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Filmmaking in Focus
The camera flips inward to film the creative process. Discover the lives behind the artists and obsessives who make movies what they are.
From fictional portraits to revealing documentaries, this illuminating collection highlights the myriad forms of filmmaking and the talents behind it.
8½ 8½
Drama 1963 138 mins Director: Federico Fellini
Fellini triumphantly conjured himself out of writer's block with this magnum opus about a film director experiencing his own creative crisis.
Matinee Matinee
Comedy 1993 99 mins Director: Joe Dante
Joe Dante (Gremlins) directs this affectionate homage to 1950s sci-fi cinema, with John Goodman as a cigar-chomping B-movie producer trying to cash in on the Cuban missile crisis.
Pasolini Pasolini
Biopic 2014 84 mins Director: Abel Ferrara
Willem Dafoe plays the controversial filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini in this dark, daring drama about the director’s final days, from Abel Ferrara.
Irma Vep Irma Vep
Drama 1996 99 mins Director: Olivier Assayas
Olivier Assayas' sexy and stylish ode to the madness of filmmaking, with Maggie Cheung as the Hong Kong star playing a Catwoman-style anti-heroine.
Room 237 Room 237
Documentary 2012 103 mins Director: Rodney Ascher
Rodney Ascher's enigmatic essay film weaves together the contrasting theories of five different narrators who believe Stanley Kubrick deliberately buried hidden messages in his 1980 adaptation of Stephen King’s novel.
Lotte Reiniger's Art Lotte Reiniger's Art
Documentary 1970 17 mins Director: John Isaacs
The short documentary gives us a wonderful insight into the enchanting animated film world of Lotte Reiniger.
I Am Divine I Am Divine
Documentary 2013 90 mins Director: Jeffrey Schwarz
A unique documentary about a unique person – follow Divine’s life from humble Baltimore beginnings to superstar status as the Queen of Cult.
Eisenstein in Guanajuato Eisenstein in Guanajuato
Biopic 2015 106 mins Director: Peter Greenaway
One of Britain’s most inventive filmmakers tackles the story of arguably the most influential filmmaker in cinema history, Sergei Eisenstein.
Love and Death on Long Island Love and Death on Long Island
Comedy 1998 89 mins Director: Richard Kwietniowski
John Hurt stars in Richard Kwietniowski’s comedy of fame and obsession about an older man (Hurt) who becomes infatuated with a young Hollywood actor (Jason Priestley), and proceeds to track him down.
Le Mépris Le Mépris
Drama 1963 103 mins Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard conducts an autopsy of love and the creative process, as a boorish film producer dismantles a seemingly strong marriage.
A Century of French Cinema A Century of French Cinema
Documentary 1995 50 mins Director: Anne-Marie Miéville and Jean-Luc Godard
Six regions, six films appraised for cultural and historical meaning. Produced by Jean-Luc Godard.
Two in the Wave Two in the Wave
Documentary 2009 92 mins Director: Emmanuel Laurent
Jean Luc-Godard and Francois Truffaut: the story of a friendship, a break-up and the birth of a new cinematic movement that would sweep the world.
A Personal Journey... Part 1 A Personal Journey... Part 1
Documentary 1995 72 mins Director: Martin Scorsese and Michael Henry Wilson
The first part of Martin Scorsese's 'personal journey' through American Cinema.
A Personal Journey… Part 2 A Personal Journey… Part 2
Documentary 1995 79 mins Director: Martin Scorsese and Michael Henry Wilson
The second part of Martin Scorsese's 'personal journey' through American Cinema.
A Personal Journey… Part 3 A Personal Journey… Part 3
Documentary 1995 74 mins Director: Martin Scorsese and Michael Henry Wilson
The third part of Martin Scorsese's 'personal journey' through American Cinema
My Voyage to Italy (part one) My Voyage to Italy (part one)
Documentary 2001 120 mins Director: Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese’s two-part love letter to Italian cinema is epic and sprawling in scope but also a deeply personal and moving testament to his passion for film.
My Voyage to Italy (part two) My Voyage to Italy (part two)
Documentary 2001 126 mins Director: Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese’s two-part love letter to Italian cinema is epic and sprawling in scope but also a deeply personal and moving testament to his passion for film.
