pickAxe (1999)

The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years

An exploration of the heavy metal scene in Los Angeles, with particular emphasis on glam metal. It features concert footage and interviews of legendary heavy metal and hard rock bands and artists such as Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Kiss, Megadeth, Motörhead, Ozzy Osbourne and W.A.S.P..

Anarchism in America

A colorful and provocative survey of anarchism in America, the film attempts to dispel popular misconceptions and trace the historical development of the movement. The film explores the movement both as a native American philosophy stemming from 19th century American traditions of individualism, and as a foreign ideology brought to America by immigrants. The film features rare archival footage and interviews with significant personalities in anarchist history including Murray Boochkin and Karl Hess, and also live performance footage of the Dead Kennedys.

Lucio

There are plenty of anarchists in the world. Many have committed robbery or smuggling for their cause. Fewer have discussed strategies with Che Guevara or saved the skin of Eldridge Cleaver, the leader of the Black Panthers. There is only one who has done all that, and also brought to its knees the most powerful bank on the planet by forging travellers cheques, without missing a single day of work in his construction job. He is Lucio Urtubia, from a tiny village in Navarra in North of Spain. Lucio, 75, now lives in Paris, still raising anarchist hell.

Land and Freedom

David Carr is a British Communist who is unemployed. In 1936, when the Spanish Civil War begins, he decides to fight for the Republican side, a coalition of liberals, communists and anarchists, so he joins the POUM militia and witnesses firsthand the betrayal of the Spanish revolution by Stalin's followers and Moscow's orders.

The Tiger Brigades

The film, set in 1912, is about the exploits of France's first motorized police brigade.

Anarchist from Colony

Based on the life of the Korean anarchist Park Yeol, the film shows his struggle to counter the massacre of Koreans by the government during the 1923 great Kanto earthquake, focusing on his activities as the leader of the anti-Japanese organization Bulryeongsa and his relationship with Japanese comrade Fumiko Kaneko.

Slacker

Austin, Texas, is an Eden for the young and unambitious, from the enthusiastically eccentric to the dangerously apathetic. Here, the nobly lazy can eschew responsibility in favor of nursing their esoteric obsessions. The locals include a backseat philosopher who passionately expounds on his dream theories to a seemingly comatose cabbie, a young woman who tries to hawk Madonna's Pap test to anyone who will listen and a kindly old anarchist looking for recruits.

Children of Paradise

In a chaotic 19th-century Paris teeming with aristocrats, thieves, psychics, and courtesans, theater mime Baptiste is in love with the mysterious actress Garance. But Garance, in turn, is loved by three other men: pretentious actor Frederick, conniving thief Lacenaire, and Count Edouard of Montray.

The Nada Gang

Nada, named after a gang of Spanish anarchists, is a small, confused band of French terrorists. They kidnap the American ambassador after one of his regular visits to an exclusive brothel. The gang starts to quarrel amongst themselves as to the diplomat's fate, while the police purge suspects in their attempts to destroy the Nada faction. As the violence escalates on both sides, the States and the terrorists are forced to use one another's methods in an increasingly desperate and relentless conflict.

The Wave

A school teacher discusses types of government with his class. His students find it too boring to repeatedly go over national socialism and believe that dictatorship cannot be established in modern Germany. He starts an experiment to show how easily the masses can become manipulated.

Infernal Machine

This pre-Code comedy-thriller centers on Robert Holden, a broke and discouraged veteran, who meets fellow American Elinor Green at a cafe in Paris. After their first encounter, Holden's attempt to return Green's thought-to-be stolen purse ends up rendering him a stowaway on board a ship bound for America. Also aboard is a collection of characters, including Green's banker fiancé, a famed scientist, and an opera singer. Romance begins to blossom between Holden and Green, just as a radiogram claims that an “infernal machine,” or bomb, is aboard the ship. Quickly each passenger accuses the others of planting the bomb until eventually Holden, jealous of Green's attention to her undeserving fiancé, falsely admits to being the culprit. In his role as assumed perpetrator, Holden tests the group further.

November

Impelled by a spirit which still preserves a patina of idealism, Alfredo arrives to Madrid with the intention to create "a performance that is free, straight from the heart, capable of making people feel alive". His concept of what acting should be begins beyond the stage, out in the streets face to face with the public. Outdoors, in any town square, in a park or in the city's most commercial street, Alfredo and his troupe November start the show; demons to provoke passers-by, displays of social conscience, actions taken to the extreme to put the forces of law and order on full alert. There are no limits, no censorship; only ideas which are always valid so long as the public ceases to be the public and becomes part of the show swept by surprise, fear, tears or laughter. Theater as life, life as theater… there is no longer any difference.

Attack the Gas Station!

A quartet of disaffected Korean youths have robbed a Seoul gas station. After taking the gas station over, their wacky antics ensue; forcing the manager to sing, kidnapping customers that complain about the service, and staging fist-fights between street gang members and gas station employees; all of these reflect their own gripes against society.

Salvador (Puig Antich)

The story of Salvador Puig Antich, one of the last political prisoners to be executed under Franco's Fascist State in 1974.

Blown Away

Blown Away tells the story of Jimmy Dove, who works for the Boston bomb squad. Shortly after Dove leaves the force, his partner is killed by a bomb that Dove thinks might have been made by someone he knows.

Nineteen Eighty-Four

George Orwell's novel of a totalitarian future society in which a man whose daily work is rewriting history tries to rebel by falling in love.

The Strategy of the Snail

A group of tenants facing eviction due to a city renovation unite to fight back, but as they clash with the landlord and his ruthless attorney, they each transform into the opposite of who they once were.

Cosmopolis

Riding across Manhattan in a stretch limo during a riot in order to get a haircut, a 28-year-old billionaire asset manager's life begins to crumble.

