Terrified of giving voice to the darkness of her subconscious mind, Mary Shelley locks into a dangerous battle with her own ‘inner monster’ as she struggles to write her seminal science fiction novel, ‘Frankenstein’.
Pre-WWII Czech democratic politician Milada Horáková was one of the first victims of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. Opposing the 1948 coup but not leaving the country, she was arrested and tried for treason on fabricated charges in a show trial broadcast on the radio.
Chateaubriand
Forty years after the death of Pierre Mendès France, Yves Jeuland and Alix Maurin reveal another side to this figure: the story of his life, told through the pages of his private notebooks. PMF led a romantic and extraordinary life as a French politician and Jew, both loved and hated.
The film, in individual episodes, captures the fate of Bedřich Smetana from 1856 until the end of his life, from his young years until the moment when, exhausted by human and artistic hardship, he sees the fulfillment of his great dream, the opening of the National Theatre.
A biopic about British philosopher and logician Bertrand Russell, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1950 for his varied and significant writings championing humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought.
Priya, an exceptional yet obsessive pianist at Berklee School of Music, struggles to meet the demands of her professor’s unorthodox senior showcase assignment: to compose a piece that encapsulates her greatest fear.
Ken Russell revisits the life of Elgar, with musical background provided by the composer's works.
In 1914, sixteen year old Roger returned home from boarding school during vacation to find his puberty hit hard in a house filled with beautiful women. These women have previous engagements with other men who are away, and during this time, Roger impregnates them all, including his aunt and sister, then devises plans to cuckold the men.
Messiaen's breathtakingly intense opera on the life of St Francis of Assisi stars Rod Gilfry as the charismatic visionary, beguiled by the glory of creation, yet fearful of both its imperfections and its transience. Pierre Audi's thoroughly engaging production for The Netherlands Opera brings out the naive imagery, the grandeur, and above all the vast tenderness of the resplendent score, revealed as a grandiose ritual with the meaning and purpose of life as its central theme. But the real drama of the work takes place in the orchestra. Elevated to stupendous heights by the sublimely inspired Ingo Metzmacher, The Hague Philharmonic and the Chorus of De Nederlandse Opera combine forces with a brilliant cast to produce the finest possible musical pilgrimage.
Yokohama, 1963. Japan is picking itself up from the devastation of World War II and preparing to host the 1964 Olympics—and the mood is one of both optimism and conflict as the young generation struggles to throw off the shackles of a troubled past. Against this backdrop of hope and change, a friendship begins to blossom between high school students Umi and Shun—but a buried secret from their past emerges to cast a shadow on the future and pull them apart.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was one of the first politicians to congratulate Donald Trump on his election as president of the United States in 2016, but over time the relationship between the two heads of state has had its ups and downs. Are they friends or enemies? Has their mutual admiration turned into mutual distrust?
The end of the Cold War did not bring about a definitive thaw in the former republics of the Soviet Union, so that today there are several frozen conflicts, unresolved for decades, in that vast territory. As in Transnistria, an unrecognized state, seceded from Moldova since 1990. Kolja is a silent witness of how borders and bureaucracy shape the lives of citizens, finally forced to lose their identity.
A romance between a struggling composer and an American singer.
A biopic based on the life of starlet Delia Dueñas Smith, better known as Pepsi Paloma.
The era of palace coups in Russia ended with the coronation of a prominent historical figure: Catherine the Great. She could have settled for the role of Emperor’s wife, but her persistence and determination eventually proved that her rightful place was on the throne. She was still a child when she learned that she was to marry Peter III and produce an heir. Catherine, however, wanted to rule Russia herself. She saw the potential of the Russian Empire, and she wanted to implement the ideas of the Enlightenment. Will Russia experience a renaissance of culture and sciences under Catherine? Will her ideas eventually play to her detriment?
A pseudo biography of Dora Pejačević (10 September 1885 - 5 March 1923), a Croatian composer.
The shrill and tragic story about an event that involved Count Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy. In an infantry regiment of the military based in the Tula region an offence occurs. In this regiment, the capital’s lieutenant Grigory Kolokoltsev — inspired by progressive ideas — does his service. A military tribunal and execution await the soldier charged with the offence. Kolokoltsev asks Count Tolstoy for help — and he decides to protect the innocent man. The pointed history about the complexity of choice and fidelity to one’s ideals is based on real events.
Congrès de Tours 1920: The Birth of the French Communist Party
A successful film composer falls in love when he travels to India to work on a Bollywood retelling of Romeo and Juliet.