Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th

Històries de Bruguera

April 2012 •Spanish

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.

Book Hunters

September 2017 •German

When chaos reigns, while barbaric and fanatical rulers, both ecclesiastical and secular, systematically burn entire libraries, book hunters, secret heroes of history, travel the world saving and copying texts, threatened by the madness of censors, with the noble purpose of preventing the ultimate loss of human knowledge.

Princess Diana: The Mourning After

August 1998 •English

In "Diana: The Mourning After" Christopher Hitchens sets out to examine the bogusness of "a nation's grief", tries to uncover the few voices of sanity that cut against the grain of contrived hysteria. His findings suggested that the collective hordes of emotive Dianaphiles sobbing in the streets were not only encouraged but emulated by the media. In the aftermath of Diana's death a three-line whip was enforced on newspapers and on TV, selling the sainthood line wholesale. The suspicion was that journalists, like the public, greeted the death as a chance to wax emotional in print, as a change from the customary knowing cynicism, to wheel out all those portentous phrases they'd been saving up for the big occasion. Sadly, they just seemed to be showboating; the eulogies, laments and tear-soaked platitudes ringing risibly hollow.

His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th

April 2010 •English

A retrospective documentary about the groundbreaking horror series, Friday the 13th, featuring interviews with cast and crew from the twelve films spanning 3 decades.

In the Lost City

February 2009 •Spanish

The city of Madrid as it appears in the Spanish films of the 1950s. A small tribute to all those who filmed and portrayed Madrid despite the dictatorship, censorship and the critical situation of industry and society.

Return to Crystal Lake: Making 'Friday the 13th'

October 2003 •English

Belarus: An Ordinary Dictatorship

March 2018 •French

It’s the last dictatorship of Europe, caught in a Soviet time-warp, where the secret police is still called the KGB and the president rules by fear. Disappearances, political assassinations, waves of repression and mass arrests are all regular occurances. But while half of Belarus moves closer to Russia, the other half is trying to resist…

Radio Silence

April 2021 •Spanish

Mexico, March 2015. Carmen Aristegui, incorruptible journalist, has been fired from the radio station where she has worked for years. Supported by more than 18 million listeners, Carmen continues her fight. Her goal: raising awareness and fighting against misinformation. The film tells the story of this quest: difficult and dangerous, but essential to the health of democracy. A story in which resistance becomes a form of survival.

Cleanflix

September 2009 •English

When a small Utah-based edited movie company is caught sanitizing Hollywood's copyrighted material, the film industry strikes back with a devastating blow.

The Cleaners

May 2018 •German

A deep dive into the hidden industry of digital cleaning, which rids the Internet of unwanted violence, porn and political content.

Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship & Videotape

August 2010 •English

A documentary analyzing the furore which so-called "video nasties" caused in Britain during the 1980s.

Viva o Cinema! Uma História da Mostra de São Paulo

October 2024 •Portuguese

The series tells the story of the São Paulo International Film Festival, one of the most traditional cultural events in Latin America. For 48 years, the festival has showcased hundreds of films from all over the world, bringing vibrancy to the city. Filmmaker Marina Person provides an irreverent perspective, highlighting the exciting and unusual stories that have marked the festival’s journey of resistance. The series reveals the individuals who have embraced the challenge of organizing this significant cultural event in Brazil every year, despite often challenging conditions. We also delves into how the Mostra has grown to become one of the main festivals globally, shedding light on the changes in cinema, Brazil, and the world over the years.

Los prohibidos

November 2019 •Spanish

Documentary film that follows Silvana Castro, a woman who works at the National Congress Library in Argentina where the books that were forbidden during the military dictatorship are kept. After the exhibition of the books is suspended, she'll try to open it again.

To Be Destroyed

August 2024 •English

A 30-minute documentary on book banning and censorship that follows author Dave Eggers as he investigates why a Rapid City, SD school board wanted to ban his book.

Town Destroyer

October 2022 •English

Controversy erupts over a New-Deal-era mural of the namesake of San Francisco’s George Washington High School. The thirteen-panel artwork "The Life of Washington" by Victor Arnautoff offers a view of the Founding Father both celebratory and critical, referencing his involvements in slavery and Native American genocide.

CORONA.FILM - Prologue

March 2021 •German

As the first part of our investigation, the CORONA.FILM prologue will delve into the science behind the pandemic. Starting at the very beginning, we shine a light on the responses. The aim is not to point the finger; our aim is to tell the whole story in all its complexity, as we believe that justice cannot prevail if only one side of the story is told.

The ABCs of Book Banning

February 2024 •English

In recent years, more than 2,500 books have been removed from school districts around the US, labeled as banned, restricted, or challenged, and made unavailable to millions of students. By no accident, the themes targeted are the usual scapegoats of the American Right—LGBTQ+ issues, Black History, and women’s empowerment—impeding the power of future generations to develop their own thoughts and opinions on critical social issues. By weaving together a lyrical montage of young readers and authors, THE ABCs OF BOOK BANNING reveals the voices of the impacted parties, and inspires hope for the future through the profound insights of inquisitive youthful minds.

Uncensored Women

December 2022 •Spanish

The story of a group of actresses who, in the Spain of the seventies, and in the midst of the democratic Transition, decided to appear nude in the films of that time of radical political change, defying the rigid and deeply rooted social rules.

To Hell and Back: The Kane Hodder Story

August 2017 •English

To Hell and Back: The Kane Hodder Story is the harrowing story of a stuntman overcoming a dehumanizing childhood filled with torment and bullying in Sparks, Nevada. After surviving a near-death burn accident, he worked his way up through Hollywood, leading to his ultimate rise as Jason Voorhees in the Friday the 13th series and making countless moviegoers forever terrified of hockey masks and summer camp. Featuring interviews with cinema legends, including Bruce Campbell (Ash vs. Evil Dead), Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger), and Cassandra Peterson (Elvira: Mistress of the Dark), To Hell and Back peels off the mask of Kane Hodder, cinema's most prolific killer, in a gut-wrenching, but inspiring, documentary. After decades of watching Kane Hodder on screen, get ready to meet the man behind the mask in To Hell and Back - an uniquely human story about one of cinema's most vicious monsters.

Forbidden Films

March 2014 •German

Between 1933 and 1945 roughly 1200 films were made in Germany, of which 300 were banned by the Allied forces. Today, around 40 films, called "Vorbehaltsfilme", are locked away from the public with an uncertain future. Should they be re-released, destroyed, or continue to be neglected? Verbotene Filme takes a closer look at some of these forbidden films.