A Trick of the Light A Trick of the Light
Drama-documentary 1996 79 mins Director: Wim Wenders, Sebastian Andrae and 8 more
The origins of German cinema are given life in one of Wim Wenders’ most charming and playful films, focusing on pioneering inventors, the Skladanowsky brothers.
Tokyo-Ga Tokyo-Ga
Documentary 1985 92 mins Director: Wim Wenders
Profiling one of the great directors of World Cinema, Wim Wenders delivers this moving portrait of Japanese auteur Yasujiro Ozu.
100 Years of Japanese Cinema 100 Years of Japanese Cinema
Documentary 1996 52 mins Director: Nagisa Oshima
Archive propels argument in this fascinating exploration of the social and cultural importance of Japan's film heritage.
Room 666 Room 666
Documentary 1984 46 mins Director: Wim Wenders
Wim Wenders invites a group of filmmakers at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival – including Godard, Fassbinder, Herzog and Spielberg – to discuss cinema.
Beware of a Holy Whore Beware of a Holy Whore
Drama 1971 104 mins Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
In an elegant Spanish hotel lobby, a film cast and crew outdo one another in displays of professional and sexual rivalry while waiting endlessly for shooting to begin.
Lisbon Story Lisbon Story
Drama 1994 103 mins Director: Wim Wenders
Wim Wenders’ enigmatic film follows a sound recordist who travels to Lisbon for a film shoot and is drawn into the wonder of the city and its people.
The State of Things The State of Things
Drama 1982 122 mins Director: Wim Wenders
A European director travels to Hollywood in order to track down his missing producer in Wim Wenders’ gorgeous ode to filmmaking.
Peeping Tom Peeping Tom
Drama 1960 101 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell’s dark, disturbing, once controversial tale of a shy camera technician who films women as he kills them is now rightly deemed a classic.
A Summer + 50 A Summer + 50
Documentary 2011 75 mins Director: Florence Dauman
Key participants discuss the making of influential cinéma vérite documentary Chronicle of a Summer. Includes unused footage from the film.
Night Will Fall Night Will Fall
Documentary 2014 75 mins Director: André Singer
An unforgettable, compelling account of the production and subsequent restoration of a withheld film recording the liberation of Nazi concentration camps in 1945.
Speaking of Buñuel Speaking of Buñuel
Documentary 2000 99 mins Director: José Luis López Linares and Javier Rioyo
José Luis López-Linares and Javier Rioyo’s incisive documentary about Luis Buñuel.
Memories of John Memories of John
Documentary 2012 29 mins Director: Doug Headline
A short documentary featuring some of John Cassavetes' key collaborators, actor Peter Falk and producer Al Ruban.
Anger Me Anger Me
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2006 71 mins Director: Elio Gelmini
Like all good magicians, the life and work of Kenneth Anger, the Magus of underground film, is crowded with mystery and myth.
Vulgaria Vulgaria
Comedy 2012 93 mins Director: Pang Ho-Cheung
Ho-Cheung Pang's wild, ribald comedy about a Hong Kong movie producer who will do anything to get his projects off the ground.
The Woodsman and the Rain The Woodsman and the Rain
Comedy 2011 128 mins Director: Shûichi Okita
A redneck lumberjack is recruited to work on a rookie producer's inane zombie movie, in this hilarious movie-making satire.
Starting Out: The Making of Deep End Starting Out: The Making of Deep End
Documentary 2011 75 mins Director: Robert Fischer
Immersive and informative look at the production of this surreal, seductive film, with contributions from cast and crew.
Lost in Karastan Lost in Karastan
Comedy 2016 96 mins Director: Ben Hopkins
In this smart filmmaking satire, Matthew Macfadyen plays as a hard-up British director who accepts a commission to make a film for a Central Asian dictator.
Behind the Screen Behind the Screen
Comedy 1916 24 mins Silent Director: Charles Chaplin
Chaplin sends up the movie business itself, playing a scene-stealing actor, David, in constant conflict with a tyrannical studio boss called Goliath.