Histoire(s) du Cinéma 1b: A Single (Hi)story

A Personal Journey Through Cinema History with Thomas Pollock

July 2016 •English

Covering over 100 years of cinema, this is a journey of discovering and exploring the magic of cinema from a personal perspective. Looking at the changes and developments of cinema Thomas explains how film has deeply affected his life as a person and a filmmaker.

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.

Le Grand Méliès

November 1952 •French

A biographical film about cinematic illusionist Georges Méliès featuring Méliès’s widow, Jeanne d’Alcy, as herself, and their son André as his own father.

The Contact Enigma

November 2021 •English

Three people become connected through mysterious circumstances involving electronic devices which spontaneously appeared in their world.

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.

The Indispensable Practice of Vagueness

October 2014 •Portuguese

By the director: "Ar.Co embodies each person’s geography, it escapes normalisation. Each individual’s experience is his own. This film is my experience, our experience. Pieced together from the school’s archive, from recordings of classes by Manuel Castro Caldas and from conversations at home."

Moving Memories

Invalid date •Portuguese

On April 1st, 2022, my grandfather passed away and i felt lost. I think my path changed when, some days after he passed away, i was offered a small VHS camera. "Moving Memories" is a visual journey that makes the viewer reflect on our momentary presence on earth and questions the nature of memory. Throughout this journey, we get to the conclusion that memories are more than just static photographs in our minds, they're alive and in constant movement, changing while we evolve as individuals. These memories have influence and help us to move on.

Counter Shot: Departure of the Filmmakers

February 2008 •German

October in Madrid

January 1965 •French

Initially a made-to-order documentary on Spain, the film becomes an open-ended work-in-the-making about the creative process. “Settling in the Spanish capital to make a documentary, Hanoun sketches out for us the different steps involved in making a film. The author turns his hesitations, his doubts and difficult working conditions into the constituents of his work”. (Raphaël Bassan)

Magritte or the Object Lesson

January 1960 •French

The surrealist painter René Magritte questions the objective reality and emphasizes the arbitrariness of the relationship between an object, its image and its name: the evocation of mystery consists of images of familiar things gathered or transformed in such a way that they no longer conform to our ideas, whether naive or wise.

Meryl Streep: Mystery and Metamorphosis

August 2020 •French

Meryl Streep is one of the most versatile and successful actresses of all time and is still considered a superstar after 50 years of career. She fascinates filmmakers and audiences alike with her broad range of expression.

The Fire Rises: The Creation and Impact of The Dark Knight Trilogy

September 2013 •English

This feature-length documentary delves into the trilogy, opening with the inspiration and vision for the new Batman films and inching its way toward the Rises finale and the culmination of nearly a decade of creative blood, sweat and tears. Candid, thoughtful and extensive, and comprised of revealing behind-the-scenes footage, countless interviews, audition tapes (with Christian Bale and Cillian Murphy doning the cape and cowl), and a narrative grip and momentum all its own, it leaves no stone unturned.

500 Years Later

December 2021 •Spanish

A short city symphony evocation of present day Mexico City five hundred years after the invasion of the Spanish and the fall of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan.

Omnibus: François Truffaut

December 1973 •English

Bajo el signo de las sombras

October 1984 •Spanish

A portrait of the Spanish director Lorenzo Llobet Gràcia (1911-76), one of the outsiders of Spanish cinema, and the story of his masterpiece, a cult work that tells the story of a self-taught filmmaker who was born under the sign of the shadows, lights and chiaroscuro of cinema.

Je connais personne

November 2022 •French

Since he was a child, Estèphe dreams to work in the movie industry, alongside those whom he watches films with passion. Cinema become quickly a leisure activity, spend with his friends, directing his first amateur movies. Could he dream bigger, growing up in Normandy, far from the studios and knowing nobody in this industry ? Estème dedicate himself to his studies, without lose sight of his ultimate dream.

Searching for the Perfect Gentleman

August 2019 •German

"Searching for the Perfect Gentleman — an Investigative Journey" is a documentary about the search of an African barber shop poster. The virtual journey takes the viewer to various African, European and Asian countries, in order to find the place where it was originally created, produced and sold. What seems easy in the beginning turns out to be a demanding process, yet an interesting experience in accessing information, communicating with people from totally different backgrounds and indulging in uncertainty, to celebrate the search itself — wherever it may lead. The film shows how boundaries between originality and reproduction merge, in a world where everything can be remixed and reprinted easily. Searching for the Perfect Gentleman tells a multi-layered story about trust, persistence and interconnectedness in a globalized world.

Berlanga!!

October 2021 •Spanish

How does the vision of the brilliant Spanish filmmaker Luis García Berlanga (1921-2010) remain relevant in a time whose popular culture has little to do with his own? Since to understand the secrets of an artist it is essential to know the person behind, his family, his friends, his collaborators, as well as prestigious filmmakers and actors trace a collective portrait of a creator as singular as he is universal.

Keiko Kishi, Eternally Rebellious

October 2023 •French

Born in 1932, Keiko Kishi has been one of the first Japanese actresses known worldwide. Her decision to move to France and to marry director Yves Ciampi in 1957 – after he filmed her in Typhoon Over Nagasaki starring Jean Marais and Danielle Darrieux – caused a huge scandal in Japan. Despite this transgression, Keiko Kishi continued acting in her home country with Kon Ichikawa, Yasujiro Ozu, Masaki Kobayashi… building unique bridges between Japanese and European cultures. Free and rebellious, she emancipated herself from the many obstacles she encountered in the film industry, and created her own production company in her early twenties. Let’s look back at the story of a pioneer, an inspiration for many generations.

A Film Inspired by Real Events

December 2019 •Turkish

Through the footage from his family's Handycam, the director creates a portrait of his family that is falling apart.