The Whirl of Life

Never Turn Your Back On Sparks

December 2014 •English

As he turns 50, filmmaker Pini Schatz sets out to explore his life-long obsession with the band Sparks (the brothers Ron and Russell Mael). Pini charts the impact of Sparks on his life while meeting with fellow Sparks fans, among them famous musicians, in Tel Aviv, London, Berlin, Rotterdam and NYC. Structured as a personal quest of the filmmaker to prove that Sparks are the coolest underrated band in the history of popular music, this docu-comedy explores the universal themes of growing old and being an outsider, the importance of art in daily life and the power of non-conformism.

The White Sun of the Desert

December 1969 •Russian

The setting is the east shore of the Caspian Sea (today's Turkmenistan) where the Red Army soldier Fyodor Sukhov has been fighting the Civil War in Russian Asia for a number of years. After being hospitalised and then demobbed, he sets off home to join his wife, only to be caught up in a desert fight between a Red Army cavalry unit and Basmachi guerrillas. The cavalry unit commander, Rahimov, "convinces" Sukhov to help, temporarily, with the protection of abandoned women of the Basmachi guerrilla leader Abdullah's harem. Leaving a young Red Army soldier, Petrukha, to assist Sukhov with the task, Rahimov and his cavalry unit set out to pursue fleeing Abdullah.Sukhov and women from Abdullah's harem return to a nearby shore town. Soon, looking for a seaway across the border, Abdullah and his gang come to the same town...

Mamonas Assassinas: The Movie

December 2023 •Portuguese

The life and times of comedy rock band Mamonas Assassinas, from their beginning to their breakthrough in the late 1990s.

There's No Business Like Show Business

December 1954 •English

Molly and Terry Donahue, plus their three children, are The Five Donahues. Youngest son Tim meets hat-check girl Vicky and the family act begins to fall apart.

Křídlovka pro Majoránka

September 1986 •Czech

Queen of Underworld

November 1991 •

Popular Hong Kong actress Amy Yip plays Sister Har -- a seminal figure in 1960s and '70s Hong Kong nightlife -- in this biographical film that follows the scenester's rise and fall from the upper echelons of society to the glamour and excess of Hong Kong's teeming underworld. A truly fascinating portrait of the allure and excess that were part of the fabric of Asia's favorite playground.

Joy

December 2015 •English

A story based on the life of a struggling Long Island single mom who became one of the country's most successful entrepreneurs.

The Compleat Al

August 1985 •English

The Compleat Al (a title parody/homage of the 1982 documentary ‘The Compleat Beatles’) is a mockumentary about the life of "Weird Al" Yankovic, the Grammy® award-winning master of musical parody and rock-and-roll comedy, from his birth to 1985. Although a mockumentary, it is roughly based on Yankovic's real life, beginning with his childhood years, his high school and college days, and up through his early-career rise to stardom. This semi-concocted chronicle also contains classic moments from AL-TV, footage from his trip to Japan, and a somewhat embellished version of how he received permission from Michael Jackson for "Eat It". And to top it off, The Compleat Al contains eight "Weird Al" music video classics: "Ricky", "I Love Rocky Road", the award-winning "Eat It", "I Lost on Jeopardy", "This Is the Life", "Like a Surgeon", "One More Minute", and "Dare to Be Stupid"!

Swing Time

August 1936 •English

Lucky is tricked into missing his own wedding to Margaret and has to make $25,000 so her father will allow him to marry her. He and business partner Pop go to New York where they run into dancing instructor Penny. She and Lucky form a successful dance partnership, but romance is blighted by his old attachment to Margaret and hers for Ricky.

American Splendor

August 2003 •English

An original mix of fiction and reality illuminates the life of comic book hero everyman Harvey Pekar.

Riding in Cars with Boys

October 2001 •English

In 1965, a young woman with dreams of becoming a writer has a son at the age of 15 and struggles to make things work with the drug-addicted father.

Amour Fou

May 2014 •German

Heinrich wishes to conquer death through love, and when he meets Henriette, the wife of a business acquaintance, she expresses interest in a suicide pact when she learns she has a terminal illness.

Tommy Cooper: Not Like That, Like This

April 2014 •English

The life and times of Tommy Cooper

My Mother's Castle

October 1990 •French

To his chagrin, young Marcel Pagnol and his family move back to their home in Marseilles, France, far from their pastoral holiday cottage in the hills. Determined, Marcel makes the long voyage back to the cottage on foot and lands himself in trouble. One day Marcel's father discovers a shortcut to the cottage, but it requires trespassing. Despite their trepidations, Marcel and his family begin using the secret trail to reach their cottage.

The Sky Is Pink

October 2019 •Hindi

The 25-year-old love story of a couple is told through the lens of their teenage daughter after she is diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis.

The Aristocats

December 1970 •English

When Madame Adelaide Bonfamille leaves her fortune to Duchess and her children—Bonfamille’s beloved family of cats—the butler plots to steal the money and kidnaps the legatees, leaving them out on a country road. All seems lost until the wily Thomas O’Malley Cat and his jazz-playing alley cats come to the aristocats’ rescue.

The Life and Death of Peter Sellers

October 2004 •English

The turbulent personal and professional life of actor Peter Sellers (1925-1980), from his beginnings as a comic performer on BBC Radio to his huge success as one of the greatest film comedians of all time; an obsessive artist so dedicated to his work that neglected his loved ones and sacrificed part of his own personality to convincingly create that of his many memorable characters.

The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain

May 1995 •English

When an English cartographer arrives in Wales to tell the residents of the Welsh village of Ffynnon Garw that their 'mountain' is only a hill, the offended community sets out to remedy the situation.

The Madness of King George

December 1994 •English

Aging King George III of England is exhibiting signs of madness, a problem little understood in 1788. As the monarch alternates between bouts of confusion and near-violent outbursts of temper, his hapless doctors attempt the ineffectual cures of the day. Meanwhile, Queen Charlotte and Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger attempt to prevent the king's political enemies, led by the Prince of Wales, from usurping the throne.

Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes

June 1965 •English

In order to boost circulation of his newspaper, Lord Rawnsley announces an air race and offers £10,000 to the first person who can fly across the English Channel. But one of the participants, Percy, plots to sabotage his competitor's planes. Will Percy triumph?