Umberto Eco: A Library of the World

A documentary on the genesis, writing, shooting and analysis of the film "The Name of the Rose".

Umberto Eco, the author of best-selling novels who passed away in February 2016, unveils the secrets behind his undertakings and novels.

A German TV documentary that chronicles the daily rehearsals, the filming and all the behind the scenes of Jean-Jacques Annaud's classic "The Name of the Rose". From actors perspectives to the ideas used by the director to produce an impeccable international epic adaptation of Umberto Eco's best selling novel, the film presents the obstacles behind the creation of a production of such large scale and also the making of the many difficult scenes, most of the ones presented here are the characters' murders inside the mysterious abbey.

La rosa dei nomi

Umberto Eco's novel Il pendolo di Foucault (1988) is an immensely ambitious, multi-layered and allusive book. The film contains an initial account and examination of this new book, which is as contentious as it is controversial. Eco's publisher and prominent Italian critics have their say and, of course, the author. He talks about the eight years of work on the book, about the two central images that stand at the beginning of his novel, and about what this story of magic, occultism, and delusion has to do with us and our present.

14th-century Franciscan monk William of Baskerville and his young novice arrive at a conference to find that several monks have been murdered under mysterious circumstances. To solve the crimes, William must rise up against the Church's authority and fight the shadowy conspiracy of monastery monks using only his intelligence; which is considerable.

Two adolescent sons and their parents. A family whose members have known each other for so long that their mutual affection can feel like cabin fever. They all have dreams they want the others to validate, perhaps even more than their need to fulfill those dreams.

Lecture given at Ford Foundation in New York City as part of the 'Milton Friedman Speaks' series.

A few weeks before the opening of the Eichmann trial, transcripts of recorded conversations that Adolf Eichmann had with a Dutch Nazi journalist, Willem Sassen, were mysteriously handed over to prosecutor Gideon Hausner. The conversations were held a few years before Eichmann was brought to Israel by the Mossad. During the trial, Eichmann tried to convince that he was only a bureaucrat who carried out orders, but in the transcripts, Eichmann was found boasting and proud of his significant role in planning and executing the Final Solution. For the first time, we will confront Eichmann with himself in full color, revealing the hidden factors and motives that succeeded in hiding these recordings.

Documentarians Andre Heller and Othmar Schmiderer turn their camera on 81-year-old Traudl Junge, who served as Adolf Hitler's secretary from 1942 to 1945, and allow her to speak about her experiences. Junge sheds light on life in the Third Reich and the days leading up to Hitler's death in the famed bunker, where Junge recorded Hitler's last will and testament. Her gripping account is nothing short of mesmerizing.

"Screening from Within" juxtaposes the historical trajectories of the Chinese adoption of the Soviet “cinefication” movement and the contemporary transformations of itinerant film projection in China. Migrant workers of Beijing and Chengdu, rural inhabitants of Anhui, Sichuan and the Aba Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, as well as projectionists from today and yesterday, share their thoughts, memory and experience about government and NGO-sponsored film screenings. Many of them remember the times when itinerant screening attracted huge crowds of viewers. Others—the younger ones—take video cameras in their own hands to film “from within.”

Underground poker player Bobby Diamonds enters the spotlight in this hallucinatory, hilarious, and heartfelt documentary. Directed, Produced, and Edited by Robert Aaron Mitchell Executive Producer Sarah Dillard Mitchell Winner of Best Short Documentary Tokyo International Short Film Festival (2022) Winner of Best Short Documentary Venice Fullshot Film Festival (2022) Official Selection Munich New Wave Short Film Festival (2022) Official Selection Toronto Smartphone Film Festival (2023)

Doces Relatos

A group of friends reunite in the north of Scotland during summer.

Tony Bennett's 80th Birthday Celebration continues! In support of his Platinum and Grammy Award-winning CD, Duets: An American Classic, comes this revealing new documentary that highlights 12 of the groundbreaking Tony Bennett hits before they became Duets. About the Songs is a 30-minute documentary that chronicles the stories behind some of the great songs that defined Tony's career and played an undeniably important role in the American Songbook, such as RAGS TO RICHES, FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE and I LEFT MY HEART IN SAN FRANCISCO. Joining the discussion is noted George Washington University musicologist, Richard Golden, who provides great insight as both a music expert and Tony's friend. Hundreds of archived and rare photographs and memorabilia add to this intimate look into the life and memories of Tony Bennett and his music. Experience the stories behind the songs that have shaped the unprecedented career of this music and cultural icon.

The history of Hollywood and filmmaking comes alive in this spectacular nine hour celebration of movie magic. It's a mesmerizing, epic analysis that combines rare archival film, key scenes from immortal movies, interviews with leading filmmakers and commentary from noted film scholars and critics. As seen on PBS, this highly acclaimed series is the definitive chronicle of the American cinema, from its beginning to today. Includes interviews with Robert Altman, Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford, Spike Lee, George Lucas, Sidney Lumet, Julia Roberts, Martin Scorsese, Gene Siskel, Steven Spielberg, Oliver Stone, Quentin Tarantino, and many more. A New York Center for Visual History Production in co-production with KCET and the BBC

Auschwitz: The Great Escape

The free, almost naive view from the perspective of a child puts the "68ers" in a new, illuminating light in the anniversary year 2008. The film is a provocative reckoning with the ideological upbringing that seemed so progressive and yet was suffocated by the children's desire to finally grow up. With an ironic eye and a feuilletonistic style, author Richard David Precht and Cologne documentary film director André Schäfer trace a childhood in the West German provinces - and place the major events of those years in completely different, smaller and very private contexts.

Throughout history, regimes have used terror attacks as a means of control over their populations, and for the last 100 years, Western governments have employed the same measures.

At the Limit is a documentary about extreme climbing. In this sports documentary, Pepe Danquart shows brothers Thomas and Alexander Huber climbing in Patagonia and on the granite rock "El Capitan" in Yosemite Valley (USA). A key part of the film is their attempt at a speed ascent of the 1,000-meter-high route "The Nose," in which the two athletes aim to break the then speed record of 2:48:30 hours, set by Hans Florine and Yuji Hirayama in September 2002.