Provides access to locals under Iran’s authoritarian regime and examines the human and geopolitical dimensions of the recent Iranian uprising and conflict that followed.
Social & External
The people behind it
Iran, January 16th, 1979. Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi flees after being overthrown. Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Tehran and proclaims the Islamic Republic on April 1st, 1979. In the same year, Saddam Hussein seizes power in Iraq and, after several border skirmishes, attacks Iran on September 22nd, 1980, initiating a cruel war that will last eight years. Since its outbreak, correspondent Saeid Sadeghi documented it from its beginning to its bitter end.
Ravayat-e Fath, variously translated as The Chronicles of Victory, The Tales of Victory, The Narrative of Victory, The Narration of Victory, The Story of Victory, and Witness to Glory, was a war documentary television series directed by Morteza Avini and filmed on the front lines of the Iran–Iraq War of the 1980s.
The Freedom of the Sea is a short documentary highlighting the freedom of living in the UK - in contrast to a more restrictive life in Iran - through the joy of daily sea swimming in Brighton.
Itinerant Kurdish teachers, carrying blackboards on their backs, look for students in the hills and villages of Iran, near the Iraqi border during the Iran-Iraq war. Said falls in with a group of old men looking for their bombed-out village; he offers to guide them, and takes as his wife Halaleh, the clan's lone woman, a widow with a young son. Reeboir attaches himself to a dozen pre-teen boys weighed down by contraband they carry across the border; they're mules, always on the move. Said and Reeboir try to teach as their potential students keep walking. Danger is close; armed soldiers patrol the skies, the roads, and the border. Is there a role for a teacher? Is there hope?
Qader, a bricklayer from Sardasht in Kurdistan Iran whose wife is pregnant with her 4th child, suddenly found himself amid a war crime perpetrated by the Saddam regime. On June 28th, 1987 Iraqi air fighters dropped mustard gas bombs on the city...
It’s 1988 and, at the height of the Iran-Iraq War, Tehran is bombed relentlessly. The days that pass are full of foreboding, and yet, love, affection, hope and life itself manage to sweep away the fear of death from those surrounded by it. Love may often be difficult to comprehend, but death is a horrible certitude. ‘Bomb, A Love Story’ shows how, even when faced with the darkness of death, love and hope will find a way.
All the neighbours rush dawn the basement/Shelter. So what is going to happen at this shelter? would every woman cry and scream whilst every man shivers and chews his moustache with rage and fear?.....You will be surprised!
A political and social play in which the old narrator preaches and guides during the Iran-Iraq war, the bombings that occurred in Kuwait and the attempted assassination of the Emir of the State of Kuwait during that period, and the clear difference in opinions between support for stopping the war on Iran and the positions of the President of Iraq.
Excited to attend Fareed's birthday party, Danny finds out why his mom is concerned about this friendship. Danny has to decide between satisfying his mom or keeping the friendship.
Dr. Parsa and his daughter, Bahar, are on the way to Khoramshahr to set up a specialized hospital there. It seems their cold relationship is related to this journey. Reaching there, Bahar finds a diary of a girl at her age called Maryam which was written in the same day, 30 years ago; 2 days before the first day of schools, and also the start of Iran-Iraq war! The girlish joy that Maryam describes in the first pages of the diary, the sudden invasion of enemies to their town, and finally her love story which is mentioned in the diary, motivates Bahar to continue reading it. Maryam was in love with a young intern who was working in the town's only clinic. Now Bahar thinks that the intern could be his father.
After Shideh's building is hit by a missile during the Iran-Iraq War, a superstitious neighbor suggests that the missile was cursed and might be carrying malevolent Middle-Eastern spirits. She becomes convinced a supernatural force within the building is attempting to possess her daughter Dorsa, and she has no choice but to confront these forces if she is to save her daughter and herself.
Albert Fish, the horrific true story of elderly cannibal, sadomasochist, and serial killer, who lured children to their deaths in Depression-era New York City. Distorting biblical tales, Albert Fish takes the themes of pain, torture, atonement and suffering literally as he preys on victims to torture and sacrifice.
Unprecedented access into one of the world's greatest musical talents and his larger than life lifestyle: Elton John. With frank, funny, and touching filmmaking, this documentary is a fascinating and honest look at the complex character of a modern day composer and performing artist.
A promotional short for The Cincinnati Kid (1965) showcasing the card handling skills of magician and one-time gambler Jay Ose who was hired as technical adviser to instruct the actors on the techniques used by professional poker players.
This fascinating documentary explores the collaboration between Marion Mahony, the first registered woman architect in the world and the longest serving designer in Frank Lloyd Wright’s practice, and husband Walter Burley Griffin. Their struggle with unyielding bureaucracy, the philosophies that underscored their life and work, and their passionate commitment to an architecture that expressed a balance between society and the environment and an affinity between the human spirit and the natural world. The film weaves together their personal and professional lives, drawing on archival and contemporary footage of their work, an extensive collection of photographs, the couple’s own correspondance and writing, and interviews with prominent architects, social historians and the people who knew them.
