Teague: Design & Beauty

Valldaura: A Quarantine Cabin

July 2022 •Spanish

A group of young architects, confined to a forest in Barcelona during the COVID crisis, explore the problems generated by the ambition of wanting to be completely self-sufficient.

Objectified

May 2009 •English

A feature-length documentary about our complex relationship with manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them.

Cartier The little red box

February 2017 •English

For 160 years, the Maison Cartier has inspired awe, desire and covetousness in men and women before its jewellery box, the most recognizable in the world. To paraphrase Jean Cocteau: "Cartier is still a subtle magician "whose able to hang the moon at the tip of a string of sun"".

TGV, 30 ans de vitesse

December 2011 •French

Helvetica

September 2007 •English

Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will celebrate its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. The film is an exploration of urban spaces in major cities and the type that inhabits them, and a fluid discussion with renowned designers about their work, the creative process, and the choices and aesthetics behind their use of type.

Oso

November 2020 •Spanish

OSO is a journey through the history of a pop icon told by its own protagonists, the Tous family, Spain's most famous jewelers.

Toypunks

May 2008 •English

Toypunks is a documentary film series covering the converging world of Japanese toys, fashion and punk rock. Exploring the birth of the designer vinyl explosion from its roots in character culture and punk music, Toypunks takes you in-depth with Japanese fashion icon, Hikaru Iwanaga, creator of the worlds first designer toy. Frank Kozik, Hiddy Kinoshita of Secret Base, Balzac, Three Tides Tattoo and more are interviewed highlighting profound cross-cultural connections between todays top creative talents in toys and fashion.

Gray Matters

May 2016 •English

Gray Matters explores the long, fascinating life and complicated career of architect and designer Eileen Gray, whose uncompromising vision defined and defied the practice of modernism in decoration, design and architecture. Making a reputation with her traditional lacquer work in the first decade of the 20th century, she became a critically acclaimed and sought after designer and decorator in the next before reinventing herself as an architect, a field in which she laboured largely in obscurity. Apart from the accolades that greeted her first building –persistently and perversely credited to her mentor–her pioneering work was done quietly, privately and to her own specifications. But she lived long enough (98) to be re-discovered and acclaimed. Today, with her work commanding extraordinary prices and attention, her legacy, like its creator, remains elusive, contested and compelling.

Maija Isola, Master of Colour and Form

September 2021 •Finnish

A film about Maija Isola, the designer of Finland’s most beloved fabrics. Her bold designs, which include classics like Unikko, Kivet, Kaivo and Melooni, were essential in creating Marimekko’s lifestyle universe. The film shows the secrets to the success of Maija Isola’s fabrics, the values at the heart of Isola’s globetrotter lifestyle, and the legacy she left us. The film is narrated by Maija Isola, as well as her daughter Kristina Isola. It takes us close to Maija as a person, artist, thinker and visionary through her letters. We also hear Armi Ratia’s thoughts on Isola both as an employee and as a friend.

Spitfire: The Birth of a Legend

January 2006 •English

‘Spitfire— Birth of a Legend‘ tells the story of the Spitfire from a radical design on the drawing board to the fighter aircraft that became the symbol of Britain’s determination to fight on to victory. It celebrates the history of this acclaimed aircraft, the men who designed and built it, and those who flew and fought in it. The story, along with dramatic archive and colour film of aerial combat, graphically illustrates the appeal and fascination the Spitfire has maintained since it faced and fought the fighter and bomber formations of the Luftwaffe.

Everything Must Change: Piet Zwart

September 2012 •Dutch

A fascinating documentary about Piet Zwart (1885–1977), an idiosyncratic and stubborn designer, who lived for innovation and prepared the way for the international success that is now known as Dutch Design. Piet Zwart worked as an interior and industrial designer, commercial typographer, photographer, critic and lecturer, playing a key role in defining the design climate in the Netherlands in the Twentieth Century. He is especially known for designing the famous ‘Piet Zwart’ kitchen for the Dutch company Bruynzeel: a kitchen that could be easily produced and consisted of standardized elements. His versatility and influence on present-day designers led the Association of Dutch Designers to award him the title of “Designer of the Century” in 2000.

Étienne Robial, un spécimen de caractère(s)

May 2023 •French

Documentary on the French graphic and visual artist and designer, editor, artistic director, and teacher who is known for his widely-used fonts.

Pressing On: The Letterpress Film

May 2017 •English

Why has letterpress printing survived? Irreplaceable knowledge of the historic craft is in danger of being lost as its caretakers age. Fascinating personalities intermix with wood, metal, and type as young printers save a traditional process in Pressing On, a 4K feature-length documentary exploring the remarkable community keeping letterpress alive.

Design ist niemals unschuldig

April 2021 •German

Immersion in a world of contemporary design in search of more virtuous practices. In Helsinki, German designer Julia Lohmann uses seaweed to create dyed garments; in Amsterdam, Marjan van Aubel creates objects powered by organic photovoltaic cells; in London, the Superflux duo develops futuristic installations to alleviate potential food shortages.

Graphic Means: A History of Graphic Design Production

April 2017 •English

Up until just over 30 years ago, when the desktop computer debuted, the whole design production process would have been done primarily by hand, and with the aide of analog machines. The design and print industries used a variety of ways to get type and image onto film, plates, and finally to the printed page. Graphic Means is a journey through this transformative Mad Men-era of pre-digital design production to the advent of the desktop computer. It explores the methods, tools, and evolving social roles that gave rise to the graphic design industry as we know it today.

Radikalslöjdaren

Invalid date •Swedish

Chun

January 2020 •German

Art & Copy

August 2009 •English

The personal odysseys of some of the most influential advertising visionaries of all time and the stories behind their campaigns.

Blue Gold: American Jeans

May 2014 •English

Tracing the history of blue jeans around the globe.

The Pruitt-Igoe Myth

January 2012 •English

Destroyed in a dramatic and highly-publicized implosion, the Pruitt-Igoe public housing complex has become a widespread symbol of failure amongst architects, politicians and policy makers. The Pruitt-Igoe Myth explores the social, economic and legislative issues that led to the decline of conventional public housing in America, and the city centers in which they resided, while tracing the personal and poignant narratives of several of the project's residents. In the post-War years, the American city changed in ways that made it unrecognizable from a generation earlier, privileging some and leaving others in its wake. The next time the city changes, remember Pruitt-Igoe.