Making of: Airbus A350

Made in Ethiopia

2024 · ★ 10

When a massive Chinese factory complex attempts a high-stakes expansion in rural Ethiopia, three women in search of prosperity have their faith in industrialization tested to the limit. Filmed over four years with singular access, Made in Ethiopia lifts the curtain on China’s historic but misunderstood impact on Africa, and explores contemporary Ethiopia at a moment of profound crisis. The film was awarded the Jury Special Mention at Tribeca Festival.

Tins for India

1941 · ★ 6

Documenting the production of kerosene tins and their reuse in rural India, this early short by Bimal Roy observes industrial labor and everyday life with a restrained, humanist perspective.

Der Kampf um die Riesenflieger

2022 · ★ 7

Hardly noticed by the public, the largest aircraft parking lot in Europe has been built in a semi-desert in Spain. Close to the city of Teruel in the east of the country, aircraft from a wide variety of airlines have been mothballed. Their future is uncertain. Since the coronavirus crisis, these include the largest and most expensive aircraft in the world. For example, the Airbus A380 and the jumbo jet, the Boeing 747: two symbols of a decades-long "air war" between Airbus and Boeing. Four-jet airplanes are considered fuel guzzlers and CO2 sinners. Even the modern A380, which is approved for up to 853 passengers, was withdrawn from service by many airlines after just a few years of operation. Never before in the history of aviation has such an expensive series aircraft been taken out of service after such a short time. But its end is far from certain.

High Performance Imports: Volume 5

2002

This time High Performance Imports visits Ebisu Circuit for the draft matsuri, tours the Veilside factory and attends some drag meetings.

Air Disasters

1996

Air Disasters exposes some painful truths behind the world of flight, using actual footage of real incidents to look at why planes crash; in aerodynamic and technical terms and in the way the industry is run.

Kainai

1973

On the Kainai (Blood) First Nations Reserve, near Cardston, Alberta, a hopeful new development in Indigenous enterprise. Once rulers of the western plains, the Bloods live on a 1 300-square-kilometer reserve. Many have lacked gainful employment and now pin their hopes on a pre-fab factory they have built. Will the production line and work and wages fit into their cultural pattern of life? The film shows how it is working and what the owners themselves say about their venture.

IEC Long

2015 · ★ 5.2

The word panchão was first heard in Macao. From the Chinese pan-tcheong or pau-tcheong, dictionaries define it as a Macanese regionalism also known as China cracker. Who inhabits the ancient IEC Long firecracker factory?

Classic Fighter

Classic Fighter – the story of the great piston-engined fighters of World War Two. A tribute to the men who flew them, and to the men and women who guided them and kept them in the air. Made in conjunction with the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, this programme tells the story of these great war planes. Stunning air-to-air flying sequences are intercut with interviews with pilots and aircrew of the British and American air forces. Some of the fighter aircraft featured are the Supermarine Spitfire, the Hawker Hurricane, the Messerschmitt Bf109, the P-47 Thunderbolt and the P-51 Mustang.

The Snack Giants – Behind the Scenes of Confectionery Manufacturers

2022

The high consumption of snacks and sweets in Germany keeps producers on their toes. In Viersen, consumer giant Mars produces 10 million cookie chocolate bars every day-and each of them must look and taste absolutely identical. In Erdmannhausen, snack pretzels are produced in the first Württemberg pretzel factory, Huober. And the Lübeck-based marzipan manufacturer Niederegger wants to use traditional production processes to produce what it claims is the best marzipan in the world.

Legends of the Sky: The Liberty Plane

2022

When the United States entered World War I, its Army Air Service lacked a combat-ready aircraft – a liability that prompted a search to find an aircraft suitable for production at home and combat operations abroad. This documentary from Bowling Green filmmakers tells the story behind the single-engine DH-4 plane dubbed The Liberty Plane.

Megastructures: Airbus Beluga XL

2019 · ★ 8

No synopsis available.

Manufactured Landscapes

2006 · ★ 7.2

MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES is the striking new documentary on the world and work of renowned artist Edward Burtynsky. Internationally acclaimed for his large-scale photographs of “manufactured landscapes”—quarries, recycling yards, factories, mines and dams—Burtynsky creates stunningly beautiful art from civilization’s materials and debris.