Bienvenido Mr. Banksy

Revolution: New Art for a New World

Drawing on the collections of major Russian institutions, contributions from contemporary artists, curators and performers and personal testimony from the descendants of those involved, the film brings the artists of the Russian Avant-Garde to life. It tells the stories of artists like Chagall, Kandinsky and Malevich - pioneers who flourished in response to the challenge of building a new art for a new world, only to be broken by implacable authority after 15 short years and silenced by Stalin's Socialist Realism.

Beatrice Wood: Mama of Dada

Up until the end of her life, Beatrice Wood continued to influence younger artists with her definitive, free-wheeling ways. She was central to the American Dada movement and was the last surviving member of this group. In this program she recalls her friends Man Ray, Picabia and others, and her ex-husband Marcel Duchamp. She died in 1999 at 105 years of age.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner - Génie controversé de l’expressionnisme

Caravaggio

Five years in production, this is the most extensive film ever made about one of the greatest artists of all time – Caravaggio. Featuring masterpiece after masterpiece and with first-hand testimony from the artist himself on the eve of his mysterious disappearance, this beautiful new film reveals Caravaggio as never before. Multi-award-winning filmmakers David Bickerstaff and Phil Grabsky delve into the hidden narratives of Caravaggio’s life, piecing together clues embedded within his incredible art. The intriguing self-depictions within his works — sometimes disguised, sometimes in plain sight — offer a rare window into his psyche and personal struggles. Join us as we unravel the story of one of history’s most brilliant, complex and controversial figures.

Utopia Ltd.

Anton Spielmann (18) and his two younger friends Basti Muxfeldt and Jonas Hinnerkort are living in their family homes with their parents in an idyllic village close to Hamburg. The three of them founded the band 1000 Robota. The band has an ambitious aim: „We want to cause creation not to remind of it”, and they want to live up to their ideals. In a society affected by economic pressure 1000 Robota are questioning themselves and others and they don‘t want to meet other people‘s expectations. In a world of excessive supply they are looking for significance and want to unite with others to create a new way of youth culture. But soon they have to face some serious difficulties.

Frida Kahlo & Tina Modotti

An unconventional portrait of painter Frida Kahlo and photographer Tina Modotti. Simple in style but complex in its analysis, it explores the divergent themes and styles of two contemporary and radical women artists working in the upheaval of the aftermath of the Mexican Revolution.

The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness

Follows the behind-the-scenes work of Studio Ghibli, focusing on the notable figures Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, and Toshio Suzuki.

Hepworth

A portrait of sculptor Barbara Hepworth revisiting the Yorkshire landscapes that inspired her and her home studio in St Ives, Cornwall.

Nova the Film

An inspiring 75min DIY documentary film on new art and the young artists behind it. It was all filmed on the heat of live action of the first NOVA Contemporary Culture Festival, July and August 2010 in São Paulo, Brazil.

Tom Merry, Lightning Cartoonist, Sketching Kaiser Wilhelm II

A tiny fragment of an actuality film of Tom Merry (William Mechem), a 'lightning sketch' caricaturist performing his act for the camera and producing a large profile caricature of Kaiser Wilhelm II. The loss of the rest of the film has bequeathed us 6 seconds that are of Mechem standing next to the completed portrait and sadly, that is all there is. An early film made by Birt Acres for R.W. Paul. (see release information for further detail).

Goya

Presents life in 18th century Spain as the painter Francisco de Goya showed it to us.

The Real Beauty and the Beast

It's a condition known as "hypertrichosis" or "Ambras Syndrome," but in the 1500s it would transform one man into a national sensation and iconic fairy-tale character. His name: Petrus Gonsalvus, more commonly known today as the hairy hero of Beauty and the Beast.

Earth/Art

Art has always investigated nature and man's connection with the world. Several contemporary artists have questioned the issues of climate change and environmental sustainability and have tried to amplify our ecological consciousness. Through the testimonies of artists of different generations such as Olafur Eliasson, Christo, Michelangelo Pistoletto and the gaze of critics such as Germano Celant and Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, we retrace some of the most significant works.

21 rue la Boétie

Elliott Erwitt - Silence Sounds Good

Elliott Erwitt has spent his entire adult life taking photographs, of presidents, popes and movie stars, as well as regular people and their pets. His work is iconic in world culture while his life is largely unknown.

A Day on the Grand Canal with the Emperor of China or: Surface Is Illusion But So Is Depth

Director Philip Haas and artist David Hockney invite you to join them on a magical journey through China via a marvelous 72-foot long 17th-century Chinese scroll entitled The Kangxi Emperor's Southern Inspection Tour (1691-1698), scroll seven . As Hockney unrolls the beautiful and minutely detailed work of art, he traces the Emperor Kangxi’s second tour of his southern empire in 1689.

Magicians of the Earth: Kings of the Water

Cyprien Tokoudagba is from the city of Abomey in the Benin Republic of West Africa, where he paints the religious houses of the vodun. Haas and his film crew follow Cyprien as he first paints and then takes part in the ceremony to open a new temple. The paintings include three vodun figures and several emblems, including a pipe and a duck. Cyprien explains his work in the context of the religion and takes the crew to film two other local ceremonies, one where the dead are believed to come back to instruct the living through wild dancing and, another, where women warriors perform their war dances.