This film examines recently discovered letters written by socialite Wallis Simpson that reveal her secret love, and chart her fear as she found herself becoming trapped into marrying King Edward VIII.
Wallis Simpson is one of the most reviled women of the 20th century. It was to marry this twice-divorced American that King Edward VIII of England renounced the throne in 1936, after less than a year on the throne. Born in Pennsylvania in 1896, Wallis, orphaned of her father, grew up in precarious conditions, and very early on relied on marriage to advance socially. But her matrimonial choices were far from always happy. From 1935 onwards, her affair with Crown Prince Edward opened the doors to "a shimmering new world", but it also made her the target of numerous rumors and public animosity.
A King's Story is a 1965 British documentary film directed by Harry Booth about the life of King Edward VIII, from his birth until abdication in 1936. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
For the first time, the extent of the Duke of Windsor's treachery during World War II is revealed; not just sympathising with the enemy but, new evidence reveals, actively collaborating.
Part of the ,,Forty minute" series of documentaries that have nothing in common besides from their lasting time. This 1984 documentary provides a fascinating account of the lives of the former King Edward VIII and the American divorcée for whom he gave up the British throne in 1936. The Duke died in 1972 but the Duchess lived on until 1986, two years after this programme was transmitted.
This is the incredible inside story of the abdication and subsequent life of King Edward VIII and American socialite Wallis Simpson and the reign that never was. On Dec. 10, 1936 King Edward VIII, King of England, gave it all up - ostensibly for the love of a woman. No man has ever sacrificed so much to enable himself to marry, but the Duke of Windsor gave up Crown and Country for Simpson.
This rich and nuanced portrait of the remarkable, elusive Rothschild family uncovers the story behind the family's phenomenal economic success. The film tells the dynasty’s incredible saga, from the confines of the Frankfurt ghetto to the halls of royal palaces, all the while emphasizing the importance they placed on family unity and the profound role Judaism played in their lives, later using their influence to assist oppressed Jews throughout Europe. A definitive work of documentary cinema with a thoroughly engaging narrative, The Rothschild Saga brings their mysterious and fascinating history to life.
The Norfolk Broads tourist film promotes the pleasures of boating.
In southern Italy, stateless migrants pick the tomatoes the rest of the world will taste. But what about these workers’ European dreams? Will they be ground to a pulp? Our canned tomatoes are picked by migrant workers who have come to southern Italy to realise their dream of Europe. However, they never get beyond the tomato fields. This documentary shows how the tomato broaches a broader issue. Will the pickers keep believing in their dream, or fight against a Europe where others reap the sweet rewards of their disillusion?
An international tech entrepreneur with a fondness for architecture asks Rem Koolhaas to build a house on an impossibly small piece of mountainside in Zell am See in Austria. The architect of the celebrated book S,M,L,XL seizes the challenge: how to draw light into a house less than four metres wide that is mostly underground? Photographer and filmmaker Frans Parthesius followed the building process and offers insight into Koolhaas’s way of working and the special relationship with his client.
A dramatization to promote the Territorial Army.
A secret culture of foragers hunt the Matsutake, a coveted Japanese mushroom worth up to $1,000 a pound—although its true value lies underground as a brilliant networker and healer of ruined landscapes. The Matsutake might just be our last, best hope for an American forest system run amok.
Sir Bobby Robson was a national and international hero whose roots were firmly planted in the coalfields of North East England. His success was based upon his ability to communicate his passion and enthusiasm to those around him. In what became his final filmed interview he looked back on his childhood in County Durham, his love of music and his phenomenal sporting achievements. He also talks about his final great project, The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.
The making of Roman Polanski's "Oliver Twist" as seen through the eyes of the film's child actors.
Isaac Newton - brilliant rational mathematician or master of the occult? This innovative biography reveals Newton as both a hermit and a tyrant, a heretic and an alchemist. Magical images mix with actors and experts to bring alive Britain's greatest scientific genius in his own words.
A black and white short from the Lumière brothers in which a crowds is filmed at the Place de l'Opèra in Paris.
Paul Robeson: Here I Stand presents the life and achievements of an extraordinary man. Athlete, singer, and scholar, Robeson was also a charismatic champion of the rights of the poor working man, the disfranchised and people of color. He led a life in the vanguard of many movements, achieved international acclaim for his music and suffered tremendous personal sacrifice. His story is one of the great dramas of the 20th century, spanning an international canvas of social upheaval and ideological controversy.
Just as the original hobos of the early 20th century were scorned the mainstream of society, so too are today's train riders. FREELOAD is a dive into a beggar's existence. It is a ride through America's backyard. It is a musical endeavor that feels like a drama. It is a sociological examination of the ignored.
Viramundo shows the saga of the northeastern migrants that arrive in São Paulo, beginning with a train arriving and ending with a train leaving São Paulo in a cycle repeated every day. Viramundo's aim was to question why the military coup d'état in Brazil happened without any popular resistance or revolution or reaction of the society.
Janacek: Intimate Excursions is a short experimental documentary that attempts to find visual references in the correspondence of Leos Janacek, the Czechoslovak composer.