Social & External
A reflection on the iconic headquarters of the Johnson Publishing Company in downtown Chicago. The eleven-story Modernist building on South Michigan Avenue was home to Jet and Ebony magazines since its design in 1971. The building was heralded as the first major downtown Chicago building designed by an African-American architect since the eighteenth century. In the case of the Johnson family and its legacy, Hartt looks to the intersection of the publisher’s ideals and values, the style and aesthetics embodied by the site and the lasting cultural impact of the magazines.
Janina Ramirez explores the BBC archives to create a TV history of Leonardo Da Vinci, discovering what lies beneath the Mona Lisa and even how he acquired his anatomical knowledge.
In a high tech profession where photography is seemingly at everyone’s fingertips, Paul Hodgkinson steps back in time to create art using the same historical techniques as the pioneers of his craft.
A portrait of the artist as a "sublime demon with the archangel's face", with an innovative musique concrète soundtrack.
Giovanni Segantini rose from humble origins to become the most important of Italian pointillists, and one of the most important symbolist painters in the 19th century. This film focuses on his way of feeling nature as a source of artistic and spiritual inspiration.
Michael Palin heads for rural Pennsylvania and Maine to explore the extraordinary life and work of one of America's most popular and controversial painters, Andrew Wyeth. Fascinated by his iconic painting Christina's World, Palin goes in search of the real life stories that inspired this and Wyeth's other depictions of the American landscape and its hard grafting inhabitants. Tracking down the farmers, friends and family featured in Wyeth's magically real work, Palin builds a picture of an eccentric, enigmatic and driven painter. He also gets a rare interview with Helga, the woman who put Wyeth back in the headlines when the press discovered he had been painting her nude, compulsively but secretly for 15 years.
A movie about James Tissot (1836-1902), a French painter and portraitist
Departing from peripheral details of some paintings of the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, a female narrator unravels several stories related to the economic, social and psychological conditions of past and current artists.
A year in the life of Elsa Michaud and Gabriel Gauthier, students of Fine Arts in Paris, lovers in troubled times, overwhelmed by maddening verbal and auditory stimuli, witnesses of a globalized violence more visible than ever in a chaotic digital era, in which the slow execution of simple gestures in a silent performance is an act of resistance.
Tim Jenison, a Texas based inventor, attempts to solve one of the greatest mysteries in all art: How did Dutch Master Johannes Vermeer manage to paint so photo-realistically 150 years before the invention of photography? Spanning a decade, Jenison's adventure takes him to Holland, on a pilgrimage to the North coast of Yorkshire to meet artista David Hockney, and eventually even to Buckingham Palace. The epic research project Jenison embarques on is as extraordinary as what he discovers.
Explores the paths being forged by six modern artists, giving us rare insight into the minds behind this rousing new wave of painting.
An artist living through a difficult breakup comes to the studio and has severe hearing problems. Only a perfectly recreated reproduction of Jackson Pollock can restore order to the hero's life, but perhaps that's the problem.
The film highlights the beauty of craft, whilst re-contextualising traditional folk narratives to show the strength and power of the often forgotten members of folk communities.
In London's contemporary art world, everyone has a hustle. Art Spindle runs a high-end gallery: he hopes to flip a Mondrian for millions. One of his assistants, Beth, is sleeping with Art's most acquisitive client, Bob Macclestone. Beth wants Bob to set her up in her own gallery, so she helps him go behind Art's back for the Mondrian. Bob's wife, Jean, sets her eye on a young conceptual artist, Jo, who lusts after Art's newest assistant, Paige. Meanwhile, self-absorbed videographer Elaine is chewing her way through friends and lovers looking to make it: if she'll throw Dewey, her agent, under the bus, Beth may give her a show. And the Mondrian? No honor among thieves.
Digital Smoke is an experimental meditation on light, memory, and distortion. Shot at twilight in Minneapolis’s Loring Park, the film captures the moment just after sunset, when street lamps flicker on and reflect across the lake. As Devereaux moves the camera backward and forward, fading light introduces digital noise. Rather than correct it, he amplifies the imperfection, layering light trails until the noise becomes ethereal white clouds—“digital smoke”—that dissolve the boundary between image and abstraction. Frames evoke the hazy textures of J.M.W. Turner and the pixelated aesthetic of early video games, blending painterly romanticism with digital fragmentation.
