Venedig und das Ghetto

Venetian Shores

Blissful scenes of tourists arriving by boat and then sea bathing on a beach in the Venetian lagoon.

Łódź Ghetto

The Polish city of Łódź was under Nazi occupation for nearly the entirety of WWII. The segregation of the Jewish population into the ghetto, and the subsequent horrors are vividly chronicled via newsreels and photographs. The narration is taken almost entirely from journals and diaries of those who lived–and died–through the course of the occupation, with the number of different narrators diminishing as the film progresses, symbolic of the death of each narrator.

Romantici a Venezia

This is a documentary film on the romantic and decadent atmosphere of Venice at the end of the 18th century. A vigorous comment by Jean Cocteau tells us of the sick souls and the sorrows of literary characters and musicians who lived the dream of this city. It is the Venice of Lord Byron, Alfred de Musset, George Sand, d'Annunzio; a Venice made of precious images, palaces reflected in the water, mysterious moonlights, little squares where unhappy lovers wander under the music of Richard Wagner.

Ghettos in the Holocaust

The gruesome story of the Jewish ghettos during the Nazi occupation of Eastern Europe in the dark days of World War II, based on the records written by their inhabitants, who bear witness to the human tragedy of the Shoah; but also to an indomitable will to live.

Uprising

In the Warsaw ghetto in 1943, Jews rise against the Nazis.

Warsaw: A City Divided

The history of the Warsaw Ghetto (1940-43) as seen from both sides of the wall, its legacy and its memory: new light on a tragic era of division, destruction and mass murder thanks to the testimony of survivors and the discovery of a ten-minute film shot by Polish amateur filmmaker Alfons Ziółkowski in 1941.

Sei Venezia

What is the "feeling" of a city? Is it the roads, the light that illuminates them, the people that live there and their stories? It's all these things, but also something else, something requiring time and attention to be understood. The film goes in search of this feeling exploring the city of Venice and its lagoon, prying into its less-known corners and listening to the stories of six citizens: a hotel waitress, an old archaeologist, a pensioner from Mestre, a painter/fisherman, an apartment burglar and a young boy.

City Out of Time

This Colin Low documentary from 1959 depicts Venice in all its splendor. In the tradition of Venetian painter Canaletto, the film captures the great Italian city’s elusive beauty and fabled landscapes, where spired churches and turreted palaces soar into a blue Mediterranean sky. Narration by William Shatner.

Thomas Pesquet : Objectif France

Panorama of the Grand Canal Taken from a Boat

Filmed in 1896 by Alexandre Promio for the Lumière company, this short actuality presents one of the earliest traveling shots in cinema. With the camera mounted on a gondola, the film glides along Venice’s Grand Canal, capturing passing gondolas, bustling waterfront activity, and the city’s iconic architecture from a moving perspective. This simple yet groundbreaking technique introduced audiences to a new way of experiencing motion on screen.

Insurgées ! Les résistantes du ghetto de Varsovie

Saving Venice

Rising sea levels and sinking land threaten to destroy Venice. Leading scientists and engineers battling the forces of nature to try to save this historic city for future generations. Discover the innovative projects and feats of engineering currently underway, including a hi-tech flood barrier, eco-projects to conserve the lagoon, and new efforts to investigate erosion beneath the city.

Harry's Bar

Harry's Bar opened in 1931 and attracted a multitude of customers from the start, drawn to the atmosphere and the talents of barman Giuseppe, with his cocktails, gourmet dishes and exquisite hospitality. Over eight decades the bar has seen it all, from being closed during the fascist regime to being declared a national treasure in 2001, and witnessed a stream of writers, painters, directors, film stars, kings, queens and epicures, becoming a legend.

La Conférence de la honte

Othello

Iago and a comrade-in-arms are outside the Venice home of Desdemona's father, who does not yet know that she has eloped with Othello. Iago confides to his friend -- who had hoped to marry Desdemona -- that he serves Othello to further his own ends. Venice needs Othello to protect its commercial interests in Cyprus where the Turkish fleet is headed. Desdemona insists on going to Cyprus, too. In Cyprus, Iago plots to convince Othello that Desdemona has betrayed him with Cassio. A lot more than political ambition seems to be motivating Iago.

City by the Sea, or how to survive in Venice

Yannick Bellon's documentary paints a portrait of a city torn between the problem of unsanitary housing, pollution corroding walls and statues, and the recurring and increasing floods—all consequences of human activity. Faced with job shortages and rampant speculation, the overarching question arises of how industries can coexist with the city of Venice. Allowing them to develop risks destroying it; driving them out risks turning it into a museum, causing its inhabitants, and thus its soul, to leave.

House of Life: A Jewish Cemetary in Prague

A deep dive documentary into the history of the Old Jewish Cemetery of Prague.

Return to Khodorciur—Armenian Diary

Raphael, Yervant Gianikian's father, survived the Armenian genocide in 1915 in Eastern Turkey. In April 1988, while living in Venice, he sat for his son's camera and read an excerpt from his memoirs, translated from Armenian into Italian.