Goya's Skull

Tea War: The Adventures of Robert Fortune

July 2016 •French

In the 19th century, China held the monopoly on tea, which was dear and fashionable in the West, and the British Empire exchanged poppies, produced in its Indian colonies and transformed into opium, for Chinese tea. Inundated by the drugs, China was forced to open up its market, and the British consolidated their commercial dominance. In 1839, the Middle Empire introduced prohibition. The Opium War was declared… Great Britain emerged as the winner, but the warning was heeded: it could no longer depend on Chinese tea. The only alternative possible was to produce its own tea. The East India Company therefore entrusted one man with finding the secrets of the precious beverage. His mission was to develop the first plantations in Britain’s Indian colonies. This latter-day James Bond was called Robert Fortune – a botanist. After overcoming innumerable ordeals in the heart of imperial China, he brought back the plants and techniques that gave rise to Darjeeling tea.

L'Agonie des aigles

November 1933 •French

Under the regime of Louis XVIII. Years after Waterloo, Napoleon's loyal officers live in retirement on half-pay. Useless and idle, they have lost their prestige and keep meeting in the hope of the Emperor’s return. When Napoleon dies, they decide to plot the rise to power of Napoleon II.

The Golden Wedding

October 1911 •Italian

A grandfather recalls how he and his wife met and fell in love during the Second Italian War of Independence.

Rang Rasiya

November 2014 •Hindi

A look a the life of 19th century Indian painter Raja Ravi Varma.

The Widow of Saint-Pierre

April 2000 •French

In 1850, on the isolated French island of Saint-Pierre, a murder shocks the natives. Two fishermen are arrested. One of them, Louis Ollivier, dies in custody. The other, Neel Auguste, is sentenced to death by the guillotine. The island is so small that it has neither a guillotine nor an executioner. While those are sent for Auguste is placed under the supervision of an army Captain.

America America

December 1963 •English

A young Anatolian Greek, entrusted with his family's fortune, loses it en route to Istanbul and dreams of going to America.

Príbelská vzbura Janka Kráľa

January 1978 •Slovak

The Mountain of the Lord

March 1993 •English

Recounts the 40-year history of building the Salt Lake Temple, shown as if recounted by Wilford Woodruff to a young reporter. It portrays the pioneers' dedication to temple worship.

Passage of Venus

December 1874 •French

Photo sequence of the rare transit of Venus over the face of the Sun, one of the first chronophotographic sequences. In 1873, P.J.C. Janssen, or Pierre Jules César Janssen, invented the Photographic Revolver, which captured a series of images in a row. The device, automatic, produced images in a row without human intervention, being used to serve as photographic evidence of the passage of Venus before the Sun, in 1874.

Topsy-Turvy

December 1999 •English

After their production "Princess Ida" meets with less-than-stunning reviews, the relationship between Gilbert and Sullivan is strained to breaking. Their friends and associates attempt to get the two to work together again, which opens the way to "The Mikado," one of the duo's greatest successes.

Burn!

December 1969 •Italian

The professional mercenary Sir William Walker instigates a slave revolt on the Caribbean island of Queimada in order to help improve the British sugar trade. Years later he is sent again to deal with the same rebels that he built up because they have seized too much power that now threatens British sugar interests.

Emily

October 2022 •English

The imagined life of one of the world’s most famous authors, Emily Brontë, as she finds her voice and writes the literary classic Wuthering Heights. Explore the relationships that inspired her – her raw, passionate sisterhood with Charlotte and Anne; her first aching, forbidden love for Weightman and her care for her maverick brother whom she idolises.

12 Years a Slave

October 2013 •English

In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty as well as unexpected kindnesses Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon’s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist will forever alter his life.

15 Février 1839

January 2001 •French

In 1839, months after the British army has repressed the insurrection of the Patriots, hundreds of rebels are still in prison. The morning of February 14, Marie-Thomas Chevalier De Lorimier and Charles Hindelang learn that they will be hung in 24 hours, with three others. While they await their death the condemned spend time and consult with companions and loved ones as well as entrust to those their last wills. At dawn, the five Patriots will walk to the scaffold, knowing will they die.

La leyenda del tambor

September 1981 •Spanish

In June 1808, Napoleon's troops invade Spain. A boy named Isidro will beat his drum in the mountains of El Bruc, making the French army believe that thousands of armed men are waiting to confront them.

Gloria del Pacífico

November 2014 •Spanish

A bedridden war veteran relives his experiences endured in the battles of Tacna and Arica between Chile and Peru, revealing untold secrets and mysteries that history never told.

Milestones

September 1920 •English

1860 ushers in the era of iron ships, Richard Sibley, a builder of wooden ships, stubbornly resists the change, which leads him to forbid the marriage of his daughter Rose to John Rhead, a proponent of the new method. This injustice outrages John's sister Gertrude so much that she breaks off her engagement to Sibley's son Sam. Meanwhile, John and Rose elope.

La Commune (Paris, 1871)

July 2003 •French

We are in the year 1871. A journalist for Versailles Television broadcasts a soothing and official view of events while a Commune television is set up to provide the perspectives of the Paris rebels. On a stage-like set, more than 200 actors interpret characters of the Commune, especially the Popincourt neighborhood in the XIth arrondissement. They voice their thoughts and feelings concerning the social and political reforms.

Les Misérables

Invalid date •French

In 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.

Handcart

October 2002 •English

This is a fictional love story with the 1856 Handcart Pioneers as the backdrop. Sam Hunter, falls for a Mormon Pioneer woman, Abigail, as she is moving west. As the pioneers stop in his town of Iowa City, he pretends to desire joining the Mormon Church to show his love for Abigail. As hardships prevail, his faith is tested on their way to Zion.