Discovering Hamlet

Journey into "Hamlet"-the play and the man-through the experiences of some of the major actors and directors who have brought Shakespeare's great tragedy to life. Christopher Plummer, David Tennant, John Nettles, John Simm, Sir Trevor Nunn, Franco Zeffirelli, Philip Saville, and others explore the enduring appeal of the Prince of Denmark more than 400 years after his stage debut.

Merci Zaza - La Folle Histoire de la Cage aux Folles

A look back at "La Cage aux Folles", which ran non-stop for five years, from February 1973, on the stage of the Théâtre du Palais Royal in Paris. At a time when homosexuality was considered a crime by the law, Poiret and Serrault achieved great success in boulevard theater. Their success continued on the silver screen, with three Oscar nominations and a Broadway musical. Combining never-before-seen archives from the play, extracts from the film, confessions by Poiret and Serrault, and interviews with witnesses, this is the story of a wild epic.

The Living Theatre - a video retrospective

The Living Theatre is an experimental company founded in New York in 1947 by Julian Beck (New York 1925-1985), painter and poet, and the actress and stage director Judith Malina (Kiel 1926), a student of Erwin Piscator. From the very beginning the group’s activities bore the stamp of social and political commitment, imbued with a strong libertarian matrix. A video montage of films and videos from The Living Theatre Archives.

Signals Through the Flames

Signals Through the Flames is at once a history and a celebration of the Living Theatre. Founded in the late 1940s by husband-and-wife performers Julian Beck and Judith Malina, the Living Theatre was for many years the predominent American outlet for the avant-garde movement. There were occasional self-imposed exiles to Europe in the 1950s and 1960s, but the group returned full-force during the Aquarius Age to entertain a new generation of theatregoers.

Army Art Theater

Performing the Goddess

"Chapal Bhaduri, a leading lady of Bengal’s traditional folk traveling theatre-in-the-round, the Jatra, spent his life playing women. This film is an intimate biography that brings you face to face with this unique individual, sharing what it means to him to become a woman night after night, talking of the woman inside his body, of troubled sexuality, of a long partnership with his older lover, of the loneliness of living on the edges of conventional society–and showing how he metamorphoses into the goddess to perform her story." - The Bangalore International Centre

Who Killed the Federal Theatre?

Part journalistic investigation and part performance documentary, "Who Killed The Federal Theater?" tells the story of the Federal Theatre Project within the context of a volatile period in the political, social and cultural history of the United States. The film features interview segments with playwrights, including Arthur Miller, and with actors, directors, designers, and historians. It also incorporates rare archival materials and dramatic sequences, including professionally re-created scenes from Federal Theatre productions that transport viewers back in time to a bygone era in American history and entertainment.

Me, brother and the name Hrušínský

According to family legend, the name Hrušínský was born after Rudolf and Jan Hrušínský's grandfather Rudolf Böhm was caught stealing pears on a theater stage. The German name Böhm suddenly became Hruškovský and shortly after that Hrušínský. Grandfather Rudolf, later known as Rudolf Hrušínský the eldest, adopted the surname as his own and began using it in 1935. However, the history of the Hrušínský acting family goes back much further. It is therefore not surprising that the brothers Rudolf and Jan also took the same path. The documentary charts their acting beginnings alongside their father Rudolf Hrušínský Sr., from their first roles, through theater engagements at the Drama Studio in Ústí nad Labem and the Drama Club in Prague, to unforgettable film and television roles, when three generations of Hrušínskýs often met in front of the camera.

Divadlo Svoboda

Inside/Outside

Truth becomes the source of creativity; actions are a result of being, not thinking. This film, INSIDE/OUTSIDE is based upon Monika’s processes over many years. Robert Golden has had the privilege of meeting and photographing some of Monika’s late work. Although her teaching is for performers, Robert has said that her gift of understanding humanity has been gifted in some small ways to him. Monika’s inspirational way of working, helps actors to find a unity between their inner psyche and its outer expression. The 46-minute film shows a precise description of her work. Monika explains it in detail along with thoughts about movement, performance and theatre. The insightful and entertaining book and film are relevant to actors, dancers, Laban yoga, Feldenkrais, Pilates and other sports and movement systems and to people working with children.

Ústřední loutkové divadlo

The King of Laughter

In early 20th-century Naples, a theatrical parody lands beloved thespian and playwright Eduardo Scarpetta in court, facing a malicious lawsuit that could compromise his freedom of expression and the economic security of his extended family—including his son's, young Eduardo De Filippo.

The Trials of Oscar Wilde

England, 1890s. The brutal and embittered Marquis of Queensberry, who believes that his youngest son, Bosie, has an inappropriate relationship with the famous Irish writer Oscar Wilde, maintains an ongoing feud with the latter in order to ruin his reputation and cause his fall from grace.

No Defense

The story of the Americans who are fighting against one of the largest- known polluters in the country - the United States military.

Love in the Walls

Residents of a Melbourne social housing community strive to reclaim their own hope and identity in the face of recent deaths and a larger societal question – can we meaningfully coexist?

Torre 1

The port of a Mediterranean coastal city, which had once been the symbol of prosperity and the epicenter of life in the region, is now only the reflection of a decaying present. Static and empty shots reveal glimpses of a brilliant past, only interrupted by the intermittent sound of the construction of a residential apartment building that stands menacingly a few meters from the dock, presaging an even darker future.

In Their Own Words: The Women of Kurokawa

A documentary exposing the sexual violence euphemistically termed "entertainment" inflicted on women of the Kurokawa settler group during Japan’s imperialist expansion in Manchuria. Under state-led colonization in the 1930s–40s, Japanese settlers occupied Chinese lands. In August 1945, facing the Soviet invasion, the group offered 15 women to enemy troops in a desperate act of survival. Decades later, the survivors confront the silenced legacy of imperial violence, discrimination, and trauma. Directed by Fumie Matsubara, with narration by Shinobu Otake.

The Death of "Superman Lives": What Happened?

The Death of 'Superman Lives': What Happened? feature film documents the process of development of the ill fated "Superman Lives" movie, that was to be directed by Tim Burton and star Nicolas Cage as the man of steel himself, Superman. The project went through years of development before the plug was pulled, and this documentary interviews the major filmmakers: Kevin Smith, Tim Burton, Jon Peters, Dan Gilroy, Colleen Atwood, Lorenzo di Bonaventura and many many more.

Maybe Logic: The Lives and Ideas of Robert Anton Wilson

Guerrilla ontologist. Psychedelic magickian. Outer head of the Illuminati. Quantum psychologist. Sit-down comic/philosopher. Discordian Pope. Whatever the label and rank, Robert Anton Wilson is undeniably one of the foundations of 21th Century Western counterculture.Maybe Logic follows a reality labyrinth which leads through the hollows of human perception to the vast star fields of Sirius where we find one man alone, joyfully accepting his status as Damned Old Crank and Cosmic Schmuck. Beaming with insight, frustration, compassion, and unshakable optimism, the ever-open eye of Robert Anton Wilson penetrates human illusions exposing the mathematical probabilities and spooky synchronicities of the 8 dimensions of his Universe.

Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool

Friends, family, co-stars and admirers of actor Steve McQueen talk about his life and his movie career.