Modernism, Inc.: The Eliot Noyes Design Story (2024)

Design ist niemals unschuldig

Immersion in a world of contemporary design in search of more virtuous practices. In Helsinki, German designer Julia Lohmann uses seaweed to create dyed garments; in Amsterdam, Marjan van Aubel creates objects powered by organic photovoltaic cells; in London, the Superflux duo develops futuristic installations to alleviate potential food shortages.

Objectified

A feature-length documentary about our complex relationship with manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them.

Rams

RAMS is a documentary portrait of legendary designer Dieter Rams by filmmaker Gary Hustwit. For over fifty years, Rams has left an indelible mark on the field of product design with his iconic work at Braun and Vitsoe, and his influence on Apple. So at 86 years old, why does he now regret being a designer? RAMS is a design documentary, but it’s also a rumination on consumerism, materialism, and sustainability. Dieter's philosophy is about more than just design, it’s about a way to live. The film also features an original score by pioneering musician Brian Eno.

Wild Wild Space

Follow three rocket and satellite companies – Astra Space, Rocket Lab, and Planet Labs – and the quests of their idiosyncratic founders to conquer the burgeoning space industry.

Frank Lloyd Wright: Phoenix From the Ashes

A portrait of Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), a genius of modern architecture, whose life passed between glory, scandal and tragedy.

The Power of Utopia: Living with Le Corbusier in Chandigarh

With the construction of the Indian planned city of Chandigarh, the Swiss and French architect Le Corbusier completed his life's work 70 years ago. Chandigarh is a controversial synthesis of the arts, a bold utopia of modernity. The film accompanies four cultural workers who live in the planned city and reflects on Le Corbusier's legacy, utopian urban ideas and the cultural differences between East and West in an atmospherically dense narrative.

My Architect: A Son's Journey

World-famous architect Louis Kahn (Exeter Library, Salk Institute, Bangladeshi Capitol Building) had two illegitimate children with two different women outside of his marriage. Son Nathaniel always hoped that someday his father would come and live with him and his mother, but Kahn never left his wife. Instead, Kahn was found dead in a men's room in Penn Station when Nathaniel was only 11.

Tokio - Die Stadtkultur von morgen

Tokyo, the largest city in the world, wants to create a new urban culture. It is returning to the urban traditions and building techniques of the small town. The aim is to create a new balance between megacity and small-scale garden city. Tokyo's architects are the driving force. They want to create a new urban culture with revolutionary ideas.

Sagrada Familia - Gaudi's challenge

Combining real footage, archival footage, fiction and 3D modeling, this unseen documentary traces the history of this spectacular and unfinished work.

First Person Singular: I.M. Pei

Architect I.M. Pei speaks about his famous works, such as the addition to the Louvre in Paris, the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, Texas. Footage of these projects shows both interiors and exteriors. Various other experts comment on the impact and importance of Pei's work.

La Chapelle de Ronchamp

Harmonious, inspired by nature, moving, luminous... there is no shortage of words to describe La Chapelle Notre-Dame du Haut in Rochamp (France) and its curves. To create this Catholic place, at the beginning of the 1950s, Le Corbusier was inspired by the mosque of the Algerian Sahara of Sidi Brahim, by a crab shell for the shapes of the roof, and by the nearby Vosges valleys. .. Multiple influences for a building full of contradictions, a mixture of round and square lines, slender or squat depending on the angle of view, apparently vast from the outside, but small and intimate from the threshold crossed. Both a place of contemplation and major architectural innovation, the Chapelle de Ronchamp has been listed as a Historic Monument since 1965. Labeled “Heritage of the 20th century” in 1999, it entered the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2016 with 16 others works of Le Corbusier.

The Great North

Beginning at the industrial revolution of the ‘great north’, Jenn Nkiru draws lines between peoples, cities, countries, buildings, movements, bodies and spaces(s) using a mixture of archive materials and new footage. There is little stillness as we are pushed and pulled through Black histories and communities across the city of Manchester and beyond. Nkiru has termed this filmmaking process “cosmic archeology”, and it is grounded in Afro-surrealism, experimental film and the Black arts movement.

The birth of luxury

From China to Venice, each country preciously kept the secret of its specialty. Industrial espionage, kidnappings, debauchery or innovations, the royal envoys will not shrink from anything and intrigue in often incredible conditions to victoriously impose French splendour in Europe.

Gaudí, le génie visionnaire de Barcelone

In Barcelona, the Casa Batlló alone sums up the genius of Antoni Gaudí. During the exhibition devoted to it by the Musée d'Orsay, we take a guided tour of this eccentric, colorful residence, completed in 1906.

