Close to Vermeer (2023)

U-Turn

Radhika, a journalism intern is investigating bike riders violating traffic on a city flyover, turns sinister when she becomes prime suspect in the mysterious death of one of the motorists, she is forced to prove her innocence and find the real culprit.

Klimt & The Kiss

The Kiss by Gustav Klimt is one of the most recognised and reproduced paintings in the world. It is perhaps the most popular poster on student dorm walls from Beijing to Boston. Painted in Vienna around 1908, the evocative image of an unknown embracing couple has captivated viewers with its mystery, sensuality and dazzling materials ever since it was created. But just what lies behind the appeal of the painting – and just who was the artist that created it? Delving into the details of real gold, decorative designs, symbolism and simmering erotica, a close study of the painting takes us to the remarkable turn of the century Vienna when a new world was battling with the old.

Subject

In the golden age of documentaries, who benefits? SUBJECT reveals the unintended consequences – good, bad, and complicated – of having your life shared on screen. Featuring the protagonists of acclaimed documentaries The Staircase, Hoop Dreams, The Wolfpack, Capturing the Friedmans, and The Square, as well as the filmmakers of Minding the Gap, Cameraperson, An Inconvenient Truth, and more.

Down to the Bone

A man is wrongfully buried alive, and starts to descend to the Underworld.

Mukunda Murari

A shopkeeper takes God to court when his shop is destroyed by an earthquake

El niño

Plot unavailable

Journey to the Sea

The third installment in Arne Skouen's trilogy about mentally challenged children, in solidarity of the involved children and families.

Children of the Full Moon

A married couple, lost in the woods, stumbles across a creepy mansion and its inhabitants - an overly-kind old woman and deadly wolf children that scour the country-side looking for victims. Originally an episode of British horror anthology TV series, Hammer House of Horror, that later received a feature release in the United States.

Yang ± Yin: Gender in Chinese Cinema

An exploration of Chinese cinema and its relationships with gender and sexuality, which the film argues has been more frankly and provocatively explored than in any other national cinema. Utilizing both film excerpts and interviews with many leading directors and academics, the film examines topics such as male bonding in kung fu movies, depictions of same-sex bonding and physical intimacy, the emphasis on women's grievances in melodramas, and the career of Yam Kim-Fai, a Hong Kong actress who spent her life portraying men on and off the screen.

Yo-Yo Sexy Girl Cop

A beautiful "special student undercover cop" attends a prestigious high school in order to bust up a student prostitution ring in this sexy spoof of the popular Yo-Yo Girl Cop series. Saki (Mihiro) may look like you're average innocent schoolgirl, but in reality she's a highly skilled agent for the Japanese government. Armed with a lethal yo-yo and a special pair of see through underwear, Saki befriends a student prostitute named Asuka in hopes of identifying of the ringleaders and gathering the evidence that will bring them to justice. Accomplishing that goal is no simple task, however, because in addition to being bullied about her unconventional undergarments, Saki soon finds herself falling for handsome young classmate Takuya. Now torn between love and duty, Saki is shocked to learn that Asuka has been murdered after her double life was discovered, and that the leaders of the prostitution are none other than the Headmaster of the school and a highly respected teacher.

Tony Wendice's Mistake

An ex-tennis pro carries out a plot to murder his wife. When things go wrong, he improvises a brilliant plan B.

The Russian Novel

About an aspiring author who wakes up from a 27-year coma as one of his country's finest authors, credited for a book he didn't write.

Les Bois assassins

Malik Dahmani, a brilliant but hot-headed police captain from the Paris region, who, after exposing police brutality, is forced to go into hiding in the Cévennes mountains to lay low. But stuck in this Cévennes valley, which is too peaceful for his liking, as if time had stopped... Malik is going round in circles and can only think about going home. Then a body is discovered in the forest. Our cop finds himself having to investigate alongside Gaëlle, a local police lieutenant, who, like the inhabitants of this remote area, seems keen to preserve its secrets.

