Culture and art

21 films
Fascinating biographies of artists from the world of film, painting, contemporary art and sculpture.
  • Ai Weiwei's Turandot

    dir. Maxim Derevianko
    dok2025

    When a world-renowned artist and activist embarks upon the project of staging a classic opera, there is no doubt that it will be a revolutionary interpretation. By addressing the refugee crisis or the war in Ukraine, Ai Weiwei once again proves to be an artist who believes that art can influence reality.

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    film still Ai Weiwei
  • A Song of Humble Beauty

    dir. Anna Konik
    dok2025

    In the era of mass production of disposable goods, this trip to present-day Karachi resembles a journey back in time. By taking a sneak peek at the work of traditional dyers, potters or embroiderers, we gain more than an ethnographic record – a cinematic meditation.

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    film still A Song of Humble Beauty
  • Caliu: Nothing else, what else can I do? (Caliu: Nicidecum altceva, ce sa fac altceva?)

    dir. Simona Constantin
    dok2025

    After the breakup of the Roma group Taraf de Haïdouks, violin virtuoso Gheorghe ‘Caliu’ Anghel is trying to return to his glory days with a new lineup and under a different banner, although his personality is not helping him. What unfolds is a full-blooded portrayal of a brilliant artist and a difficult man.

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    film still Caliu: Nothing else, what else can I do?
  • Casting

    dir. Rafał Łysak
    dok2024

    ‘I’m looking for a person who wants a film to be made about them,’ – said the casting notice for a documentary. Director Rafał Łysak explores the motivation of people who want their stories to be filmed. What is the reason for their desire to appear in front of the camera?

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    film still Casting
  • Cosmic Balance

    dir. Andrea Johnsen
    dok2025

    Reak is an Indonesian trance ritual. Its participants wish to connect with ancestral spirits and the energy of the Cosmos through music and ecstatic dance. The Javanese band Juarta Putra is currently preparing for its first overseas tour, which will begin at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark.

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    film still Cosmic Balance
  • David Keenan - Words on Canvas (David Keenan - Focla ar Chanbhás)

    dir. Paddy Hayes
    dok2025

    In his music, one can hear real Ireland – both the country as it is today, with its local problems, and the one enshrined in tradition and landscape. The camera follows the Irish bard for 18 months, getting to the roots of his work and depicting his intimate portrait.

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    film still David Keenan - Words on Canvas
  • Don't Forget to Remember

    dir. Ross Killeen
    dok2024

    A hopeful and reflective story about closeness, passing, change and the role of art that extends beyond galleries. A popular street art artist, Asbestos, faces the slow passing of his mum, who has Alzheimer’s disease. Using his art, he takes to the streets of Dublin to talk about memory.

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    film still Don
  • Do Painters Die Elsewhere (Dokąd umierają malarze)

    dir. Michał Pietrak
    dok2025

    For Bolesław Gasiński, life and art have been inextricably interwoven. He left behind not only paintings but also abundant audio and video materials. They constitute the main fabric of this documentary, making a visually sophisticated portrait of an outsider.

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    film still Do Painters Die Elsewhere
  • Fandango

    dir. Remedios Málvarez Báez, Arturo Andújar
    dok2024

    The Andalusian province of Huelva is famous for nurturing its traditional music, sometimes despised and considered a plebeian version of flamenco. Nevertheless, fandango is a separate style, which is still alive among the locals.

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    film still Fandango
  • In 769 km, New York (Cherez 769 km, New York)

    dir. Sofiia Buhrii
    dok2025

    A distance of 769 kilometres is what separates a bakery in Kyiv from New York, an occupied town in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. This is where bread baked by people with intellectual disabilities ends up. Although they struggle with their own difficulties, their work saves people in the east of the country.

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    film still In 769 km, New York
  • Kyiv Soloists (Solistene)

    dir. Trond Kvig Andreassen
    dok2025

    When the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, musicians from the Kyiv Orchestra had just set off on a tour of Italy. They became refugees overnight but did not stop performing. Each of the protagonists must now redefine his or her role as an artist and citizen.