The Dreamers (1985) is a posthumous short film assembled by Oja Kodar from unfinished footage directed by Orson Welles in 1982. Edited after Welles’s death, the film derives from fragmentary material intended for an uncompleted adaptation of stories by Isak Dinesen. The 1985 version represents an editorial assembly rather than a completed work authored by Welles, presenting selected footage in a reconstructed form for archival circulation. (Note: This is a posthumous editorial reconstruction. The original 1982 project exists separately as an unfinished Welles work and was never completed or released by him.)
If this were a letter, the return address would be: From the students and teachers of Sita School, Silvepura, Bangalore 560090, India. If this were a diary, it would contain entries between 5th June 2012 an 28th April 2013. I return to my first school and join with the present students and teachers in their everyday adventures of learning. Through the stories that unfold we enter imaginary worlds and intimate relationships. 'Small Things, Big Things' is a celebration of when Education becomes Art.
1953 - this is the year when Frank Sinatra tours Sweden and Stockholm celebrates 700 years with the entire air force in the air. The American way of life spreads in bottle form, when Coca-Cola makes its entrance. And there will be documentary film in color. The world is troubled with wars in Korea and Indochina. The US participates in both and Sweden has both doctors and nurses in Korea. Sweden becomes world champion in ice hockey for the first time.
A BAFTA award nominated feature.
1952 - he year when Gösta Snoddas Nordgren sings Flottarkärlek on the radio and it becomes a hit. Gustaf VI Adolf turns 70. A Swedish DC-3 disappears and a Catalina plane is shot down by Soviet fighter aircraft. A Swedish spy business is being rolled out. Fritjof Enbom has given information to the Soviet Union. It is also an Olympic year - Winter Olympics in Oslo and Summer Olympics in Helsinki.
A documentary about how a dominant cultural and demographic institution both sustains their traditional activities and adapts to the digital revolution.
A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.
In an intimate and joyful story of love in the face of loss, celebrated poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley find strength—and unexpected hilarity—in what might be their final year together.
A 1993 documentary film about Bruce Lee. The film includes interviews from some of his fellow students and opponents who worked alongside him in his movies.
Ranjit, a farmer in India, takes on the fight of his life when he demands justice for his 13-year-old daughter, the victim of a brutal gang rape. His decision to support his daughter is virtually unheard of, and his journey unprecedented.
A string of threatening emails escalates into a revenge plot involving a newly married US marshal and his ex-girlfriend.
The life and career of one of comedy's most inimitable modern voices, Mr. Gilbert Gottfried.
An impressionistic portrait of the iconic actor Harry Dean Stanton comprised of intimate moments, film clips from some of his 250 films and his renditions of American folk songs.
This raucous journey into the heart of democracy captures an unusual rite of passage: 1,100 teenage boys from across Texas coming together to build a representative government from the ground up.
From the heights of her modeling fame to her tragic death, this documentary reveals Anna Nicole Smith through the eyes of the people closest to her.
A heartfelt documentary focusing on the day-to-day lives of professional wrestlers, some on the rise, some on the wane, and others fighting for their lives.
Hollywood veteran Bing Russell creates the only independent baseball team in the country—alarming the baseball establishment and sparking the meteoric rise of the 1970s Portland Mavericks.
The background and career of Tony Parker, whose determination led him to become arguably the greatest French basketball player.
A documentary examining the decade of the 1970s as a turning point in American cinema. Some of today's best filmmakers interview the influential directors of that time.
Alex Gibney explores the phenomenon of Stuxnet, a self-replicating computer virus discovered in 2010 by international IT experts. Evidently commissioned by the US and Israeli governments, this malware was designed to specifically sabotage Iran’s nuclear programme. However, the complex computer worm ended up not only infecting its intended target but also spreading uncontrollably.
Christopher Wallace, AKA The Notorious B.I.G., remains one of Hip-Hop’s icons, renowned for his distinctive flow and autobiographical lyrics. This documentary celebrates his life via rare behind-the-scenes footage and the testimonies of his closest friends and family.
A behind the scenes look into George Romero's groundbreaking horror classic Night of the Living Dead.
In her own words, through personal video and diaries, Pamela Anderson shares the story of her rise to fame, rocky romances and infamous sex tape scandal.
Artists in LA discover the work of forgotten Polish sculptor Stanislav Szukalski, a mad genius whose true story unfolds chapter by astounding chapter.
As England reach the final of the Euros at last, 6,000 ticketless football fans storm Wembley stadium, leaving destruction in their wake.