Double Play: James Benning and Richard Linklater 2013

In 1985, former oil rig worker Richard Linklater began a film screening society in Austin, Texas, that aimed to show classic art-house and experimental films to a budding community of cinephiles. Eventually incorporating as a nonprofit, the newly branded Austin Film Society raised enough money to fly in their first out-of-town filmmaker: James Benning. Accepting the invitation, Benning met Linklater and the two began to develop a personal and intellectual bond, leading to many future encounters. Starting in the 1960s, Benning had been creating low budget films mostly on his own, while Linklater had just begun to craft his first shorts. The filmmakers have remained close even as their careers have diverged. After the cult success of Slacker, Linklater went on to make films with Hollywood support. Benning, meanwhile, has stayed close to his roots and is mainly an unknown figure in mainstream film culture.

Cinéastes de notre temps : Erich von Stroheim 2012

On Tour 2010

After leaving France in search of a better life in America, a television producer returns with a group of burlesque dancers to take the Paris club scene by storm.

Code Name: Melville 2010

Mixing interviews, rare archival footage and film extracts, the film shows how Melville's works were impacted by what he experienced in his youth during WWII, and how it structured his whole approach to cinema, not only in its thematic but also in its aesthetics.

Chantal Akerman by Chantal Akerman 1997

Janine Bazin and André Labarthe approached Chantal Akerman about making a film for the series; eagerly, Akerman proposed a number of filmmakers—but all had already been done. So she suggested…“How about me?” Akerman creates a fascinating self-portrait that takes us through her career, aided by critics Emmanuel Burdeau and Jean Narboni and filmmaker Luc Moullet.

JLG/JLG: Self-Portrait in December 1995

Director Jean-Luc Godard reflects in this movie about his place in film history, the interaction of film industry and film as art, as well as the act of creating art.

Germany Year 90 Nine Zero 1991

The supremely world-weary Lemmy Caution, last seen in Godard's "Alphaville" (France/1965), has several strange encounters while trying to make his way from the former East Germany to "the west."

The Scorsese Machine 1990

Amazing documentary shows rarely seen side of a master director. 1990 was a very good year for Martin Scorsese. After making a diverse group of films in the 80s, he reunited with Robert DeNiro for "Goodfellas" and later that year shot a segment for "New York Stories", an anthology film of three shorts by Scorsese, Woody Allen, and Francis Ford Coppola. During the editing, the French documentary series "Cinéma, de notre temps" filmed a documentary on the director, and it's a fascinating glimpse into his life, personality, and working habits as he edits his short with long-time collaborator Thelma Schoonmaker.

David Lynch: Don't Look at Me 1989

A documentary about American director David Lynch from the Cinéma, de notre temps series.

Kandinsky 1986

Colour, form, area - this is the formula of the greatest pioneer of abstract painting. Kandinsky came to art late in life, but his impact through Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) and Bauhaus paved the way for modern art. In 1913, he created one of the first abstract pictures, the theoretical basis of which was inspired by his essay Uber das Geistige in der Kunst (On the Spiritual in Art). Accompanied by Mussorgsky's Pictures From An Exhibition Labarthe goes on a sensual journey which makes the soul resound with colours and forms. "A picture has to resound and must be bathed in an inner glow." Kandinsky

Your Turn, My Turn 1978

Family mother and model wife, Agnes hits a vehicle while driving in Paris. She immediately falls in love with the driver of the damaged car.

Urgent ou à quoi bon exécuter des projets puisque le projet est en lui-même une jouissance suffisante 1977

Gérard Courant applies the Lettrist editing techniques of Isidore Isou to footage of late 70's pop culture. Courant posits that his cinema offers an aggressive détournement to the French mainstream, reifying a Duchampian view of film: "I believe in impossible movies and works without meaning... I believe in the anti-movie. I believe in the non-movie. I believe in Urgent... My first full length movie that is so anti-everything that I sometimes wonder if it really does exist!"

L'Amour fou 1969

A troubled marriage is tested by the couple's involvement in a theatrical production of Racine’s Andromaque.

The Dinosaur and the Baby 1967

An hour-long discussion between Fritz Lang and Jean-Luc Godard in which they discuss a variety of art forms, the role of the cinema, their collaboration together, and much more. (Filmed in 1964 but released for TV in 1967.)

Jean Renoir, le patron, 3e partie: La règle et l'exception 1967

In the third part of a Cinéastes triptych on Jean Renoir, the director sits alone in a cinema analyzing scenes from La Marseillaise and The Rules of the Game, and discussing his editing and storytelling techniques.

La Nouvelle Vague par elle-même 1964

Made for Cinéastes de notre temps series. In 1964, several French New Wave auteurs discuss the success and crisis of the wave. Featuring Claude Chabrol, François Truffaut, Jacques Rivette, Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Rozier, Jacques Demy, Agnès Varda, Jean Rouch, and many others.

Ro.Go.Pa.G. 1963

Four short films by four different directors dealing with the principles of modern life.

Vivre Sa Vie 1962

Twelve episodic tales in the life of a Parisian woman and her slow descent into prostitution.

La Soirée 1961

Unfinished film by Jean Eustache . A couple kisses. A group of friends talk inside a room. One of them reads from a paper.

Breathless 1960

A small-time thief steals a car and impulsively murders a motorcycle policeman. Wanted by the authorities, he attempts to persuade a girl to run away to Italy with him.