Starz Inside: Sex and the Cinema

The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat

June 1896 •French

A group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.

Mi Marilyn

January 1975 •Spanish

A memory of Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962), woman, actress, goddess, myth, in the words of the Spanish director and scriptwriter José Luis Garci, who returns to his childhood and recovers a lost paradise.

Heute Programmwechsel

April 1958 •German

Emelka-Palast

February 1987 •German

Sticky: A (Self) Love Story

February 2016 •English

"Sticky" is everything your mother was too embarrassed to tell you about masturbation, in one stimulating documentary. Full of candid interviews from celebrated figures to everyday people, health care professionals, sex therapists, zoologists, anthropologists, and religious figures, this feature length doc answers age-old questions like: What is masturbation? Will it make me go blind? Is it "normal"? Is it wrong? And why are we so afraid to be caught in the act? In a world where confusion about sexuality remains at the root of so many societal problems - rape, sexual abuse, and the threat of sexually transmitted diseases - "Sticky" will help shatter misconceptions and myths surrounding this intimate aspect of human sexuality.

Comrades in Dreams

October 2006 •German

Four lives that could not be more different and a single passion that unites them: the unconditional love for their cinemas, somewhere at the end of the world. Comrades in Dreams brings together six cinema makers from North Korea, America, India and Africa and follows their efforts to make their audiences dream every night.

69 - Praça da Luz

June 2008 •Portuguese

Prostitutes of old age make their living in Praça da Luz, in São Paulo. Unusual and surprising accounts of five women who reveal in detail their experiences in all these years of profession.

Katharine Hepburn: The Great Kate

March 2014 •English

A peep behind the scenes of the golden era of Hollywood to discover exactly how and why Katharine Hepburn became one of the most famous actresses in the glamorous world of cinema.

Mifune: The Last Samurai

December 2016 •English

An account of the life and work of legendary Japanese actor Toshirō Mifune (1920-97), the most prominent actor of the Golden Age of Japanese cinema.

Cinema Dadaab

September 2018 •Somali

In one of the world's largest and oldest refugee camps, Dadaab, the inhabitans survive by watching films and dreaming. The refugees cannot leave the camp, but they let their minds escape the harsh reality: by going to the simple cinema hall run by Abdikafi Mohamed, the film's protagonist.

Writing Heads

September 2013 •Spanish

They are the first and the last, those who imagine stories and give voice to the characters who live them. However, they never speak. But now, they emerge from the shadows of a poorly lit room and tell their secrets, their tricks, their influences; they tell their own story, that of those who face the blank page, the absolute nothingness; that of those who are the true authors, those who create and destroy entire universes. They are the screenwriters.

Peter von Bagh

June 2016 •Finnish

Piirainen's documentary on the last years of Peter von Bagh.

Laurel & Hardy: Their Lives and Magic

December 2011 •German

The lives of Stan Laurel (1890-1965) and Oliver Hardy (1892-1957), on the screen and behind the curtain. The joy and the sadness, the success and the failure. The story of one of the best comic duos of all time: a lesson on how to make people laugh.

Islands of Forgotten Cinemas

March 2016 •Croatian

A poetic documentary about the lost film culture in the small villages on the Croatian islands during the SFR of Yugoslavia.

Ask the Sexpert

May 2017 •English

A sex columnist gains popularity even while a ban on comprehensive sex education in schools is adopted by approximately a third of India’s states.

100 Years of Japanese Cinema

September 1995 •Japanese

The story of the first century of Japanese cinema from the point of view of the controversial Japanese filmmaker Nagisa Ōshima.

Like It Is

July 1968 •English

This documentary on the "youth movement" of the late 1960s focuses on the hippie pot smoking/free love culture in the San Francisco Bay area.

All the Colors of Giallo

January 2019 •Italian

'Giallo' is Italian for 'yellow', the color of the lurid pulp novels that inspired one of the most intense, extreme and influential genres in movie history. In this unprecedented collection, experience the full chronological evolution of giallo with more than 100 rare and classic trailers from such masters as Mario Bava, Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, Sergio Martino, Antonio Margheriti, Umberto Lenzi and many more. Then slip on black leather gloves and set the mood with a Bonus CD of legendary soundtrack music from composers that include Ennio Morricone, Riz Ortolani, Bruno Nicolai, Stelvio Cipriani and others, along with all-new featurettes that thrust even deeper into the genre. "But be warned," says Gizmodo.com, "Once you start going down the blood- slicked giallo rabbit hole, you may become dangerously obsessed."

Rouge ! L'Art au pays des soviets

March 2019 •French

V-Card: The Film

March 2018 •English

Dillon, a 23 year old virgin, sets out on a comedic journey to discover what virginity means in our society.