Crystal City

The Kabul National Museum, once known as the "face of Afghanistan," was destroyed in 1993. We filmed the most important cultural treasures of the still-intact museum in 1988: ancient Greco-Roman art and antiquitied of Hellenistic civilization, as well as Buddhist sculpture that was said to have mythology--the art of Gandhara, Bamiyan, and Shotorak among them. After the fall of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan in 1992, some seventy percent of the contents of the museum was destroyed, stolen, or smuggled overseas to Japan and other countries. The movement to return these items is also touched upon. The footage in this video represents that only film documentation of the Kabul Museum ever made.

The rise of the Roman Empire towards world power is reconstructed with the help of cartographies and re-enactments. It also shows where traces of ancient Rome can still be found today.

Eusebio José Fernández López Reboredo Bergamín is a teenager in the 1960s whose dream is to be a movie director, but General Francisco Franco prohibited in 1964 all types of art. A coincidental encounter with another artist, named Antonio Mínguez, will change his life.

Exploring the art of Armenian portraitist Hakob Hovnatanyan, Parajanov revives the culture of Tbilisi of the 19th century.

A group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.

Spain, 1953. Pedro Zaragoza, mayor of the city of Benidorm, in the province of Alicante, by the Mediterranean Sea, visits the Palacio del Pardo, General Franco's residence in Madrid, to ask him for help, in the hope of solving a very delicate problem.

New York, May 16, 1888. Visionary Serbian inventor Nikola Tesla is about to introduce an innovative AC asynchronous motor. Before the demonstration, wealthy businessman George Westinghouse meets Tesla privately to get him to sell him his patent and go into business with him. Tesla declines the offer but during the demonstration something happens that will change the world forever.

Working men and women leave through the main gate of the Lumière factory in Lyon, France. Filmed on 22 March 1895, it is often referred to as the first real motion picture ever made, although Louis Le Prince's 1888 Roundhay Garden Scene pre-dated it by seven years. Three separate versions of this film exist, which differ from one another in numerous ways. The first version features a carriage drawn by one horse, while in the second version the carriage is drawn by two horses, and there is no carriage at all in the third version. The clothing style is also different between the three versions, demonstrating the different seasons in which each was filmed. This film was made in the 35 mm format with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and at a speed of 16 frames per second. At that rate, the 17 meters of film length provided a duration of 46 seconds, holding a total of 800 frames.

Gordion : Saklı Hazine

King Edward I has launched a full invasion of Scotland. His next move is a siege of the Urquhart Castle, by Loch Ness. Scottish Governor Alexander De Forbes must defend the castle from the invaders. But the commotion of war will come to a halt when a slumbering ancient power is disturbed: the Loch Ness Monster.

A French silent film directed by Louis Feuillade.

In the farmhouse Gaikoborda, located in the north of Navarre, a mournful family lives; dad, mom, and their four children: Jon, the paraplegic Aintzane and the twins Saioa and Anartz. One of these monotonous days, the mother recieves a visit: the doctor.

As Cathy Linton nears death, she finds herself in a loop of memories while coming to terms with the truth of the world she’s lived and loved in.

During WW2 a boy tries to save himself and his baby sister from a German soldier.

The King has the archbishop murdered, then repents.

Pompeii 79AD, mere days before the Vesuvian eruption. Glaucus and Jone are in love with each other. Arbaces, the Egyptian High Priest, is determined to conquer Jone. Glaucus purchases Nydia, the blind and long-suffering slave. Nydia falls in love with Glaucus and asks Arbaces for his help. He gives her a potion to make Glaucus fall in love with her-- In fact, a poison which will cause violent insanity.

A lyrical and nostalgic analysis of how Casablanca, the mythical film directed by Michael Curtiz in 1942, has influenced both film history and pop culture.

‘Who Named the Lily?’ celebrates and laments the complicated history of the Crystal Palace. Monster Chetwynd plays the ‘Fact Hungry Witch’, who explores the story of the Amazonian waterlily, and reveals its links to engineering. The artwork brings to light the politics of Paxton’s developments in industry and architecture, however, the protagonist of this story is the waterlily – a catalyst for ground-breaking technological advancement.

A short film depicting the execution of Mary, Queen of the Scots. Mary is brought to the execution block and made to kneel down with her neck over it. The executioner lifts his axe ready to bring it down. After that frame Mary has been replaced by a dummy. The axe comes down and severs the head of the dummy from the body. The executioner picks up the head and shows it around for everyone else to see. One of the first camera tricks to be used in a movie.

Edo, Japan. Calligraphists are not mere writers, they can bring drawings to life and utilize kanji. Three calligraphists from the art wielding clan join up and fight against an exiled calligraphist and his minions to protect the Tokugawa shogunate.