The Time Factory

The Headsman and the Harlot

December 1986 •Swedish

Sweden, beginning of the 18th Century. Executions are popular entertainment and brothels a given. Still the executioner and the whore are both despised and shunned. The executioner became executioner against his will and the whore, only 17 years old, was forced into the brothel. This is the story of how the two meet and exchange cruelty with tenderness, guilt with innocence.

The Roman Empire in the First Century

January 2001 •English

Two thousand years ago, at the dawn of the first century, the ancient world was ruled by Rome. Through the experiences, memories and writings of the people who lived it, this series tells the story of that time - the emperors and slaves, poets and plebeians, who wrested order from chaos, built the most cosmopolitan society the world had ever seen and shaped the Roman empire in the first century A.D.

The Genius of Gothic Art

May 2021 •German

Death and the devil, nudity and eroticism, horror in blazing colours, Gothic art cast a spell over people 500 years ago. In these image-poor times, art deliberately and skilfully played with the emotions of the viewer, triggering fear, devotion, but also rapture. Art documentary on German gothic art of the late-middle ages.

The day he decided to leave

August 2015 •Portuguese

My grandfather Tuiu decides for the second time to leave his house and start a life elsewhere, he lives with the street hardships, and the fact of leaving is linked to the depredation of that place.

A Brief History of Time

October 1991 •English

This shows physicist Stephen Hawking's life as he deals with the ALS that renders him immobile and unable to speak without the use of a computer. Hawking's friends, family, classmates, and peers are interviewed not only about his theories but the man himself.

Searching for Skylab, America's Forgotten Triumph

February 2019 •English

The first American space station Skylab is found in pieces scattered in Western Australia. Putting these pieces back together and re-tracing the Skylab program back to its very conception reveals the cornerstone of human space exploration.

Illuminated Lives: A Brief History of Women's Work in the Middle Ages

July 1989 •English

This animated short challenges enduring myths, spawned by fairy tales and romances, about women in medieval society. It explores the differences and similarities between that distant period and our own, and shows what medieval women’s lives were really like.

Staroměstský orloj

December 1950 •Czech

A documentary about Prague's Old Town Astronomical Clock. In addition to the technical and artistic description, it also focuses on its history and legendary origin.

The Whisper of Ziggurat: Untold Secrets of Elamite Civilization

October 2020 •English

5000 years ago the ancient Elamites established a glorious civilization that lasted about three millennia. They created marvelous works in architecture and craftsmanship. These works of art depict the lifestyle, thoughts, and beliefs of the Elamites.

Under the Cold Stars

September 2020 •Italian

Set in the mountains of northeast Italy, this film may be considered an observational documentary about rural life. Although this is undeniably the case, at the same time Under the cold stars can hardly be considered a documentary: the microcosm on which it focuses appears to be a reflection of a broader reality and perhaps a way to deal with the themes of man’s existence and his relationship with animals, nature and, most importantly, with time. As written by Franco Piavoli "it is a film which essentially relies on images and sound, where words themselves are sound and the music of life, of the relentless flow of time."

Martin Fruwein osmadvacátý odsouzený

June 2021 •Czech

The Painting

November 2019 •Spanish

For three and a half centuries, from the same day that Diego Velázquez (1599-1660) applied his last brushstroke to the canvas, the enigma of “Las meninas, o La familia de Felipe IV” (1656) has not been deciphered. The secret story of a painting unveiled as if it was the resolution of a perfect crime.

Red Shift

January 1978 •English

Three men at three different times in history come to Mow Top hill in search of sanctuary from their troubles. A Roman soldier, a medieval rebel and a 1970s young man. Somehow they seem linked through an energy within the hill and an axe. Is history doomed to repeat itself or can loving another person free them?

Hadrian - Empire And Conflict

July 2008 •English

Documentary released to coincide with the British Museum's exhibition dedicated to the man who ruled the Roman Empire from 117 to 138 AD. The programme explores the life, achievements, passions and legacy of the emperor who was both soldier and poet and responsible for that most famous construction - Hadrian's Wall. The documentary was produced in conjunction with the exhibition Hadrian: Empire and Conflict at the British Museum 24 July - 26 October 2008.

Terry Jones' Barbarians

May 2006 •English

Terry Jones' Barbarians is a 4-part TV documentary series first broadcast on BBC 2 in 2006. It was written and presented by Terry Jones, and it challenges the received Roman and Roman Catholic notion of the barbarian. Professor Barry Cunliffe of the University of Oxford acted as consultant for the series.

The Scientist, The Imposter and Stalin: How to Feed the People

July 2018 •French

The documentary tells two very different human fates in the 1920s Soviet Union. Nikolai Vavilov was a botanical genius, Trofim Lyssenko was an agronomist who made great promises and fake inventions. Each of them tried to solve the country's nutritional problem, but only one succeeded.

A Room with a View

November 2007 •English

When Lucy Honeychurch and chaperon Charlotte Bartlett find themselves in Florence with rooms without views, fellow guests Mr Emerson and son George step in to remedy the situation. Meeting the Emersons could change Lucy's life forever but, once back in England, how will her experiences in Tuscany affect her marriage plans?

Doctor Who

May 1996 •English

The Seventh Doctor becomes the Eighth. And on the streets of San Francisco – alongside new ally Grace Holloway - he battles the Master.

The Original Mermaid

February 2002 •English

Story of Annette Kellerman, the international swimming vaudeville and silent screen star whose life story inspired the MGM classic Million Dollar Mermaid starring Esther Williams, which featured lavish Busby Berkeley scenes.

Gravitation - Urkraft des Universums

August 2003 •German