Category Archives: Documentaries

Arctic Journey: From Greenland To Alaska

Two film crews explore the spectacular wilderness of the Arctic. The people who live there face dramatic changes.

Part two takes viewers from East Greenland to Alaska. The region around the North Pole is one of the greatest and least-known wildernesses in the world – and it’s rapidly changing due to global warming. 350 people, most of them Inuit, live in Ittoqqortoormiit in Greenland. The nearest settlement is on neighboring Iceland. Almost 800 kilometers of Arctic Ocean separate the two islands. The film team accompanies an Inuit family through Scoresby Sound, a fjord system on the eastern coast of Greenland.

They travel hundreds of kilometers in small boats through pack ice, passing icebergs as high as skyscrapers. On the way they meet whalers who are hunting for narwhals in summer. In this Inuit culture, narwhal skin and polar bear goulash have ensured survival for thousands of years. Greenpeace and WWF activists want to stop whaling and polar bear hunting – but this poses a threat to the indigenous way of life on Greenland.

On the expedition through the world’s largest fjord system, the team learns about the consequences of global warming: melting permafrost and a rapid increase in greenhouse gases. The changes are worrying. Some say they have brought benefits to the far north — the ice breaks up earlier and so too does the hunting season. However, the risks outweigh this benefit. The knowledge and way of life that have been passed down from generation to generation may soon be unsustainable.

Arctic Journey: Svalbard, Norway To Siberia (Video)

The Arctic is one of the most fascinating regions on our planet, and one of the most threatened. Two film crews explore its spectacular wilderness in a two-part documentary. Part one takes viewers from Norway’s Svalbard archipelago to Siberia. The region around the North Pole is one of the greatest and least-known wildernesses in the world, and it’s rapidly changing due to global warming.

The retreat of Arctic sea ice can be observed everywhere along the Arctic Circle, presenting those who live there with dramatic changes. This documentary takes viewers on a journey through the Arctic circle and explores those changes. It begins in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, a place to see one of nature’s most spectacular displays — the northern lights. With the ice retreating, cruise ships can now travel further north than was previously possible. This places a strain on the fragile ecosystem.

But more visitors may also mean more awareness about the risks that face the region, and more motivation to protect the Arctic. But as if often the case, protecting nature in the Arctic is at odds with economic interests. Russia, in particular, is keen to sell Arctic fossil fuels to the rest of world. The film next takes viewers to the gas-rich Yamal Peninsula in northwestern Siberia, where the Russian company Novatek has built the northernmost industrial facility on the globe.

Further East in Yakutia, two noises fill the air: the relentless buzzing of mosquitoes that infest the Siberian tundra in summer, and the steady dripping of the thawing permafrost on the banks of the Kolyma River. The film’s journey ends in Chukotka in the northeast of Russia, a region closer to Alaska than to the Russian capital Moscow.

History & Architecture: ‘Neuschwanstein Castle – Mad King Ludwig II And His Bavarian Fairy Tale’ (Video)

Neuschwanstein Castle is said to have inspired Walt Disney. This is the untold story of the Bavarian castle, which attracts 1.5 million visitors a year, and is also known as the ‘castle of the fairy tale king.’ Just over 150 years ago, in 1869, construction of Neuschwanstein Castle began in Bavaria, Germany.

This documentary gives a behind-the-scenes view of the famous building, which is said to have inspired the Disney castle. Neuschwanstein was commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria, a man known also as the Swan King or the Fairy Tale King, but also as Mad King Ludwig. Ludwig II did not enjoy reigning. He dreamt of a life surrounded by nature, was an ardent fan of Wagner, and loved mythical imagery. Neuschwanstein Castle was his dream realized in stone. But it was also a withdrawal from his duties as head of state.

And the more Ludwig II hid away in his dream castle, the more he angered his ministers. They saw his artistic and architectural projects as overly extravagant. Eventually, this ‘overindulgence’ was used as grounds to declare him insane. He was interned in 1886. Just days later, he drowned in Lake Starnberg under mysterious circumstances, together with the psychiatrist who had certified him insane. Six weeks after the death of Ludwig II of Bavaria, the castle was opened to visitors.

The decision was also an effort to convince the public that the king had been ‘mad,’ and many came to see the castle. Then came the World Wars and Neuschwanstein was briefly forgotten by the public. During the Third Reich, Nazis misused it to store looted art. But the castle survived the wars unscathed. After the end of World War II, U.S. troops reached the castle. Before long, it had become a favorite among GIs stationed in Germany, and Neuschwanstein was once again a much-loved tourist attraction. Today, it’s a tourist phenomenon. This documentary offers a behind-the-scenes view of Neuschwanstein, a place that continues to cast its spell on those who visit, as the legend of King Ludwig II of Bavaria lives on.

Art Video: ‘The Mystery Of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers’

The eventful history of Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers, which have changed hands many times since they were painted for Paul Gauguin’s arrival in Arles.

Van Gogh’s paintings of Sunflowers are among his most famous. He did them in Arles, in the south of France, in 1888 and 1889. Vincent painted a total of five large canvases with sunflowers in a vase, with three shades of yellow ‘and nothing else’.