Andrée Putman, A Juggernaut of Design

An icon of French taste, free and eccentric, Andrée Putman (1925–2013) imposed her unique style and shaped a generation of architects. With archival images and personal testimonials, this documentary is a beautiful tribute to one of the leading ladies of interior design.[arte.tv]

Czechoslovak Architecture 58–89

Vladimir 518, uncompromising rapper, artist, stage designer and activist, is a rare phenomenon, who not only writes books, but publishes them as well. Today also a respected authority primarily on pre-1989 architecture, he has written not only a major publication on the subject, but also the story for two audiovisual works treating the same theme, which were shot by Jan Zajíček, renowned director of music videos. In addition to the recent TV series we have the eagerly anticipated feature-length film which, through its fascinating and impressive exploration of Czech and Slovak architecture of the latter half of the 20th century, offers exclusive insight into extraordinary buildings and unique individuals living below the Tatra Mountains. Karel Och (kviff.com)

L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui

Regarding Le Corbusier: the man and his architecture

Mid-Century

A husband and wife's weekend in a mid-century modern vacation rental turns deadly when the husband discovers the owner is a psychopath with a backyard of buried secrets and designs on his wife.

Don't Ever Stop

Working-class gay DJ Tony De Vit invented hard house music and made it mainstream – his fans included Madonna and Boy George when he was the star attraction at all-night London club Trade. In 1996, in his late 30s, he was on the cusp of becoming one the biggest DJs in the world. Robert Ferguson, already known as Fergie, was a 15-year-old budding DJ in a small town in Northern Ireland. At the same age, teenage rebel Andi Buckley had been kicked out of school and out of home in Birmingham – but had begun to work in the dance music industry. This powerful documentary tells the story of how the three men's lives became intertwined in a tale of love, loss, gay identity, hero worship, attitudes to AIDS and the 90s boom in dance music.

Milestone No. 2

A documentary showcasing a family as they pack up their home of twelve years and begin looking towards the future.

Harmonium in California

Through concerts and interviews, folk-progressive group Harmonium takes Quebec culture to California. This documentary full of colour and sound, filmed in California in 1978, recounts the ups and downs of the journey of the Quebec musical group Harmonium, who came to feel the pulse of Americans and see if culture, their culture, can succeed in crossing borders.

El Sendero de la Anaconda

In the most remote areas of the Amazon rainforest, a writer and his anthropologist friend find communities that have resisted change for centuries.

Nanook of the North

This pioneering documentary film depicts the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of Canada's northern Quebec region. Although the production contains some fictional elements, it vividly shows how its resourceful subjects survive in such a harsh climate, revealing how they construct their igloo homes and find food by hunting and fishing. The film also captures the beautiful, if unforgiving, frozen landscape of the Great White North, far removed from conventional civilization.

Olympia: Part One – Festival of the Nations

Commissioned to make a propaganda film about the 1936 Olympic Games in Germany, director Leni Riefenstahl created a celebration of the human form. This first half of her two-part film opens with a renowned introduction that compares modern Olympians to classical Greek heroes, then goes on to provide thrilling in-the-moment coverage of some of the games' most celebrated moments, including African-American athlete Jesse Owens winning a then-unprecedented four gold medals.

Olympia: Part Two – Festival of Beauty

Commissioned to make a propaganda film about the 1936 Olympic Games in Germany, director Leni Riefenstahl created a celebration of the human form. Where the two-part epic's first half, Festival of the Nations, focused on the international aspects of the 1936 Olympic Games held in Berlin, part two, The Festival of Beauty, concentrates on individual athletes such as equestrians, gymnasts, and swimmers, climaxing with American Glenn Morris' performance in the decathalon and the games' majestic closing ceremonies.

Boundless

As Hong Kong's foremost filmmaker, Johnnie To himself becomes the protagonist of this painstaking documentary exploring him and his Boundless world of film. A film student from Beijing and avid Johnnie To fan, Ferris Lin boldly approached To with a proposal to document the master director for his graduation thesis. To agreed immediately and Lin's camera closely followed him for over two years, capturing the man behind the movies and the myths. The result is Boundless, a candid profile of one of Hong Kong's greatest directors and a heartfelt love letter to Hong Kong cinema.

Stolen Time

A compelling call for justice, Stolen Time follows charismatic elder rights lawyer Melissa Miller as she takes on the corporate for-profit nursing-home industry—an industry notorious for its lack of transparency and accountability. As the legal battle unfolds, families, frontline caregivers and change-makers chronicle an urgent crisis with ramifications—and inspiration—for us all.

A Quiet Girl

Adopted Montreal filmmaker Adrian Wills discovers, on camera and in real time, the startling truths of his complex beginnings in Newfoundland. Shocking details drive Wills to the core of his birth mother’s resilience, and ultimately his own. In this moving feature documentary that combines 16mm footage and contemporary images with deeply personal conversations, Wills’ voyage transforms from an urgent search for identity into a quest to give a quiet girl her voice.

The Endless Summer

Bruce Brown's The Endless Summer is one of the first and most influential surf movies of all time. The film documents American surfers Mike Hynson and Robert August as they travel the world during California’s winter (which, back in 1965 was off-season for surfing) in search of the perfect wave and ultimately, an endless summer.

Land Without Bread

An exploration —manipulated and staged— of life in Las Hurdes, in the province of Cáceres, in Extremadura, Spain, as it was in 1932. Insalubrity, misery and lack of opportunities provoke the emigration of young people and the solitude of those who remain in the desolation of one of the poorest and least developed Spanish regions at that time.

