Discover Movies

After the implementation of the state of siege in Poland and the banning of the independent trade union Solidarnosc in 1981, the Dardenne brothers visited five Polish immigrants from different generations. Five Poles who left the country, fleeing the Nazis, pogroms or communism.

Filmmaker Manfred Blank (director of the excellent Pharos of Chaos) interviews Danièle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub at some length about their then-current production, Klassenverhältnisse (Class Relations), in which he, himself, performed as an actor.

Documentary following a Swedish non-profit organization on their study trip to Jamaica. One of the first films by Kristian Petri and a unique document on Jamaican society around 1980.

Mývatn, which literally means the lake of midges, is in an active volcanic area at the edge of the interior desert of Northern Iceland. The shallow lake supports a wealth of fish and waterfowl, including some species of birds that are rarely seen elsewhere in Europe. The film follows the birds of this unique marshland through the year.

A documentary film about the rural cinematographer of Pukskiy volost in Valga County, Jaan Vihme — a man for whom bringing the joy of cinema to people has become both a calling and a hobby, as well as the beloved work of his entire life…

At the end of the 1980s, a film team is about to visit Lukas Wolf, Friedrich Wolf's eldest son, who lives in the state of New York, USA. They carry with them a letter from his half-brother Markus Wolf the Stasi chief from GDR. The brothers have not seen each other since 1933; on the other hand, Lukas met his other half-brother Konrad Wolf once in New York City, where they got along very well, after many years of separation. Johanna and Lukas come from Friedrich Wolf's first marriage with Käthe Gumpold, Markus and Konrad, from the second wife Else Dreibholz.

This 1980 on-set documentary features an extensive look behind the scenes of the film.

An in-depth look into the making of the film Annie (1982). It covers the adaptation changes from the original Broadway musical, the hiring of director John Huston, the nationwide search to cast the title role, the production process, and the conception of several musical numbers, including a different version of the song "Easy Street" than the one that ended up in the film.

A television documentary produced for British Television directed by Peter Greenaway.

The documentary features the British miners and their family experiences told through songs, poems, pictures and words.

This witty and original film is about the open spaces of cities and why some of them work for people while others don't. Beginning at New York's Seagram Plaza, one of the most used open areas in the city, the film proceeds to analyze why this space is so popular and how other urban oases, both in New York and elsewhere, measure up. Based on direct observation of what people actually do, the film presents a remarkably engaging and informative tour of the urban landscape and looks at how it can be made more hospitable to those who live in it.

Apocalyptic 1980 ECO MONDO narrated by the master of creepy camp VINCENT PRICE featuring some spectacular (disaster) and occasionally graphic footage.

Sudan, in the late 1980s. People cross the desert on foot or cover long distances by car and truck. In Al Mahatta, Eltayeb Mahdi shows encounters at one of the large crossroads between the capital Khartoum in the centre of the country and Bur Sudan on the Red Sea.

Portrait of a private coal company in East Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg district in 1988/89. The feisty woman boss runs the business with humour and understanding. Her seven male employees respect her. To the outside world, they are all tough guys, but as they describe their jobs and personal situations, above and beyond the hard manual labour, their vulnerability starts to come to light.

John Neumeier, of the Hamburg Opera, and Patrick Dupond, principal dancer at the Paris Opera, rehearse of Stravinsky's ballet 'Petrushka'.

Enjoy the romance of railroads as you ride on the Orient Express, climb the Andes, cross the U.S. on the Salad Bowl Express, and meet the Hobo King, who calls himself "Steamboat." From steam engines to sleek diesels, experience the majesty and adventure of trains past and present. Remember the days when thundering trains bridged the world's continents, nourished the pioneer spirit, ferried our troops to war, and provided politicians with mobile campaign platforms. Then settle into a first-class seat aboard the luxurious Orient Express, and glide through storybook cities from Paris to Istanbul. Celebrate a slice of history and ride the rails of the world. A National Geographic Production.

A documentary about the lives of six transgender women in post-Franco Spain.

A short film that tries to deter young people from shoplifting.

Pierre Koralnik's documentary about American sculptor Louise Nevelson

The music band Síntesis recreates the Yoruba music, a key part of Cuban cultural heritage, and fuses it with rock sounds. The result is a new rhythm with a contagious dancing character.

This is an HBO Special in which Joe Piscopo has 60 minutes to try to do many of his famous impressions. He has mostly his Saturday Night Live friends to help do small skits on the Special.

A documentary that investigates the sexual habits of Italians at the time. Street interviews are interspersed with erotic studio reconstructions.

