A portrait of the German-language Czech writer Franz Kafka (1883-1924), a mysterious, strange and solitary individual, but also a visionary creator.
Self
This FitzPatrick Traveltalk series short looks at Czechoslovakia before World War II, including images of bridges, churches, and castles in Prague, also a non-military parade through the city.
An atypical portrait of singer, songwriter, poet Georges Brassens.
An account of the life and work of the charismatic Spanish writer Terenci Moix (1942-2003).
In autumn 1944, during the Liberation of Brittany, writer Louis Guilloux worked as an interpreter for the American army. He was a privileged witness to some little-known dramatic aspects of the Liberation: the rapes and murders committed by GIs on French civilians. He also discovered the racism of American military justice. This experience haunted the novelist for thirty years. In 1976, he recounted it in a short novel, "Ok, Joe", which went unnoticed. This film compares his account with the memories of the last witnesses to these forgotten crimes and their punishments.
A journey through the work of Spanish filmmaker Juan Piquer Simón (1935-2011).
Increased screen time, excessive robotisation, the reign of the car, home delivery... At a time when new technologies are making sedentary lifestyles more explosive than ever, here's a look at some initiatives designed to get us moving again.
Sir Elton John looks back on his life and the astonishing early days of his 50-year career in this emotionally charged, full-circle journey. As he prepares for his final concert in North America at Dodger Stadium, Elton takes us back in time and recounts his struggles with adversity, abuse, and addiction, and how he overcame them to become the icon he is today.
The pianist Miguel Ángel Lozano embarks on a personal and artistic journey with the purpose of reconstructing the life of his grandmother, Maria Forteza (1910-60), singer and pioneer of Spanish sound films.
A dying man in his forties recalls his childhood, his mother, the war and personal moments that tell of and juxtapose pivotal moments in Soviet history with daily life.
The sinking of the RMS Titanic remains one of the most enduring and mysterious tragedies of the 20th century. For decades, investigators and amateurs alike have floated theories for why it occurred and who was to blame for the extraordinary loss of life, but no one answer could fully explain what happened. Until now. To mark the 100th anniversary of the infamous disaster, Smithsonian Channel will premiere Titanic's Final Mystery. The two-hour special investigates a century of theories and uncovers astonishing new forensic evidence that proves the most likely theory for the case.
Kim Novak never dreamed on being a star, but she became one. Most famous for her enigmatic performance in Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958), the Chicago-born actress never quite fitted into the Hollywood mould and wanted to do things her own way.
An intimate portrait of the superb actress Gena Rowlands, icon of independent cinema. Together with her husband, legendary director John Cassavetes (1929-89), she lived an unusual life beyond the dream factory, a life in which reality and fiction were so perfectly intertwined that it made possible films that still today seem incredibly real.
An account of the life and work of Irish writer James Joyce (1882-1941) narrated by US actress Anjelica Huston.
A portrait of French filmmaker Michel Gondry, creator, for three decades, of an imperfect, astonishing, fascinating, damaged and poetic work.
Jane Birkin has forged a unique bond with France and the French. Between the small Englishwoman, muse of Gainsbourg, then of Doillon or Chéreau, and her adopted country, love at first sight was immediate and lasted for more than fifty years. This documentary goes back, through the prism of this unique bond, to the life and career of a peculiar artist in the French musical and cinematographic landscape. The intimate portrait of a freedom-loving woman.