Lady L

Lady L is an elegant 80-year-old woman who recalls her amorous life story, including past loves and lusty, scandalous adventures she has lived through.

The Anarchists

Set in 1899 Paris, a young police sergeant is chosen to infiltrate a group of anarchists, an opportunity he sees to rise through the ranks. However, he soon finds himself becoming attached to the group.

Sacco & Vanzetti

Boston, 1920. Italian immigrants Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti are charged and unfairly tried for murder on the basis of their anarchist political beliefs.

Mother Küsters Goes to Heaven

After a worker kills a superior and commits suicide, each of his family members attempts to forge a path forward in life.

Eros + Massacre

An account of the final days of radical feminist Noe Ito and her lover Sakae Osugu.

The Violent Four

A detective is assigned to head a manhunt for four violent bank robbers.

The Chrysanthemum and the Guillotine

In the wake of the social unrest caused by the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, two female sumo athletes, Kiku and Tokachi, and an anarchist group called the Guillotine Society, spark an unlikely connection.

Freedomfighters

At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, the nun Maria is forced to flee her convent. She takes refuge in a brothel, until it is liberated by a woman's anarchist group. Maria joins the group and eventually goes to the front. The women's group faces the problems of fighting not only the nationalists, but also factions on the left seeking to impose a more traditional military structure.

Something in the Air

During the 1970s a student named Gilles gets entangled in contemporary political turmoils although he would rather just be a creative artist. While torn between his solidarity to his friends and his personal ambitions he falls in love with Christine.

Wild

An anarchist young woman breaks the tacit contract with civilization and fearlessly decides on a life without hypocrisy or an obligatory safety net.

Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind

Three lazybones friends manufacture a firebomb and place it in a cinema. Pearl, a sadistic young girl, has observed the scene, follows the bombers and starts to manipulate them. The four criminals plan more and more daring acts.

Outlaw!

The movie is based on the autobiography of Horst Fantazzini. Son of an anarchist, he was known in Northern Italy as “the gentleman bandit” because he robbed banks without violence, with only a toy gun. After many convictions and jailbreaks, in the summer of 1973 he's being held in Fossano, Piedmont when he tries to escape again. This time things get messy and he has to use a real gun and take two prison guards as hostages.

Piazza Fontana: The Italian Conspiracy

On December 12, 1969, a bomb kills 17 people at the Piazza Fontana national bank in Milan, Italy, marking the beginning of the Years of Lead. Local anarchists are scapegoated for the massacre by police and the media, but a lone prosecutor uncovers a conspiracy of far-right groups, corrupt secret services, and other interests that seek to undermine democracy.

Sons of Norway

It’s not easy to rebel when your dad wants to join the party... One day (in 1979), Magnus and his son Nikolaj hit the wall in their new terrace house in Rykkinn. Magnus is an architect, hippie and free spirit, a glaring exception in a community where equality and conformity is the norm. He always stands up for his son, supporting him unconditionally, even when Nikolaj decides to stop giving a damn.

Sound and Fury

This drama depicts the misery of neglected children in big cities. 13 years old Bruno is of a good family, but since the death of his grandmother he spends most of his time alone, in a phantasy world, while his mother is away at work. But then he befriends the violent Jean-Roger, who's from a severely disturbed family, where nobody cares what he's doing. In school Jean-Roger drives their teacher into despair just for fun. To separate the two boys, she starts to stimulate Bruno's interests by giving him extra lessons. When Jean-Roger fears loosing his one and only friend, he becomes even more aggressive.

Loft

In an apocalyptic future world, a young upper class couple is visiting an exhibition of surrealistic paintings, presented by a group of young anarchists in their loft flat where they trap and torture their high society guests.

Broken: The Incredible Story of Brangelina

Bestselling author and award-winning filmmaker Ian Halperin lifts the lid on Brangelina - the couple, the brand and the breakup. Featuring exclusive revelations and anecdotes from behind the scenes, Broken: The Incredible Story of Brangelina explores the relationship of one of the most fascinating, powerful and enigmatic couples in the entertainment business.

Austral

At the end of the world, day in, day out, three men take on the southern ocean and its legends. They leave their families and brave the cold and the storms to go and meet the isolated fishermen in the infamous Cape Horn islands. Some launch themselves into these epic channels through greed, others for love of the sea or family need, but all agree on the importance of carrying forward this endangered traditional livelihood and brotherly sharing.

Shadowland

Director Otso Tiainen’s fascinating study of an esoteric community hidden within the French Pyrenees begins by exploring the seekers drawn to this place, supposedly the home of the Holy Grail. However, it is the appearance of charismatic film director Richard Stanley that truly ignites the story. Before long, accusations about his conduct surface, and the residents find themselves caught in a battle for their very souls. The dangers of blind faith and the magnetic pull of certain personalities are put under the microscope in this breathtaking examination of a small microcosm of society forced to confront who they are when everything they believe is challenged. A vital film that urges us to scrutinize our heroes, SHADOWLAND is a must-see—not only to contextualize the inner battles we all face but also to finally see the truth laid bare.

The Legend in Me

Living in the shadow of Canadian sports legend Lionel Conacher (1900–1954), whose legacy spans five sports, is a daunting challenge for any relative. For great-grandchild Lionel IV, better known as Chas, that challenge extends beyond athletics into the realm of self-discovery. As a non-binary individual navigating identity in the 21st century, Chas explores both the weight of their family’s star-athlete lineage and the evolving landscape of queer identity in a documentary that bridges nostalgia with forward-looking reflection.

Christopher Reeve, Superman Forever

A French documentary on Superman actor Christopher Reeve as told by his French voice dubbing actor, Pierre Arditi.

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.