Three very different people — a quantum physicist, a neuroscientist (Sheetal Sheth), and an FBI agent — find themselves drawn into a spiraling mystery. Confronted with a mysterious car accident, the three must interpret clues that defy common sense. Their collective quest takes them from science to art to music to mysticism in a widening search for answers. After an intense outward chase to satisfy their rational minds, the trio realizes the answers they desire lie buried deep within themselves. As each seeker begins to embrace the true nature of reality, each is rewarded with revelations beyond their wildest imaginings. What they learn leaves them humbled and in awe of the strange and beautiful universe we call home. When everything makes sense, nothing makes sense. This highly philosophical narrative has been applauded by scientists, artists, thinkers, scholars, media, academia, students and audiences from 10 to 80+ years old.
Short experimental film based on the theme of waiting, and how with time good things will come.
JORDAN is a lonely Manhattan painter. When GINGER, a suicidal 19 year old squatter calls Jordan by accident, she threatens to kill herself if he doesn't meet her for lunch. This dark dramedy is 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' on lithium. 16mm film
The odyssey of a young Cape Breton woman as she moves to the big city (Halifax) and supports herself after the birth of her illegitimate child by posing for college art classes, on her way to becoming an artist in her own right.
Zuzana is an attractive and likable art student who works alongside her studies because she would like to start a life of her own. Like many young people, she is trying to find what would fulfill her, what she would like to do, find out who she would like to live with. She runs away from one lover in Bratislava to another in Paris, she is at work when she should be at school, she sleeps when she should be at home, she travels the world. She simply often feels two syllables behind. And not just literally when working in dubbing, but figuratively in his own life.
Al Pacino's deeply-felt rumination on Shakespeare's significance and relevance to the modern world through interviews and an in-depth analysis of "Richard III."
A portrait of the day-to-day operations of the National Gallery of London, that reveals the role of the employees and the experiences of the Gallery's visitors. The film portrays the role of the curators and conservators; the education, scientific, and conservation departments; and the audience of all kinds of people who come to experience it.
A purely observational non-fiction film that takes viewers into the ethically murky world of end-of-life decision making in a public hospital.
A documentary about the making of season five of the acclaimed AMC series Breaking Bad.
Those who knew iconic funnyman John Candy best share his story, in their own words, through never-before-seen archival footage, imagery, and interviews.
Alex Gibney explores the charged issue of pedophilia in the Catholic Church, following a trail from the first known protest against clerical sexual abuse in the United States and all way to the Vatican.
In this genre-bending tale, Errol Morris explores the mysterious death of a U.S. scientist entangled in a secret Cold War program known as MK-Ultra.
An inside look at one of the most anticipated movie sequels ever with James Cameron and cast.
The Making-of James Cameron's Avatar. It shows interesting parts of the work on the set.
Documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman takes us inside Northeast High School as a fly on the wall to observe the teachers and how they interact with the students.
Alexander McQueen's rags-to-riches story is a modern-day fairy tale, laced with the gothic. Mirroring the savage beauty, boldness and vivacity of his design, this documentary is an intimate revelation of McQueen's own world, both tortured and inspired, which celebrates a radical and mesmerizing genius of profound influence.
JB Smoove and Martin Starr host a celebration of 20 years of "Spider-Man" movies, from the Sam Raimi trilogy to Marc Webb's movies and the trio from Jon Watts.
Artists in LA discover the work of forgotten Polish sculptor Stanislav Szukalski, a mad genius whose true story unfolds chapter by astounding chapter.
A look at the fight choreography being developed for the film.
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.
A behind the scenes look into George Romero's groundbreaking horror classic Night of the Living Dead.
A tribute to Chadwick Boseman, celebrating his life and legacy.
The life and career of one of comedy's most inimitable modern voices, Mr. Gilbert Gottfried.
After the high-profile killing of Damilola Taylor, Cornelius' family move out of London. But when they discover their new town is run by racists, Cornelius takes a drastic step to survive.
A candid look at rehearsal footage in support of a focus on pre-viz.
