A documentary about the Bulgarian writer Georgi Gospodinov, who won the International Booker Prize in 2023 for his novel Time Shelter.
Social & External
self
THE PERFUMED GARDEN is an exploration of the myths and realities of sensuality and sexuality in Arab society, a world of taboos and of erotic literature. Through interviews with men and women of all ages, classes, and sexual orientation, the film lifts a corner of the veil that usually shrouds discussion of this subject in the Arab world. Made by an Algerian-French woman director, the film begins by looking at the record of a more permissive history, and ends with the experiences of contemporary lovers from mixed backgrounds. It examines the personal issues raised by the desire for pleasure, amidst societal pressures for chastity and virginity. The film discusses pre-marital sex, courtship and marriage, familial pressures, private vs. public spaces, social taboos (and the desire to break them), and issues of language.
A portrait of the British writer Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), who, although he had radical instincts, hated hypocrisy, was of great poetic brilliance, had a tragic perception of life and a calm outward appearance, was at heart a man of seething and somber darkness.
Part documentary, part drama, this film presents the life and work of Jack Kerouac, an American writer with Québec roots who became one of the most important spokesmen for his generation. Intercut with archival footage, photographs and interviews, this film takes apart the heroic myth and even returns to the childhood of the author whose life and work contributed greatly to the cultural, sexual and social revolution of the 1960s.
Twenty years ago, novelist Salman Rushdie was a wanted man with a million pound bounty on his head. His novel, The Satanic Verses, had sparked riots across the Muslim world. The ailing religious leader of Iran, the Ayatollah Khomeini, had invoked a little-known religious opinion - a fatwa - and effectively sentenced Rushdie to death. This film looks back on the extraordinary events which followed the publication of the book and the ten year campaign to get the fatwa lifted. Interviews with Rushdie's friends and family and testimony from leaders of Britain's Muslim community and the Government reveal the inside story of the affair.
In an industry that is becoming increasingly competitive, what drives indie filmmakers to keep creating their art, even when there is no promise of money or fame? CREATE OR DIE explores the insatiable passion to create despite the overwhelming odds through the lens of South Carolina writer and filmmaker David Axe, as he and his band of cast and crew head out into the backwoods of Georgia to shoot his low budget passion project ACORN. But when tragedy strikes on set, doubt and tension threaten to bring an end to their production and their dreams.
In his lifetime, Thomas Merton was hailed as a prophet and censured for his outspoken social criticism. For nearly 27 years he was a monk of the austere Trappist order, where he became an eloquent spiritual writer and mystic as well as an anti-war advocate and witness to peace. Merton: A Film Biography provides the first comprehensive look at this remarkable 20th century religious philosopher who wrote, in addition to his immensely popular autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain, over 60 books on some of the most pressing social issues of our time, some of which are excerpted here. Merton offers an engaging profile of a man whose presence in the world touched millions of people and whose words and thoughts continue to have a profound impact and relevance today.
Raised in the small all-Black Florida town of Eatonville, Zora Neale Hurston studied at Howard University before arriving in New York in 1925. She would soon become a key figure of the Harlem Renaissance, best remembered for her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. But even as she gained renown in the Harlem literary circles, Hurston was also discovering anthropology at Barnard College with the renowned Franz Boas. She would make several trips to the American South and the Caribbean, documenting the lives of rural Black people and collecting their stories. She studied her own people, an unusual practice at the time, and during her lifetime became known as the foremost authority on Black folklore.
How the inventor of the detective story became his own greatest mystery.
Bosnian Croat writer Miljenko Jergović and Serbian writer Marko Vidojković replace one another by the steering wheel of Yugo, a symbol of their common past while driving on the Brotherhood and Unity Highway that stretched across five of six republics of Yugoslavia.
The views and thoughts of Canadian writer Margaret Atwood have never been more relevant than today. Readers turn to her work for answers as they confront the rise of authoritarian leaders, deal with increasingly intrusive technologies, and discuss climate change. Her books are useful as survival tools for hard times. But few know her private life. Who is the woman behind the stories? How does she always seem to know what is coming?
This film is an attempt to disclose if Raul Brandão has left any trace, in Nespereira, Gumarães.
The brilliant Czech writer Milan Kundera has not given an interview in thirty years; nor does he appear in public. How did he become a legendary author? What is so unique about his books?
Explore the life of Flannery O’Connor whose provocative fiction was unlike anything published before. Featuring never-before-seen archival footage, newly discovered journals, and interviews with Mary Karr, Tommy Lee Jones, Hilton Als, and more.
A documentary about the production of From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) and the people who made it.
Stefan Zweig was the most read author of the German language in the 1930s. He believed in a united, peaceful Europe and travelled most parts of the world. He was a pacifist and was torn apart by to the cruelties and horrors of the second World War. He committed suicide in Brasil. This documentary tells the story of his life.
This documentary contains dramatized episodes about the lives of Erika and Klaus Mann, the brilliant children of German writer Thomas Mann.
Cartoneras is a documentary that grapples with Latin America’s urban realities, and the cardboard publishing movement that has emerged from these in the 21st century. Reflecting on the different contexts that propelled this form of community publishing, like Argentina’s 2001 economic crisis, the independent art scene, and the movements which formed around waste-pickers, the film’s narrative is developed through conversations with important actors from the cartonera world.
