".

Director Makoto Shinkai reminisces with his team about the production process of the animated film "5 Centimeters per Second" and shares memories at the filming locations. Screened with theatrical re-release of the film in 2026.

Dame Joanna Lumley offers a first-person retrospective of her most memorable screen roles.

A celebration of the sitcom Still Game, featuring interviews with the cast, celebrities who have appeared on the show and super fans. Including a look at some favourite moments.

During the 1950s, musical masterpieces that have yet to be equaled were produced in Cinemascope with stereophonic sound. These two episodes explore how the post-war years were alive with bold experimentation in musical film. Later in the decade, Rock & Roll became the musical choice of the younger generation and movie musicals followed suit. Highlights of this 2-part program include: Films based on smash Broadway musicals become the rage. A pretty starlet with no musical training named Marilyn Monroe takes the country by storm in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." With favorites from the previous decade continue to delight audiences: Rock & Roll films, songs and musical numbers.

Documentary looking at the history of Hollywood musicals in the 1960s. This decade saw independent film companies becoming more prominent as the bigger Hollywood studios, who produced the mainstream musicals, experienced a decline. This brought the emergence of more realistic story lines and the use of contemporary music like rock 'n' roll. This programme features songs from the musicals 'West Side Story' (1961), 'The Music Man' (1962), 'Mary Poppins' (1964), 'The Umbrellas of Cherbourg' (1964), 'Funny Girl' (1968), 'Oliver!' (1968) and 'Sweet Charity' (1969).

In the 1980s we got our MTV but seemed to have lost much of the musical film in the process. But the genre is resilient. A handful of masterpieces along with a few cult classics emerged from this decade. In the 1990s the Hollywood musical was largely animated, rather than live action. However, television had a surprising number of musical offerings, including “Gypsy” with Bette Midler and “Annie” which launched director Rob Marshall. In the 2000s musicals came back starting with “Moulin Rouge” and carrying on with “Chicago,” “Dreamgirls” and “Hairspray.” There are movies based on Broadway triumphs and once again there are teens singing and dancing.

A celebration of the extensive career and remarkable character of Illinois Cross Country coach, Mike Lynn.

Frasier Crane visits his therapist and reminisces over the events of the past 11 years since his move from Boston to Seattle, in a clip show designed to commemorate the event of the last ever episode of the sitcom Frasier.

A few months before his death, Polish filmmaker Andrzej Wajda (1926-2016) revisited his work in an assembly room of the Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing, established in Warsaw in 2002.