Attila, l'énigme des Huns

Plot unavailable

Opium and the Stick

In 1950, in Algeria, in a village in Kabylia, Algerian resistance fighters resisted the French occupation army. Bachir returns to the village to escape the clashes ravaging Algiers. In Thala, he has two brothers, Ali and Belaïd. The first is engaged with the ALN (The National Liberation Army) and fights against the colonizer. His second brother, Belaïd, the eldest, is convinced of a French Algeria. His family torn apart, Bachir decides to join the war and takes sides against the repression of the French army. The French army is trying in vain to turn the population against the insurgents by using disinformation. The more time passes, the more the inhabitants of the village and surrounding areas, oppressed, rally to the cause of the FLN, their houses and their fields will be burned... Adaptation to the cinema of the eponymous novel Opium and the Stick, published in 1965, by Mouloud Mammeri, the film was dubbed into Tamazight (Berber), a first for Algerian cinema.

The Evil Marriage

Once upon a time, in a far away, across the dark jungle, a castle in the sky, there lived a king of Evils with his evil guards. One day, one of his magicians showed the magic mirror and shows a beautiful human girl in this mirror, and told that if he wants to continue to be a king he must marry this girl. The story of "The Evil Marriage movie" revolves around the character of "Nur" (a human girl) who was kidnapped by the Evil's king guards and took her to unfamiliar world where she will have to marry the evil in order for others to live. But, there is someone who sneaks into the dark jungle to reach the evil castle and rescues her.

Jeevan Sangharsha

A poet gets dejected with the materialistic society around him. The only person he gets some sympathy from is a washed out working girl who gives him shelter. Rejected by publishers, he gains fame when his death is reported by a newspaper.

Saugandh

Story of love and war

My Name Is Daniel

In this disarming and personal documentary, Gonçalves explores precisely what it is that is wrong with him. His physical disability is obvious, but doctors have never managed to provide a diagnosis. As he undergoes a series of tests, he paints a picture of his life today and looks back over his past, assisted by a vast collection of VHS videos, for which he sometimes provides commentary to explain the context.

Tim's Vermeer

Tim Jenison, a Texas based inventor, attempts to solve one of the greatest mysteries in all art: How did Dutch Master Johannes Vermeer manage to paint so photo-realistically 150 years before the invention of photography? Spanning a decade, Jenison's adventure takes him to Holland, on a pilgrimage to the North coast of Yorkshire to meet artista David Hockney, and eventually even to Buckingham Palace. The epic research project Jenison embarques on is as extraordinary as what he discovers.

Pharaohs Of The Two Lands

Examines the history of the African kings from Kush who conquered Egypt and ruled over it for 1500 years through an exhibition at the Louvre.

Van Gogh & Japan

"I envy the Japanese" Van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo. In the exhibition on which this film is based - VAN GOGH & JAPAN at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam - one can see why. Though Vincent van Gogh never visited Japan it is the country that had the most profound influence on him and his art. One cannot understand Van Gogh without understanding how Japanese art arrived in Paris in the middle of the 19th century and the profound impact it had on artists like Monet, Degas and, above all, Van Gogh. The film travels not only to France and the Netherlands but also to Japan to further explore the remarkable heritage that so affected Van Gogh and made him the artist we know of today.

Pollock

In August of 1949, Life Magazine ran a banner headline that begged the question: "Jackson Pollock: Is he the greatest living painter in the United States?" The film is a look back into the life of an extraordinary man, a man who has fittingly been called "an artist dedicated to concealment, a celebrity who nobody knew." As he struggled with self-doubt, engaging in a lonely tug-of-war between needing to express himself and wanting to shut the world out, Pollock began a downward spiral.

Caravaggio

A miniseries about Caravaggio's life.

The Man We Want to Hang

"The Man We Want to Hang" is a 12-minute short, consisting of Anger filming borrowed paintings done by legendary and controversial occultist Aleister Crowley.

New York - Weltstadt der Kunst

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Caravaggio's Shadow

The Catholic Church secretly investigates Caravaggio as the Pope weighs whether to grant him clemency for killing a rival.

Joe Lycett: Summer Exhibitionist

Art-loving comedian Joe Lycett joins artists hoping to make it onto the walls of the RA Summer Exhibition 2022, the world’s largest open-submission art contest.

Vermeer: The Greatest Exhibition

With loans from across the world, this major retrospective will bring together Vermeer’s most famous masterpieces including Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Geographer, The Milkmaid, The Little Street, Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid, and Woman Holding a Balance. This film invites audiences to a private view of the exhibition, accompanied by the director of the Rijksmuseum and the curator of the show.

