War Tails

The Russian invasion of Ukraine created an avalanche of abandoned dogs and cats that are now multiplying causing unforeseen consequences.

Evan Dalton Smith on Andy Griffith

'A Face in the Crowd' was Andy Griffith's first film role; he would go on to be most famous for his folksy portrayal of Sheriff Andy Taylor on television's The Andy Griffith Show. In this interview, filmed by the Criterion Collection in 2018, Griffith expert Evan Dalton Smith discusses the actor's difficulties with the role of Lonesome Rhodes and how it led to his career-defining television show.

Jay Cocks and Farran Smith Nehme on 'The Heiress'

In this 2018 Criterion Collection program, screenwriter Jay Cocks and film critic Farran Smith Nehme discuss the adaptation for the film version of 'The Heiress' (1949) of the 1947 play by Ruth and Augustus Goetz, which was itself inspired by the 1880 Henry James novel 'Washington Square'.

America Today

One of the key works in creating the American social documentary film, this 1934 newsreel compilation crams a lot of information into just 11 minutes. Skillfully edited, the picture captures a panorama of international events centered on the labor movement. Scenes include Mussolini, Hitler and FDR preparing for war, Nazi soldiers persecuting German Jews, a political strike in Paris, the Scottsboro demonstration in Washington, DC, police violence against striking steelworkers in Pennsylvania and union members stopping scab workers from delivering milk during a dairy farmers strike in Wisconsin. Under the direction of pioneering documentarian Leo Hurwitz, the images are edited together to create a powerful image of a world that, in his view, desperately needed radical change.

May The Lord Watch: The Little Brother Story

May the Lord Watch follows the rise, breakup, and reunion of Little Brother, detailing the vast impact of the preeminent 2000’s rap group.

Black Girl in Bloom

St. Louis florist Darien Burress launches her small business while preparing to compete at Art in Bloom, the St. Louis Art Museum's annual festival celebrating floral design and the fine arts.

Manny

From abject poverty to becoming a ten-time boxing world champion, congressman, and international icon, Manny Pacquiao is the true definition of a Cinderella story. In the Philippines, he first entered the ring as a sixteen-year-old weighing ninety-eight pounds with the goal of earning money to feed his family. Now, almost twenty years later, when he fights, the country of 100 million people comes to a complete standstill to watch. Regarded for his ability to bring people together, Pacquiao entered the political arena in 2010. As history’s first boxing congressman, Pacquiao now fights for his people both inside and outside of the ring. Now at the height of his career, he is faced with maneuvering an unscrupulous sport while maintaining his political duties. The question now is, what bridge is too far for Manny Pacquiao to cross?

Ron Briley on 'A Face in the Crowd'

In this interview, shot by the Criterion Collection in 2018, Ron Briley, author of 'The Ambivalent Legacy of Elia Kazan: The Politics of the Post-HUAC Films', discusses the origins of the Lonesome Rhodes character in the biographies of populist celebrities such as Will Rogers and Arthur Godfrey. He also addresses the political implications of 'A Face in the Crowd' (1957) within the context of Kazan's career.

D-Day, 100 jours pour la liberté

Using restored, colorized archives and testimonies from all the players in this conflict, this documentary covers the hundred days of apocalyptic fighting that wrote History. June 1944, the Allies landed in Normandy. This odyssey was meticulously prepared for months. The construction of two artificial ports, the transport of Anglo-American troops, their training cost colossal efforts, and caused many cold sweats: the secret of D-Day almost came to light several times. The documentary reveals the inner workings of Operation Overlord, it also deciphers the military operations, and evokes the choices of the high command. Placed at human level, it retraces the fate of Norman civilians subjected to deadly bombings, the attitude of the Allied soldiers and their German adversaries, as well as the aspirations of the French population, torn between fear and hope.

Tipularen sehaska kanta

Going to the doctor to make a diagnosis or to have a treatment is a common thing in the outside world. But for every prisoner it is a very difficult or impossible path. Lander Garro, the director, turns to those who have lived the experience of being ill in prison to better understand its consequences. It uses a language that goes beyond political discourse, exploring the helplessness of prisoners whose right to health is limited from an emotional point of view, through cinematographic tools. 'Tipularen sehaska kanta' ('Nana de la cebolla' - 'Lullaby of the onion') more than a political film is an artistic film, narrated in the first person and from the entrails. Based on the poem 'Nana de la cebolla' by the Spanish poet Miguel Hernández, who died in prison in 1942, the film makes a historical analogy: if it didn't make sense to die in prison in 1936, does it make sense today?

El Canto de las Moscas

The experimental animated film Song of the Flies (El Canto de las Moscas), translates the desolation caused by the violence of the Colombian armed conflict through the poetic voice of Maria Mercedes Carranza (1945–2003) and the audiovisual dialogue between 9 Colombian women. In 24 places, as a transit over the course of a day (Morning, Day, Night) a map of terror is drawn where massacres took place in Colombia in the 1990s. Archival images, the artists’ personal memories and the use of loops and analogue materials bring to life the landscapes ravaged by violence and build a polyphony of memory and mourning, a universal song of pain.

THE MACHINE

Eldorado – Alles, was die Nazis hassen

A glittery nightclub in 1920s Berlin becomes a haven for the queer community in this documentary exploring the freedoms lost amid Hitler’s rise to power.

Joso2020

Joso (josō 女装) is a film collaboration combining anthropology and art film to explore the nature of male reaction and sentiment on the cusp of transformation in contemporary Japan.

Power Meri

Power Meri follows Papua New Guinea's first national women's rugby league team, the PNG Orchids, on their journey to the 2017 World Cup in Australia. These trailblazers must beat not only the sporting competition, but also intense sexism, a lack of funding, and national prejudice to reach their biggest stage yet.

Nous étions soldats - Les oubliés de la Seconde Guerre mondiale

Les Usines de Staline face aux armées d'Hitler

How did the USSR - a country considered a second-rate industrial power, economically inferior to Germany, the USA and the UK - shape its victory over the armies of Hitler's regime, and secure its place among the winners?

Notes about identity

Mythos Côte d'Azur - Liebe, Luxus, Leidenschaft

AA - Alcoholics Anonymous

Alcoholics Anonymous is a community of men and women who share their experience, hope and support with each other so that they can address their common problem and help others to break free from alcohol addiction. The documentary follows the stories of ten people who have been on the verge of alcoholism for almost their entire lives.