Paris the Magnificent

The epic life story of Alice Guy-Blaché (1873–1968), a French screenwriter, director and producer, true pioneer of cinema, the first person who made a narrative fiction film; author of hundreds of movies, but banished from history books. Ignored and forgotten. At last remembered.

The history of cinematic sound, told by legendary sound designers and visionary filmmakers.

The earliest surviving motion-picture film, and believed to be one of the very first moving images ever created, was shot by Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince using the LPCCP Type-1 MkII single-lens camera. It was taken on paper-based photographic film in the garden of Oakwood Grange, the Whitley family house in Roundhay, Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire (UK), on 14 October 1888. The film shows Adolphe Le Prince (Le Prince’s son), Mrs. Sarah Whitley (Le Prince’s mother-in-law), Joseph Whitley, and Miss Harriet Hartley walking around in circles, laughing to themselves, and staying within the area framed by the camera. Roundhay Garden Scene is often associated with a recording speed of around 12 frames per second and runs for about 2 to 3 seconds.

A compilation of over 30 years of private home movie footage shot by Lithuanian-American avant-garde director Jonas Mekas, assembled by Mekas "purely by chance", without concern for chronological order.

When Allied forces liberated the Nazi concentration camps in 1944-45, their terrible discoveries were recorded by army and newsreel cameramen, revealing for the first time the full horror of what had happened. Making use of British, Soviet and American footage, the Ministry of Information’s Sidney Bernstein (later founder of Granada Television) aimed to create a documentary that would provide lasting, undeniable evidence of the Nazis’ unspeakable crimes. He commissioned a wealth of British talent, including editor Stewart McAllister, writer and future cabinet minister Richard Crossman – and, as treatment advisor, his friend Alfred Hitchcock. Yet, despite initial support from the British and US Governments, the film was shelved, and only now, 70 years on, has it been restored and completed by Imperial War Museums under its original title "German Concentration Camps Factual Survey".

The film follows adventurer Jeff Johnson as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia.

A documentary about the life and films of director John Ford.

Daniel Craig candidly reflects on his 15 year adventure as James Bond. Including never-before-seen archival footage from Casino Royale to the upcoming 25th film No Time To Die, Craig shares his personal memories in conversation with 007 producers, Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.

Carefully picked scenes of nature and civilization are viewed at high speed using time-lapse cinematography in an effort to demonstrate the history of various regions.

A look behind the lens of Christopher Nolan's space epic.

Cameramen and women discuss the craft and art of cinematography and of the "DP" (the director of photography), illustrating their points with clips from 100 films, from Birth of a Nation to Do the Right Thing. Themes: the DP tells people where to look; changes in movies (the arrival of sound, color, and wide screens) required creative responses from DPs; and, these artisans constantly invent new equipment and try new things, with wonderful results. The narration takes us through the identifiable studio styles of the 30s, the emergence of noir, the New York look, and the impact of Europeans. Citizen Kane, The Conformist, and Gordon Willis get special attention.

In an intimate and joyful story of love in the face of loss, celebrated poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley find strength—and unexpected hilarity—in what might be their final year together.

An inside look at one of the most anticipated movie sequels ever with James Cameron and cast.

As a visually radical memoir, CAMERAPERSON draws on the remarkable footage that filmmaker Kirsten Johnson has shot and reframes it in ways that illuminate moments and situations that have personally affected her. What emerges is an elegant meditation on the relationship between truth and the camera frame, as Johnson transforms scenes that have been presented on Festival screens as one kind of truth into another kind of story—one about personal journey, craft, and direct human connection.

Documentarian Ross McElwee originally set out to make a travelogue of sorts tracing General William T. Sherman's infamous scorched-earth march through the Confederacy in the latter stages of the Civil War. Instead, haunted by a recent breakup with a girlfriend, McElwee ends up documenting his progress -- or lack thereof -- in starting a new relationship. His journey then becomes one of self-reflection and self-discovery rather than a historical/sociological exploration.

BBC Arena's documentary on the Dames of British Theatre and film featuring Maggie Smith, Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench and Joan Plowright on screen together for the first time as they reminisce over a long summer weekend in a house Joan once shared with Sir Laurence Olivier.

Set to a classic Duke Ellington recording "Daybreak Express", this is a five-minute short of the soon-to-be-demolished Third Avenue elevated subway station in New York City.

A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.