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    film still Kyiv Soloists
  • Monk in Pieces

    dir. Billy Shebar, David C Roberts
    dok

    She is an absolute artist whose vocal and performance work has never lent itself to easy classification. Meredith Monk’s music is said to come from another planet. The film is a collage of her extraordinary activities and personal reflections when confronted with the past and the inevitable passing of time.

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    film still Monk in Pieces
  • Notes from Sheepland

    dir. Cara Holmes
    dok2023

    The film’s protagonist combines, with some difficulty, her artistic career with sheep farming she took up when she inherited the family farm. She is a committed breeder that proudly wears lipstick but juxtaposes it with the work overalls in which she takes her animals to graze in the field. She eludes the gender stereotypes that have been attributed to Irish women over the years.

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    film still Notes from Sheepland
  • Nothing Else (Bez reszty)

    dir. Jakub Prysak
    fab2025

    Wera is a young painter with a beautiful house immersed in greenery, overlooking a lake, a handsome husband who earns an excellent salary, a cuddly dog called Chagall and a brutal and incurable diagnosis. The couple must face the inevitability of her illness, but their reactions are extremely different.

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    film still Nothing Else
  • Sane Inside Insanity — The Phenomenon of Rocky Horror

    dir. Andreas Zerr
    dok2025

    There are more phenomena than are dreamt of by pop culture scholars, such as the musical ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ and in particular, its big screen incarnation. On the 50th anniversary of its premiere, this documentary tells the bravura story of the making of the film and its fan base.

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    film still Sane Inside Insanity — The Phenomenon of Rocky Horror
  • The Graceless Age

    dir. Sarah Share
    dok2023

    John Murry, an adopted relative of Nobel laureate William Faulkner and, above all, an alienated and troubled musician from the American South, travels to the Irish coast to find solace. The director accompanies him throughout his return to the past and in his symbolic attempt at renewal.

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    film still The Graceless Age
  • The Passion of Agnieszka (Pasja według Agnieszki)

    dir. Wojciech Staroń
    dok2025

    A record of the most recent collaboration between legendary film editors, Agnieszka Bojanowska and Bogdan Dziworski – a duo that created some of the most important films in the history of Polish documentary cinema. Wojciech Staroń’s camera captures the behind-the-scenes of their difficult but extremely creative relationship.

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    film still The Passion of Agnieszka
  • The True Story of Tamara de Lempicka & The Art of Survival

    dir. Julie Rubio
    dok2024

    Today, her paintings are experiencing a worldwide renaissance and remain an inspiration for artists in various fields. And the biography of the Warsaw-born artist is not less fascinating than the paintings themselves. The film pays tribute to Lempicka, who courageously crossed the boundaries set for women in art.

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    film still The True Story of Tamara de Lempicka & The Art of Survival
  • The Whale Song (Pieśń wieloryba)

    dir. Michał Hytroś
    dok2025

    The film is an impressionistic portrait of Krzysztof Globisz, a famous Polish actor. His post-stroke speech recovery becomes self-therapy and a creative process at the same time. Through his ‘whale haiku’, the protagonist communicates anew with his surroundings, while the viewers are provided with an opportunity to immerse themselves in his inner world.

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    film still The Whale Song
  • Where Dragons Live (Waar draken wonen)

    dir. Suzanne Raes
    dok2024

    Where Dragons Live is an intimate and enchanting portrait of childhood fears, imagination and the enduring power of the family myths and artefacts that shape our lives. We follow the Impey siblings as they prepare their family home for sale. They face difficult choices about which treasures to keep and which to discard, reflecting their struggle with conflicting memories.

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    film still Where Dragons Live
  • Whose Woods Are These

    dir. Kate Nartker
    anim2024

    Stepping barefoot on the grass, picking berries and, as dusk approaches, listening to the hooting of an owl and the steps of a wolf – the viewer gets to know a woman who went into the forest but never came back from it. Inspired by the true story of a missing great-grandmother, the film is a poetic tale based on scraps of memory, complemented by imagination.

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    film still Whose Woods Are These