The Fifties in Luxembourg

I Am Not Your Negro

February 2017 •English

Working from the text of James Baldwin’s unfinished final novel, director Raoul Peck creates a meditation on what it means to be Black in the United States.

Murder At Cinema North

September 2020 •English

A young Holocaust survivor who descends into crime; an Italian-Jewish engineer who wants to see a movie; a German Christian who forgives her husband’s murderer because of her Buddhist faith; and a Jewish woman who carries on an affair with a Nazi and exposes members of the resistance so that she and her children may survive: their fates intersect when two bullets are fired into a queue of people waiting to see “A Man Escaped” at Tel Aviv’s Cinema North in 1957.

Legacy of the Hollywood Blacklist

October 1987 •English

This one-hour film, narrated by Actor BURT LANCASTER, explores the lingering effects of The Hollywood Blacklist, which occurred in the late forties and early fifties as part of the Anti-Communist witch-hunts that terrorized the nation. This film is seen through the eyes of the wives and children of the now deceased Hollywood figures whose careers were destroyed when studio bosses, along with guild and union officials capitulated to the demands of the House Un-American Activities Committee.

Stolen Education

April 2013 •English

"Stolen Education" documents the untold story of Mexican-American school children who challenged discrimination in Texas schools in the 1950s and changed the face of education in the Southwest.

Hollywood Rated 'R'

June 1997 •English

A roller-coaster ride through the history of American exploitation films, ranging from Roger Corman's sci-fi and horror monster movies, 1960s beach movies, H.G. Lewis' gore-fests, William Castle's schlocky theatrical gimmicks, to 1970s blaxploitation, pre-"Deep Throat" sex tease films, Russ Meyer's bosom-heavy masterpieces, etc, etc. Over 25 interviews of the greatest purveyors of weird films of all kind from 1940 to 1975. Illustrated with dozens of films clips, trailers, extra footage, etc. This documentary as a shorter companion piece focusing on exploitation king David F. Friedman.

Pornotropic

September 2020 •French

When French writer Marguerite Duras (1914-96) published her novel The Sea Wall in 1950, she came very close to winning the prestigious Prix Goncourt. Meanwhile, in Indochina, France was suffering its first military defeats in its war against the Việt Minh, the rebel movement for independence.

Murder Remembered - Norfolk County 1950.

January 1997 •English

The recounting of a deadly Canadian bank robbery in the 1950's and the resulting massive man hunt for the killer.

Cured

August 2020 •English

Mentally ill. Deviant. Diseased. And in need of a cure. These were among the terms psychiatrists used to describe gay women and men in the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. And as long as they were “sick”, progress toward equality was impossible. This documentary chronicles the battle waged by a small group of activists who declared war against a formidable institution – and won a crucial victory in the modern movement for LGBTQIA+ equality.

The American St. Nick

November 2015 •English

On Dec. 5, 1944, American soldiers, led by Harry Stuts, put their guns down for one day and organized a party celebrating the town's centuries-old Saint Nick tradition. Soldiers made hot chocolate from their D-rations, company cooks made donuts and cookies for the children, and 22-year-old corporal Richard Brookins from Rochester, NY played the role of Saint Nick. An emotional and heartfelt story, THE AMERICAN SAINT NICK illustrates how American soldiers and residents of the hamlet were able to bond over a moment in time, creating a tradition that continues to this day.

Mario y los perros

June 2019 •Spanish

An account of the childhood and youth of the Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel Prize for Literature in 2010, and how the hard experiences he lived during these formative years led him to write and publish his first major work when he was only 26 years old.

Marilyn Monroe

January 1986 •English

Born Norma Jean Baker, actress Marilyn Monroe would become one of the most iconic and desirable women in the world. From her humble beginnings, to her USO performances, to her now-famous pin-up photographs and award-winning acting roles, Marilyn made her mark as the most beautiful blonde bombshell of her day. However, behind her beauty, Marilyn suffered a tragic private life.

Napalm

September 2017 •French

Napalm is the story of the breathtaking and brief encounter, in 1958, between a French member of the first Western European delegation officially invited to North Korea after the devastating Korean war and a nurse working for the Korean Red Cross hospital, in Pyongyang, capital of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Succès Fox

March 2014 •Luxembourgish

A journey through the life and career of Fernand Fox and, at the same time, a ride through the Luxembourg theatre, TV and film world from the fifties to now. A portrait of the actor, as Luxembourg knows him, and an intimate look at the other side of Fernand, the person. As he played in over 120 theatre productions and films, the story of his career is also the story of the development of Luxembourg's theatre and early film scene.

Elvis Presley: The Searcher

November 2018 •English

Two-part documentary about the life of Elvis Presley featuring interviews with his ex-wife Priscilla Presley, guitarist Scotty Moore, childhood friend Red West and musicians Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Emmylou Harris and Robbie Robertson.

De Gaulle, histoire d'un géant

November 2020 •French

50 years after the death of General De Gaulle, this film retraces his life, from his birth in 1890 to his burial at Colombey-Les-Deux-Eglises in 1970.

Charlotte: A Royal at War

March 2008 •English

The untold story of a Royal "propagandist in pearls" whose wartime friendship with President Roosevelt became a vital catalyst to win back freedom for her tiny occupied country.

Finlandia Survey Compilation

February 1961 •Finnish

This Finlandia Survey compilation ranges from 1949 to 1961, and in it we get to see glimpses of news from both local matches and early international matches. The brave Finns play against the infamous Soviet Red Machine, Canada, and a team of journalists.

The Trials of Alger Hiss

March 1980 •English

Documentary by lifelong friend that supports the innocence of Alger Hiss (convicted in January 1950 on two counts of espionage-related perjury)

The Rocking Barber of Hisingen

May 2018 •Swedish

Die Mutigen 56 - Deutschlands längster Streik

April 2024 •German

Emma Freese is desperate when her husband Alfred falls ill at the Howaldtswerke in Kiel. How is the family supposed to get by without their wages? The war has scarred this generation, but now things are supposed to be looking up. The workers want their fair share and are fighting for an income that also gives them room to live. In October 1956, 34,000 metalworkers in the shipyards and factories of Schleswig-Holstein walk off the job to fight for justice and their dignity. This strike is still regarded as the toughest and longest in Germany. Employers and politicians stand in the strikers' way.