The Art of Joy by Goliarda Sapienza: Writing for Emancipation

The story of the rise to stardom of Joaquin Phoenix, an actor of magnetic physique, tumultuous past, socially committed, who for years has offered outstanding performances.

From the rains of Japan, through threats of arrest for 'public indecency' in Canada, and a birthday tribute to her father in Detroit, this documentary follows Madonna on her 1990 'Blond Ambition' concert tour. Filmed in black and white, with the concert pieces in glittering MTV color, it is an intimate look at the work of the icon, from a prayer circle before each performance to bed games with the dance troupe afterwards.

When French writer Marguerite Duras (1914-96) published her novel The Sea Wall in 1950, she came very close to winning the prestigious Prix Goncourt. Meanwhile, in Indochina, France was suffering its first military defeats in its war against the Việt Minh, the rebel movement for independence.

Nobody captured the atmosphere of 1990s Berlin better than German photographer Daniel Josefsohn, who died in 2016 at the age of 54, leaving his mark in advertising with his irreverent aesthetic and punk sensibility. It was his spontaneous, imperfect images shot for an MTV campaign in 1994 that first made him famous.

An account of the life and work of legendary Japanese actor Toshirō Mifune (1920-97), the most prominent actor of the Golden Age of Japanese cinema.

In his time of greatest splendor, the singer Miguel 'Bambino' Vargas Jiménez (1940-99) was the last frontier of flamenco, an immense musical genre that he developed and brought closer to large audiences: an artist of artists, the idol of the roadside bars, whose inimitable style, scenic magnetism and heartbreaking personality made of his figure a myth, a king without a kingdom, a giant of the popular music of the 20th century.

An account of the life and work of genius Spanish writer Francisco Umbral (1932-2007), author of almost 200 books and more than 1000 articles; as well as an analysis of his both hieratic and strambotic public figure and certain unresolved personal enigmas in order to find an answer to what a real dandy is in this modern and convoluted times.

The biography of former Beatle, John Lennon—narrated by Lennon himself—with extensive material from Yoko Ono's personal collection, previously unseen footage from Lennon's private archives, and interviews with David Bowie, his first wife Cynthia, second wife Yoko Ono and sons Julian and Sean.

A visit to the extravagant house where Victor Hugo spent his exile in Guernsey between 1855 and 1870, the Hauteville House, entirely designed by the writer. This documentary also looks at a little-known aspect of Hugo: his talents as a decorator, architect and designer.

An account of the life of actress Jeanne Moreau (1928-2017), a true icon of the New Wave and one of the most idolized French movie stars.

In the 60s and thanks to the epistolary exchange, the young filmmaker Manuel Antín and the famous writer Julio Cortázar devised four films. An ocean away, a fruitful collaboration and genuine friendship are born.

Documentary on Marvin Gaye made during his stay in Belgium, Ostende

An account of the personal and artistic life of the Spanish singer Peret (1935-2014), the artist who imaginatively mixed various musical styles, such as mambo, tanguillo and rock, to create the gypsy rumba. An epic adventure, from a humble neighborhood of Barcelona to the biggest stages of the world.

The gripping story of legendary American actor John Travolta: his rise to stardom in the 1970s; his agonizing fall in disgrace in the 1980s; and his stunning artistic rebirth in the 1990s.

Legendary British actor Michael Caine, who began his brilliant career on stage during the 1950s, talks about his private life, his work in film and the books he has written.

Documentary on writer/philospher Simone de Beauvoir via interviews of herself and friends supplimented with archive footage resulting in an intimate portrait avaoiding the usual clichés.

The story of Fantômas, the first villain of modernity, from his birth in 1911 as a novel character to his contemporary vicissitudes, passing through Louis Feuillade, André Hunebelle, surrealism and Moscow.

Andrés Godoy is an unusual musician. At the age of 14, already an accomplished guitarist, he lost his right arm while working in his parents' mill. After years of depression, he reinvented himself by creating his own playing technique, and went on to become one of the world's leading guitarists.

In 1993, Jesús Parrado interviewed actor and director Jacinto Molina, world-wide known as Paul Naschy, and director Amando de Ossorio, two key figures of the Spanish fantasy cinema. In 2019, part of this footage is rescued. The rest has lost forever.

The prodigious genesis of a monument of world literature, too often reduced to its popular success, also recounts the tormented conversion of its author, Victor Hugo, to the ideal of social progress.