Short documenting the importance of comic books to children's imaginative development, in spite of adult fears that they might be a negative influence.
Social & External
An "Ock-umentary" exploring the character of Doc Ock and the way he as well as his tentacles were brought to life on the silver screen.
In the spring of 1984, a strange new comic book sat beside cash registers in select shops, too big to fit in the racks, and too weird to ignore. Eastman and Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles presented a completely original breed of super hero. It was too bizarre, too crazy. It broke all the rules and should never have worked. Until it sold out. Again and again and again. For 30 years. Now, peek under the shell and see how this so-called "happy accident" defied every naysayer to become one of the most popular and beloved franchises in the world.
A group of friends come up with the brilliant idea of testing the non-existent drink known as "Tea Coffee".
Film which travels inside the singular world of one of Italy's most famous fashion designers, Valentino Garavani, documenting the colourful and dramatic closing act of his celebrated career and capturing the end of an era in global fashion. However, at the heart of the film is a love story - the unique relationship between Valentino and his business partner and companion of 50 years, Giancarlo Giammetti. Capturing intimate moments in the lives of two of Italy's richest and most famous men, the film lifts the curtain on the final act of a nearly 50-year reign at the top of the glamorous and fiercely competitive world of fashion. (Storyville)
This is an in-depth look at the writer and artist David Mack, who Entertainment Weekly designates "One of the true geniuses of the medium."
The history of Bruguera, the most important comic publisher in Spain between the 1940s and the 1980s. How the characters created by great writers and pencilers became Spanish archetypes and how their strips persist nowadays as a portrait of Spain and its people. The daily life of the creators and the founding family, the Brugueras. The world in which hundreds of vivid colorful paper beings lived and still live, in the memory of millions, in the smile of everyone.
Possessed of an incredible artistic talent, Steve Rude is "The Dude," an eccentric personality as colorful as his comic book art. Filmmaker Ian Fischer (Magritte Moment) presents Rude's rise through the comic book world and difficult transition from comic book shops to art gallery walls, made all the more challenging by Rude's battles with mental illness.
A long overdue documentary that tells the story of 2000AD, the unsung cult hero of the comics industry. This film will celebrate and pay respect to the comic and explore its importance and influence on contemporary pop culture.
A survey of the artistic history of the comic book medium and some of the major talents associated with it.
This documentary depicts the filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky talking about his life, his loves, his career as a filmmaker, graphic novelist, and workshop leader, and his eccentricities including tarot reader and theatrical director during The Panic Movement. Directed by Louis Mouchet, La Constellation Jodorowsky includes a lengthy on-camera interview with Jodorowsky in Spanish with subtitles. Marcel Marceau, Fernando Arrabal, Peter Gabriel, Jean "Moebius" Giraud, and Jean Pierre Vignau make appearances discussing their various projects with the director. In addition to the interview and film clips, Mouchet features some bizarre footage from Jodorowsky’s absurdist plays in which topless women splattered with paint writhe around the stage in a theatrical production meant to represent The Panic Movement, i.e., an artistic expression in which reason cannot fully express the human experience.
The documentary tells why Donald Duck hit Europe like a bomb after the Second World War, creates a loving psychogram of the drake who’d love to be successful and eventually examines the question how our on self-optimization focused society deals with failure.
In 1954 the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency conducted an investigation into how the comic book industry was supposedly contributing to the moral decay of a nation's youth. The investigations were spurred on by a number of articles that blamed comics for the rise in juvenile delinquency in post-war America. Chief among the critics was Doctor Frederic Wertham, whose book, "Seduction of The Innocent" has been blamed for nearly single-handedly crippling the entire comics industry. "Confidential File" was aired in 1955, after the senate hearings and the formation of the Comics Code, but it serves as a perfect example of how the media reacted to the comic book industry, and sought a scape goat by blaming the comic book publications for society's own lack of responsibility in raising its children.
"... It's heartening to see so much talent and dedication at work in the under-appreciated medium of personal, as opposed to corporate, comics. I also enjoyed watching so many introverts (I oughta know) squirming in front of the camera, valiantly trying to explain the unexplainable." - Bill Griffith, creator of Zippy the Pinhead
A film about the life and career of the famed Canadian comic book talent.
Filmed in part in front of a live audience at The New Amsterdam Theater in New York City, this Stan Lee tribute takes viewers on an action-packed journey throughout the life of Lee and across the Marvel Universe, sharing never-before-seen interviews and archive footage with Lee himself from deep within the Marvel and ABC News archives.
Stonecutters emigrated from northern Italy to Barre, Vermont, the "Granite Capital of the World." Follow the artisans and their families from quarries, workshops and schools in Italy to granite carving sheds in New England, as they seek their own identities, choosing what to keep and what to cut away from their American and Italian legacies.
The film observes the events surrounding the sudden decrease of sales of comic books in the US in the early 90's, followed by the surge of webcomics on the Internet.
Industry insiders like Stan Lee and Neil Gaiman (The Sandman) reflect on the way their colorful creations reflect society at large. They have spread from the pulpy pages of nickel comics to Saturday morning cartoons, the big screen and beyond. They have evolved from simple, All-American heroes to tortured, complicated characters reflecting the dreams, desires and fears of modern society. From Superman to The Sandman, Comic Book Superheroes Unmasked is a fascinating, feature-length look at the evolution of an art form that has proved remarkably adaptable and enduring. Filled with classic images from DC and Marvel Comics as well as extensive interviews with modern masters of the graphic novel like Neil Gaiman and Frank Miller (The Dark Knight Returns), this documentary, originally aired on the History Channel, goes far beyond the superficial escapist fantasies to probe the forces that shaped the characters who have become legend...
2 1/2 hour-documentary on the rise and fall of one of the most controversial Italian genres every created. Starting with Deep River Savages arriving to the infamous Cannibal Ferox.
A look at the roller coaster life of Sam J. Jones since his role as Flash Gordon, his struggles and successes, and the aftermath of when he went up against one of the most powerful producers in Hollywood.