Roger & Me

A documentary about the closure of General Motors' plant at Flint, Michigan, which resulted in the loss of 30,000 jobs. Details the attempts of filmmaker Michael Moore to get an interview with GM CEO Roger Smith.

An Inconvenient Truth

A documentary on Al Gore's campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide.

Key of Gibraltar

A day prior to embarking on a European trip with his cousin Artie. Greg, a recent college graduate receives a once in a lifetime opportunity granted to him by the support of his friend Tina and her influential family. Despite the positives, he is lost and time is running out as Tina’s family expects an answer before the end of the week.

La Joia: Bad Gyal

Following how La Joia, Bad Gyal's first album, was made, a path full of lights and shadows in which a diamond in the rough ends up becoming a real jewel.

Illuminated: The True Story of the Illuminati

The true historical account of the Illuminati, exposing the actual rituals of the secret society, and answering the age-old question of whether or not the order still exists.

Deconstructing the Beatles' Abbey Road: Side 1

Abbey Road is a masterpiece filled with such classic Beatles songs as “Come Together,” “Something,” and “Here Comes the Sun.” Deconstructing the Beatles' Abbey Road: Side One takes a track-by-track journey into their inspiration and evolution in the studio with the man who’s been presenting his beloved, exhilarating multimedia deep dives into the band’s work here for years. Because of the depth of the Abbey Road songwriting, he created two separate presentations for this album.

Deconstructing the Beatles' Abbey Road: Side 2

Abbey Road is a masterpiece filled with such classic Beatles songs as “Come Together,” “Something,” and “Here Comes the Sun.” Deconstructing the Beatles’ Abbey Road: Side Two takes a track-by-track journey into their inspiration and evolution in the studio with the man who’s been presenting his beloved, exhilarating multimedia deep dives into the band’s work here for years. Because of the depth of the Abbey Road songwriting, he created two separate presentations for this album.

Hitsville: The Making of Motown

The remarkable story of the legendary Motown Records is told through exclusive interviews with the label’s visionary founder, Berry Gordy, and many of its superstar artists and creative figures, as well as rare performances and behind-the-scenes footage unearthed from Motown’s vaults and Gordy’s personal archives.

Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing

Shut Up and Sing is a documentary about the country band from Texas called the Dixie Chicks and how one tiny comment against President Bush dropped their number one hit off the charts and caused fans to hate them, destroy their CD’s, and protest at their concerts. A film about freedom of speech gone out of control and the three girls lives that were forever changed by a small anti-Bush comment

Morse and the Last Endeavour

Documentary marking the end of the epic tale of Inspector Morse, the iconic Oxford detective celebrated throughout the world; from his original TV series to the finale of Endeavour.

After Dance – A Concert Film

A large, time-worn house sits on a towering, untouchable pedestal. Ressaca Bailada – Filme Concerto follows individuals as they navigate their relationship with freedom, unity, and isolation within this setting. Celebrating tradition while confronting and questioning it, all against a backdrop of music that shapes the journey.

Strip-Tease intégral

More faithful than ever to the spirit of the cult series that has been inspiring filmmakers for nearly thirty years, STRIP-TEASE INTEGRAL offers us, this time on the big screen, five sensitive, touching, sometimes absurd, often funny, sometimes dark, sometimes bright - but always the vanities of human society in all their marvelous banality.

Story Riders

Plot unavailable

Man vs. Shark

40 years after inventing armored suits that protect divers from attacks by smaller shark species of sharks, marine biologist, Jeremiah Sullivan, faces off against hungry hammerheads and deadly tiger sharks to measure their bite force, body strength and ability to chew through his advanced materials before creating new armor he’ll test by putting himself inside the devastating jaws of a 14-foot tiger shark.

Enter the Anime

What is anime? Through deep-dives with notable masterminds of this electrifying genre, this fast-paced documentary seeks to find the answers.

Eat, Fast and Live Longer

British journalist and physician Michael Mosley sets an ambitious goal: to become healthier and lose weight while making as few changes as possible to his life. In working toward these goals, Mosley discovers a powerful new science behind the old idea of fasting, a program that still allows him to enjoy his favorite foods. He takes a road trip across the U.S. to investigate how a little hunger can turn on the body’s “repair genes” and, of course, tries the new science himself. Mosley learns that a diet based on feast and famine has powerful effects on the body, reducing the risks of heart disease, diabetes and some cancers. The diet seems to pack the anti-aging clout of calorie restriction while still allowing for a taste of the good life. And it turns out to be not only good for the body; it may also be good for the brain.

Revealing Ukraine

"Revealing Ukraine" by Igor Lopatonok continues investigations on of the ongoing Ukrainian crisis following "Ukraine on Fire". In addition, it analyzes the current political backstage and its dangerous potential for the world.

Lost in France

A new documentary explores the rise of Scotland's independent music scene in the '90s, led by cult label Chemikal Underground. On the journey, we revisit a defining, chaotic trip early in the musicians' careers, re-staging a concert in Brittany that connects the characters in life (and on stage) for the first time in many years.