Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History

In the Shadow of Hollywood: Race Movies and the Birth of Black Cinema

September 2007 •English

This documentary captures the sounds and images of a nearly forgotten era in film history when African American filmmakers and studios created “race movies” exclusively for black audiences. The best of these films attempted to counter the demeaning stereotypes of black Americans prevalent in the popular culture of the day. About 500 films were produced, yet only about 100 still exist. Filmmaking pioneers like Oscar Micheaux, the Noble brothers, and Spencer Williams, Jr. left a lasting influence on black filmmakers, and inspired generations of audiences who finally saw their own lives reflected on the silver screen.

Doc of Chucky

November 2024 •English

The story of the cult horror empire through interviews with cast, crew, and horror icons such as Don Mancini, Brad Dourif, Jennifer Tilly, Catherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon, John Waters, Fiona Dourif, Perrey Reeves, Gerrit Graham, David Kirschner, and dozens more.

It Conquered Hollywood! The Story of American International Pictures

May 2001 •English

A 60-minute salute to American International Pictures. Entertainment lawyer Samuel Z. Arkoff founded AIP (then called American Releasing Corporation) on a $3000 loan in 1954 with his partner, James H. Nicholson, a former West Coast exhibitor and distributor. The company made its mark by targeting teenagers with quickly produced films that exploited subjects mainstream films were reluctant to tackle.

Thank God I’m in the Film Business!

February 2003 •German

Eva Ebner is a Berliner who gives the appearance of being rather eccentric. She knows the film business inside out – regardless of whether she’s work- ing behind the camera as an assistant director or in front of it as an actor. Her name is closely associated with a series of now-legendary adaptations of Edgar Wallace’s crime novels which were made in Germany during the 1960s. Upcoming young directors from local film schools have also profited from Ms. Ebner’s unbroken enthusiasm and passion for film. However, this eighty-year-old has a more than broken relationship to the events of her childhood and youth in Gdansk – a time when her life was characterised by an anti-Semitic step-mother and the dangers posed by the Nazi regime. This film portrait does not eschew any of the long dark shadows of that era, nor does it sidestep any friction between portrayer and his subject. (Lothar Lambert)

Somebody Told Me About Carla Bruni

January 2009 •English

A documentary tracking the life and career of the model-musician turned first lady of France.

Hitler's Hollywood

February 2017 •German

Film journalist and critic Rüdiger Suchsland examines German cinema from 1933, when the Nazis came into power, until 1945, when the Third Reich collapsed. (A sequel to From Caligari to Hitler, 2015.)

Jack L. Warner: The Last Mogul

May 1993 •English

An insider's account of Jack Warner, a founding father of the American film industry. This feature length documentary provides the rags to riches story of the man whose studio - Warner Bros - created many of Hollywood's most classic films. Includes extensive interviews with family members and friends, film clips, rare home movies and unique location footage.

Kim Dotcom: Caught in the Web

March 2017 •English

The larger-than-life story of Kim Dotcom, the 'most wanted man online', is extraordinary enough, but the battle between Dotcom and the US Government and entertainment industry—being fought in New Zealand—is one that goes to the heart of ownership, privacy and piracy in the digital age.

California Dreams

March 2017 •English

Five unique individuals in pursuit of a big life change. Through auditions set up in small towns across Southern California, the film shows genuine characters with big Hollywood aspirations who, for various reasons, have never had the opportunity to pursue their dreams.

Moving Together

February 2023 •English

Moving Together is a celebratory love letter to music and dance that brims with kinetic life and energy. This documentary explores the intricate collaboration between dancers and musicians, moving seamlessly between Flamenco, Modern, and New Orleans Second Line.

Sidney Poitier: One Bright Light

February 2000 •English

Actor/director Sidney Poitier discusses his life and career. He tells of his upbringing in Jamaica; the difficulties he encountered in New York City at the start of his career; his involvement in the US civil-rights movement; and efforts to end apartheid in South Africa. Friends and acquaintances, as well as other performers, give their insights about what makes him so special.

Katharine Hepburn: All About Me

January 1993 •English

In a rare interview, Katharine Hepburn shares her memories and memorabilia.

Francoeur: Exit pour nomades

September 1992 •French

Lucien Francoeur, rock poet of the French imagination of North America, lives the destiny he has chosen for himself at 200 miles an hour.

Mylène Farmer, la star secrète

June 2023 •French

Cut

August 1976 •English

A peculiar homage to the things that go wrong, this film is purportedly about rugby. The self-explanatory title for this jumpy “documentary” is less concerned with the filmed subject (the game, the field, the players) than a comic editing style and the complete acknowledgement given to the technical aspect of gathering and manipulating raw footage.

Alfonso Sánchez

January 1980 •Spanish

Famous Spanish film critic Alfonso Sánchez talks about his personal life, his work and Anouk Aimée. A sentimental tribute to one of the most relevant figures on the Spanish film scene.

21 Years: Richard Linklater

November 2014 •English

A journey through the professional life of innovative film director Richard Linklater: 21 years creating films, carving his signature in pop culture; an analysis of his style and motivations, through the funny and moving testimonies of close friends and collaborators, actors and other filmmakers.

The Celluloid Closet

January 1996 •English

What "That's Entertainment" did for movie musicals, "The Celluloid Closet" does for Hollywood homosexuality, as this exuberant, eye-opening movie serves up a dazzling hundred-year history of the role of gay men and lesbians have had on the silver screen. Lily Tomlin narrates as Oscar-winning moviemaker Rob Epstein ("The Times of Harvey Milk" and "Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt") and Jeffrey Friedman assemble fabulous footage from 120 films showing the changing face of cinema sexuality, from cruel stereotypes to covert love to the activist triumphs of the 1990s. Tom Hanks, Susan Sarandon, Whoopi Goldberg, Tony Curtis, Harvey Fierstein and Gore Vidal are just a few of the many actors, writers and commentators who provide funny and insightful anecdotes.

Morgan Freeman: Breaking Barriers

January 2021 •English

Perhaps it is his distinctive velvet smooth voice and calming demeanor that made Morgan Freeman a household name. World-renowned actor, Freeman has starred in over 100 movies in just three decades and continues to break barriers.

Cinema Through the Eye of Magnum

May 2017 •French

The film tells the story of the intimate and unprecedented encounter between the photojournalists of the Magnum Agency and the world of cinema. The confrontation of two seemingly opposite worlds – fiction and reality. For 70 years their paths crossed: a family of photographers, amongst them the biggest names in photography, and a family of actors and filmmakers who helped write the history of cinema, from John Huston to Marilyn Monroe to Orson Welles, Kate Winslet and Sean Penn.