A documentary film about Adriano Olivetti.
Social & External
Documentary on the French graphic and visual artist and designer, editor, artistic director, and teacher who is known for his widely-used fonts.
Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will celebrate its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. The film is an exploration of urban spaces in major cities and the type that inhabits them, and a fluid discussion with renowned designers about their work, the creative process, and the choices and aesthetics behind their use of type.
Hanzi is a documentary exploring international design, visual culture, and identity through the lens of modern Chinese typography. The film covers a variety of topics such as how languages shape identity, and what role handwriting plays in the digital age.
A portrait of the inventor of the letterpress, who was a key figure in the history of mankind, but also an enthusiastic inventor, a daring businessman, a tenacious troublemaker: the life of Johannes Gutenberg (circa 1400-68).
Portrait of a Mexico City neighborhood where pages and pages are printed, and little by little, words appear. Máquinas de Palabras is a performance created in March 2023 in Mexico City, and is the result of a collaboration between Labo K (Rennes-based film laboratory) and LEC (Laboratorio de Cine Experimental) in Mexico City. A portrait of a Mexico City neighborhood where pages and pages are printed. And little by little, words appear... "From the deliberate use of found images to films that make uncompromising use of raw material, the camera and the plants will take our eyes... Pupils will certainly be illuminated by the projector... How can moving images stay in our heads?"
Dedicated Dutch graphic designer Piet Schreuders visits Los Angeles to investigate all kinds of typeface as used in title-credits for movies and TV-series, letters on billboards, shop-windows or street-signs, the banner-headlines of The Los Angeles Times, and climbs finally to the giant letters of the HOLLYWOOD-sign. In the meantime he discovers, to his great satisfaction, the location and stairs where Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy shot their movie 'The Musicbox', by combining street-signs, partially shown on still-pictures of this movie: "…MONTE" and "…ENDOME", which turn out to be found on the street corner of Del Monte and Vendome in Culver City. This documentary is bluntly intercut with commercials, a phenomenon not yet known in the Netherlands in 1979. (Theo Uittenbogaard)
Why has letterpress printing survived? Irreplaceable knowledge of the historic craft is in danger of being lost as its caretakers age. Fascinating personalities intermix with wood, metal, and type as young printers save a traditional process in Pressing On, a 4K feature-length documentary exploring the remarkable community keeping letterpress alive.
Alberto Casiraghy and Josef Weiss are true bibliophile artists. One in Osnago, the other in Mendrisio, they have been dedicating themselves for years to valuable editorial and typographical activities, still printing with mobile characters, preserving the memory of a perfect ingenuity made of manual skills and technique, but also of inventiveness and poetry. Silvio Soldini gives us a realistic and poetical portrait of these two artists-artisans, who chose one of the oldest professions in a modern world, finding great success and approval.
A short, educational animation about the history of fonts and typography. In a paper cutout stop-motion style, it begins with Gutenberg's creation of the first typeface, travels through the innovations of Jenson, Caslon, and Bodoni, to the modern creation of Futura and the democratization of fonts in the digital age. A charming, engaging film about a technology that is all around us, but few people know much about.
A fascinating documentary about Piet Zwart (1885–1977), an idiosyncratic and stubborn designer, who lived for innovation and prepared the way for the international success that is now known as Dutch Design. Piet Zwart worked as an interior and industrial designer, commercial typographer, photographer, critic and lecturer, playing a key role in defining the design climate in the Netherlands in the Twentieth Century. He is especially known for designing the famous ‘Piet Zwart’ kitchen for the Dutch company Bruynzeel: a kitchen that could be easily produced and consisted of standardized elements. His versatility and influence on present-day designers led the Association of Dutch Designers to award him the title of “Designer of the Century” in 2000.
The Alphabeticians is a cinematic observational documentary following a turning point in the life of Lida Cardozo Kindersley, who runs the UK’s leading workshop of letter cutting in stone. Lida has poured her soul into the workshop, which she inherited from her husband and former teacher David, for nearly half a century. Approaching seventy, she is preparing to hand the workshop on to her apprentices. This time of change offers a portal to deeper themes: what significance do heritage crafts have today? What legacies are we passing to future generations? Sifting symbolism and memory, the film shares a lasting reminder of the power of relationships and the resilience of creative spirit.
