Prater

Vienna’s Prater is an amusement park and a desire machine. No mechanical invention, no novel idea or sensational innovation could escape incorporation into the Prater. The diverse story-telling in Ulrike Ottinger’s film “Prater” transforms this place of sensations into a modern cinema of attractions. The Prater’s history from the beginning to the present is told by its protagonists and those who have documented it, including contemporary cinematic images of the Prater, interviews with carnies, commentary by Austrians and visitors from abroad, film quotes, and photographic and written documentary materials. The meaning of the Prater, its status as a place of technological innovation, and its role as a cultural medium are reflected in texts by Elfriede Jelinek, Josef von Sternberg, Erich Kästner and Elias Canetti, as well as in music devoted to this amusement venue throughout the course of its history.

2007-02-10 | de

The London Nobody Knows

Based on Geoffrey Fletcher’s book, this captivating documentary exposes the real London of the swinging sixties. Turning its back on familiar sights, the film explores the hidden details of a crumbling metropolis. With James Mason as our Guide, we are led on an tour of the weird and wonderful pockets of London from abandoned music-halls to egg breaking factories.

1968-12-19 | en

Dance for All

2007-09-22 | en

Stephen Fry's Key to the City

Stephen Fry tours the City of London, discovering the hidden mysteries of this rich and powerful square mile. Along the way, he visits the Bank of England's vaults, witnesses high drama at the London Metal Exchange as dealers buy and sell stocks, and experiences Dead Man's Walk at the Old Bailey, where many condemned criminals trod their final steps. Plus, as a recipient of the Freedom of the City of London, Stephen finds out just what privileges this gives him.

2013-01-01 | en

Elizabeth Taylor in London

TV-documentary about the actress.

1963-10-06 | en

Rude Boy

Rude Boy is a semi-documentary, part character study, part 'rockumentary', featuring a British punk band, The Clash. The script includes the story of a fictional fan juxtposed with actual public events of the day, including political demonstrations and Clash concerts.

1980-07-25 | en

My Generation

The vivid and inspiring story of British film icon Michael Caine's personal journey through 1960s swinging London.

2017-10-08 | en

Coney Island

Before there was Disneyland, there was Coney Island. By the turn of the century, this tiny piece of New York real estate was internationally famous. On summer Sundays, three great pleasure domes--Steeplechase, Luna Park and Dreamland--competed for the patronage of a half-million people. By day it was the world's most amazing amusement park, by night, an electric "Eden".

1991-02-04 | en

Ghost Dance

Through the experiences of two women in Paris and London, Ghost Dance offers an analysis of the complexity of our conceptions of ghosts, memory and the past. The film focuses on the French philosopher Jacques Derrida, who observes, 'I think cinema, when it's not boring, is the art of letting ghosts come back.' He also says that 'memory is the past that has never had the form of the present.'

1983-12-15 | en

Class Action Park

Class Action Park explores the legend, legacy, and truth behind the 1980s water park in Vernon, New Jersey that long ago entered the realm of myth. Known for its dangerous, unsupervised rides and lack of regulation, guests of Action Park expected to walk away with injuries and were lucky if they made it out alive. Shirking the trappings of nostalgia, the film uses investigative journalism, original animations, recordings, and interviews with the people who lived it to reveal the true story of Action Park.

2020-08-22 | en

Cinema Now

A fragmented collection of independent closed cinemas, in London during lockdown, captured on Super 8mm film.

2022-04-08 | en

The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story

The full bizarre, tragic but celebratory story of Syd Barrett, the co-founder of Pink Floyd.

2003-03-24 | en

Jack the Ripper: The Missing Evidence

During a three-month period in 1888, a knife-wielding serial killer murdered six women on the streets of Whitechapel. Their throats were cut and their bodies horribly mutilated. He was never caught and his identity remains one of the world's greatest crime mysteries. In the years that have passed since Jack the Ripper's killing spree, many high-profile suspects have been suggested, yet the fact remains that none of them can be placed at any of the crime scenes. Now, journalist Christer Holmgren believes that he has found a suspect who can not only be linked directly to one of the murders but also whose daily routine could be consistent with all the other deaths

2014-11-17 | en

Cracking the Shakespeare Code

Norwegian researcher Petter Amundsen claims to have deciphered a secret code hidden in legendary playwright William Shakespeare's works that reveals a map leading to the location of certain treasures. British Shakespearean scholar Robert Crumpton embarks on a mission to prove he is spectacularly wrong. (A remake of “Shakespeare: The Hidden Truth,” including new discoveries.)

2016-04-21 | en

In the Footsteps of Sherlock Holmes

Actor Patrick Macnee leads the viewer through London in the footsteps of the genius private investigator Sherlock Holmes and his assistant and friend, Dr. Watson.

1996-07-01 | en

Bubble

A tropical fish shop in the East End of London, the last of what used to be many. Tiny, watery dramas inside fish tanks accompany the thoughts of local fish-keepers, while father and son Big Tel and Little Tel work to keep the shop alive.

2020-11-19 | en

Freddie Mercury: The Untold Story

Freddie Mercury (1946-91) was not just a man with one of the most pure and amazing voices the world has heard, but he was also the lead singer for Queen, the most enthusiastic rock band in history.

2000-12-08 | en

Inquiry: The Great British Housing Disaster

David Jones investigates how 1960s council housing came to be built so poorly that thousands later needed to be demolished.

1984-09-04 | en

Primitive London

The sensational follow-up to "London in the Raw," "Primitive London" sets out to reflect society's decay through a sideshow spectacle of 1960s London depravity—and manages to outdo its predecessor. Here, we confront mods, rockers and beatniks at the Ace Café, cut some rug with obscure beat band The Zephyrs, smirk at flabby men in the sauna and goggle at sordid wife-swapping parties as we discover a pre-permissive Britain still trying to move on from the post-war depression of the 1950s.

1965-04-01 | en

Christmas at the Four Seasons: Park Lane

Exclusive access to the Four Seasons Hotel, London, in the run-up to Christmas. Expect festive photoshoots, afternoon teas, Christmas trees and sackfuls of presents.

2024-12-24 | en