A journey into the mind of French actor and director Jean-Pierre Mocky (1929-2019), author of films both playful and profound, of an impressive richness.
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The people behind it
Jean-Pierre Mocky
Various Roles (archive footage)
Documentary about the excavation of Ancient Sardis.
Documentary about the life of the indigenous people in the Andes and in the slums of Lima, and of their religiosity.
A Palestinian refugee visiting his ruined village is documented in an Israeli film. Amazingly, out of pure coincidence the same person is filmed again returning to his village in a different film, thirty years later. Will it be possible to film the return scene for the third time?
Short film about the profession zoo keeper
Love has packed up and left the castle. The queen has snuck back to her Kingdom of Skedaddle. But one person’s loss is a scoundrel’s gain: Bonifacio, a teller of tall tales, sees in the forlorn queen the perfect target for his hackneyed charms. As summer approaches, he changes himself into a sweet talker and sings her praises. Things would have worked out perfectly if only Princess Molly hadn’t arrived on the scene. While visiting her mother, she quickly discovers the hoax: the queen thinks she’s found a new husband in Bonifacio. But the swindling storyteller is really only interested in the kingdom’s legends.
Short film about the profession geologist
Short film about shepherds in the Puszta
Adults reflect on the experience of losing a parent at a young age.
A collage of five people from different cultures living in Switzerland. They reflect on life by looking at their origins. The liveliness and diversity of life can be divined.
Documentary about the history of male impersonation.
An accurate depiction of the basic tenets of northern Mahayana Buddhism, cast into living or "experiential" form, consistent with powerful mantras heard on the soundtrack of the film. Tarthang Tulku, a Tibetan Lama, was the advisor.
The first film made by Markopoulos after moving to Europe, Bliss was shot over the course of two days using only available light to create a lyrical study of the interior of the Church of St. John on the island of Hydra.
An unflinching and deeply personal journey into the life and work of guitarist Eric Clapton told through his own words and songs.
A Calling to Care is the inspiring story of 55 year-old Grace Stanley, a Canadian nurse who left her home and prestigious career behind to answer a calling halfway around the world in Karachi, Pakistan. Teaching nursing to local women in a strict Muslim culture that forbids them to even to touch men is a formidable task. However, Grace challenges her own values and belief systems to find common ground with her students, helping them to excel and feel respect for themselves in a culture that doesn't respect them. Whether it is getting her hands painted with henna, swimming fully-clothed in the ocean, or marching bravely with them on International Women's Day, Grace bonds with her students in a very special way, and ultimately discovers how the West can learn a lot more from the Third World than she ever thought.
Short film about nutritional medical advisors
It adroitly tells the story of a "counter culture" young man who when his grandfather dies, packs the body in dry ice, and stores him in a Tuff Shed, waiting for the time when advances in modern medicine can bring him back to life. I am not making this up. Then our young men gets deported back to Norway on unrelated charges. Then, quite a while later, people look up and take notice ... "Hey ... there appears to be a frozen dead guy in that shed over there."
A loose series of examples shows typical accident-prone situations involving children and elderly people. The most common causes of reactions that endanger oneself and others are illustrated using staged case studies in such a way that the transfer to other groups of road users is facilitated.
Frans Masereel is one of the most fascinating Belgian artists of the 20th century. His work, essentially composed of black and white engravings, is a cry of rebellion against the tragedies of his time. Forced into exile for his pacifist convictions, he embodied, alongside writers like Stefan Zweig and Romain Rolland, the dream of a cultural and brotherly Europe. Through an imaginary correspondence the director addresses to the artist, the film sketches the portrait of a free, touching man who, throughout his life, attempted to break free of art dealers and put his creations in the hands of all.
Dance Theater of Harlem's Lindsey Donnell reflects on the obstacles she and other ballet dancers face in ballet and society.
American filmmaker Stanley Kubrick (1928–1999), one of the greatest in history, but also one of the most reserved, gave few interviews throughout his long career, and none of them were filmed. A first-person journey through his life and work, based on a recorded conversation with French film critic Michel Climent.
The life story of ‘Zen Anarchist’ filmmaker John Milius, one of the most influential storytellers of his generation.