François de Menil and Monique Alexandre's short portrait of artist Niki de Saint Phalle, shot in 16mm, 1982.

A journey into the depths of depravity to some of the most bizarre and grisly death experiences ever recorded.

In commemoration of International Women's Day, a short film set in 19th-century Lima tells the story of the "tapadas," women who, hidden beneath their skirts and shawls, defied social norms by finding freedom and independence in anonymity. Admired by artists and chroniclers for their audacity and charm, these women transformed the city into a space of female liberation, despite condemnation from the Church, authorities, and the medical establishment, which attempted to prohibit their clothing and behavior. Through their own voices, the film reconstructs their resistance against these impositions, revealing a silent struggle where identity, desire, and rebellion intertwine in the streets of Lima.

Celebrated documentary filmmaker Emile DeAntonio discusses his comtempt for J Edgar Hoover, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and American political intolerance in general.

The production of Genesis's eponymous 1983 studio album is captured by Phil Collins on his video camera.

Just Like That! is a celebration of the comic genius of Tommy Cooper - just like that! But nobody could do it just like that apart from the unique Mr Cooper himself, and despite his claim never to have used those words. Was Tommy really Henry Coper's brother? Can Tommy's performance as Hamlet, clown prince, compare with the greats? Was Tommy a ventriloquist at heart? Rare and classic routines and contributions from famous fans help solve the mystery. The friends and fans who take part (many of them confirming that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery) include Adrian Edmondson, Lenny Henry, Henry Cooper, former Goons Harry Secombe and Spike Milligan, writer Dick Hills, Tommy's brother David Cooper (who has himself sadly since died), alternative comedian Steve Murray, The Wow Show and magician Paul Scott. A title montage sequence features further impersonations of the great man from Alexei Sayle, Bob Todd, Patricia Hayes, and Jess Conrad.

This short documentary by Bill Mason explores Pukaskwa National Park on Lake Superior, providing a background of the park's geological past and plant life. The film also shows scenes of hiking, canoeing and camping. The result is to put us back in touch with the natural elements that our ancestors both fought and enjoyed.

Use of colored paper in children's art education.

In the fall of 1985, Christo "packed" the Pont Neuf. In the space of a week, enthusiasts, critics and curious people drastically change the perception of this place whose presence has never been felt as much as since it was veiled. And that's what Christo wanted.

Japanese dance and musical film presenting Toshihiko Tahara, a singer then noted for his abilities as a dancer, with a large supporting cast of singers and dancers – mainly drawn from the roster of the Johnny & Associates talent agency of Johnny Kitagawa. The film was shot in the Tokyo Takarazuka Theatre Tokyo and Yurakucho on January 29–30.

BBC documentary about Franz Kafka played by GREEK TV in 1990. This documentary is one of the ten films of “The Modern World: Ten Great Writers (1988)”.

In Torre del Lago, by Lake Massaciuccoli, Puccini is writing "The Girl of the Golden West" when his wife Elvira accuses him of a dalliance with their maid, Doria Manfredi, a young women from town. Although the maestro is frequently unfaithful, he denies the affair; Elvira insists she's right and publicly hounds Doria. Between scenes in this domestic drama that turns tragic, we watch a Scottish company rehearse and stage "Turandot," Puccini's last opera. The film finds parallels between the two stories and suggests that in the opera, Puccini expresses love for his wife and guilt in Doria's fate. Three local gentlemen provide a spoken chorus as Puccini's score plays throughout.

Ehreshoven Castle - half an hour from Cologne - is home to 16 countesses, baronesses and baronesses aged between 76 and 88. The moated castle with its old park was bequeathed as a foundation by the last heiress in 1920. Impecunious, unmarried, noble ladies of the Catholic faith are given the opportunity to spend a quiet, dignified retirement there, provided their families are listed in the Gotha.

For over a year, the film team accompanied an eighth grade class and interviewed the students about their first romantic relationships as well as their relationships to parents and teachers. The young people's comments are accompanied by scenes of their daily lives and songs written by director Konrad Weiß. The resulting documentary is a sensitive, emotional, and humorous portrait of early adolesence that also provides information and advice for teenagers.

A Jumpin' Night in the Garden of Eden was the first film to document the klezmer revival, tracing the efforts of two founding groups, Kapelye and Boston's Klezmer Conservatory Band, to recover the lost history of klezmer music. For nearly a millennium, this vigorous and soulful music was part of the celebration of Jewish life in Eastern Europe. In the early decades of this century, the music took root in America. Klezmer musicians learned hundreds of tunes by ear and their ears were open to Gypsy, Ukrainian and Greek melodies of the old world, as well as to the new sounds of American jazz. Music born in Eastern Europe lived on in the imaginations of composers for New York's Yiddish theater, men whose tunes entered the mainstream through such unlikely adapters as the Andrew Sisters. Eventually Klezmer went underground as its audience assimilated into mainstream American culture.