A documentary chronicling Queen and Lambert's incredible journey since they first shared the stage together on "American Idol" in 2009.

A feature length documentary about the all-women team at the helm of Pixar's original feature, Turning Red. With unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to Director Domee Shi and her core leadership crew, this story shines a light on the powerful professional and personal journeys that brought this incredibly comical, utterly relatable, and deeply heartfelt story to the screen.

Across America, UPS workers come together to demand better working conditions as they go about criss-crossing the world, delivering packages and connecting lives.

A feature length cinema documentary on how THE FARMER (1977) became the most-requested cult film of the new millennium, and it's a crazy tale that involves an actor incarcerated for manslaughter, serious on-set injuries, banana-man costumes- as well as surprising links to Clint Eastwood and Martin Scorsese. The film also broadens its scope to explore the overlooked, eclectic and often ultra-violent sub-genre THE FARMER belongs to - The Returning Veteran film. A film type that hit its stride in the 1970's with hard hitting character studies such as WELCOME HOME, SOLDIERS BOYS (1971), THE NO MERCY MAN (1973) and ROLLING THUNDER (1977).

An experimental short film, shot during the COVID-19 pandemic, made by one person. Using recorded scenes and archival footage, the short presents an unorthodox narrative to explore the themes of self-identification, identity, gender expression and androgyny.

This is a short film about Alice Guy-Blaché, the first female director of fiction in cinema history. Alice Guy was Léon Gaumont's secretary at the beginning of the last century and she was the first woman to ever direct actors in front of the camera. In 1895, the Lumière brothers introduced to the world the "Cinématographe", the first camera. Léon Gaumont decided to sell this revolutionary new device. Fascinated, Alice asked her boss for permission to use the camera to make her own films. Mr. Gaumont agreed only under the condition that she “would be able to keep up with her mail.” This short film is a poetic reverie that Alice Guy might have had in her time if only society at the time hadn't presented her with so many challenges.

In order to determine the ability to drive after drinking alcohol, three men take various tests when sober and when drunk.

If a tree falls dead, does it cease to be alive? Like a deep breath in the forest, Siob explores the different textures of wood, from its life in nature to its rebirth as a musical instrument. And what if, in human hands, wood found its voice again?

MIEZI KUMI (TEN MONTHS) is a short documentary of the love between Zacharia Mutai, his family and the last two northern white rhinos, which he has to take care of for ten months in a year.

Short documentary about movies locations from Yugoslavian movies and how they look nowadays.

James Cameron, Jon Landau, and Kate Winslet reflect on the making of Titanic, sharing unseen footage, behind-the-scenes insights, and memories that shaped cinema’s most unforgettable love story.

Piwowski’s most controversial documentary, a portrait of Czesław Niemen (1939-2004), an outstanding musician and vocalist, a year after the legendary song "Strange Is This World" was released.

The 1966 visit of Hollywood movie star Kirk Douglas at the legendary Polish State Film School in Lódz.

Piwowski's documentary debut is a satirical reportage, referring to the poetics of the Czech school at the time. The starting point was an order from a film studio to join a project proposed by the Germans: what do teenagers in your country do on Saturday at 5 pm? Images from the lives of teenagers from Kętrzyn make up a contrasting slice of free time in a small town. Firemen maneuvering to start a fire outside working hours, bodybuilders training, choir rehearsal, dancing in Hitler's former headquarters...

A journalistic story inspired by Volodymyr Vernadsky about the genesis of life in the universe — from the physical elements of the primordial broth to the civilization of intelligent man.

Made for screening at the U.S. Pavilion at the 1974 World's Fair in Spokane Washington, USA, which had a Native-American environmental theme, MAN BELONGS TO THE EARTH depicts the history of air, water, and earth pollution, and how environmentalists are trying to solve these problems using various technologies.

Rolland, a 70 year-old man, exiled by his family due to his sexual orientation, makes peace with the past by finding himself in a small ghost town in the western part of Jalisco, San Sebastián del Oeste. Almost 40 years later, he wants to go back to his hometown, try to regain his daughter's love and be a part o his granddaughter's life.

Annedore takes care of orphan birds. They give her that which humans througout her turbulent life could never give her: love.

Wes Hurley's autobiographical tale of growing up gay in Soviet Union Russia, only to escape with his mother, a mail order bride, to Seattle to face a whole new oppression in his new Christian fundamentalist American dad.