Brilliant Ideas

Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), man of the people, autodidact and revolutionary sculptor - the most brilliant of his era. At 42, Rodin meets Camille Claudel, a young woman desperate to become his assistant. He quickly acknowledges her as his most able pupil, and treats her as an equal in matters of creation.

A thoughtful portrait of a renowned artist, this documentary shines the spotlight on New York City painter Jean-Michel Basquiat. Featuring extensive interviews conducted by Basquiat's friend, filmmaker Tamra Davis, the production reveals how he dealt with being a black artist in a predominantly white field. The film also explores Basquiat's rise in the art world, which led to a close relationship with Andy Warhol, and looks at how the young painter coped with acclaim, scrutiny and fame.

An intimate and moving meditation on the late musician and artist Kurt Cobain, based on more than 25 hours of previously unheard audiotaped interviews conducted with Cobain by noted music journalist Michael Azerrad for his book "Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana." In the film, Kurt Cobain recounts his own life - from his childhood and adolescence to his days of musical discovery and later dealings with explosive fame - and offers often piercing insights into his life, music, and times. The conversations heard in the film have never before been made public, and they reveal a highly personal portrait of an artist much discussed but not particularly well understood.

With his partner Caprice, celebrity performance artist Saul Tenser publicly showcases the metamorphosis of his organs in avant-garde performances. Timlin, an investigator from the National Organ Registry, obsessively tracks their movements, which is when a mysterious group is revealed... Their mission -- to use Saul's notoriety to shed light on the next phase of human evolution.

An intimate portrait of poet, painter, musician and singer Patti Smith that mirrors the essence of the artist herself.

An uplifting feature documentary highlighting the transformative power of art and the beauty of the human spirit. Top-selling contemporary artist Vik Muniz takes us on an emotional journey from Jardim Gramacho, the world's largest landfill on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, to the heights of international art stardom. Vik collaborates with the brilliant catadores, pickers of recyclable materials, true Shakespearean characters who live and work in the garbage quoting Machiavelli and showing us how to recycle ourselves.

Once just a girl from the provinces, Nora is now married to a successful scientist and lives together with her family within the confines of a secret and privileged Moscow institute. Nora is visited by her mother for the first time since her wedding. Her mother closely observes the atmosphere within the couple's home, trying to work out whether her daughter is happy. During the course of their intimate conversations the complexity of their contradictory relationship is revealed.

In this high-camp farce, Goons legend Spike Milligan stars as William Topaz McGonagall, an unemployed Scottish weaver and aspiring poet laureate who falls in love with Queen Victoria - a brilliant cameo by Peter Sellers - and thereafter devotes his banal poetry to her. Though McGonagall's solicitations are rejected by the Queen, it doesn't stop the turgid prose, and pathos, from overflowing as McGonagall hilariously attempts to become the greatest poet in the land. The image of the bad poet, trapped by his romanticism and inspired by a muse with a tin ear, appealed mightily to Spike Milligan, and this cult British spoof features the Goons show maestro at his ridiculous, genre-defying best.

This documentary for PBS by award-winning filmmaker David Grubin and narrated by Richard Gere, tells the story of the Buddha’s life, a journey especially relevant to our own bewildering times of violent change and spiritual confusion. It features the work of some of the world’s greatest artists and sculptors, who across two millennia, have depicted the Buddha’s life in art rich in beauty and complexity. Hear insights into the ancient narrative by contemporary Buddhists, including Pulitzer Prize winning poet W.S. Merwin and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Join the conversation and learn more about meditation, the history of Buddhism, and how to incorporate the Buddha’s teachings on compassion and mindfulness into daily life.

This is the never-before-told story of one of the most influential artists ever to come out of Jamaica, Toots Hibbert. It features intimate new performances and interviews with Toots, rare archive from throughout his career, and interviews with contemporaries and well-known admirers including Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Jimmy Cliff, Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Marcia Griffiths and Paolo Nutini.

Join art historian Robert Hughes for a fascinating journey into the life of Spanish painter Francisco Goya. Using the artist's works as the benchmarks in this biographical profile, Hughes follows Goya from his role as painter to the royal court through his maturity as a war reporter and into his troubled final years. Hughes reveals how the upheaval of Goya's life can be traced through his paintings that range from the fanciful to the insane.

This concert film, directed by multi award-winning director Shaun Silva and Tacklebox Films, features Lynyrd Skynyrd's 2018 hometown stadium performance from the Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour at TIAA Bank Field (Home of the Jacksonville Jaguars) in Jacksonville, Florida, as well as an intimate interview with the band about their experiences on tour and what performing together has meant to them.

The grounds of Klaus Rinke’s Los Angeles studio overflow with an otherworldly cactus garden. The cactus—a plant firmly rooted in the horticultural zeitgeist—is a lifelong obsession of the enigmatic artist whose career as a pioneering conceptual artist spans more than 6-decades. Striking footage of the cacti garden reveals a surreal hidden geometry and illuminates the uncanny ways in which cacti and humans express themselves and coexist.

A documentary on New York City’s biggest public art project ever, an installation called “The Gates” by Christo and Jeanne Claude.

