Documentary about an eclectic group of students from all corners of the planet at one of the world's top industrial design schools in Sweden's faraway north just below the Arctic Circle. The film explores everyday life and dynamic design processes at Umeå Institute of Design during the school's 25th anniversary when traditionally generous and export-driven Sweden has decided to impose steep tuition fees for non-Europeans, the very students instrumental in making the school what it is today.
Le Paris des mannequins (1963)
A photoshoot on the roofs and in the streets of Paris, under the astonished eyes of the inhabitants.
Class Acts (2023)
Class Acts is a feature-length documentary tracing the genesis of Singapore's creative scene in the '90s through intimate conversations with its pioneering personalities. These are the stories of individuals who started creating with nothing, who push Singapore’s creative standards even today. The ones who went on to inspire a new generation of musicians, designers, and street artists.
David Macaulay: Pyramid (1989)
How did ancient Egyptians build the Great Pyramid at Giza, joining two million blocks of heavy stone with amazing precision? Who were the leaders who built these enormous structures, and what did these tombs signify? Host David Macaulay explores the history, mythology, and religions of Egypt's people, combining live footage and animation. Take a rare look at the mummy of Ramses II and buried treasure in the sacred Valley of the Kings.
Design (1969)
This film was made by Bass' company as a presentation to AT&T executives. It would have extended to be shown to the public, but a number of his ideas in the film were not ultimately adopted, like his phone booth designs, and men's and women's uniforms. But a great many of the design were adopted—including, most memorably, the telephone vans and hardhat designs of the 1970s. Bass designed down to the details, showcasing in this film a myriad of ideas, like Yellow Pages book designs, cufflinks for executives, and flags. (AT&T Archives)
Design Disruptors (2016)
Full-length documentary featuring design leaders and product designers from 15+ industry-toppling companies—valued at more than $1 trillion dollars combined. The film chronicles the true nature of design and the design-driven business revolutions being shaped around the world through the designers eyes. Get a never-before-seen look into the perspectives, processes, and design approaches of leaders at industry-toppling brands and discover how these companies are disrupting billion dollar industries through design.
It's Dutch Design (2019)
It's Dutch Design is a 60-minute documentary about the worldwide success of Dutch Design. Top Designers and international keyplayers reveal their personal vision and explain why a small country could become so big in the field of Design. The history is told with iconic Dutch Design examples, spanning more than 100 years.
A Time for Making (2018)
Nine artisans on secluded Gabriola Island reveal the differences between mass manufactured and authentic locally handmade through intimate portraits of their work and lifestyle.
Objectified (2009)
A feature-length documentary about our complex relationship with manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them.
Gray Matters (2016)
Gray Matters explores the long, fascinating life and complicated career of architect and designer Eileen Gray, whose uncompromising vision defined and defied the practice of modernism in decoration, design and architecture. Making a reputation with her traditional lacquer work in the first decade of the 20th century, she became a critically acclaimed and sought after designer and decorator in the next before reinventing herself as an architect, a field in which she laboured largely in obscurity. Apart from the accolades that greeted her first building –persistently and perversely credited to her mentor–her pioneering work was done quietly, privately and to her own specifications. But she lived long enough (98) to be re-discovered and acclaimed. Today, with her work commanding extraordinary prices and attention, her legacy, like its creator, remains elusive, contested and compelling.
Geoff McFetridge: Drawing a Life (2023)
Deeply thoughtful and illuminating, DRAWING A LIFE reveals the details of artist Geoff McFetridge’s life and work while delving further into the universal questions of what makes a fulfilling life and how to live with intention in the limited time we all have.
Borrowed from Nature (2020)
Borrowed From Nature explores the rich and complex history of Japanese gardens in western Canada. Through the principles and design philosophy of famed Japanese Canadian designer Roy Tomomichi Sumi, we visit Japanese gardens in Lethbridge, AB, Vancouver, BC, and New Denver, BC, revealing hidden testaments to an enduring Japanese influence in our country
Graphic Means: A History of Graphic Design Production (2017)
Up until just over 30 years ago, when the desktop computer debuted, the whole design production process would have been done primarily by hand, and with the aide of analog machines. The design and print industries used a variety of ways to get type and image onto film, plates, and finally to the printed page. Graphic Means is a journey through this transformative Mad Men-era of pre-digital design production to the advent of the desktop computer. It explores the methods, tools, and evolving social roles that gave rise to the graphic design industry as we know it today.
Dans le vent (1963)
Short subject on how fashion is created-- not by the great couturiers, but on the street.
Art & Copy (2009)
The personal odysseys of some of the most influential advertising visionaries of all time and the stories behind their campaigns.
Worlds largest rocket builder (2022)
It’s October 10 2020 and Kim Jong-un presents the largest mobile rocket on Earth. Jippe Liefbroer, Interaction Design student, sees the rocket and thinks: it can be bigger. For his graduation project he built 'Kimmi's worst nightmare', a 31 meter long rocket. That is 1 meter longer than Kim Jung-un's.
Ink and Gold: An Artist's Journey to Olympic Glory (NaN)
'Ink and Gold: An Artist's Journey to Olympic Glory' is a short form documentary that follows the journey of New Zealand artist and athlete, Zakea Page, winning the Lausanne 2020 Youth Olympic Games medal design competition and fulfilling a lifelong dream to perform at the opening ceremonies. The film was shot over the course of one week in Lausanne, Switzerland, at the 2020 Youth Olympic Games and weaved together with self-taped footage of Zakea's younger years as an athlete and artist. Accompanied with interviews of his family, 'Ink and Gold' highlights the connection between art and sport in bringing together peoples of diverse cultures and backgrounds to bridge barriers of language and foster connections, mutual understanding, and respect for one another.
Hollywood's Architect: The Paul R. Williams Story (2020)
Nicknamed “Architect to the Stars,” African American architect Paul R. Williams had an incredible life. Orphaned at the age of four, Williams grew up to build mansions for movie stars and millionaires in Southern California. From the early 1920s until his retirement 50 years later, Williams was one of the most successful architects in the country. His clients included Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant, Barbara Stanwyck, William Holden, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. His name is associated with icons like the Beverly Hills Hotel, the original MCA Headquarters Building and LAX Airport. But at the height of his career Paul Williams wasn’t always welcome in the restaurants and hotels he designed or the neighborhoods where he built homes, because of his race. “Hollywood’s Architect: The Paul R. Williams Story” tells the compelling, but little known story, of how he used talent and perseverance to beat the odds and create a body of work that can be found from coast to coast.
Arne Jacobsen’s Modern Denmark (2021)
Danish documentary about the disobedient schoolboy with a talent for painting, who became one of Denmark’s greatest architects. His ideas were ahead of their time and often received criticism, but today, 50 years after his death, Arne Jacobsen's schools, town halls and libraries are still with us, and they define modern Denmark.
Pressing On: The Letterpress Film (2017)
Why has letterpress printing survived? Irreplaceable knowledge of the historic craft is in danger of being lost as its caretakers age. Fascinating personalities intermix with wood, metal, and type as young printers save a traditional process in Pressing On, a 4K feature-length documentary exploring the remarkable community keeping letterpress alive.