Filamento

The odyssey of the Mayice designers, who had to face to bring an impossible-to-manufacture piece to the Rossana Orlandi gallery, in Milan, in time to be exhibited at the Salone.

It All Started With a Stale Sandwich

50 years ago, Sydneysiders were shocked and the art world astonished by Christo's wrapping of the Little Bay coastline. Hungarian migrant and entrepreneur John Kaldor, who initiated this monumental work, has said “it all started with a stale sandwich, in Christo's studio in 1968 New York.” Now, Project 34 (by Asad Raza) is about to be unveiled, and UK artist Michael Landy is designing the exhibition to celebrate 50 years of Kaldor Public Art Projects.

Battlefield Gender

Both a visit to a very peculiar exhibition at the Bundeswehr Military History Museum in Dresden, Germany, as well as an unprejudiced look at the artistic depiction of violence throughout history and the ways in which that depiction has been gendered.

Gorillaz: House of Kong

A 20 minute looping installation showcasing a montage of clips using footage from previously released Gorillaz documentaries, live shows, music videos, and behind-the-scenes films - including the likes of Bananaz, The Making of Plastic Beach, and their 2023 Coachella performance.

The Last Vermeer

A soldier and member of the Dutch resistance investigates stolen art in the wake of the Second World War, including a Vermeer sold to the Nazis by a flamboyant forger.

Hitler Versus Picasso

In 1937 the Nazi regime held two exhibitions in Munich: one to stigmatize “Degenerate Art” (which they systematically looted and destroyed) and one, personally curated by Hitler, to glorify “Classic Art”. This immersive new documentary reveals the Nazi’s complicated relationship with classical and modern art, displaying an incredible number of masterpieces by Botticelli, Klee, Matisse, Monet, Chagall, Renoir and Gauguin amongst others, intertwined with human stories from the most infamous period of the twentieth century. A state-of-the-art detective story exploring the Nazis’ obsession with creative expression, Hitler versus Picasso combines history, art and human drama for an unforgettable cinema experience.

24 Hour Sunset

This film portrait of a new kind is a deep dive into the heart of the art scene of Los Angeles. From a ride on Sunset Boulevard in a convertible car at the sunrise, going through a lunch with the art dealer Patrick Painter and a visit to Peter Shire's studio... Having a beer and a deep talk with Paul McCarthy, calling Raymond Pettibon stuck in New-York or searching for Ed Ruscha in bars.... From Ariana Papademetropoulos opening exhibition to the visit of a car wreck with Umar Raschid... From the old house of Cary Grant to the dodgy underground of Downtown passing through Eugenio Lopez's private art collection on the Hollywood hills... Through intimate conversation, 24 Hour Sunset gives us access to the thoughts, inspirations and practice of legendary artists, world famous art dealers, appraised curators and collectors, as well as the young up coming scene of artists living in Los Angeles.

A Ghibli Artisan - Kazuo Oga Exhibition - The One Who Drew Totoro's Forest

From July 21 through September 10th, 2007, the Museum for Contemporary Art Tokyo held an exhibition honouring Kazuo Oga, the art director and background artist for many famed works from Japan's Studio Ghibli. Over 600 works from the artist were on display, and numerous fans flocked to the one-of-a-kind exhibition celebrating the lush, gorgeous background artwork typifying many a work from Hayao Miyazaki and other Ghibli filmmakers. International fans of Oga and Studio Ghibli have not been left out, however. A Ghibli Artisan - Kazuo Oga Exhibition - The One Who Drew Totoro's Forest allows fans the opportunity to attend the exhibition, as well as watch interviews and testimonials with Oga's contemporaries and collaborators, all subtitled in English.

Girl with a Pearl Earring: And Other Treasures from the Mauritshuis

The Girl with a Pearl Earring' by Johannes Vermeer is one of the most enduring paintings in the history of art. This beautifully filmed documentary goes in pursuit of answers to the unresolved riddles surrounding this extraordinary piece.