An account of the extraordinary life of film pioneer Georges Méliès (1861-1938) and the amazing story of the copy in color of his masterpiece A Trip to the Moon (1902), unexpectedly found in Spain and restored thanks to the heroic efforts of a group of true cinema lovers.
Robert Altman's life and career contained multitudes. This father of American independent cinema left an indelible mark, not merely on the evolution of his art form, but also on the western zeitgeist. With its use of rare interviews, representative film clips, archival images, and musings from his family and most recognizable collaborators, Altman is a dynamic and heartfelt mediation on an artist whose expression, passion and appetite knew few bounds.
Daniel Craig candidly reflects on his 15 year adventure as James Bond. Including never-before-seen archival footage from Casino Royale to the upcoming 25th film No Time To Die, Craig shares his personal memories in conversation with 007 producers, Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.
An intense portrait of the iconic filmmaker, writer, actor, comedian and musician Woody Allen: his life, family and friends; his writing and directing habits, and his relationship with performers.
A documentary on the life and career of one of the most influential film directors of all time, Steven Spielberg.
The history of cinematic sound, told by legendary sound designers and visionary filmmakers.
In 1974, Chilean-French director Alejandro Jodorowsky embarked on the quixotic project of adapting Frank Herbert's influential novel Dune (1969) for the big screen. After investing two years, and millions of dollars, the gigantic project ended in failure; but the artists Jodorowsky brought together to carry it out continued to work together, and ended up laying the foundations for modern science fiction cinema.
From a prolific career in film and television, Anton Yelchin left an indelible legacy as an actor. Through his journals and other writings, his photography, the original music he wrote, and interviews with his family, friends, and colleagues, this film looks not just at Anton's impressive career, but at a broader portrait of the man.
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.
A look behind the lens of Christopher Nolan's space epic.
SEDUCED AND ABANDONED combines acting legend Alec Baldwin with director James Toback as they lead us on a troublesome and often hilarious journey of raising financing for their next feature film. Moving from director to financier to star actor, the two players provide us with a unique look behind the curtain at the world's biggest and most glamourous film festival, shining a light on the bitter-sweet relationship filmmakers have with Cannes and the film business. Featuring insights from directors Martin Scorsese, 'Bernando Bertolucci' and Roman Polanski; actors Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain and a host of film distribution luminaries.
A feature length documentary about the all-women team at the helm of Pixar's original feature, Turning Red. With unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to Director Domee Shi and her core leadership crew, this story shines a light on the powerful professional and personal journeys that brought this incredibly comical, utterly relatable, and deeply heartfelt story to the screen.
As his life comes to its end, famous Hollywood director Orson Welles puts it all on the line at the chance for renewed success with the film The Other Side of the Wind.
As a visually radical memoir, CAMERAPERSON draws on the remarkable footage that filmmaker Kirsten Johnson has shot and reframes it in ways that illuminate moments and situations that have personally affected her. What emerges is an elegant meditation on the relationship between truth and the camera frame, as Johnson transforms scenes that have been presented on Festival screens as one kind of truth into another kind of story—one about personal journey, craft, and direct human connection.
A compilation of over 30 years of private home movie footage shot by Lithuanian-American avant-garde director Jonas Mekas, assembled by Mekas "purely by chance", without concern for chronological order.
Cameramen and women discuss the craft and art of cinematography and of the "DP" (the director of photography), illustrating their points with clips from 100 films, from Birth of a Nation to Do the Right Thing. Themes: the DP tells people where to look; changes in movies (the arrival of sound, color, and wide screens) required creative responses from DPs; and, these artisans constantly invent new equipment and try new things, with wonderful results. The narration takes us through the identifiable studio styles of the 30s, the emergence of noir, the New York look, and the impact of Europeans. Citizen Kane, The Conformist, and Gordon Willis get special attention.
Brilliant, long in-the-works story of the life and art of the world's greatest comedian and the cinema's first genius, Charlie Chaplin. Produced, written and directed by renowned film critic Richard Schickel.
Since the invention of cinema, the standard format for recording moving images has been film. Over the past two decades, a new form of digital filmmaking has emerged, creating a groundbreaking evolution in the medium. Keanu Reeves explores the development of cinema and the impact of digital filmmaking via in-depth interviews with Hollywood masters, such as James Cameron, David Fincher, David Lynch, Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, Steven Soderbergh, and many more.