Explores the salacious career of mysterious British filmmaker and distributor David Hamilton-Grant, who was the only supplier to be sent to prison for releasing a "video nasty". Hamilton-Grant navigated loopholes in the law in the 70s in order to produce and screen smut in an extremely censorship restricted Britain. When the home video boom hit in the 80s he was one of the first to capitalize on the initially far less regulated format... but he would pay the price. Then things get really dark and strange.
For this informative new one-off, film writer Ian Nathan focuses on the first 60 years of British film, from the invention of cinema and the transition from stage to screen, to the emergence of the studios and the first popular idols. Nathan takes us through the work of leading British film-makers — a talent pool that, like Hollywood’s, benefited from the influx of refugees fleeing Europe — including Alfred Hitchcock, Powell and Pressburger, and many more besides.
Gathering for a Christmas lunch, the film critics and writers of Discovering Film discuss the merits of 20 films from Bill Murray's star turn in Scrooged, the James Stewart classic It's a Wonderful Life, Ingmar Bergman's Fanny & Alexander, to Bruce Willis' memorable Die Hard.
One of the greatest actors of the twentieth century, von Sydow is best known for his long creative partnership with director Ingmar Bergman, whose psychologically probing dramas—including their most famous collaboration, THE SEVENTH SEAL—gave the actor freedom to bare his soul and showcase his unfailingly commanding screen presence. In addition to the string of masterpieces he made with the Swedish auteur, von Sydow embodied a wide range of characters in films by art-house titans such as Jan Troell, Lars von Trier, and Wim Wenders, leaving behind a body of work that spans more than six decades and a dozen different countries. He appeared in more than one hundred and fifty films and television series in multiple languages. Max von Sydow received his French citizenship in 2002 and lived in France for the last two decades of his life.
Hong Kong, 1978. South Korean actress Choi Eun-hee is kidnapped by North Korean operatives following orders from dictator Kim Jong-il.
A surprisingly candid behind-the-scenes account of the career of Ken Loach, one of Britain’s most celebrated and controversial filmmakers, as he prepares to release his final major film I, Daniel Blake.
From the Classic Movie Docs library- Discovering, celebrates the lives of those who soared the highest. From Marlon Brando to Elizabeth Taylor, we uncover what drove them and why the world loved them. This episode focuses on Jean Harlow.
A documentary on the films of Ken Loach. Interviews with cast and crew who worked with Loach over the years. It describe his approach to allowing actors a wide range of freedom.
Documentary presenting Alan Parker’s view of British cinema with comments from Richard Lester and others and location report from King’s Lynn on the making of Hugh Hudson’s Revolution, starring Al Pacino, Donald Sutherland, and Nastassja Kinski.