Finding Vivian Maier

Vivian Maier's photos were seemingly destined for obscurity, lost among the clutter of the countless objects she'd collected throughout her life. Instead these images have shaken the world of street photography and irrevocably changed the life of the man who brought them to the public eye. This film brings to life the interesting turns and travails of the improbable saga of John Maloof's discovery of Vivian Maier, unravelling this mysterious tale through her documentary films, photographs, odd collections and personal accounts from the people that knew her. What started as a blog to show her work quickly became a viral sensation in the photography world. Photos destined for the trash heap now line gallery exhibitions, a forthcoming book and this documentary film.

36 000 Ans D'art Moderne, De Chauvet à Picasso

Plot unavailable

Martin Blaszko III

Martin Blaszko is considered one of the most important artists of geometric abstraction in Latin America. This documentary, which ends a trilogy, follows the setup of what ended up being his last art show, through only twenty sequences.

Young Picasso

Pablo Picasso is one of the greatest artists of all time - and right up until his death in 1973 he was the most prolific of artists. Many films have dealt with these later years - the art, the affairs and the wide circle of friends. But where did this all begin? What made Picasso in the first place? Too long ignored, it is time to look at the early years of Picasso; the upbringing and the learning that led to his extraordinary achievements.

Geniale Frauen - Malerinnen von der Renaissance bis zum Klassizismus

Plot unavailable

Inn Signs Through the Ages

Fred Taylor displays a number of items from the Building Centre's 'Inn Sign Exhibition' held in November 1936. Some signs in the exhibition date back to the reign of Charles II, while others are more contemporary.

Mannen Henger

Plot unavailable

Journey with Tarsilinha

Tarsilinha sets off on a journey to save her mother’s memory. The only way to do this is to find her mom's stolen keepsakes and overcome her own fears.

Out of Frame

Trapped in their frames and monitored by a menacing curator, two paintings long to escape from the art gallery's white walls. As the paintings lock eyes across the room, an unspoken connection between them sets the stage for revolution. With a distinctive blend of live-action and animation, this short film by Evan Bode employs surreal metaphor to explore ideas about power, resistance, queer identity, visibility, and liberation from constructed borders.

Double Jeopardy

Libby Parsons, wrongly convicted for her husband Nick's murder, thinks he is still alive and wants to settle the score and find their son. As she has been tried for the crime, she cannot be re-prosecuted if she finds and kills Nick.

In the Dark

Aspiring artist Ali must rebuild her life after a tragic accident kills her husband and their young child, and leaves her blind. Life in the dark proves to be a daunting task, so, at her doctor's suggestion, she hires a caretaker named Jeff to help her adjust with the transition. Jeff's aid proves to be indispensable, she even meets and quickly befriends her new neighbor, Linda. Before long, she is embroiled in a fight for her life from an obsessive predator. Will she learn to protect herself using her only remaining senses in time to save her life?

Stealing Raden Saleh

To get his father out of prison, a master forger assembles a diverse team of specialists to steal a priceless painting.

Bending All the Rules

When single photographer Kenna finally gets her own exhibition, she turns her attention to her love life. Yet two different men, sensitive Jeff and strong-willed Martin, are determined to win her heart, pulling her free spirit in opposite directions.

Paysage aux torchons

During a summer in a french southern village, two girls meet : Laure sells antique linen while Ophélie runs an art gallery. Although they have nothing in common, they grow closer as they talk to each other and their opposing characters become interwined.

Rye Lane

Two twenty-somethings, both reeling from bad break-ups, connect over the course of an eventful day in South London – helping each other deal with their nightmare exes, and potentially restoring their faith in romance.

Showing Up

In the days leading up to a possibly career-changing exhibition, a sculptor navigates her relationships with family, friends, and colleagues.

Nocturnal Animals

Susan Morrow receives a book manuscript from her ex-husband – a man she left 20 years earlier – asking for her opinion of his writing. As she reads, she is drawn into the fictional life of Tony Hastings, a mathematics professor whose family vacation turns violent.

The Picasso Summer

A San Francisco couple travels to France in search of Pablo Picasso.

