Discovering Hamlet

Grand Theft Hamlet

December 2024 •English

Two unemployed friends have a fresh idea: they want to stage Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' in Grand Theft Auto. But even in a virtual world, reality intrudes in a wild and trippy film shot entirely inside the ultra-violent video game.

Scuffles, Swagger and Shakespeare: The Hidden Story of English

November 2019 •English

The English language is spoken by 450 million people around the globe, with a further one billion using it as a second language. It is arguably Britain’s most famous export. The man often given credit for the global triumph of English, and the invention of many of our modern words, is William Shakespeare. Shakespeare’s plays first hit the stage four centuries ago, as the explorers of Elizabethan England were laying the foundations for the British empire. It was this empire that would carry English around the world. Language historian and BBC New Generation Thinker Dr John Gallagher asks whether the real story of how English became a global linguistic superpower is more complex.

Performing the Goddess

July 1999 •Bengali

"Chapal Bhaduri, a leading lady of Bengal’s traditional folk traveling theatre-in-the-round, the Jatra, spent his life playing women. This film is an intimate biography that brings you face to face with this unique individual, sharing what it means to him to become a woman night after night, talking of the woman inside his body, of troubled sexuality, of a long partnership with his older lover, of the loneliness of living on the edges of conventional society–and showing how he metamorphoses into the goddess to perform her story." - The Bangalore International Centre

Terwijl het liefde was

August 2021 •Dutch

Artistic director of the National Theater Eric de Vroedt writes and directs a performance about his own mother Winnie, who passed away in 2020. This piece, titled The Century of My Mother, is a family story about the migration from the Dutch East Indies to the Netherlands. It is De Vroedt's way of examining the relationship with his mother and not having to say goodbye to her yet: 'I can let her live on stage, but when the curtain falls, when the play is completely finished, then she is really dead'.

To Be Hamlet

January 1985 •English

Documentary examination of the role of Hamlet, in which ten prominent actors who have played the part discuss Hamlet's personality, Shakespeare's play, and the enduring popular fascination it has inspired. The actors interviewed are Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Richard Burton, Nicol Williamson, Ben Kingsley, Jean Louis Barrault, Vittorio Gassman, Maximilian Schell, Innocenti Smoktunovsky, and Mandy Patinkin. Includes excerpts from various film and television versions of Hamlet, featuring these actors and others.

Hamlet: The Actor's View

May 1954 •English

One of the greatest Hamlets of the 20th century Sir John Gielgud reflects on the play and its title character with which he used to be intimately associated for ever since 1929.

Hamilton: One Shot to Broadway

May 2017 •English

It’s the hit musical that changed Broadway forever and brought the genius of Lin Manuel Miranda to the attention of legions of fans across the world. A story of how a group of mavericks made an unlikely marriage of hip-hop and history to create the biggest show in America…and are getting ready to conquer the world. Featuring interviews with Miranda, as well as the cast and crew of Hamilton.

The Hobart Shakespeareans

September 2005 •English

Rafe Esquith, 1992 American Teacher of the Year and National Medal of Arts recipient, teaches 5th-grade children whose parents don't speak English at a school in a dangerous, poor, drug-infested 100% Latino/Asian neighborhood in Los Angeles.

Passing Strange

August 2009 •English

A young black artist leaves his Los Angeles digs and travels to Europe to find himself. A theatrical stage production of the original Broadway musical.

Gewalt no Mori - Kare ha Waseda de shinda

May 2024 •Japanese

A documentary about the end of the student movement in 1972 and the lynching of Daizaburo Kawaguchi, a student at Waseda University. The documentary interweaves testimonies from japanese intellectuals and a short play, written and directed by Shôji Kôkami, about the murder.

Signals Through the Flames

October 1983 •English

Signals Through the Flames is at once a history and a celebration of the Living Theatre. Founded in the late 1940s by husband-and-wife performers Julian Beck and Judith Malina, the Living Theatre was for many years the predominent American outlet for the avant-garde movement. There were occasional self-imposed exiles to Europe in the 1950s and 1960s, but the group returned full-force during the Aquarius Age to entertain a new generation of theatregoers.

Hamlet Within

May 2022 •English

A radical cinematic investigation into the myth of Hamlet, the avenging prince of Denmark, William Shakespeare's creature; his origins and his unending influence on many diverse cultures.

Eyewitness

October 2021 •Czech

"A documentary anatomy of mass murder for one monitor and 34 talking heads." These are the words the filmmakers use in the credits to describe their project, which thematises the execution of more than 260 Carpathian Germans, Hungarians and Slovaks by Czechoslovak army soldiers near Přerov in June 1945. The “massacre at Přerov” is made present through a minimalist dramatisation of the interrogation footage of direct participants, eyewitnesses, and others. It is as if the characters of ancient theatre were entering the Zoom “stage” and delivering a tragic message of fear, hatred and disinterest across the chasm of time.

Hamlet {Solo}

September 2007 •English

"Hamlet {Solo}" chronicles the six-year journey of actor Raoul Bhaneja as he mounts a one-man version of Shakespeare's Hamlet. The film includes a number of notable Hamlets who provide advice and perspective on the creative process.

The Living Theatre - a video retrospective

March 2013 •English

The Living Theatre is an experimental company founded in New York in 1947 by Julian Beck (New York 1925-1985), painter and poet, and the actress and stage director Judith Malina (Kiel 1926), a student of Erwin Piscator. From the very beginning the group’s activities bore the stamp of social and political commitment, imbued with a strong libertarian matrix. A video montage of films and videos from The Living Theatre Archives.

Zadržitelný vzestup Artura Uie

April 1960 •Czech

Truman & Tennessee: An Intimate Conversation

June 2021 •English

The parallel lives of writer Truman Capote (1924-84) and playwright Tennessee Williams (1911-83): two friends, two geniuses who, while creating sublime works, were haunted by the ghosts of the past, the shadow of constant doubt, the demon of addictions and the blinding, deceptive glare of success.

Mel Gibson Goes Back to School

January 1991 •English

Mel Gibson teaches Hamlet to a group of high school drama students.

Inside/Outside

October 2012 •English

Truth becomes the source of creativity; actions are a result of being, not thinking. This film, INSIDE/OUTSIDE is based upon Monika’s processes over many years. Robert Golden has had the privilege of meeting and photographing some of Monika’s late work. Although her teaching is for performers, Robert has said that her gift of understanding humanity has been gifted in some small ways to him. Monika’s inspirational way of working, helps actors to find a unity between their inner psyche and its outer expression. The 46-minute film shows a precise description of her work. Monika explains it in detail along with thoughts about movement, performance and theatre. The insightful and entertaining book and film are relevant to actors, dancers, Laban yoga, Feldenkrais, Pilates and other sports and movement systems and to people working with children.

Making the Boys

March 2011 •English

Before Prop 8, Milk or Will & Grace, before the AIDS epidemic, gay pride parades or the Stonewall uprising, "The Boys in the Band" changed everything. "Making the Boys" explores the drama, struggle and enduring legacy of the first-ever gay play and subsequent Hollywood movie to successfully reach a mainstream audience. Featuring anecdotes from the surviving cast and filmmakers, as well as perspectives by legendary figures from stage and screen, it traces the behind-the-scenes drama and lasting legacy of this cultural milestone.