Movies: 20th century

The tragic and shocking story of the notorious Magdalene Laundries, a shameful system, created by the Irish State but supported by all strata of Irish society, which enslaved more than ten thousand women between 1922 and 1996....

Struggling against the totalitarian regime of occupied Soviet Latvia, a talented young doctor is stripped of her career, her joy for life, and even her maternal instincts....

Documentary short film about the work of Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844), one of the most famous Danish sculptors, who spent a good part of his life in Italy....

A documentary about the cultural effect of film censorship, focusing on the tumultuous times of the teens and early 1920s in America....

Short subject on how fashion is created-- not by the great couturiers, but on the street....

Ken Russell revisits the life of Elgar, with musical background provided by the composer's works....

The tormented love-hate relationship between acclaimed director Federico Fellini and actress Giulietta Masina, blending reality and imagination in depicting their lives....

At the age of 71, a highly regarded writer, José Cardoso Pires, suffers a major stroke and loses his memory and the ability to relate to the rest of the world. Everybody seems to defy the famous author to write another novel that recounts this advent...

In early 1900s Surrey, fifty women labeled as typhoid carriers face unjust confinement at Long Grove Asylum. Isolated and stigmatized, they endure harsh conditions while fighting for their basic human rights against a cruel medical system....

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Close up we see pistons move up and down or side to side. Pendulums sway, the small parts of machinery move. Gears drive larger wheels. Gears within gears spin. Shafts turn some mechanism that is out of sight. Screws revolve and move other gears; a b...

In the second half of the 20th century, a class of students prepare for the 40th anniversary of the Pioneer Organization in the old palace of Shah. Events unfold when the famous magician Io-Kio presents the magic gown that will throw a group of stude...

Messiaen's breathtakingly intense opera on the life of St Francis of Assisi stars Rod Gilfry as the charismatic visionary, beguiled by the glory of creation, yet fearful of both its imperfections and its transience. Pierre Audi's thoroughly engaging ...

In the spring of 1902, Viennese working-class daughter Marie König runs away from her beating father and is lured into a high-class brothel by an agent. Instead of the promised self-determined life "with horse-drawn carriage rides and silk dresses", ...

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Jerzy Kosiński, author of The Painted Bird and Being There, sees his life and literary career unravel after having the authenticity of his work called into question by two reporters from The Village Voice....

Brilliant composer and violinist George Enescu is at the peak of his career and wants to compose an opera. He falls in love with a princess, Maruca, who inspires and challenges him. She is fascinated by Enescu and his music, she loves him passionatel...

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