The Thought Of Art

Conz. The ultimate collector's life

October 2021 •Italian

The story of one of the most controversial characters in art collecting whose name continues to provoke and divide. Francesco Conz tried to exceed the border between art and life. An entrepreneur from Veneto, in the mid-1970s he decided to give up everything he had to devote himself with great determination to his devouring passion for the artistic avant-gardes of the second half of the twentieth century, which would turn into a real obsession until the tragic ending.

Not For Sale: Feminism and Art in the USA during the 1970s

January 1998 •English

Anna Netrebko – ein Leben für die Oper

September 2021 •German

She is one of the greatest divas of the present day and has left her mark on the world of opera: Anna Netrebko. On her 50th birthday, ARTE is dedicating a special portrait to her. As a disciplined professional in preparations and behind the scenes. And very personally in a private conversation. An encounter with a true superstar of classical music.

Lucebert, Time and Farewell

September 1994 •English

Three-part film about the Dutch painter and poet Lucebert who died in 1994. Director Johan van der Keuken made three short films about his friend and inspiration Lucebert. The black-and-white film Lucebert, dichter-schilder was shot in 1962 on a very low budget. In 1967 Een film voor Lucebert was released. Unlike Van der Keuken's first film about Lucebert, this one had a political message. It is a film for an artist about the world. Lucebert died in May 1994. A reaction to his death is contained in Als je weet waar ik ben zoek me dan. In this film, shot in Lucebert's studio, the presence of the artist is evoked once more through his absence. In Lucebert, Time and Farewell, Van der Keuken puts the three films together into a new entity that exploits the tension between changing and standing still over a period of 32 years.

Cezanne

January 1978 •English

A film record of an exhibition of the late work of Paul Cezanne, organized by The Museum of Modern Art and the Reunion des Musees Nationaux in Paris. The camera moves across details of paintings, as well as details of Cezanne’s studio, providing an intimage, close-up view of the artist’s work. The narration is provided by Cezanne’s own words, taken directly from records of correspondence. 22nd Annual San Francisco International Film Festival Participation- Communication Competition, 1978.

Two Pence Magic

October 1929 •German

Two Penny Magic (Zweigroschenzauber) starting off with a little magic trick. It then presents an array of images from swimmers, bicyclers, murderers, airplanes in flight, boxers, lovers, runners, becoming in the end a collection of images in a magazine.

A Tour of the Louvre

October 2021 •French

The tumultuous history of the Louvre Museum, founded in 1793, and its fabulous art collections, an immortal testimony to the destiny of France and all of Europe.

Zona rosa

October 2005 •Spanish

"Zona Rosa" is a documentary about the strippers who work in the gay clubs in Mexico City's famous district, the Zona Rosa. Christian Miranda gives us a tour though his professional and personal life while working as a cage-dancer stripper at one of Mexico City's famous gay nightclubs. Along with Christian we meet other strippers, patrons of the clubs and the club mangers. The nightlife, the scene, the money and the consequences are all on display as we tour through the notorious reality that gives the Zona Rosa its name.

Max Bill: The Master's Vision

August 2008 •German

The film about Max Bill (1908-1994) moves between the dynamic fields of art, aesthetics and politics. Max Bill was probably the most important swiss artist of the 20th century and the most famous student to come out of the legendary Bauhaus in Dessau. He was an ardent anti-fascist and all his avant-garde work as an artist, sculptor, architect and typographer showed a social responsibility and environmental awareness right through his life. His views have become incredibly topical.

The Ghost Army

May 2013 •English

During World War II, a hand-picked group of American GI's undertook a bizarre mission: create a traveling road show of deception on the battlefields of Europe, with the German Army as their audience. The 23rd Headquarters Special Troops used inflatable rubber tanks, sound trucks, and dazzling performance art to bluff the enemy again and again, often right along the front lines. Many of the men picked to carry out these dangerous deception missions were artists. Some went on to become famous, including fashion designer Bill Blass. In their spare time, they painted and sketched their way across Europe, creating a unique and moving visual record of their war. Their secret mission was kept hushed up for nearly 50 years after the war's end.

Andy Warhol's Silver Flotations

January 1966 •English

Andy Warhol's Silver Flotations is a portrait of Warhol's famous installation of floating silver helium-filled balloons at the Leo Castelli Gallery in 1966. Willard Maas's lyrical "film poem" is the only visual document of this seminal exhibition.

Living Sculptures: Film Study for Screen Artist

May 1903 •German

A nude couple pose in an art studio on a square rug, while the camera does a circular traveling around them; the woman has her right knee on the floor and her right arm raised in front of her face, holding the man's thighs with her right, while the man is bent forward, as if looking in the distance.

Dear Mr. Watterson

November 2013 •English

20 years after Calvin and Hobbes stopped appearing in daily newspapers, filmmaker Joel Allen Schroeder has set out to explore the reasons behind the comic strip's loyal and devoted following.

Bronwyn Oliver: The Shadows Within

October 2021 •English

This intimate documentary follows the journey of Bronwyn Oliver, a working-class girl from the country who became one of Australia's most influential contemporary sculptors.

Motoring in Mexico

May 1943 •English

This Traveltalk series short takes viewers along the Pacific International Highway, which starts in Mexico City (not seen) and proceeds west to Acapulco. We see the Spanish colonial architecture in Morelia, the famous Popocatépetl Volcano, and Acapulco's famous cliff divers and beaches.

National Geographic: Lost Treasures of Afghanistan

January 2006 •English

During the last three decades, war and terrorism have devastated much of Afghanistan's rich cultural past. Two giant Buddha statues were blown up by the Taliban, gold and priceless archaeological artifacts disappeared, artworks were destroyed, historic films were burned. But many courageous Afghan people were determined to save their heritage. Join National Geographic as it highlights the efforts of heroic Afghans who have refused to allow their culture to be destroyed. Marvel at the priceless treasures that have re-emerged, and listen to the stories of people who risked death to defy extremists threatening to obliterate Afghanistan's past, and of others with deep roots in the country who can finally come home now that the conflict has subsided.

You Don't Need Feet to Dance

March 2013 •English

In the film "You Don't Need Feet to Dance," African immigrant Sidiki Conde, having lost the use of his legs to polio at fourteen, balances his career as a performing artist with the almost insurmountable obstacles of life in New York City, from his fifth-floor walk up apartment in the East village, down the stairs with his hands and navigating in his wheelchair through Manhattan onto buses and into the subway. Sidiki struggles to cope with his disability and to earn a decent living, but he still manages to teach workshops for disabled kids, busk on the street, rehearse with his musical group, bicycle with his hands, and prepare for a baby naming ceremony, where he plays djembe drums, sings, and dances on his hands.

The Inheritors

September 2011 •Spanish

The Inheritors immerses us in the daily lives of children who, with their families, survive only by their unrelenting labor. Polgovsky spent two years filming in many of the poorest rural areas of Mexico.

As Old As The World

March 2012 •Spanish

On a continuing journey and without destination defined, the painter Anton Lamazares meets with friends and family to reflect about key issues to answer this question: what place is left for the art as a way of understanding existence?

Renasça

October 2020 •Portuguese