Known as the ”Last Samurai” Saigo Takamori was a stout giant of a man with a huge head and a neck like a bear. As the leader of Satsuma’s anti-Western faction, he was instumental in establishing the Sat-Cho Alliance dreamed of by Sakamoto Ryoma. After the fall of the Tokugawa, Saigo rose to major prominence before falling in disfavor. In 1876 Saigo Takamori resigned from his government post and went back to Kagoshima. He founded a local military school and dissatisfied samurai gathered around him in large numbers. In late 1876 it came to an open conflict when samurai rebels raided and occupied ammunition and weapon depots of the central government. The samurai rebels urged and proclaimed Saigo Takamori as their leader. While the Tom Cruise movie fictionalized Saigo’s life story, this is history come to life in the most exciting rendition with an all-star cast that is not to be missed!
In this highly regarded Mexican war film, peasant Demetrio Macias leads a band of outlaws in a revolt against the Federales during the Mexican Revolution.
World War II is raging on the Eastern front but the soldier Nikanor has been sent to Siberia: bot as a prisoner, but as the leader of a motley group of entertainers who travel from village to village giving concerts. Still, Big Brother is watching and when the entertainers encounter a strange man in the woods there is trouble brewing. One of the performers falls in love with the mysterious backwoodsman, but the secret service is after him, too.
Twenty Four year-old Corsican refugee Napoleon Bonaparte is a lowly artillery captain in the French army at the siege of Toulon. Destitute and relying on his success in the new and dangerous revolutionary society, his mother and siblings become embroiled in Napoleon's struggle. The opponents are the English but the enemy are the revolutionaries authorities who seek to keep him in his place. Using his astonishing tactical mind, his sheer audacity and extraordinary military bravery, Napoleon emerges victorious and sets out on a path that would one day lead him to the throne of France.
On the island of La Gomera, children imagine stories while they examine archeological remains. An ethno-fictional journey in which past and present coalesce, creating resonances between the volcanic landscape and Silbo, the whistled language of the island.
1945-1947, Taiwan. A teenage couple were deeply in love despite objections from the girl’s family. Their tragic story is played out in travelling troupes, tea-houses and western-style cafes, with the backdrop of Japanese occupation and the 28 February Incident.
Famed countertenor Andreas Scholl sings the title role of Roman emperor Julius Caesar in this memorable production of Georg Friederich Handel's "Giulio Cesare," staged at the Royal Danish Opera. Transporting the action from ancient times to the present day, director Francisco Negrin paints a passionate portrait of Caesar's storied romance with the Egyptian queen Cleopatra (played by soprano Inger Dam-Jensen).
The film was made in the days of the August 1991 coup in Leningrad, USSR . Respecting the manner of a proprietary parallel cinema with the use of hand-held camera . Subsequently, Lars von Trier in his " Dogma " went on the same way , using a handheld camera without a tripod or placing special light. The soundtrack of the film is the soundtrack Emergency Committee appeal for the All-Union Radio August 19, 1991 . The film captured the moment of change red tricolor flag on the roof of the Mariinsky Palace on August 20, 1991.
Based on the real life events around Yevfimy Vasilyevich Putyatin, a Russian admiral noted for his diplomatic missions to Japan and China, and the signing of the Treaty of Shimoda in 1855.
This feature documentary is a portrait of Peter Watkins, an Oscar®-winning British filmmaker who, for the past 4 decades, has proved that films can be made without compromise. With the proliferation of TV channels, documentaries are enjoying an unprecedented boom fuelled by audiences seeking an alternative to infotainment. But now documentary filmmaking, too, finds itself constrained by the imperatives of television. However, there is a rebel resisting this uniformity of the spirit. Pre-eminent among today's documentary filmmakers concerned about this mind-numbing standardization, Peter Watkins has never strayed from either his principles or the cause.
Yousry Nasrallah's powerful adaptation of Lebanese writer Elias Khoury's epic novel of fifty years of Palestinian dispossession, exile, and resistance. The film follows the flight of Younes, his wife Nahila, and those around them, from their village in northern Palestine to a refugee camp in Lebanon. Some vow to continue the struggle, most simply struggle to survive. Unsparingly detailing the impact of the nakba (disaster) on Palestinian life and society and the refugees' often-contentious relationship with their reluctant Lebanese hosts, Gate of the Sun spans generations, mixing personal stories with historical events.
Royal romance and epic tragedy feature in this historical drama about Pedro I of Portugal and his lover, Ines de Castro. Their legendary, doomed love story is explored, as well as the darkness surrounding Pedro's powerful, sadistic father.
Gomp: Tales of surveillance in Norway 1948-1989 is a film from a staged hearing focusing on the surveillance of dissidents during the Cold War. Through its unique set of characters, the film depicts a complex image of Post War Norway as well as various aspects and consequences of being surveilled. Produced as a live event, it is simultaneously a documentary, a work of fiction and a piece of political theater.
Historical documentary that chronicles the history and legend of ancient Rome from Romulus and Remus to the rise of Christianity. Ancient accounts reveal the everyday life of Romans and extensive footage highlights the antiquities and treasures of Roman sites throughout Europe and the Near East.
