A Time for Making

The Past Is a Grotesque Animal

June 2014 •English

A personal, accessible look at an artist - Kevin Barnes, frontman of the endlessly versatile indie pop band of Montreal - whose pursuit to make transcendent music at all costs drives him to value art over human relationships. As he struggles with all of those around him, family and bandmates alike, he's forced to reconsider the future of the band, begging the question - is this really worth it?

Create or Die

January 2024 •English

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.

Eclectic Shorts by Eric Leiser

May 2006 •English

Eric Leiser displays his boundless creativity in this short collection; A stunning compilation of works presented with a mixture of live action, stop motion animation, puppetry and pixilation techniques, produced between 2001 and 2006.

Eric Carle, Picture Writer: The Art of the Picture Book

June 2011 •English

An intimate portrait of Eric Carle, creator of more than 70 books for children including the best-selling "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". At 82, Eric is still at work in his studio making books and creating art. As he methodically layers a tissue paper collage of the caterpillar, he describes the feeling he achieves working in his studio, the sense of being at peace, all alone, when everything grows quiet and it is just himself and his work. The film taps into that deep creative need in each of us, a spirit that started in Eric as a very young child and is unceasing today.

Counter Shot: Departure of the Filmmakers

February 2008 •German

Documentary about filmmakers of the New German Cinema who were members of the legendary Filmverlag für Autoren (Film Publishing House for Authors). Among them are Werner Herzog, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and Wim Wenders.

Billy Connolly: Portrait of a Lifetime

June 2017 •English

Celebrating Billy Connolly's 75th birthday and 50 years in the business, three Scottish artists - John Byrne, Jack Vettriano and Rachel MacLean - each create a new portrait of the Big Yin. As he sits with each artist, Billy talks about his remarkable life and career which has taken him from musician and pioneering stand-up to Hollywood star and national treasure.

Italomodern – Design

January 2025 •German

Jack Kerouac's Road: A Franco-American Odyssey

March 1987 •French

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.

Baldiga: Unlocked Heart

November 2024 •German

Using diary excerpts, photographs and memories from companions, the film paints the portrait of the artist Jürgen Baldiga who sensitively and authentically captured the West Berlin queer scene of the 1980s and early 1990s with his camera.

Paint Until Dawn: a documentary on art in the life of James Gahagan

June 2020 •English

Seeing is to painting what listening is to politics. Survival as an artist demands both. Paint Until Dawn is a documentary on art in the life of James Gahagan (1927-1999), who painted all night to push the limits of vision. His life and thought reveal a correlation between art and activism through an interesting angle: the creative process itself.

Art Happens Here with John Lithgow

April 2024 •English

Actor, author, humorist and renowned performer John Lithgow goes back to school to demonstrate the transformative power of arts education. He immerses himself with teachers and students to explore four arts disciplines: dance, ceramics, silk-screen printing and vocal jazz ensemble. The program celebrates how arts education nurtures and inspires the hearts and minds of students of all ages.

Gauguin: A Dangerous Life

December 2019 •English

Gauguin’s vivid artworks sell for millions. He was an inspired and committed multi-media artist who worked with the Impressionists and had a tempestuous relationship with Vincent van Gogh. But he was also a competitive and rapacious man who left his wife to bring up five children and used his colonial privilege to travel to Polynesia, where in his 40s he took ‘wives’ between 13 and 15 years old, creating images of them and their world that promoted a fantasy paradise of an unspoilt Eden in the Pacific. Later, he challenged the colonial authorities and the Catholic Church in defence of the indigenous people, dying in the Marquesas Islands in 1903, sick, impoverished and alone.

Namatjira Project

September 2017 •English

From the remote Australian desert to the opulence of Buckingham Palace - Namatjira Project is the iconic story of the Namatjira family, tracing their quest for justice.

O Artista e a Força do Pensamento

June 2021 •Portuguese

THE ARTIST AND THE FORCE OF THOUGHT, reflects the relationship between balance and imbalance within the partiality of movement of the dancer Marcos Abranches. It oscillates the body to wake up from the emptiness and isolation caused by the imbalance. The movement's lack of aesthetics is felt by abandonment and rejection, understanding that relief is in the support of love. Investigating body movement in a world without anguish, without pain, without despair. Search for life. Find in dance the balance of the body and the beauty of the soul.

Piaf intime

October 2013 •French

Raffaello. Il mito e la modernità

March 2020 •Italian

Little Richard: I Am Everything

April 2023 •English

The story of the black, gay origins of rock n' roll. It explodes the whitewashed canon of American pop music to reveal the innovator – the originator – Richard Penniman. Through a wealth of archive and performance that brings us into Richard's complicated inner world, the film unspools the icon's life story with all its switchbacks and contradictions.

Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405

October 2016 •English

56-year-old artist Mindy Alper has suffered severe depression and anxiety for most of her life. For a time she even lost the power of speech, and it was during this period that her drawings became extraordinarily articulate.

Sean Penn, l'enfant terrible de l'Amérique

May 2024 •French

Sean Penn is almost a living legend. His filmography paints a picture of an 'other America': the lower class, the oppressed and the outsiders. Whether as an actor or director, he turns all the great myths upside down.

NARC. Mini-Doc – Combining The Arts: Spaces For All

November 2022 •English

Lizzie Lovejoy’s mini-documentary explores the world of non-traditional performance spaces, especially in the Tees Valley and celebrating the fantastic work they do. Lizzie spoke to Bobby Benjamin, artist and curator of Pineapple Black in Middlesbrough, about the exciting range of work the gallery has housed over the past couple of years during festivals, exhibitions and events. And from Redcar Palace Art Gallery, director James Beighton and curator Beth Smith of Tees Valley Arts discuss how the venue is used to create works as well as share them, and why accessibility has become one of their main focuses. People connect to performance in different ways than visual art, but both can be incredibly powerful and influential. Using local creative spaces to pull both together highlights how fantastic our local cultural community really is. This is an Art Mouse film for NARC. TV, written and directed by Lizzie Lovejoy.