Masaccio: A View of Mankind

The Great Museum

April 2014 •English

This feature documentary portrays one of the most important museums in the world, the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien. It presents a unique look behind the scenes of this fascinating institution and encounters a number of charismatic protagonists and their working fields unfolding the museum’s special world – as an art institution as well a vehicle for state representation.

Art City 1 Making It in Manhattan

January 1996 •English

Unlike any art movie you've ever seen, Making it in Manhattan is informed 'entertainment' about the people who make contemporary art. Artists, collectors, and dealers bring to life the art capital of the world, New York, as it plunges into the 21st Century. Presenting a cross-section of artists, the film discusses inspiration, aesthetics, and the meaning of success. With Louise Bourgeois, Brice Marden, Chuck Close, Neil Jenney, Elizabeth Murray, Ashley Bickerton, Gary Simmons, Ursula von Rydingsvard, Rirkrit Tiravanija, St. Clair Cemin, Ivan Karp, Jay Gorney, Matthew Marks, Jerry Saltz, Herb & Dorothy Vogel, and others. From abstraction to figuration, from installation to conceptual art, from the privacy of the doctor's office to the posh gallery opening, Making it in Manhattan captures the reality of a special world. Music by Tom Waits, Don Braden Ryuichi Sakamoto, George van Eps, Piero Umiliani with Chet Baker.

Faces Places

June 2017 •French

Director Agnès Varda and photographer/muralist JR journey through rural France and form an unlikely friendship.

Kandinsky

March 1986 •French

Colour, form, area - this is the formula of the greatest pioneer of abstract painting. Kandinsky came to art late in life, but his impact through Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) and Bauhaus paved the way for modern art. In 1913, he created one of the first abstract pictures, the theoretical basis of which was inspired by his essay Uber das Geistige in der Kunst (On the Spiritual in Art). Accompanied by Mussorgsky's Pictures From An Exhibition Labarthe goes on a sensual journey which makes the soul resound with colours and forms. "A picture has to resound and must be bathed in an inner glow." Kandinsky

Picturing the Presidents

February 2009 •English

We go behind the scenes and into the minds of artists as they capture, commemorate, and, at times, condemn our presidents.

Cuenca

July 1958 •Spanish

A medium-length documentary commissioned by the Cuenca City Council. The documentary shows an honest, sincere, although sometimes mere tourist portrait, of the lands of Cuenca and its people, without artifice or imposture, with feeling and authenticity and at the same time with marked coldness.

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.

Que mi nombre no se borre de la historia

June 2006 •Spanish

Islamic Art: Mirror of the Invisible World

June 2011 •English

This ninety-minute film takes audiences on an epic journey across nine countries and over 1,400 years of history. It explores themes such as the Word, Space, Ornament, Color and Water and presents the stories behind many great masterworks of Islamic Art and Architecture. Narrated by Academy Award winning performer Susan Sarandon, this dazzling documentary reveals the variety and diversity of Islamic art. It provides a window into Islamic culture and brings broad insights to the enduring themes that have propelled human history and fueled the rise of world civilization over the centuries

The Sophisticated Misfit

April 2007 •English

The Sophisticated Misfit is a long-awaited must-have for fans of the artist Shag and Tiki culture alike. This documentary traces the artist’s roots growing up in Hawaii, his artistic journey in college, his early work designing album covers, to his modern-day role as an art-world phenom. In addition to exclusive footage of Shag painting in his home studio, the film features intimate interviews with the artist, his family, artistic influences, tiki-philes, celebrity collectors, and fans.

A.B.

October 2023 •English

A documentary-style capturing of the life of Ab, a young struggling artist trying to find her way, all while dealing with unwanted company.

I Am or How Jack Became Black

February 2017 •English

After his son is denied enrollment by the local elementary school for not identifying his "primary race," a multiracial father journeys through America's maze of Identity Politics to better understand our relentless preoccupation with race.

Tales of the American

November 2017 •English

Seemayer Studios presents a new documentary about the American Hotel in downtown Los Angeles and the Arts District that surrounds it. Since 1979, the American Hotel has been the beating heart of a rich community of artists who began moving into the deserted factory buildings between Alameda and the Los Angeles River.

Hermitage: The Power of Art

October 2019 •Italian

A Documentary on the Making of 'Gore Vidal's Caligula'

January 1981 •English

A Documentary on the Making of 'Gore Vidal's Caligula'

The History of White People in America: Volume II

January 1986 •English

In this daring follow-up to The History of White People in America, comedian Martin Mull takes us on an in-depth look at such topics as White Religion, White Stress, White Politics, and White Crime.

Nothing Changes: Art for Hank's Sake

June 2018 •English

How far would you go to pursue your passion? At 87 years old, Hank Virgona commutes to his Union Square studio six days a week and makes art. Despite poor health, cancer, lack of revenue and obscurity as an artist, Hank is unrelenting in his quest to understand how life and art are the same.

The Latino List

September 2011 •English

Documentary film interviews leading Latinos on race, identity, and achievement.

Judgment Day: Should the Guilty Go Free

February 2003 •English

Each year in the United States, over 200,000 prisoners face a parole board that must make the difficult judgment of whether these convicted criminals are ready to gain their freedom and return to society. This documentary focuses on three inmates in Louisiana, Nevada, and Massachusetts with a range of chilling crimes - a father's murder by his troubled son, a crime of passion by a respected NASA scientist, and a shooting/robbery on the streets of Las Vegas. Incorporating interviews of key characters with extensive testimony footage and reenactment sequences that explore the life and crime of the inmate, the film vividly examines the conflicting needs of the victim, the criminal, and the community while testing our own notions of justice.

Clínica de Migrantes: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

April 2016 •English

Puentes de Salud is a volunteer-run clinic that provides free medical care to undocumented immigrants in south Philadelphia. Here, doctors and nurses work for free to serve people who would otherwise fall through the cracks. Clinica de Migrantes, a potent film by Maxim Pozdorovkin, follows the workers and patients of Puentes through months of routine care and growth. Along the way, the film puts a face to the millions of people who exist on the margins of society: people displaced from their homelands, separated from their families, unfamiliar with the customs, unable to obtain health insurance and terrified to come forward to seek medical help. Along with revealing these patient stories, Clinica is also a look at the heroic doctors and nurses who work pro bono to ensure these people receive care, offering a deeply moving look at the limitless potential of humanity.