Yelena Obraztsova is one of the brightest stars of international opera. She performed, and continues to perform on world stages in the star-studded shows of Herbert von Karajan and Franco Zeffirelli. In this film the great singer is captured during one of her rare visits to her apartment in Moscow along with her long-time accompanist, the piano virtuoso Vaja Chachawa.

Explores the past-life experiences of various celebrities.

Katja Raganelli’s sole excursion into the realm of avant-garde cinema was this focus on Austrian experimental film axiom Valie Export. This portrayal of the filmmaker is quite special as it presents Export at a very particular moment in her career, during the shooting of a fiction feature, Menschenfrauen (1980), with which she was able to break into the avant-garde mainstream, shedding the skin of her path-breaking, often performance-based early works.

Footage of a volcano eruption in Madagascar set to music by Klaus Schulze, Popol Vuh and Tangerine Dream, and poems by Raficq Abdulla.

This short documentary tells the story of Garret Walsh, a twelve-year-old Canadian body-builder.

This one proves that it's all a big fake, and the myth of the Guinea Pig movies being actual snuff is not true. The girl from "Devil's Experiment" laughs while her flesh gets twisted. The guy from "He Never Dies" longs to take the latex applications off.

About the Soviet hockey player V. Kharlamov. Teammates, children's coach B.P. Kulagin, and national team coach A. Tarasov share their memories.

Documentary about Merchant Ivory Productions, including interviews with the principals of the film production company and actors which have appeared in their films.

One day in the lives of an average Greenlandic family, which happens to be of great importance for 8-year old Kali - he's about to catch his first prey with the harpoon. The whole family is looking forward for the huge step in boy's maturation.

Documentary on Turin ten years after "Trevico-Torino", with the guidance of Diego Novelli, mayor of the city.

The movie compiles footage taken by Ogawa Production for a period of more than ten years after the collective moved to Magino village. Unique to this film are fictional reenactments of the history of the village in the sections titled "The Tale of Horikiri Goddess" and "The Origins of Itsutsudomoe Shrine". Ogawa combines all the techniques that were developed in his previous films to simultaneously express multiple layers of time—the temporality of rice growing and of human life, personal life histories, the history of the village, the time of the Gods, and new time created through theatrical reenactment—bring them into a unified whole. The faces of the Magino villagers appear in numerous roles transcending time and space—sometimes as individuals, sometimes as people who carry the history of the village in their memories, sometimes as storytellers reciting myths, and even as members of the crowd in the fictional sequences.

Documentary on the making of the cult classic Nelvana animated film, "Rock & Rule." Featuring interviews with Lou Reed, Debbie Harry, Chris Stein, Iggy Pop, Maurice White, and Director Clive Smith.

A film about the former partisan commander Vilis Samsons.

Filmed in 1974 and edited and released in 1983 (and then rereleased by its director in 2005), DEAD PEOPLE purports to document the final years of Frank Butler, a local fixture in the depressed burg of Ellicot City with a particular fondness for drink and tales of the dead. Over hazy 16mm footage two decades later, Deutsch adopted a painfully unsentimental view of his early approach, colored as it was by notions of ethnographic film and an undercurrent of fetishism for a man he considered somehow more "alive" than himself. While it chafes against notions of authenticity in documentary and incisively hints at the complicity of the subject in inventing his own history, DEAD PEOPLE simultaneously oozes nostalgia, transcending its own judgment as a gauzy memorial for the man Deutsch once called a friend.

A compilation of cut footage from the "Sekkan" series 1-3, featuring exhibitionist acts and demonstrations of body suspension.

Texas Style centers on three generations of Westmoreland family fiddlers, bringing you to the Homecoming, Rodeo, Reunion and Fiddling Contest in Gustine, Texas, where there are armadillo races, tobacco-spitting and frog hopping contests, cow chip throwing and young and old comparing their hog calling skills. Inside a canvas tent, some of Texas' most remarkable fiddlers compete to the foot-stomping delight of their audience.

A documentary covering the R&B (rhythm and blues) field from the 1940s to the early 1950s. Included is footage of performances by major R&B singers of the time, and interviews with singers, producers and others involved in the field.

An examination of occultism as practiced in different parts of the world.