Popular review site Shut Up & Sit Down follows the creative heads of Fantasy Flight Games as they develop a new edition of their flagship game Twilight Imperium.
White Out, Black In (2014)
Shots fired inside a club frequented by black Brazilians in the outskirts of Brasilia leave two men wounded. A third man arrives from the future in order to investigate the incident and prove that the fault lies in the repressive society.
Made for Play: Board Games and Modern Industry (2013)
Jettingen Germany is home to Ludo Fact, one of the world's largest manufacturers of board and card games. This documentary shows how a board game makes the leap from an idea to your table. You'll see every aspect of the manufacturing process: the technology and machines, the many detailed steps, and the hundreds of people that are involved in the production of a single game. Mostly, we hope the film gives you a greater appreciation of the time, effort and investment that goes into every quality board game that makes it to the marketplace and your home. The business of fun requires a lot of hard work!
Star Trek: Secrets of the Universe (2013)
Is building our own starship Enterprise possible? Will we ever travel between the stars as easily as they do in Star Trek? JJ Abrams' new feature, Star Trek Into Darkness, hits the screen in a golden age of scientific discoveries. HISTORY is there, giving viewers a deep look behind the scenes, on the set, and into the science–amazing new exoplanets, the physics of Warp drive, and the ideas behind how we might one day live in a Star Trek Universe.
Trekkies (1997)
Denise Crosby takes a first look at the huge fans of "Star Trek" from around America and how the series has affected and shaped their lives.
Ruthless: Monopoly's Secret History (2023)
America’s favorite board game, Monopoly, is a love letter to unbridled capitalism and the impulses that make our free-market society tick. Contrary to the folksy legend spread by Parker Brothers, Monopoly’s origin involves a radical feminist and a community of Quakers in Atlantic City. If not for the determination of an economics professor and impassioned anti-monopolist, the real story behind the creation of the game might never have come to light.
Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine (2003)
Garry Kasparov is possibly the greatest chess player who has ever lived. In 1997, he played a match against the greatest chess computer: IBM's Deep Blue. He lost. This film depicts the drama that happened away from the chess board from Kasparov's perspective. It explores the psychological aspects of the game and the paranoia surrounding IBM's ultimate chess machine.
Back to Space-Con (2011)
On February 22, 1975, Northern California's very first Star Trek convention was held at Lincoln High School in San Francisco, CA. It was called "The Red Hour Festival." A huge success with the fans of the original TV series (1966-69), the smash event led to much larger conventions in San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles. These "Space-Con" conventions left an indelible mark on the science-fiction fans and "Trekkers" who attended. In the end, conventions like Space-Con helped awaken Paramount from hibernation and led to the creation of the first installment of the major motion picture series "Star Trek" in 1979. This full-length documentary film is the story of how fandom revolutionized an industry.
Beast Wishes: The Fantastic World of Bob and Kathy Burns (2012)
Documentary about Bob and Kathy Burns, the goodwill ambassadors of science fiction film fandom.
Word Wars (2004)
The classic board game, Scrabble, has been popular for decades. In addition, there are fanatics who devote heart and soul to this game to the expense of everything else. This film profiles a group of these enthusiasts as they converge for a Scrabble convention where the word game is almost a bloodsport.
Philip K Dick: A Day in the Afterlife (1994)
A poetic look at the life and legacy of legendary author Philip K. Dick (1928-1982), who wrote over over a hundred short stories and 44 novels of mind-bending sci-fi, exploring themes of authority, drugs, theology, mental illness and much more.
The First Scientific Science-Fiction Film (1993)
A short documentary about Fritz Lang's film 'Frau im Mond', and its relation to the science and history of real space travel.
Done the Impossible (2006)
A documentary covering Firefly's birth, death and rebirth from the perspective of both the fans and the cast and crew of both productions.
In the Interstices of Reality or The Cinema of António de Macedo (2016)
He was the most prolific within the New Portuguese Cinema generation. He would try western spaghetti, esoteric allegory, supernatural, and science-fiction. Without state subsidies, he would quit filmmaking in the 1990s. Who remembers António de Macedo?
Generation Sputnik (2016)
From 1957 —the year in which the Soviets put the Sputnik 1 satellite into orbit— to 1969 —when American astronaut Neil Armstrong walked on the surface of the moon—, the beginnings of the space conquest were depicted in popular culture: cinema, television, comics and literature of the time contain numerous references to an imagined future.
Trekkers: A Fan's Guide (2008)
Few TV series inspire devotion and loyalty the way star trek has, the classic sci-fi show has millions of dedicated followers around the world, with many more than just fans -they are "Trekkers" the most committed enthusiasts. In this fascinating programme we discover from the Trekkers themselves what inspires them and what motivates their love for Gene Roddenberrys timeless creation. Plus we are treated to excerpts from the starship Intrepid and go behind the scenes of the fans-made films to see how a hardy band of trekkers create their own installments, costumes make-up scenery acting and filming.
The PhanDom Menace (2002)
The PhanDom Menace presents the definitive look at the most devoted fans on the planet. Follow the lives of Australia's most passionate Star Wars fans as the moment they've waited 16 years for is suddenly upon them. See the amazing costumes, trivia soaked brains, vast collections and unconditional dedication that make these fans a breed apart. Be stunned by the shockwaves that echo through the Star Wars fan community at the dawn of its new prequel era.
No Maps for These Territories (2000)
On an overcast morning in 1999, William Gibson, father of cyberpunk and author of the cult-classic novel Neuromancer, stepped into a limousine and set off on a road trip around North America. The limo was rigged with digital cameras, a computer, a television, a stereo, and a cell phone. Generated entirely by this four-wheeled media machine, No Maps for These Territories is both an account of Gibson’s life and work and a commentary on the world outside the car windows. Here, the man who coined the word "cyberspace" offers a unique perspective on Western culture at the edge of the new millennium, and in the throes of convulsive, tech-driven change.
Jedi Junkies (2010)
A film about the world's most dedicated Star Wars fans. From lightsaber wielding martial arts academies to a filmmaker who built the world's only life-size Millennium Falcon, from a Monster Garage-esque sculptor whose professional livelihood is building custom lightsabers to metal-bikini wearing dancers who embody Slave Leia, the film offers viewers a rare glimpse into rabid fans' personal and professional self expression that borders on obsession.