Top New Travel Videos: “The Fascinating World Of Deep Mountain Lakes”

Directed by: Sigurd Tesche
Written by: Lothar Frenz

This is a nature documentary, which leads us into the fascinating world of deep mountain lakes. We conquer ice palaces of unsuspected beauty. In the freezers, in which elves, fairies and mountain trolls once did their mischief, we move, using a special breathing technique and with special cameras in search of nocturnal hunters, whose eyes are equipped with residual light amplifying receptors.

A nature documentary, recorded in 2k-cinema format with precision cameras, such as super slow motion, time lapse, residual light and remote-controlled cams.

Website

New Wildlife Films: “From Kurils With Love” – Kuril Islands In Eastern Russia

Vladimir, a scrappy Russian marine biologist, stows away aboard a boat filled with adventure junkies and a world-renowned cybersecurity expert to help fulfil his quest to understand and protect the Kuril Islands. Set in one of the most inaccessible volcanic island chains in the world, the film introduces us to a true warrior for the planet on an intimate journey of visual bliss, sea lion chaos, and ultimately a greater hope for the Earth.

Watch longer version below:

Website

The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands is a volcanic archipelago in Russia’s Sakhalin Oblast that stretches approximately 1,300 km northeast from Hokkaido, Japan to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the north Pacific Ocean. There are 56 islands and many minor rocks.

Top Short Films: “Ripening” -Chef Oliver Rowe And His 15-Year “Food” Journey

Directed by: Stephen Ashwell and Miriam van Ernst

Executive Producer: Adam Penny
Cinematography: Stephen Ashwell
Producer: Miriam van Ernst

In 2005, Connected Pictures made a ten-part documentary for the BBC about chef Oliver Rowe, setting up a restaurant in Kings Cross and sourcing all his food from within London. The series was a global success, showing around the world for many years after. Since then, the seasonal and local food landscape has exploded.

However, Oliver’s journey hasn’t been quite as smooth in 2018 he wrote a book called ‘A Food for All Seasons’ about his relationship with food.

Together with director Stephen Ashwell ,we made a film to talk about his journey to today and about the important role food has played throughout his life.

Website

Art Documentary: “Words And Pictures – Ian Beck”

Directed, Filmed and Edited by: Edmund Beck

Music composed by: Simon Whiteside
Interview and Graphics by: Laurence Beck
Sound mix by: David Mead

Ian Beck - IllustratorShort documentary film about Author, illustrator Ian Beck. A brief look at his life and where he works. Included are, his inspirations from childhood reading, the making of the artwork for Elton John’s 1973 album ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ and his current project in collaboration with Philip Pullman (His Dark Materials) creating a Myriorama.

 

Ian Archibald Beck is an English children’s illustrator and author. In addition to his numerous children’s books, he is also known for his cover illustration on Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album. More than a million copies of his books have been sold worldwide.

Top New Documentaries: “Peter Sellers – A State Of Comic Ecstasy” (2020)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9ZHZ7hbN-A

Peter Sellers was one of the twentieth century’s most astonishing actors. His meteoric rise to fame – from his beginnings with Spike Milligan on BBC Radio’s The Goon Show in the 1950s to his multiple Oscar nominations and status as Stanley Kubrick’s favourite actor – is equalled only by the endless complexities of his personal life – the multiple marriages, the chronic health problems, the petulant fits of rage, the deep insecurity, the unwise career choices and the long decline in his later years.

This film explores the life of this peerless actor and comedian, featuring interviews with family, friends, colleagues and critics, many of whom have never spoken out before. The film charts Sellers’s formative years backstage as part of his parents’ itinerant music hall revue group, his wartime service in India and Burma and his journey to global superstardom, where tales of his life backstage with the likes of Sophia Loren, Orson Welles and Alec Guinness were often more unbelievable than the roles they were playing out before the cameras. This is the story of the man who could play any role, apart from one – himself.

With contributions from family members, including second wife Britt Ekland and his daughters Sarah and Victoria, as well as former friends and girlfriends such as Sinead Cusack, Nanette Newman and Janette Scott, the film explores the life of Sellers with candour and affection. Colleagues like director Joe McGrath and actor Simon Williams recall tales of Sellers’s extravagant behaviour onset, and famous fans like Michael Palin, Steve Coogan and Hanif Kureishi reveal why they hold Sellers in such high esteem.

This is a film about family and how Sellers’s mercurial temperament has affected the generation that followed. His two surviving children Sarah and Victoria recall the challenges of growing up alongside his tempestuous mood swings, while his grandson Will explores the troubled legacy his grandfather left behind.

Website

Read “The Economist” Article

Documentaries: “Natalie Wood – What Remains Behind” On HBO (May 5)

The greatest roles of her life were behind the scenes. Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind is an intimate portrait of actor Natalie Wood’s life and career, told through the eyes of her daughter Natasha Gregson Wagner and others who knew her best. The film celebrates the woman behind the iconic imagery and explores the compelling details of Wood’s personal life and illustrious career that are often overshadowed by her tragic death.

The documentary premieres May 5th at 9pm on HBO.