Marco Polo

The Rising Hawk

October 2019 •English

During the 13th century, a small village fights for freedom in the frontier landscape of the Carpathian Mountains against Mongolian invaders.

Brother Sun, Sister Moon

March 1972 •Italian

In his delirium from his return from war, Francesco Bernardone goes back in his memories to the days when he lived for parties and carnal pleasures. He slowly recovers, but after the illness he is no longer the Francesco that everybody knew. Instead of spending hours in taverns, he meditates on the beauty of God's creatures, soon renouncing his riches and his family with plans to rebuild an abandoned church and his life.

The Virgin Spring

February 1960 •Swedish

Devout Christians Töre and Märeta send their only daughter, the virginal Karin, and their foster daughter, the unrepentant Ingeri, to deliver candles to a distant church. On their way through the woods, the girls encounter a group of savage goat herders who brutally rape and murder Karin as Ingeri remains hidden. When the killers unwittingly seek refuge in the farmhouse of Töre and Märeta, Töre plots a fitting revenge.

Alexander Nevsky

November 1938 •Russian

When German knights invade Russia, Prince Alexander Nevsky must rally his people to resist the formidable force. After the Teutonic soldiers take over an eastern Russian city, Alexander stages his stand at Novgorod, where a major battle is fought on the ice of frozen Lake Chudskoe. While Alexander leads his outnumbered troops, two of their number, Vasili and Gavrilo, begin a contest of bravery to win the hand of a local maiden.

Václav II. – cesta ze stínu

September 2021 •Czech

Zen

January 2009 •Japanese

In the early 1200s, Dogen brought Chinese Zen philosophy to Japan, and established the Japanese Zen school of Buddhism. He taught that a person was capable of realizing Buddhahood within himself, by way of Zazen. Zazen is extended hours of sitting and meditating to achieve a state of “Mu” (nothingness, or empty existence).

In Search of Marco Polo

February 2013 •Croatian

By filming on the actual locations traversed by Marco Polo, the series brings to life the authenticity of the local peoples from the standpoints of ethnology, historiography, culture and economics. We follow the exact route depicted in his book, Il millione, documenting the peoples, customs and cultures along the way to bring into sharp relief the cultural differences within the Asian mainland. Viewers are introduced to their development, becoming familiar with three completely different and, to us, relatively unknown spheres of civilisation and religion - Arabic Islam, Indian Hinduism and Oriental Buddhism. The host takes us through regions and cultures that may seem exotic - and, at times,dreamlike - in our search for the evidence of Marco Polo's passage.

Ironclad

March 2011 •English

In the year 1215, the rebel barons of England have forced their despised King John to put his royal seal on the Magna Carta, a seminal document that upheld the rights of free men. Yet within months of pledging himself to the great charter, the King reneged on his word and assembled a mercenary army on the south coast of England with the intention of bringing the barons and the country back under his tyrannical rule. Barring his way stood the mighty Rochester castle, a place that would become the symbol of the rebel's momentous struggle for justice and freedom.

Královský omyl

December 1968 •Czech

The High Royal Chamberlain is accused of treason and imprisoned. Even if the suspicion proves to be unfounded, the prisoner finds his life in danger, because the royal majesty must not admit error. If the unfortunate man had confessed, he could have been pardoned, but the Vice-Chamberlain refuses such a solution as a matter of principle... This historical story, which aspires to the dimension of a parable, takes place at the dawn of the reign of John of Luxembourg.

Marketa Lazarová

November 1967 •Czech

Mikolás and his brother Adam end up with a young German hostage of noble blood during a robbery. While their clan prepares for the wrath of the German king, Mikolás is sent to pressure his neighbor Lazar into a defense pact. Persuasion fails and he abducts Lazar's daughter Marketa on the eve of her initiation as a nun in an act of vengeance.

The Valley of the Bees

May 1968 •Czech

Cast out by his father, young Ondrej joins the Order of the Teutonic Knights, where he is raised by strict monk Armin. After years of hardship, Ondrej escapes from the Order when he is wrongly punished, and sets out for his former home. Arriving to discover his father to be dead, Ondrej now not only assumes control of his father's properties, but seeks to marry his former stepmother.

The Four Assassins

December 1975 •Chinese

Set at the time of Italian explorer Marco Polo's historic expedition to China ,during the reign of Monogol ruler Kublai Khan, it stars American actor Richard Harrison as Polo. Taking considerable liberties with the historic record, the film has Polo turning up as an Imperial Inspector assigned to root out Chinese rebles in the south, but eventually being won over to their cause.

The Incredible Adventures of Marco Polo

January 1998 •English

In this globe-trotting adventure, Marco Polo (Don Diamont) plays the famous 13th Century explorer who sets out from Italy to find his missing father, and along the way finds danger, excitement, and amazing discoveries at every turn. The supporting cast includes Oliver Reed, Jack Palance, and Herbert Lom.

Anthony of Padua, The Saint of Miracles

April 1931 •Italian

Born Fernando de Bulhões, he was a precocious Portuguese youth, concerned with the suffering of the poor. Grown into a contemplative young man he renounces the world to join first the Augustinian Order and then the Franciscans order (where he takes the name Anthony) in his dedicated service to the faith.

Hra o královnu

March 1981 •Czech

A comedy about the love of the Czech nobleman Záviš of Falkenštejn for the Hungarian princess Kunhuta, who later married Přemysl Otakar II and became the Czech queen.

Královský gambit

January 1974 •Czech

Wenceslas II, who already has adult children Eliška and Václav, refuses to marry the young Alžběta Rejčka. In the end, he succumbs to the insistence of Abbot Konrád. The queen brings him Poland as a dowry, and Wenceslas II thus expands his empire. He still lives in the shadow of his great father, Přemysl Otakar II, and his lords reproach him for his weakness and inability to fight. Wenceslas is truly afraid of the moment when he will have to lead an army into the field and prefers to settle disputes diplomatically. His fencing teacher Hynek of Dubá and his mistress Anežka know about the king's weakness, and Václav seeks their company rather than his young wife. However, Rejčka admires the king and trusts him with the charm of a young girl. The enemy invades the country and advances quickly. It is necessary to confront him in the field, but the king hesitates and postpones the decision.

Záviš a Kunhuta

July 1984 •Czech

V erbu lvice

April 1995 •Czech

The life story of Blessed Zdislava of Lemberk, about whom legends rather than sparse historical references tell us that she was a deeply religious woman with healing powers who devoted herself entirely to the humble service of her sick and suffering neighbors.

Rumi: The Dance of Love

April 2008 •Turkish

A dramatised documentary about the life of Rumi, a Persian mystical poet whose images of universal love and divine mystery continue to be celebrated more than 700 years after his death.

Magdala Rose

November 2019 •English

In 1244, during a time of religious persecution, Pope Innocent IV and King Louis IX of France sought to eradicate a pacifist Christian group known as Cathars. The last of the Cathar heretics found protection at the Castle of Montsegur. Here a dedicated group of about 100 defending knights, under the Leadership of Lord Raymond and his family, held a crusading army of over 10,000 mercenaries at bay for 9 months. To this day, many people believe that the Cathars were the guardians of a treasure of great significance, possibly even the Holy Grail. It is rumoured that in the last days of the siege a small group managed to slip away in the dead of night to retrieve this hidden treasure and get it safely away from the clutches of the Catholic Church. This is their story.