Passers-by, those who knew him in his youth, René Barjavel, witness of his beginnings, his wife, his doctor, writers ... By questioning them Michel Polac tries to better understand the troubled personality of Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Notorious anti-Semite and genius writer.
In 1982, Wim Wenders asked 16 of his fellow directors to speak on the future of cinema, resulting in the film Room 666. Now, 40 years later, in Cannes, director Lubna Playoust asks Wim Wenders himself and a new generation of filmmakers (James Gray, Rebecca Zlotowski, Claire Denis, Olivier Assayas, Nadav Lapid, Asghar Farhadi, Alice Rohrwacher and more) the same question: “is cinema a language about to get lost, an art about to die?”
Ric Burns unearths rarely seen footage and offers keen observations on the life and artistic influence of Andy Warhol. [Made for and aired on PBS's American Masters series.]
A biographical film about cinematic illusionist Georges Méliès featuring Méliès’s widow, Jeanne d’Alcy, as herself, and their son André as his own father.
A young city girl explores the idea of beauty with her uncle Michel, a retired farmer from the Beauce region. An amusing and touching encounter between two visions of art and the world.
Three boys are asked to call a friend they haven't seen or contacted in a long time. Their conversations reflect on childhood memories, feelings, and the meaning of friendship.
An Austrian director followed five successful African music and dance artists with his camera and followed their lives for a year. The artists, from villages in Ghana, Gambia and Congo, were the subjects of Africa! Africa! touring across Europe, but they have unbreakable roots to their homeland and their families. Schmiderer lovingly portrays his heroes, who tell their stories about themselves, their art and what it means to them to be African with captivating honesty. The interviews are interwoven with dance scenes and colourful vignettes set to authentic music.
These are strange times indeed. While they continue to command so much attention in the mainstream media, the 'battles' between old and new modes of distribution, between the pirate and the institution of copyright, seem to many of us already lost and won. We know who the victors are. Why then say any more?
On the occasion of the fourty years anniversary of François Mitterand's election, a look back to the relationship between the President and artists, from admiration to manipulation.
Death and the devil, nudity and eroticism, horror in blazing colours, Gothic art cast a spell over people 500 years ago. In these image-poor times, art deliberately and skilfully played with the emotions of the viewer, triggering fear, devotion, but also rapture. Art documentary on German gothic art of the late-middle ages.
Thomas Schütte's work is always about people. His works have gravity and lightness, but they also show damage, power relations, fears, dependencies, evil, weird and beautiful figures. Schütte studied from 1973 to 1981 at the Düsseldorf Art Academy under Fritz Schwegler and Gerhard Richter. Today, he is one of the most important contemporary artists and is represented in all major museums and collections worldwide.
Banksy is the world's most infamous street artist, whose political art, criminal stunts and daring invasions have outraged the establishment for over two decades. Featuring rare interviews with Banksy, this is the story of how an outlaw artist led a revolutionary new movement and built a multi-million dollar empire, while his identity remained shrouded in mystery.
This short documentary looks at the animated art of Lotte Reiniger. We are taken through a demonstration by Lotte herself on the way she cut out, constructed and filmed a silhouette character. She also discusses how she developed the use of coloured gelatines for her backgrounds. To illustrate her output, the documentary includes extracts from several of her films including Papageno (1935), The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) and The Frog Prince.
Habana Shakes takes us on a rhythm-filled odyssey spanning ten vibrant days in Havana, a pulsating island city teetering on the edge of transformation. Infused with a lyrical heart, this is not just an homage to Cuba's spirited culture but also provides an intimate window into the dynamic worlds of Cuban youth. Through the eyes of a skater, a tattoo artist, an actor, a ballerina and an electronica DJ, we find ourselves asking: What aspirations do these young Cubans hold for their nation and future, and how might these differ from or echo the dreams and hopes of their parent’s generation?
The Colegio de Arquitectos de Catalunya commissioned Pere Portabella to make this film for the Joan Miró retrospective exhibit in 1969. There were heated discussions on whether it would be prudent to screen the film during the exhibit. Portabella took the following stance: "either both films are screened or they don't screen any" and, finally, both Miro l'Altre and Aidez l'Espagne were shown. The film was made by combining newsreels and film material from the Spanish Civil War with prints by Miró from the series "Barcelona" (1939-1944). The film ends with the painter's "pochoir" known as Aidez l'Espagne.
Portrait of Andy Goldsworthy, an artist whose specialty is ephemeral sculptures made from elements of nature.
A 1-hour Documentary looking at the Manchester post-punk group and its infamous leader Mark E Smith. The Film follows the current band recording their final Session for the John Peel Show (they were his favourite group and recorded more sessions than any other band) as well as chronicling the chaotic history of the band & its numerous line-up changes.
2016 marks the 500th anniversary of the death of Hieronymus Bosch. It is almost the only information about the artist of The Garden of Earthly Delights that we can put a precise date to. Bosch, the garden of dreams is a film about his most important painting and one of the most iconic paintings in the world: The Garden of Earthly Delights.
As the pressures of daily life mount in a rapidly changing city, some residents turn to dance roller skating as an activity for release, creating a style unique to Los Angeles.
"Africa Light" - as white local citizens call Namibia. The name suggests romance, the beauty of nature and promises a life without any problems in a country where the difference between rich and poor could hardly be greater. Namibia does not give that impression of it. If you look at its surface it seems like Africa in its most innocent and civilized form. It is a country that is so inviting to dream by its spectacular landscape, stunning scenery and fascinating wildlife. It has a very strong tourism structure and the government gets a lot of money with its magical attraction. But despite its grandiose splendor it is an endless gray zone as well. It oscillates between tradition and modernity, between the cattle in the country and the slums in the city. It shuttles from colonial times, land property reform to minimum wage for everyone. It fluctuates between socialism and cold calculated market economy.