Caligula with Mary Beard
★ 7.5 · 2013 · 60m · Documentary · History
What is true and what is false in the hideous stories spread about the controversial figure of the Roman emperor Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (12-41), nicknamed Caligula? Professor Mary Beard explains what is accurate and what is mythical in the historical accounts that portray him as an unbalanced despot. Was he a sadistic tyrant, as Roman historians have told, or perhaps the truth about him was manipulated because of political interests?
More Like This
I Sing All Day, I Sing All Night
1979 · ★ 9
Zdravko Čolić is the biggest pop star in Yugoslavia. We follow him during his "Traveling Earthquake Tour", lerning who is the man behind the microphone, dancers, glittery suits... and in front of the audience.
More info →
The Real Antony and Cleopatra
2016
Expert interviews, dramatic reconstructions and location shooting bring to life the iconic legend of Egyptian Queen Cleopatra in this historical documentary.
More info →The Source - One Day in a Roma Settlement in Romania
2009 · ★ 6
The film starts with a long, static shot of the sun rising above the hills near the Roma village of Hetea in Romania. We only hear the sounds of birds, including a cuckoo. In the distance, a satellite dish figures on a roof. Slowly, the daily routine begins. We see more and more activity, like the harnessing of a horse to a cart, loading stripped tree trunks, collecting water from a pipe, playing soccer and a girl getting punished with a severe slap on her arm. These scenes are mostly captured from a distance. Then, towards noon, the fat is in the fire. The camera looks for the villagers who argue with each other and registers how an old man paces up and down the street. Because the images have not been subtitled (intentionally), the meaning of the quarrel remains unclear. The film does not mention any names or other facts, either. The absence of this context makes this documentary into a picturesque impression.
More info →
The Hidden Side of the Bottom
2009 · ★ 4.5
All over the world, since the dawn of humanity, the buttocks have been the subject of innumerable representations. From the Louvre to the Metropolitan, on the street and at the beach, through cinema and advertising, this film lays bare the evolution of our collective fantasies revolving around the bottom. Paleo-anthropology, psychoanalysis, and the history of art all give us a glimpse of the hidden side of our bottoms.
More info →
476 A.D. Chapter Two: The Dawning of the Age of Pisces
2016
September 2, 476 A.D.: Only two days before the Ostrogoth Foederati finally sack the City of Rome in the early morning hours of September 4th. When Ostrogoth Chieftain, and the Leader of the Foederati, Odoacer finally takes over the City that same day, and Ends the Empire, by the famous Act of Deposing of the Last Western Roman Caesar Romulus Augustulus. Hence with this famous/infamous act of deposition of the Emperor Augustulus, Odoacer officially ends the 1,300 years of Roman Power, thus giving way to the next 1,000 years of the Dark Ages.
More info →
A to B Rollerski
2017 · ★ 7
A documentary film revealing the incredible and unique journey of the Latvia-born adventurer and Olympic biathlete Raimonds Dombrovskis back in 1988 as he roller-skis 4,200 miles (6,759 km) from Inuvik (The Arctic, Canada) to Baja (Mexico) in 90 days. He uses his rollerski trip as a way to protest against the Soviet regime and to explain to everyone he meets that somewhere on the map there is a small nation that has its own language and craves freedom.
More info →
Salome
1918 · ★ 7
Palestine, under the rule of Rome. Salome, daughter of Herodias and both niece and stepdaughter of King Herod, becomes infatuated with the prophet John the Baptist, who publicly denounces the depravity of the royal family and proclaims the arrival of a new messiah. (Film presumed lost.)
More info →
Nero's Mistress
1956 · ★ 5.9
On seaside holiday, Nero, Poppea, Seneca and their friends and family prepare a great show where Nero will star. When his mother Agrippina arrives with her German praetorians and decides Nero has to conquer Britain, she's asking for trouble. Many attempts of murder and poisoning will happen on the eve of his great show.
More info →
GI Joe: The Story of America's Movable Fighting Man
2002
Watch the history of the GI Joe Action figure unfold in this two hour documentary, with the story told by the original Hasbro creative team. Memorable Hasbro television commercials spanning four decades take you back through the 60's, 70's, 80’s and 90's as GI Joe was brought into our living rooms. Also included is the original marketing film used to present the concept of GI Joe to the 1964 International Toy Fair.
More info →Chops
2009
In this Tribeca Film Festival selection, filmmaker Bruce Broder trains his camera on a crop of talented young jazz musicians as they play their way through the Essentially Ellington high school jazz band competition. Sponsored by the Jazz at Lincoln Center program, the prestigious contest gives the kids the chance to rub shoulders with legendary trumpeter Wynton Marsalis -- and put their budding improvisational skills to the test.
More info →