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

Objectified

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

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.

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.

Aalto

Aalto is one of the greatest names in modern architecture and design, Aino and Alvar Aalto gave their signature to iconic Scandic design. The first cinematic portrait of their life love story is an enchanting journey of their creations and influence around the world.

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.

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)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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]

L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui

Regarding Le Corbusier: the man and his architecture

The A’dammer - The Man Behind the Cabinet

The A’dammer - The Man Behind the Cabinet follows the life of designer Aldo van den Nieuwelaar. He designed the iconic A’dammer cabinet, an international design icon, with over seventy versions sold worldwide. Museums acquired his work, and he became a promising name in the design world. But Aldo was more of an artist than an entrepreneur, and his perfectionism clashed with commercial interests. His tense relationship with director Harm Scheltens of furniture manufacturer Pastoe, in particular, escalated into a years-long legal battle over money, recognition, and control.

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.

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.

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.

President - Documentary

Plot unavailable

Chernobyl, Fukushima: Living with the Legacy

30 years after the Chernobyl catastrophe and 5 years after Fukushima it is time to see what has been happening in the “exclusion zones” where the radioactivity rate is far above normal.

Sleep Furiously

Set in a small farming community in mid Wales, a place where Koppel's parents - both refugees - found a home. This is a landscape and population that is changing rapidly as small scale agriculture is disappearing and the generation who inhabited a pre-mechanised world is dying out. Much influenced by his conversations with the writer Peter Handke, the film maker leads us on a poetic and profound journey into a world of endings and beginnings; a world of stuffed owls, sheep and fire.

Broken Rainbow

Documentary chronicling the government relocation of 10,000 Navajo Indians in Arizona.

Blum: Masters of Their Own Destiny

A documentary about Sarajevo’s preeminent Yugoslav-era businessman and mayor, Emerik Blum, and the inner workings of his engineering company, Energoinvest.

One Night With Asterix & Obelix

On the occasion of the release of the blockbuster "Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom", unpublished images of the preparation of the film and the manufacturing secrets, as well as the crazy story of Asterix and Obelix since its origins.

My Bestest Friends

A group of final-year media students experience their last 238 days together, expressing how they feel before having to say goodbye.

Cowboy in Sweden

Lee Hazlewood's album “Cowboy in Sweden” presented as a series of dreams. The movie alternates between absurdist skits and songs, given totally incongruous visual settings.

The Marines

François Reichenbach follows a group of young men from the day they enlist in the US Marine Corps, all the way through basic training.

The Miracle of Saint Anthony

In the middle of June the village of Santo Antonio de Mixoes da Serra in the Valdreu region of Northern Portugal honours its Patron Saint with a very special festival. On this day the local farmers bring their animals to the church – cows, horses, dogs, cats, chickens, rabbits – to be blessed. This ancient tradition is passed from generation to generation, and today, just as hundreds of years ago, animals and people flock up the mountain roads to the church square to become a part of the religious festival. The film is about this miracle.

Rockin' the Wall

Rock and roll's part in bringing down the Berlin Wall and smashing the Iron Curtain is told from the perspective of rockers who played at the time, on both sides of the Wall, and from survivors of the communist regimes who recall the lifeline that rock music provided them.

The Tillman Story

Pat Tillman never thought of himself as a hero. His choice to leave a multimillion-dollar football contract and join the military wasn't done for any reason other than he felt it was the right thing to do. The fact that the military manipulated his tragic death in the line of duty into a propaganda tool is unfathomable and thoroughly explored in Amir Bar-Lev's riveting and enraging documentary.

S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine

Documentary of the S-21 genocide prison in Phnom Penh with interviews of prisoners and guards. On the search for reasons why this could have happened.

The Devil's Miner

'The Devil's Miner' tells the story of 14-year-old Basilio who worships the devil for protection while working in a Bolivian silver mine to support his family.

Freakonomics

Some of the world's most innovative documentary filmmakers will explore the hidden side of everything.

Mot i brøstet – 30th Anniversary

A 30th anniversary special celebrating the Norwegian sitcom Mot i brøstet. Actors Nils Vogt, Sven Nordin and Hilde Lyrån share their memories.

Specimen

Plot unavailable

CIUDAD FUTURO

Crossing the vast outskirts of the big city we can glimpse that after the great future catastrophes there will still be room for the promise of a new youth, perhaps the last one.

Flynn

A gripping and revealing true film exploring the life of General Michael Flynn, from his rise in the US Military, to severe political persecution he faced exposing corruption as the National Security Advisor to the POTUS.

The Sleeper Must Awaken: Making Dune

A brand new feature-length documentary by Ballyhoo Motion Pictures exploring the making of the film, featuring dozens of new and archive interviews with cast and crew.

Lena

Follows the story of the beloved and internationally acclaimed Swedish actress Lena Nyman, based on 17 paper bags with diaries that she left behind.

Send Proof

When his pastor leaves the faith, Elijah Stephens embarks on a journey to find proof for miracles. Along the way, he meets atheists and skeptics, medical researchers and academics, and those claiming to have experienced miraculous healing.