Not Mozart: Letters, Riddles and Writs

Maria Callas Sings Tosca, Act II

At the beginning of 1964, the music world experiences something completely unexpected. Maria Callas returns to the opera stage as the prima donna. Her “Tosca” at the Royal Opera House becomes a sensation. Maria Callas wants to show everyone once again that she deserves the title of “prima donna assoluta.” On the condition that star director Franco Zeffirelli take over the direction, the exceptional singer agrees to sing the role of Tosca. The BBC recorded the 2nd act of the opera for television. It is one of the most dramatic acts in opera history: in order to free the painter Cavaradossi from the hands of torturers, Tosca ends up murdering the police chief Scarpia. The film footage is one of the rare opportunities to see Maria Callas in an opera performance and to experience her highly emotional performance art and vocal abilities...

What Difference Does It Make?

A documentary that explores the challenges that a life in music can bring.

Zoo of Life

The Thrill of Brazil

Steve, revue producer in Rio de Janeiro, is still in love with his ex-wife Vicki, his star Linda is in love with Steve and Tito is in love with Linda. Because of this they all get small problems.

Bach: A Passionate Life

John Eliot Gardiner goes in search of Bach the man and the musician. The famous portrait of Bach portrays a grumpy 62-year-old man in a wig and formal coat, yet his greatest works were composed 20 years earlier in an almost unrivalled blaze of creativity. We reveal a complex and passionate artist; a warm and convivial family man at the same time a rebellious spirit struggling with the hierarchies of state and church who wrote timeless music that is today known world-wide. Gardiner undertakes a 'Bach Tour' of Germany, and sifts the relatively few clues we have - some newly-found. Most of all, he uses the music to reveal the real Bach.

How's About It

A song publisher gets sued for stealing lyrics.

Viva Blackpool

Ripley is now an ordained minister and owner of the Chapel of Love. He's on a search for the prize that will bring him untold riches - the Jules Rimet trophy. But when glamorous Kitty De-Luxe is jilted at his altar, Ripley falls hopelessly in love.

Smoky Mountain Melody

Country-western favorite Roy Acuff and his Smoky Mountain Boys star in the Columbia musical western Smoky Mountain Melody. Not much happens plotwise: Acuff, playing "himself," is a tenderfoot who somehow manages to come out on top when he heads westward. The villains (who aren't all that villainous) try to promote a phony stock deal, but Roy and his pals foils their plans. The comedy honors go to Guinn "Big Boy" Williams as a blowhard sheriff. Smoky Mountain Melody was scripted by Barry Shipman, the son of pioneering female filmmaker Nell Shipman.

I Surrender Dear

Patty Nelson lands a job as a singer with orchestra leader Al Tyler, and tours with the band as "Patty Hart." Patty's father Russ is dismissed from his radio-station job, and the disc jockey selected to replace him is Al Tyler. Patty rushes home to keep Russ company on the air for the final few days, and Al wonders why she suddenly walked out on him. The new "Patty and Russ" radio show catches on, causing complications with Al and the radio-station bosses.

A Song for Miss Julie

Two playwrights and a former burlesque queen travel to Louisiana to research a musical they're planning on a local Southern hero.

Hot Summer

In this East German teen musical, a group of girls are planning to take their summer vacation together on the Baltic coast. When a loud and obnoxious group of boys intrudes on their holiday, the girls are horrified to learn that the boys have the same vacations plans as them. The two groups quarrel with each other and compete over a number of things, but gradually an attraction starts to form.

La Vie en Rose

From the mean streets of the Belleville district of Paris to the dazzling limelight of New York's most famous concert halls, Edith Piaf's life was a constant battle to sing and survive, to live and love. Raised in her grandmother's brothel, Piaf was discovered in 1935 by nightclub owner Louis Leplee, who persuaded her to sing despite her extreme nervousness. Piaf became one of France's immortal icons, her voice one of the indelible signatures of the 20th century.

Dreamgirls

A trio of female soul singers cross over to the pop charts in the early 1960s, facing their own personal struggles along the way.

Four Minutes

Jenny is young. Her life is over. She killed someone. And she would do it again. When an 80-year-old piano teacher discovers the girl’s secret, her brutality and her dreams, she decides to transform her pupil into the musical wunderkind she once was.

Dig!

A documentary on the once promising American rock bands The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols. The friendship between respective founders, Anton Newcombe and Courtney Taylor, escalated into bitter rivalry as the Dandy Warhols garnered major international success while the Brian Jonestown Massacre imploded in a haze of drugs.

Porgy and Bess

In the early 1900s, the fictional Catfish Row section of Charleston, South Carolina serves as home to a black fishing community. Crippled beggar Porgy, who travels about in a goat-drawn cart, loves the drug-addicted Bess, who lives with stevedore Crown, the local bully.

La magia de los Parchís

Fontána pre Zuzanu 2

Zuzana grew up and took her first blows from life. She got caught up in bad company, ended up in prison and after her release she tries to start again. She meets Juraj, a sympathetic driver, but when he seems to have found what she was looking for in him, he leaves her to try his luck in pop music. On top of that, Zuzana has to fight off attacks from her former partner Rony, now a rich gangster, who tries to seduce her. There is something for every teenager in this attractive musical. From a series of action scenes, shootouts, fights, love, the male friendship of the tough guys and their flashy trucks, to smuggled guns, mobsters holding the corrupt police and judiciary in their grip, plenty of songs and humour, and a glimpse into the corrupt backstage of show business.

Kapila

The film sketches the creative life of the protagonist Kapila. The film’s narrative is structured as one day in the life of a Koodiyattam performer.

1660 Vine

A group of influencers in a famed Hollywood apartment building pursue their dreams of social media stardom. The residents of 1660 Vine confront questions of fame, influence, identity, and mental health. All the while, the residents update their followers through vlogs, gaming streams, makeup tutorials, TikTok dances, songs, and pranks, as they navigate their search for identity, discovering the difference between who they present themselves to be, and who they really are.