Japanese animation - or 'anime' for those in the know - boasts one of the fastest growing fan bases in the entertainment industry. Harnessing the explosive momentum of the Internet, anime heralds a revolution in 21st century culture. *What is anime - high art or mere entertainment? *How did anime get its start? *How did WWII and the atom bomb affect the anime industry? *Just who are the American fans and why are they so fascinated? *What is the future of anime in America? Through intimate conversations with top Japanese artists, scholars and American industry professionals, highlighted with clips from classic and current anime productions, we lead you through the anime's beginning and reveal the answers to these and many other questions. The Invasion is here.

The greatest singers and songwriters play their music and tell the stories behind their greatest songs on this acclaimed VH1 music performance series. Each one-hour episode takes viewers behind the scenes with a single artist or group featuring intimate musical performances and the first-hand stories behind the performer's hits and sentimental favorites.

John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show is a stand-up comedy television series that currently airs on Comedy Central in the United States. Hosted by British comedian John Oliver, who is best known for his work on The Daily Show, the show features new material by both up-and-coming and established comedians. Each episode features four performers, including the headliner but not Oliver.

From Banger Films, the people that brought you the Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage documentary and the TV show Metal Evolution, comes an all-new docu-series profiling the biggest icons in hard rock, heavy metal and classic rock. Rock Icons takes you backstage with in-depth, intimate portraits revealing who these rock stars really are. Each 30-minute episode is jam-packed with exclusive interviews and never-before-seen footage with featured artists and the key people who helped shape their careers.

Authoritative and entertaining series featuring original portraits of songwriters discussing the creative process and their inspiration, including exclusive performances and interviews.

Explore the intimate lives of some of today's most notable personalities. The 10-episode semi-autobiographical series gives unprecedented access to stars including Tiffany Haddish, LaLa Anthony, Tamar Braxton, Charlemagne Da God, Le'Andria Johnson, NeNe Leakes, Nia Long, Rick Ross and Snoop Dogg as they personally reveal their own stories, in their own words, in the places where their stories unfolded.

Auto Exotica TV is a fast-paced television series that brings viewers along for the ride in some of the most exciting cars ever made. From classics to today's most thrilling speed machines, if it is a performance car, it's fair game. While three dynamic hosts who are all too eager to offer their opinions on the featured vehicles lead the show, it is clear that on Auto Exotica TV, the car is the star.

Intimate conversations about important issues with honest opinions and surprising solutions that put people first.

Oprah leads intimate discussions with today’s foremost newsmakers, thought leaders, and masters of their craft. Bringing truth and perspective to a range of topics shaping our world, they reveal gripping stories of human connection.

Emmy-winning Super Soul features all-new, intimate conversations between Oprah Winfrey and thought leaders, spiritual teachers, celebrities and authors -- designed to inspire and explore well-being and a more whole, conscious life.

Discover the architecture, history and stories of many of the most iconic music venues. Artists dive into the cultural and musical legacies of these venues and then give an intimate performance.

Masters of American Music is a multi-award-winning television series, as entertaining and memorable as it is educational, it is a must have for any true music fan. The series celebrates a pantheon of the greatest musical innovators with individual programmes tracing the lives and works of master musicians who defined the course of American’s musical history. From the birth of the blues in New Orleans to Swing, Big Band, Bebop, Free Jazz and beyond – all of this rich tapestry is explored with sensitivity and unique depth. The featured artists come to life through conversations with their contemporaries, exciting and rare live performances, period footage and vintage photographs, all of which have been meticulously produced.

Some of the biggest names in entertainment celebrate the artists who inspired their careers. Hosted by Sir Bruce Forsyth and featuring special performances from Jamie Cullum, Jessie Wallace, Alfie Boe, Ben Miller, Jon Culshaw and Jason Manford.

Artists from different musical backgrounds join their voices in performances recorded before a live audience in the intimate setting of the Marquee Ballroom, Halifax's famous alternative music venue.

On a cold December day in 2017, the bodies of Multi-Billionaire power couple, Barry and Honey Sherman, are found cruelly and bizarrely posed in the basement of their Toronto mansion. The case immediately becomes headline news attracting global interest. More than five years later, no suspects have been named, no arrests have been made, and the double-murder case remains unsolved. Now, in a four-part series, the nation's leading Investigative Journalist and pre-eminent expert on the case, Kevin Donovan, is on a quest to uncover the truth. Told from his perspective, Billionaire Murders reveals an intimate look at who the Shermans were and what may have happened to them. Featuring exclusive access to prominent Canadians who knew Barry and Honey, as well as Donovan’s fellow journalists and several people who are integral to the investigation, this series delves deep into the mystery of their murders including many twists, turns and outrageous conspiracy theories about “who dunnit.”

Before Barenaked Ladies, Broken Social Scene and Rush rose from Toronto's music scene, there was Rompin' Ronnie Hawkins, Robbie Robertson and Gordon Lightfoot making a name for themselves on Yonge Street. This three-part documentary reveals the history of how Toronto's main drag became the leading destination for singers, musicians and music fans not only in the city but across Canada as well. It began in the mid-1950s and flourished until the early '70s, and in between such artists as David Clayton-Thomas, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Levon Helm, Led Zeppelin and Jeff Beck performed on Yonge Street. In addition to archival audio and video footage, featured interviewees include Hawkins, Robertson, Lightfoot, music producer Daniel Lanois and festival promoter John Brower.