FUNCTION

As seen and heard by... the Standing on the corner art ensemble, an "Exhibition" Index Film

Ingolstadt

“INGOLSTADT” is a gripping drama that revolves around a renowned artist, celebrated for her groundbreaking work, who finds herself in the midst of a public scandal during the launch event of her latest masterpiece. As she takes the stage for a routine Q&A, a seemingly ordinary audience member begins to question her ethics and the morality behind her creative process. As the interrogation intensifies, it becomes clear that this disgruntled individual harbors a secret, one that could potentially shatter the artist’s reputation and career. The tension escalates as the artist is forced to confront not only the ethical implications of her work but also the hidden truths that lie beneath the surface of her art. As the night unfolds, the audience, the artist, and the mysterious questioner are drawn into a whirlwind of revelations, leading to a climax that will leave everyone questioning the true cost of art.

The Opening

A gallery owner is opening an unusual exhibition: An artist who is terminally ill wishes to die in front of an audience.

Extracorpus

Plot unavailable

The Paintings

After losing her grandfather when she was less than a year old, a now very conflicted teen must learn how to navigate her grief even though she absolutely does not want to

The Ride to the Abyss

‘La course à l’abîme’ is a depiction of the final ride into hell from ‘La Damnation de Faust’ (1846) by Hector Berlioz.

Awakens an idea turned into matter

A sculptor turns to his dreams for artistic inspiration, his unconscious will manifest in a way never seen before.

Digital Smoke

Digital Smoke is an experimental meditation on light, memory, and distortion. Shot at twilight in Minneapolis’s Loring Park, the film captures the moment just after sunset, when street lamps flicker on and reflect across the lake. As Devereaux moves the camera backward and forward, fading light introduces digital noise. Rather than correct it, he amplifies the imperfection, layering light trails until the noise becomes ethereal white clouds—“digital smoke”—that dissolve the boundary between image and abstraction. Frames evoke the hazy textures of J.M.W. Turner and the pixelated aesthetic of early video games, blending painterly romanticism with digital fragmentation.

Joan of Arc: God's Warrior

Writer and historian Dr Helen Castor explores the life - and death - of Joan of Arc. Joan was an extraordinary figure - a female warrior in an age that believed women couldn't fight, let alone lead an army. But Joan was driven by faith and today, more than ever, we are acutely aware of the power of faith to drive actions for good or ill. Since her death, Joan has become an icon for almost everyone: the left and the right, Catholics and Protestants, traditionalists and feminists. But where, in all of this, is the real Joan - the experiences of a teenage peasant girl who achieved the seemingly impossible? Through an astonishing manuscript, we can hear Joan's own words at her trial and, as Helen unpicks Joan's story and places her back in the world that she inhabited, the real human Joan emerges.

The Way Things Go

Artists Peter Fischli and David Weiss create the ultimate Rube Goldberg machine. The pair used found objects to construct a complex, interdependent contraption in an empty warehouse. When set in motion, a domino-like chain reaction ripples through the complex of imaginative devices. Fire, water, the laws of gravity, and chemistry determine the life-cycle of the objects. The process reveals a story concerning cause and effect, mechanism and art, and improbability and precision, in an extended science project that will mesmerize the mind.

Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids

Documentary depicting the lives of child prostitutes in the red light district of Songachi, Calcutta. Director Zana Briski went to photograph the prostitutes when she met and became friends with their children. Briski began giving photography lessons to the children and became aware that their photography might be a way for them to lead better lives.

Mirror

A dying man in his forties recalls his childhood, his mother, the war and personal moments that tell of and juxtapose pivotal moments in Soviet history with daily life.

Bowling for Columbine

This is not a film about gun control. It is a film about the fearful heart and soul of the United States, and the 280 million Americans lucky enough to have the right to a constitutionally protected Uzi. From a look at the Columbine High School security camera tapes to the home of Oscar-winning NRA President Charlton Heston, from a young man who makes homemade napalm with The Anarchist's Cookbook to the murder of a six-year-old girl by another six-year-old. Bowling for Columbine is a journey through the US, through our past, hoping to discover why our pursuit of happiness is so riddled with violence.

Tarnation

Filmmaker Jonathan Caouette's documentary on growing up with his schizophrenic mother -- a mixture of snapshots, Super-8, answering machine messages, video diaries, early short films, and more -- culled from 19 years of his life.

The Warrior

In 1375, China was in chaos between Yuan Dynasty and Ming Dynasty. Coryo (an ancient kingdom of Korea then) sent a delegation of many diplomats, soldiers and a silent slave to make peace with the new Chinese government. However, this delegation got charged as spies and sent in exile to a remote desert.