Poet, essayist, novelist and filmmaker, Michel Houellebecq has always had close ties with the cinema and the world of the visual arts, which have accompanied and extended his reflexions since the start of his career, as the frequent allusions to them in his novels attest. This portrait of Houellebecq is from his early days of bad boy provocateur stardom. Having just published Plateforme in french and enjoying the many translations of Les Particules élémentaires.
The documentary story of Harlan Ellison
Members of Thai girl group BNK48 share the ups and downs of preparing for the 6th Single Senbatsu General Election.
Fight Club Rush 12 takes place Saturday, May 7, 2022 with 9 fights at Vasteras Arena in Västerås, Sweden.
Rod Cooper, an American agent of the CIA, is sent to Paris to discover if colonel Segura, head of a clandestine organization which proclaims itself anti-Castroist, is playing a double game at the expense of the United States. He first tries to make contact with Ms Beckett, who should tell him. Segura's intentíons, but the woman is found killed. Subsequently, Rogerson, another American, presents Cooper to Segura himself and so Rod can enter his organization. Here he discovers that the colonel tries to attract a certain number of Americans to use them in an attack against the president of a state of southern America and thus promote communist expansion. Segura soon discovers Rod's real identity and tries to get rid of him; but the agent manages to reverse the situation and kills Segura in a shoot-out.
Explores Anand Dighe's life, tracing his political journey and capturing the essence of his impactful legacy as a prominent figure.
the boys (and Georgina) take on the Emirates stadium in an epic afternoon of parkour! Corruption 4 eva!!!
Feature film for the group's mini album 'The Connect'.
Pianist Sara arrives in the city of Seoul as an exchange professor. She can't see the sad loneliness of the city. Sarah enjoys her time as a well-to-do tourist. Others, born in the city, fight against loneliness and sorrow. Illegal workers are exploited and cops extort money from adult entertainment establishments. Among these, gang member Il-Hwan collects money from room-salons for protection. Deok-Sang drives a tourist bus instead of his father and Ji-Won sells food items by a station. These three people become connected.
When Linda tries to escape her abusive relationship, she discovers unexpected resources that she could never have imagined... Professional illustrator Linda Raines has been feeling off kilter since her break-up. Her ex-boyfriend Michael, a respected psychotherapist and author, has just been cleared of accusations of murdering his ex-wife, leaving Linda unsure of what to believe. As she is recovering she begins to hear voices and experience visions, only furthering her anxiety and confusion. Her boss Paul urges her to escape the city and stay at his secluded vacation house while she recovers. Once there Linda's struggle with reality intensifies, and the intensity of her visions force her to question everything she sees and hears. Yet one voice is so real that it's becoming too loud to ignore... Linda is losing her grip. If she can not learn to trust her Night Eyes, her past may catch up and destroy her mind, body, and spirit.
A businessman charters a flight to Tibet to pick up a monk. On the way back, the plane is hijacked, and the monk ends up in a war zone where he has to convince the bandits to change their evil ways.
Documentary on the Japanese saga Meatball Machine. Interviews, Archive Images, Retrospective and Analyzes tell the formidable story of a saga that is as gory as it is inventive.
A teacher and his student go on a trip to a magical island where there is urban life and tourist attractions as well as a palace and temples. Moreover, a haunting past still gnaws, spreads, mates and mutates in a loop that cannot be eliminated. It dissolves and mixes with memories affecting the present and possessing a power that can destroy the future. In this vague atmosphere, the place slowly becomes deserted like a nightmare you want to wake from but cannot resist
A soon-to-be groom learns that he may have contracted HIV. Waiting a full seven days for the test results turns out to be the most hectic week of his life.
Three prisoners, Combe from Rijeka, Menso from Bosnia, and Bogart from Belgrade, escape from prison. Their final destination is the city of their dreams - Hamburg. They temporarily part ways and agree to meet at the train station in Zagreb. First, each of them goes to his hometown. From there on, we follow three separate stories. In the first, Combe, in the shady harbor district of Rijeka, tries to get back at his former crime partner, Mrvi, who turned him in to the police. In the second story, we witness Mensa's relationship with his wife Riza and their children in a small Bosnian village. The third story depicts Bogart's love affair with a young teacher in a Belgrade suburb. Afterwards, at the train station in Zagreb, Bogart finds out from the newspaper that the police caught his friends. At the last minute, he changes the original plan.
Seven years after predicting the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake while she was unwittingly involved in a doomsday cult called Sacred Tide, college student Midori (Miki Handa) continues to have visions through unusual powers of premonition. Meanwhile at the same school, the duplicitous Toko (Miki Handa), who desperately seeks to escape her mundane life, suspects her classmate Okita (Yuzu Aoki) of being the culprit behind a string of disturbing cat killings and the murder of a classmate.
The demonic Nicholas Diabolus is put on trial accused of interfering with people's lives.
Known for his wild hair and his often-imitated phrase, "What's up, fool?," comedian Felipe Esparza headlines his first solo concert since winning television's "Last Comic Standing" competition. Famous as the subject of many stories told by fellow comedian Gabriel Iglesias, the Boyle Heights native mines humor from the struggles of everyday life for this hilarious one-hour special.
A behind-the-scenes look at the making of Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette (2006).