Shirin

Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story

July 1987 •English

The final 17 years of American singer and musician Karen Carpenter, performed almost entirely by modified Barbie dolls.

Transfer

January 1966 •English

A psychiatrist and his needy patient discuss their relationship in a snow-covered field.

The Night of Nights

December 1939 •English

A playwright has his career ruined when he is drunk on the first night. His wife dies having left him, and when his daughter triumphs in the revival of the play he dies contented.

Thlípsi

December 2018 •English

A man who is paranoid and deluded by his own conspiracies that someone out there is after him must come to terms with the root of his suffering.

The Game

January 1962 •

In this child's game, a live-action boy and girl draw characters and compete who is better. The girl draws a flower and the boy draws a car that runs it over. Then a drawn lion chases a drawn girl, until it all becomes frightfully serious.

The Baby of Mâcon

September 1993 •English

Set halfway through the 17th century, a church play is performed for the benefit of the young aristocrat Cosimo. In the play, a grotesque old woman gives birth to a beautiful baby boy. The child's older sister is quick to exploit the situation, selling blessings from the baby, and even claiming she's the true mother by virgin birth. However, when she attempts to seduce the bishop's son, the Church exacts a terrible revenge.

Monty Comes Back

September 2016 •English

After fighting with his boss and losing his job, Monty, a semi-successful thespian, flees back home to live with his parents under false pretenses. His old friends and family are left to deal with his inflated ego, while he comes to terms with the fact he isn't as 'great' as he may believe.

Children of Paradise

March 1945 •French

In a chaotic 19th-century Paris teeming with aristocrats, thieves, psychics, and courtesans, theater mime Baptiste is in love with the mysterious actress Garance. But Garance, in turn, is loved by three other men: pretentious actor Frederick, conniving thief Lacenaire, and Count Edouard of Montray.

Hairspray Live!

December 2016 •English

A teenage girl living in Baltimore in the early 1960s dreams of appearing on a popular TV dance show.

Death of a Stag

January 1951 •French

Russian emigré Dimitri Kirsanoff’s film, alternatively titled Death of A Stag and Une chasse à courre, is a post-war study of a traditional stag hunt. The pursuit of the animal finds a cross-cutting parallel in the felling of a tree in the forest.

Freedom & Independence

April 2015 •English

Against the backdrop of an unfathomable megalopolis, in a story that follows the associative qualities of a dream logic, the protagonists quote from concepts of neo-liberal elitism, and a mix of religious delusions and hallucinations of the apocalypse. The film begins in a sacral space, where Randi, a figure that references Ayn Rand, transforms a parapsychological medium into two digital clouds and sends them on a journey through a megalopolis in full growth. There they materialize as two bodies, which go by the names of Mr. Freedom and Ms. Independence.

All's Well That Ends Well

March 1968 •English

An adaptation directed by Claude Whatham for the BBC's Theatre 625 slot. Essentially a recording of John Barton's acclaimed Royal Shakespeare Company production starring Catherine Lacey (the Countess), Ian Richardson (Bertram), Lynn Farleigh (Helen), Clive Swift (Parolles) and Sebastian Shaw (the King), it was broadcast on 3 June 1968.

Runner's High

Invalid date •English

Grappling with the burden of loss, a drifter becomes engulfed in the reckless lifestyle of a group of bohemians. Through a series of events, he is forced to confront his trauma as his haunted past and unconventional present collide.

Children of Our Time

April 2019 •

Three kids are trying to stand strong. In a world where you don’t know for what you want to stay strong. Full of sexuality and the need to define their identity. “We are the children with no obligations, the most possibilities, with the most liberated freedom. We are children who build words. Children who give birth to children. We are children of our time, free from guilt.”

Bruja

June 2019 •German

A story of diaspora. The film criticises the myth of Swiss neutrality, which violently masks structural, systemic, and social passivity.

National Theatre Live: Coriolanus

January 2014 •English

When an old adversary threatens Rome, the city calls once more on her hero and defender: Coriolanus. But he has enemies at home too. Famine threatens the city, the citizens’ hunger swells to an appetite for change, and on returning from the field Coriolanus must confront the march of realpolitik and the voice of an angry people.

Marital Rape Is Real

April 2016 •English

Marital Rape Is Real is a short film adapted from several published essays on marital rape by Shanon Lee.

Alpsee

October 1995 •English

For a young boy, ordinary facts and things of daily life seem to have great importance.

Sister

December 2008 •Czech

Alibi

April 1929 •English

Chick Williams, a prohibition gangster, rejoins his mob soon after being released from prison. When a policeman is murdered during a robbery, he falls under suspicion. The gangster took Joan, a policeman's daughter, to the theater, sneaked out during the intermission to commit the crime, then used her to support his alibi. The detective squad employs its most sophisticated and barbaric techniques, including planting an undercover agent in the gang, to bring him to justice.