Die Buddenbrooks (1923)
Four-generation story-saga dealing with the decline of a middle-class Lübeck family. The first adaptation of a Thomas Mann book was also Gerhard Lamprecht’s first major film.
The Birth of a Nation (1915)
Two families, abolitionist Northerners the Stonemans and Southern landowners the Camerons, intertwine. When Confederate colonel Ben Cameron is captured in battle, nurse Elsie Stoneman petitions for his pardon. In Reconstruction-era South Carolina, Cameron founds the Ku Klux Klan, battling Elsie's congressman father and his African-American protégé, Silas Lynch.
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
A married farmer falls under the spell of a slatternly woman from the city, who tries to convince him to drown his wife.
Battleship Potemkin (1925)
A dramatized account of a great Russian naval mutiny and a resultant public demonstration, showing support, which brought on a police massacre. The film had an incredible impact on the development of cinema and is a masterful example of montage editing.
Nanook of the North (1922)
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.
October (Ten Days that Shook the World) (1928)
Sergei M. Eisenstein's docu-drama about the 1917 October Revolution in Russia. Made ten years after the events and edited in Eisenstein's 'Soviet Montage' style, it re-enacts in celebratory terms several key scenes from the revolution.
Underground (1928)
A working-class love story set in and around the London Underground of the 1920s. Two men – gentle Bill and brash Bert – meet and are attracted to the same woman on the same day at the same Underground station. But the lady chooses Bill, and Bert isn't the type to take rejection lightly...
Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003)
This film, adapted from a work of fiction by author Tracy Chevalier, tells a story about the events surrounding the creation of the painting "Girl With A Pearl Earring" by 17th century Dutch master Johannes Vermeer. A young peasant maid working in the house of painter Johannes Vermeer becomes his talented assistant and the model for one of his most famous works.
Victim (NaN)
A father sacrifices an animal on the day of Eid al-Adha according to the traditions and customs of the past. According to the old custom, he gives the last bowl of water to the goat, but his son tries to save the goat. The father angrily looks for them. The boy makes the goat run away and puts the rope around his neck instead of the goat. This short film refers to the story of Ismail and Ibrahim in Islam.
The Arab (1924)
Jamil, a soldier in the Bedouin defense forces during a war between Syria and Turkey, deserts his regiment but later returns to save children of a missionary’s orphanage who are at risk of being enslaved or killed by the Turks.
Metropolis (1927)
In a futuristic city sharply divided between the rich and the poor, the son of the city's mastermind meets a prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)
In 15th century France, a gypsy girl is framed for murder by the infatuated Chief Justice, and only the deformed bellringer of Notre Dame Cathedral can save her.
Sugar and Salt (2019)
Like every year, a group of friends arrives at a remote and secluded place to "celebrate their friendship". This is the 36th time now, but this year is going to be different. Stana has lost his battle with cancer and for the first time ever there are only five friends. Spring is blooming, they kill a lamb with their own hands and drink to Stana's memory. However, one of them, Dalibor, has a secret he does not want to share.
Vinland (2022)
Like many others, Daniil has decided to leave his native Georgia and move to Prague in search of better pay. Originally a teacher, he finds a job with Ukrainian laborers controlled by a Russian boss called Sergei and thus becomes a cog in the machinery that takes advantage of the work of illegal immigrants… Vinland looks at the lives of people who exist all around us but about whom we know so little because their identities disappear the moment they relinquish their passports to the mafia who are interested only in profit.
Caravaggio (1986)
A retelling of the life of the celebrated 17th-century Baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio through his brilliant, nearly blasphemous paintings and his flirtations with the underworld.
The Sealed Room (1909)
The Count sets out to make a private room for him and his Countess, built in such a way no one can see, hear, and most importantly, disturb them. But unbeknownst to the Count, his wife has set her eyes on the court minstrel. Based on Edgar Allan Poe's “The Cask of Amontillado” and Honoré de Balzac's “La Grande Breteche”.
The White Heather (1919)
Lord Angus Cameron's marriage to a woman of his titled Scottish class is thwarted by his secret marriage years before to Marion Hume, the housekeeper of the castle. Cameron attempts to repudiate the marriage, the only record of which is a certificate in the sunken wreck of a yacht, The White Heather. Marion goes to court to prove her claim and secure the rights of her son by Cameron, but is defeated. Alec McClintock, who is in love with Marion, and Cameron both want to recover the record, so they don diving suits and descend to the wreck. An underwater struggle ensues and Cameron severs his own air tube and drowns while attempting to cut off his rival's air supply. Alec then recovers the marriage record and wins Marion. —AFI
Incest (1929)
Martin Hollmann, a young gardener meets his significantly older wife's daughter from her first marriage. Liesbeth Kröger is from his generation and they both get along well straight away. Shortly after his wife's death, Martin brings Liesbeth into his house as a housekeeper, and they both fall in love. The couple live together and soon decide to get married when Liesbeth becomes pregnant by Martin. But now the tragedy begins, because when registering at the registry office, Martin and Liesbeth, in the form of a strict bailiff, are officially declared that they have committed incest in accordance with Section 173 of the Criminal Code.
The Ten Commandments (1923)
The first part tells the story of Moses leading the Jews from Egypt to the Promised Land, his receipt of the tablets and the worship of the golden calf. The second part shows the efficacy of the commandments in modern life through a story set in San Francisco. Two brothers, rivals for the love of Mary, also come into conflict when John discovers Dan used shoddy materials to construct a cathedral.