Britten's Children

Tally Brown, New York

May 1979 •German

Tally Brown, New York is a 1979 documentary film directed, written and produced by Rosa von Praunheim. The film is about the singing and acting career of Tally Brown, a classically trained opera and blues singer who was a star of underground films in New York City and a denizen of its underworld in the late 1960s. In this documentary, Praunheim relies on extensive interviews with Brown, as she recounts her collaboration with Andy Warhol, Taylor Mead and others, as well as her friendships with Holly Woodlawn, and Divine. Brown opens the film with a cover of David Bowie’s “Heroes” and concludes with “Rock ’n’ Roll Suicide.” The film captures not only Tally Brown’s career but also a particular New York milieu in the 1970s.

Bathtubs Over Broadway

April 2018 •English

When he started as a comedy writer for the Late Show with David Letterman, Steve Young had few interests and not many friends outside of his day job. But while gathering material for a segment on the show, Steve stumbled onto a few vintage record albums that would change his life forever.

Hitler and the Apostles of Evil

January 2015 •French

This portrait that goes against the grain depicts the Führer as a lazy, isolated leader, cut off from reality, incapable of governing without his "apostles". They are Hitler's essential ministers, advisers, rivals, courtiers. They hate each other, and the Führer puts them in competition, often to get the worst out of them. The portraits of Hermann Goering, Heinrich Himmler, Joseph Goebbels, Albert Speer but also Rudolf Hoess, the commandant of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp, and Doctor Joseph Mengele trace the rivalries, hatreds and predations that punctuate the entire frightening epic of Nazism. This documentary is composed of a selection of archive images and testimonies from descendants and specialists of this period.

Jarmila Šuláková – královna lidové písně

March 2023 •Czech

Polis Is This: Charles Olson and the Persistence of Place

April 2007 •English

Documentary about Charles Olson, exploring his life and the significance of Gloucester, Massachusetts.

Brel, un cri

January 1985 •French

A TV documentary about the singing career of Jacques Brel, beginning with his childhood in Belgium.

I Am Evel Knievel

September 2014 •English

I Am Evel Knievel features footage of Evels greatest jumps, including the seminal Snake River Canyon and Caesars Palace jumps. The film also showcases Knievels rise from a small town rebel in Butte, Montana, to a cultural icon whose rise to superstardom was built on nerves of steel and the ability to get up and do it again no matter the severity of the fall. He lived life like every day was his last, which led to a tumultuous life filled with stunts no man would ever dream of, encompassing meteoric success, wild hubris, egomaniacal mistakes, and ultimately redemption. The documentary combines original exclusive interviews with archival footage of this larger-than-life character to tell Knievels incredible story. Among those featured include Matthew McConaughey, Kid Rock, Michelle Rodriguez, Guy Fieri, Robbie Maddison and family members including sons Kelly and Robbie, and former wives Linda Knievel and Krystal Kennedy-Knievel.

Shemp Cocktail: A Toast to the Original Stooge

March 2008 •English

A compilation that highlights works from the Three Stooges. It includes the shorts Brideless Groom, Sing a Song of Six Pants, and Malice in the Palace, also Ed Wynn's live TV Camel Comedy Caravan starring Shemp, Larry, and Moe.

The Devil Kissed from Behind

January 1993 •English

The astonishing life-story of “Lili Marleen“ composer Norbert Schultze.

Mae West: Dirty Blonde

June 2020 •English

Mae West achieved great acclaim in every entertainment medium that existed during her lifetime, spanning eight decades of the 20th century. A full-time actress at seven, a vaudevillian at 14, a dancing sensation at 25, a playwright at 33, a silver screen ingénue at 40, a Vegas nightclub act at 62, a recording artist at 73, a camp icon at 85 - West left no format unconquered. She possessed creative and economic powers unheard of for a female entertainer in the 1930s and still rare today. Though a comedian, West grappled with some of the more complex social issues of the 20th century, including race and class tensions, and imbued even her most salacious plotlines with commentary about gender conformity, societal restrictions and what she perceived as moral hypocrisy. Mae West: Dirty Blonde is the first major documentary film to explore West's life and career, as she "climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong" to become a writer, performer and subversive agitator for social change.

The Eyes of Orson Welles

August 2018 •English

A poetic journey into the visual world of the legendary filmmaker and actor Orson Welles (1915-85) that reveals a new portrait of a unique genius, both of his life and of his monumental work: through his own eyes, drawn by his own hand, painted with his own brush.

Bela Bartók

May 1964 •English

A portrait of the life and work of the great Hungarian composer Béla Bartók, exploring both his music and his passionate interest in his country's folklore.

Palace of Silents

October 2010 •English

Built in 1942 by a maverick film preservationist, this small Los Angeles theater championed silent film at the very moment when the Hollywood studios across town were busily destroying their nitrate inventories. With hard chairs, phonograph-record accompaniments, and mostly original vintage prints, the dingy mom-and-pop operation was nonetheless a palace to the fanatical few who became its loyal audience.

Meritorious Artist Terezie Brzková

January 1961 •Czech

Film medallion of actress Terezie Brzková.

Creating a Character: The Moni Yakim Legacy

June 2020 •English

What do Jessica Chastain, Viola Davis, Patti LuPone and Alex Sharp have in common? They are but a few of the extraordinary actors who have studied under Moni Yakim at Juilliard, United States' greatest performing arts school. This compelling portrait of the master teacher - the sole remaining founder of the school's legendary Drama Division - takes us inside the drama classes where Moni and his wife Mina pour their love and passion into preparing the next generation of actors for the spotlight.

Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words

August 2015 •Swedish

A personal and captivating account of the extraordinary life and work of Ingrid Bergman (1915-82), a young Swedish woman who became one of the most celebrated actresses in world cinema.

Every Act of Life

April 2018 •English

The life of Tony-winning playwright Terrence McNally (Master Class, Ragtime): 60 years of groundbreaking plays and musicals, the struggle for gay rights, addiction and recovery, finding true love, and the relentless pursuit of inspiration.

Ava Gardner, the Gypsy of Hollywood

March 2018 •French

At the height of her fame in 1954, actress Ava Gardner transplanted herself from Hollywood to the country of Spain. As she lovingly stated in her autobiography, “I don’t know if it was the climate, the men, or the music, but as soon as I set foot in Spain, I had a crush on this country.” In this documentary by Sergio Mondelo, the filmmaker explores the motivations behind this move and contrasts Gardner’s glitz and glam lifestyle with the hardships faced by the Spainish people under Franco’s rule.

Rezo

April 2018 •Russian

The rich inner world of famous Georgian theater and film director, artist and puppeteer Rezo Gabriadze is as fantastic as the animation into which he has poured this story of his life. Rezo’s director son Levan "Leo" Gabriadze, who previously made the horror film Unfriended (2014), leaves it to his father to talk about a life suffused with magical thinking.

M. C. Escher: Journey to Infinity

April 2018 •Dutch

A portrait of the visionary Dutch artist M. C. Escher (1898-1972), according to his own words, taken from his diary, his correspondence and the texts of his lectures.