Crime Wave: The City Is Dark

Männer im Trenchcoat, Frauen im Pelz

December 2004 •German

Film noir, which enjoyed particular success in the 1930s and 1940s, is probably the most profound genre of classic Hollywood cinema. Eckhart Schmidt tries to show the background and developments and speaks, among others, with directors such as Richard Fleischer and Robert Wise as well as with "femme fatale" actresses. Filmmakers of the following generations explain how the style and themes of noir continue to shape cinema today.

Von Scerscen.- Diario di un'indagine

February 2022 •Italian

Muder´s in the zoo

March 2024 •Spanish

Journalistic chronicle made by Ocelote from the Colima zoo “Ecoparc” that reconstructs the mysterious case of a pair of animals on display, a red deer and a mouflon sheep, killed with a firearm by a mysterious criminal.

Sunset Boulevard: A Look Back

July 2002 •English

Film critics, actors, film historians and other personalities share their experiences and curious stories on the acclaimed Billy Wilder's masterpiece "Sunset Blvd."; its cultural importance by being one of the most iconic and revolutionary films ever made and a picture that still stands the test of time.

Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light

July 2006 •English

Film Noir burrows into the mind; it's disorienting, intriguing and enthralling. Noir brings us into a gritty underworld of lush morbidity, providing intimate peeks at its tough, scheming dames, mischievous misfits and flawed men - all caught in the wicked web of a twisted fate.

Telebear

October 2019 •English

When a new murderer in town travels through the phone, Detective Rick finds that all signs point to the culprit being a bear. But bears can't use phones. Can they?

Tension: Who's Guilty Now?

July 2007 •English

Short documentary on the film noir, Tension.

Side Street: Where Temptation Lurks

July 2007 •English

Documentary on the film noir Side Street with director Oliver Stone and critic Richard Schickel.

Decoy: A Map to Nowhere

July 2007 •English

Documentary on the film noir Decoy, with Dick Cavett and Molly Haskell.

Los Angeles Film Noir

February 2015 •English

A documentary about film noir films made in Los Angeles.

Navajeros, censores y nuevos realizadores

April 2018 •Spanish

Spain. 1978. Year of the first democratic elections following the dictatorship, and of the birth cine quinqui (delinquent movies): films that rapidly became a big commercial success, showing things that were banned by the censorship not too long before.

Dark Frames

September 2021 •English

After emerging victorious from the horrors of World War II, the U.S. eagerly pushed into a new era of optimism, hope, and success. But the shadowy and cigarette-stained B-side to the bright, shiny America emerged: the film noir. Made for cheap, these dark tales scratched at a different society, filled with twisted psyches and sinister motives. Filmmaker Tom Thurman teams up with film critic and narrator David Thomson to weave together a hypnotic collage of a dark world that influences our national identity to this day.

Origins of Film Noir

March 2013 •English

Jump into the world of Film Noir and look at how the technology and economic factors gave birth to a genre that still deeply influences the way filmmakers work today. Take a look at 4 Film Noirs spanning the beginning and end of the classic film noir era: "The Stranger on the Third Floor", "Double Indemnity", "The Big Combo" and "Touch of Evil".

One Girl's Confession

April 1953 •English

Cleo Moore stars as Mary Adams, whose first step on the road to ruin is a $25,000 robbery. Mary hides the money, then confesses to the crime, secure in the belief that she can dig up the loot upon her release from prison.

Red Light

September 1949 •English

Nick Cherney, in prison for embezzling from Torno Freight Co., sees a chance to get back at Johnny Torno through his young priest brother Jess. He pays fellow prisoner Rocky, who gets out a week before Nick, to murder Jess... who, dying, tells revenge-minded Johnny that he'd written a clue "in the Bible." Frustrated, Johnny obsessively searches for the missing Gideon Bible from Jess's hotel room.

The Hot Month of August

February 1966 •Greek

A young man, Jason, is on his way home and meets two beautiful women, Hope and Alexis. He falls for Hope, but has sex with Alexis. He doesn't know that Alexis' husband has hired a private detective to trail her, and the man reports back to Alexis' husband about her affair with Jason. The husband kills Alexis but the police suspect Jason. He and Hope have to clear his name and find enough evidence to prove the husband is the killer.

Pikajuna pohjoiseen

June 1947 •Finnish

The destinies of different kind of people encounter in a passenger train that is traveling from Helsinki to the North. One tragedy after the other appears.

The Hand of Destiny

December 1954 •Korean

In-Ja, the madam of a cabaret is a mistress of the boss of espionage agent. She gathers information from the guests and gives it to Seon-Tae.

Hoodlum Empire

April 1952 •English

It's a deadly play for power when a Mafia chieftain's top gun goes straight and threatens to testify against the big boss and his cruel, nationwide network of crime. The picture, which was shot in a semi-documentary style, was inspired by the Kefauver investigations of 1950-51.

Over-Exposed

April 1956 •English

This titillating bit of pulp sensationalism was the last in a string of "B" films that Cleo Moore starred in at Columbia. Moore plays Lila Crane, an ambitious clip-joint floozie turned photographer with flexible morals and a penchant for fast money.