A Vida de Sara

Examines the public scandal and private tragedy which led to legendary director Roman Polanski's sudden flight from the United States.

A moving and very funny portrait of the personal and professional life of the magnificent French comedian Louis de Funès (1914-83), as well as a detailed analysis of his masterful acting technique.

Gil Scott-Heron, one of rap's earliest (and unfortunately unknown) pioneers, gets his full due in Black Wax, the 1982 documentary recently reissued on video. Interspliced between performance footage of Scott-Heron and his Midnight Band are vignettes of him walking around Washington D.C., spouting his views on then-President Reagan (dubbed "Ray-Gun") and generally dropping knowledge. The live performance features many of Scott-Heron's best-known hits, including "Johannesburg," "Winter in America," and "Angel Dust," among others. Warm, intelligent, and insightful throughout, Scott-Heron is clearly enjoying himself and the opportunity to espouse his views. A must for any fan of Scott-Heron's, and definitely worth a look for fans of the funkier jazz music of the mid to late 1970's.

In the half-hour tribute, friends and colleagues remember the three-time Emmy winner, who died June 19 at age 51. The special features clips of Gandolfini’s work as well as behind-the-scenes footage.

A locomotive journey traversing the North to the South of the German Democratic Republic on the eve of its dissolution. Labourers, punks, mothers, intellectuals, young and old are implored to reflect on their life choices, the sacrifices they've made, and their place in the world. Despite everything, hope persists.

One of the first US born conductors to receive worldwide fame, Leonard Bernstein is an exceptional composer and certainly not only due to The West Side Story. Instead of concentrating exclusively on his most famous work, Thomas von Steinaecker sets out to paint a complete picture of Bernstein. Thus, the documentary focusses on the American’s less known later works and on three compositions in particular: his Mass, the musical 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and the great final opera A Quiet Place. The film paints a vivid picture of the multitalented Bernstein, struggling with his role as composer and conductor, tackling the tension between successes and flops, between the politics of his time and his own liberal humanitarian claim. It looks back on Bernstein’s major achievements, such as his acclaimed conducting of Mahler and his involvement in the Young People’s Concerts, and it shows Bernstein’s work with young aspiring musicians as well as his political commitment.

A look at the life and work of the Austrian composer who pioneered the musical scoring of films - hundreds of them - from King Kong, to Gone with the Wind, to Casablanca and beyond.

"The Undefeated Femininity" - a film about Gun Grut Bergman. In September 1949 Ingmar Bergman left his wife and five children, and escaped to Paris with a new woman, Gun Grut. It was the beginning of a passionate love affair, an enduring jealousy drama and a new theme in Bergman's films. Now their son, Ingmar Bergman Jr, walks in his parents' footsteps, from Paris to the home on Grev Turegatan 69 in Stockholm.

Between 1950 and 1955, Henri Langlois tried to produce, on behalf of the Cinémathèque française, several films devoted to great artists, with their cooperation, by entrusting them with virgin film stock. Wrote Langlois on the unfinished project, epic in scope: "We had the idea of ​​asking poets, painters, scholars, writers and even repressed filmmakers [...] to make films in 16mm, with the means at hand, without taking into account any commercial concern or censorship." What precious little came of the project was eight minutes of film from Matisse and twenty-some from Marc Chagall, released at a later date.

Heda Blochová was born in Prague into the Jewish family of the cofounder of the well-known Koh-i-noor factory. She married Rudolf Margolius, a lawyer. Soon after the wedding the young couple and the whole Margolius family were deported to the ghetto in Lodz. After spending a couple of years there, they were all taken to Oswiecim concentration camp. There the family was parted. Heda was lucky enough to be taken to a labour camp after a few months and was finally made to join the Death March. She managed to escape the guards and thus saved her life.

A grandson shows his grandmother how to navigate an iPad 2 full of clues for solving a puzzle. Over a phone call, she recites an email she wrote seven years prior.