Islands

From Atatürk to Erdoğan: Building a Nation

October 2019 •French

Turkey's history has been shaped by two major political figures: Mustafa Kemal (1881-1934), known as Atatürk, the Father of the Turks, founder of the modern state, and the current president Recep Tayyıp Erdoğan, who apparently wants Turkey to regain the political and military pre-eminence it had as an empire under the Ottoman dynasty.

Es geht um Alles

May 2008 •German

Village of Women

October 2019 •Armenian

Only women, children and old people live in this Armenian village, while the men work in Russia. A life with a rhythm of its own, an independent daily life marked nonetheless by exile.

Discovering Buñuel

January 2012 •English

Luis Bunuel, the father of cinematic Surrealism, made his film debut with 'Un Chien Andalou' in 1929 working closely with Salvador Dali. Considered one of the finest and controversial filmmakers with, 'L’Age d’Or' (1930), attacking the church and the middle classes. He won many awards including Best Director at Cannes for 'Los Olvidados' (1950), and the coveted Palme d’Or for 'Viridiana' (1961), which had been banned in his native Spain. His career moved to France with 'The Diary of a Chambermaid' with major stars such as Jeanne Moreau and Catherine Deneuve.

A Life on the Farm

May 2023 •English

A strange story from Somerset, England about a filmmaking farmer and the inspiring legacy of his long-lost home movies.

The Prince of Nothingwood

June 2017 •French

French documentarist Sonia Kronlund follows actor and director Salim Shaheen, an Afghan movie star who produced more than 110 low-budget movies in a country devastated by war.

Gonzalo Suárez: Sam Peckinpah, director salvaje (TV)

May 2011 •Spanish

A castle with red walls

November 2019 •Persian

This movie is about an Iranian filmmaker called Davood Roostayi, whose all movies ( more than 100 movies ) have been banned both before and after the Islamic revolution of Iran and none of his movies have been screened.

American Movie

November 1999 •English

American Movie documents the story of filmmaker Mark Borchardt, his mission, and his dream. Spanning over two years of intense struggle with his film, his family, financial decline, and spiritual crisis, American Movie is a portrayal of ambition, obsession, excess, and one man's quest for the American Dream.

This Film Is Not Yet Rated

January 2006 •English

Kirby Dick's provocative documentary investigates the secretive and inconsistent process by which the Motion Picture Association of America rates films, revealing the organization's underhanded efforts to control culture. Dick questions whether certain studios get preferential treatment and exposes the discrepancies in how the MPAA views sex and violence.

The Falcons

February 2025 •Armenian

The Falcons is an intimate, observational documentary that delves into the world of the Tshakhruk Ethnoband, a remarkable musical ensemble in the Armenian highlands. Comprised of special-needs children that reside at the state orphanage, these young musicians find solace, strength, and self-expression through the transformative power of music.

My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn

February 2015 •English

A documentary directed by Winding Refn's wife, Liv Corfixen, and it follows the Danish-born filmmaker during the making of his 2013 film Only God Forgives.

Full Tilt Boogie

July 1998 •English

A documentary about the production of From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) and the people who made it.

Birth of a Nation

August 1997 •English

Jonas Mekas assembles 160 portraits, appearances, and fleeting sketches of underground and independent filmmakers captured between 1955 and 1996. Fast-paced and archival in spirit, the film celebrates the avant-garde as its own “nation of cinema,” a vital community existing outside the dominance of commercial film.

Filmmakers vs. Tycoons

July 2005 •Catalan

How the cinema industry does not respect the author's work as it was conceived, how manipulates the motion pictures in order to make them easier to watch by an undemanding audience or even how mutilates them to adapt the original formats and runtimes to the restrictive frame of the television screen and the abusive requirements of advertising. (Followed by “Filmmakers in Action.”)

Dear Ike: Lost Letters to a Teen Idol

August 2021 •English

In this animated documentary, Los Angeles filmmaker Dion Labriola recounts his all-consuming childhood quest to contact his teen idol, Ike Eisenmann - and the magical turn of events that led him toward his goal (some 40 years later).

Golden Gate Girls

April 2013 •English

The film traces the life and times of Esther Eng, a San Francisco native known as Hong Kong’s first “directress.” She directed 10 Cantonese talkies.

Nothing to be Afraid of

October 2019 •English

Ever since the war in Nagorno-Karabakh, the still disputed territory is contaminated by landmines. This documentary follows five female de-miners on their risky job.

Alexeï Guerman, cinéaste bien interdit

October 1990 •French

This film was broadcast on La Sept in October 1990 as a part of Hélène Mochiri's Cinéma de poche program devoted to Soviet cinema. The documentary was produced in-house at La Sept and based on an exclusive interview with Alexei Guerman in May of that year. It has not been seen since.

I Love Life Anyway

July 2015 •German

In 2011, the director and screenwriter Wolf Gremm receives the diagnosis - prostate cancer. According to the doctors, he has not much longer to live, maybe eight months. Wolf Gremm is torn by these devastating news in the midst of an active, fulfilling life, but he decides to deal with the disease offensively and to fight. From now on smartphone and mini camera are his constant companions.