Words that end in -ake and start with ch-. A typographic animation.
Words that start with the letter O, P, and R. A typographic animation.
Georgie discusses a bubble font he designed and released himself -- to no acclaim.
A collection of hits from one of pop music’s greatest geniuses - Prince, aka ‘The Artist Formerly Known as Prince’, aka ‘the Unpronounceable Symbol’, and more. Whichever alias he assumed, Prince was always fascinating as both a performer and songwriter, and here are the best of his own appearances on a selection of BBC shows, alongside a rich selection of performances from artists who covered his songs over the years.
Documentary telling the story of seven bleak months of industrial chaos that changed Britain forever. Featuring memories and anecdotes from famous faces.
Nebojša Pajkić, a screenwriter, talks about his life and work.
The extraordinary life and career of the Russian chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov, a brilliant and charismatic, but also rebellious, favorite son of the Soviet Union.
An in depth look behind the scenes at the making of the live action Ghost In The Shell. Director Rupert Sanders, along with the cast and crew, take you from adapting the script and casting, production design and filming.
Piaf’s life is a legend, a tale, a story so powerful that one might end up asking oneself if it really existed. Beyond the icon, there is the woman the documentary talks about, a fragile figure with an extraordinary personality. A street girl who experienced fame, love and who died almost clandestinely in a rented house in the south of France.
A documentary that explores the downloading revolution; the kids that created it, the bands and the businesses that were affected by it, and its impact on the world at large.
The Making-of James Cameron's Avatar. It shows interesting parts of the work on the set.
A portrait of the comic trio "Aldo, Giovanni e Giacomo".
SEDUCED AND ABANDONED combines acting legend Alec Baldwin with director James Toback as they lead us on a troublesome and often hilarious journey of raising financing for their next feature film. Moving from director to financier to star actor, the two players provide us with a unique look behind the curtain at the world's biggest and most glamourous film festival, shining a light on the bitter-sweet relationship filmmakers have with Cannes and the film business. Featuring insights from directors Martin Scorsese, 'Bernando Bertolucci' and Roman Polanski; actors Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain and a host of film distribution luminaries.
JB Smoove and Martin Starr host a celebration of 20 years of "Spider-Man" movies, from the Sam Raimi trilogy to Marc Webb's movies and the trio from Jon Watts.
A detailing of the rise to prominence and global sporting superstardom of six supremely talented young Manchester United football players (David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Phil and Gary Neville). The film covers the period 1992-1999, culminating in Manchester United's European Cup triumph.
A documentary about the sport of boxing, as seen through the eyes of champions Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Bernard Hopkins.
A backstage and on-stage look at Justin Bieber during his rise to super stardom.
A documentary about ten very different lives connected by having appeared onscreen wearing masks or helmets in Star Wars.
Alex Gibney explores the charged issue of pedophilia in the Catholic Church, following a trail from the first known protest against clerical sexual abuse in the United States and all way to the Vatican.
A compilation of over 30 years of private home movie footage shot by Lithuanian-American avant-garde director Jonas Mekas, assembled by Mekas "purely by chance", without concern for chronological order.
A documentary on legendary movie-poster artist Drew Struzan.
A documentary chronicling Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour's preparations for the 2007 fall-fashion issue.
Martin Scorsese's documentary intertwines footage from The Band's incredible farewell tour with probing backstage interviews and featured performances by Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, and other rock legends.
A personal and intimate look into Demi Lovato's life as not only a regular 25 year old, but also one of the biggest pop stars in the world.
A documentary about how a dominant cultural and demographic institution both sustains their traditional activities and adapts to the digital revolution.
With exclusive access to his extraordinary unseen and unheard personal archive including hundreds of hours of audio recorded over the course of his life, this is the definitive Marlon Brando cinema documentary. Charting his exceptional career as an actor and his extraordinary life away from the stage and screen with Brando himself as your guide, the film will fully explore the complexities of the man by telling the story uniquely from Marlon's perspective, entirely in his own voice. No talking heads, no interviewees, just Brando on Brando and life.
A documentary chronicling Queen and Lambert's incredible journey since they first shared the stage together on "American Idol" in 2009.
A documentary about the making of season five of the acclaimed AMC series Breaking Bad.
A documentary about the life and films of director John Ford.
