September 1944. the Normandy landings took place three months earlier. Paris is liberated, the allied troops are in Belgium. It was then, on September 5 precisely, that the deadliest bombardment of the war in France took place on the harbor. The result is up to the means implemented by the English air force: 3000 dead, the heart of the city razed, annihilated, without any military reason. Table Rase describes this forgotten murder that continues to haunt the city. Military archives, news of the time, intervention of English pilots, hypothesis of a French colonel, views of the port and the city before the war, and especially testimonies of survivors, the film goes around what remains of the event.
A documentary portrait of famed Ukrainian-American violinist Nathan Milstein (1903–92), covering his life and career through conversations with the artist and with some of his notable students, interspersed with brief performances and followed by two concert performances.
A young aristocrat is seduced by a young man who appeared to her in a dream one spring afternoon. Captive of this impossible love, the young girl is dying of melancholy. But the constancy of her love is stronger than death; she wins the pity of the judge of the underworld, manages to find her lover and come back to life. The opera "The Peony Pavilion" was composed in 1598 by the poet Tang Xianzu (1550-1617), one of the greatest playwrights of the Ming period. Of all the forms of Chinese opera that have followed one another since the 12th century, the kunqu is the one that best preserves the image of a classical art highly appreciated in educated circles for its musical, literary and gestural refinement.
This documentary about the life and work of filmmaker Jean Painlevé was originally presented in eight parts on French television. It was edited to remove duplicated material from its original length of 240 minutes.
A large family in London's East End is celebrating a birthday party. Children and grandchildren from this extensive family have come to the party from all over England. At the party the family members talk about hope and dreams for their children. The past and present lives of various relatives are compared with each other, while fragments from radio-programmes from the fourties and the fifties draw an emotional and historical line. Set against this archive material are fierce images of modern day family life in urban England in the year 1993. This makes the film a collage of dreams, memories and images of present-day life.
In this documentary about the exile of two famous French actors in Argentina during and after World War II, the director Cozarinsky returns to Argentina after many years in France and recalls places and events from his childhood, particularly the celebration of the liberation of Paris on in August of 1944, in Buenos Aires's Plaza Francia. Featuring testimony from various authors and acquaintances of Maria (Renee) Falconetti and Robert Le Vigan, the film explores their lives and final years in Argentina.
Mozart and Da Ponte use the theme of "fiancée swapping", which dates back to the 13th century; notable earlier versions are found in Boccaccio's Decameron and Shakespeare's play Cymbeline. Elements from Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew are also present. Furthermore, it incorporates elements of the myth of Procris as found in Ovid's Metamorphoses, vii.[10] Place: Naples Time: the 18th century
Documentary feature about the accident of the super tanker "Exxon Valdez" in Alaska in 1989.
A lyrical film portrait of the once famous, and now, largely forgotten jazz vocalist Maxine Sullivan.
Two-part documentary about French director Jacques Tati chronicles the evolution of the filmmaker's alter ego, Monsieur Hulot, through archival interviews, on-set footage, photos, and film clips.
"These portraits are encounters I wanted to be kept from oblivion, even if it is only while you are watching them. They are women who work, who have children, and who, at the same time, keep their independence of mind. I shot 24 portraits of 13 minutes each. I have chosen this short running time for several reasons: not becoming a bother, escape tv adds cuts, shoot the movie quickly, in one pace and without too many scratches. I am not a documentaries maker. I am more like a faces, hands and things lover. To show reality is not my goal. “Reality” is just a word, just like its twin sister “fiction”, which I practice as well, but with a different delight." (Alain Cavalier)
Only on the stage of an empty theater, an author and his wife clash: the scene and the life end up getting confused.
The story of a young boy with learning difficulties who is forced to fend for himself on the streets.
The highway of the title is a 2,000 mile dirt road in Kazakhstan. Along this route, a traveling family circus journeys in their crowded hand-cranked bus, stopping in villages. The filmmaker accompanies the Tadjibajevs, capturing their quarrels, performances, and intimate moments.
In a small village in the Corbieres, a grandfather tells his grandson five tales from his repertoire. The first one follows three young people who went to Paris to learn French. "Le Maire de Quillan" tells how a pig became mayor of the village. "Le Moine change en ane" is a story with four characters where the monk and the donkey become one. "The Donkey who drank the moon" is a facetious story that embroiders on misunderstandings. The last one is a tale in formation.
The veneer of the story is a tale of chance love: two French expatriates strike up a chance romance when they meet on a ship headed back to South America.
Jacques asks a public writer to compose love letters for a beautiful stranger that he pretends he has just met.
A landmark work of symbolistic imagery. The words that the filmmakers speak offscreen are imaginary conversation with Cézanne quoted from a critique by Joachim Gasquet. An exchange of memories spanning over 250 years interweaves everything from the philosophy of Empedocles to excerpts from the film Madame Bovary, to extant paintings by Cézanne, to the buildings of the artists’ village at Mont Sainte-Victoire. —ntticc.or.jp