Britten's Children

A Film Journey to the Soul of India documents the life of sitar master Ravi Shankar in the late 1960s and early 1970s, following him on his return to India to revisit his guru, Bengali multi-instrumentalist and composer, Baba Ustad Allauddin Khan. It further explores Shankar's life as a musician and teacher in the United States and Europe, initiating those in the West to the exceptional world that is Indian classical music and culture. Through rare and candid footage shot in both India and the United States, Raga sheds light on Shankar's influences and collaborations, from Allauddin Khan to his famed dancer brother Uday Shankar, to his associations with Western musicians Yehudi Menuhin and George Harrison. Fully narrated by Shankar himself, the film reveals music as the soul of India and of Shankar's life.

The life of Blues and folk singer Huddie Leadbetter, nicknamed Leadbelly is recounted. Covering the good times and bad from his 20s to 40s. Much of that time was spent on chain gangs in the south. Even in prison he became well known for the songs he had composed and sung during and before the time he spent there.

Benjamin Britten's opera as performed by the English National Opera, with Philip Langridge in the title role.

A documentary on the life and work of Gene Clark, co-founder of The Byrds, whose subsequent career was a rollercoaster of pioneering music and personal disaster.

A feature film about Benjamin Britten, released as part of the 100 year celebrations of his birth. Britten is the most performed British composer worldwide. This film premiered at Gresham's School, which he attended, and focuses on how his life-long pacifism influenced his life and music. Written and directed by Tony Britten (In Love With Alama Cogan), narrated by John Hurt and with a superb cast of young people, including many supporting roles taken by students of Gresham's School, the film weaves dramatisation with a documentary narrative.

The exiled Austro-German musician and composer Artur Schnabel was a giant of his time, but in Germany today he is nearly forgotten. Pianist and Schnabel devotee Markus Pawlik (in collaboration with baritone Dietrich Henschel and the Szymanowski String Quartet) brings Artur Schnabel's greatest compositions back to Berlin with a filmed commemorative concert. Along the way, Pawlik visits the places, landscapes, and history that shaped Schnabel's life and music. "Artur Schnabel: No Place of Exile" rediscovers an essential artist displaced by the catastrophe of the two World Wars and the Holocaust and inspired by the possibilities of modernism.

The composer of Land of Hope and Glory is often regarded as the quintessential English gentleman. But Elgar's image of hearty nobility was deliberately contrived. In this revelatory portrait of a musical genius, John Bridcut explores the secret conflicts in Elgar's nature which produced some of Britain's greatest music. Featuring specially filmed performances by the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

A unique celebration of the Queen's ninety years as she reaches her landmark birthday in April. Film-maker John Bridcut has been granted special access to the complete collection of Her Majesty's personal ciné films, shot by the Duke of Edinburgh and the Queen herself, as well as by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. Much of it has never been seen publicly before. Various members of the Royal Family are filmed watching this private footage and contributing their own personal insights and their memories of the woman they know both as a member of their own close family and as queen. Among those taking part are the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge, Prince Harry, the Princess Royal, the Duke of Kent and his sister Princess Alexandra, who has never before given an interview.

From his quirky compositions for the spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone to his sublime musical contributions to director Roland Joffé's acclaimed 1986 drama The Mission, film composer Ennio Morricone has crafted more than 500 scores over the course of his enduring career in film. Now fans can take a look back at the life and career of one of cinema's most prolific composers through interviews with both the composer himself and many of his longtime collaborators. From his Italian efforts to his work in America, this documentary covers every aspect of Morricone's career as few have, offering insight into his childhood, his longtime association with Leone, and his ultimate disenchantment with the American studio system.

Fifty years after his death, this musical and psychological portrait of Ralph Vaughan Williams explores the passions that drove a giant of 20th-century English music.

This documentary covers the acid house, rave and club culture revolution in the UK and of course the chemical Methylenedioxymethamphetamine or ecstasy. This era inspired the film 24 Hour Party people and sheds light on the forgotten counter culture movement.

To mark the centenary of Benjamin Britten's birth, Britten’s Endgame explores the composer's creativity in the face of death. Those closest to him watched anxiously as he raced to complete his final opera, Death in Venice, in defiance of medical advice, tackling an edgy subject with many resonances in his own life. His eventual heart operation left him incapacitated and prematurely old and frail, yet somehow he rediscovered his creative urge to produce two late masterpieces. This is a rich and poignant film about Britten’s final years, and the impact of what Peter Pears called 'an evil opera'.

Captain Vere, an old man, is haunted by a moment in his life when he was tested and found wanting. Based on Herman Melville's novella of naval life in the late 18th Century, Benjamin Britten's 'Billy Budd' is a gripping reflection on good and evil, innocence and corruption.

An open-air staging by Aldeburgh Music of Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes, on the beach that inspired the opera. A small seaside community struggles to accept a fisherman.

A version of Benjamin Britten's opera based on the Melville story. Will the virtuous young sailor Billy Budd be hanged for murder?

E! True Hollywood Story is an American documentary series on E! that deals with famous Hollywood celebrities, movies, TV shows and also well-known public figures. Among the topics covered on the program include salacious re-tellings of Hollywood secrets, show-biz scandals, celebrity murders and mysteries, porn-star biographies, and "where-are-they-now?" investigations of former child stars. It frequently features in-depth interviews, actual courtroom footage, and dramatic reenactments. When aired on the E! network, episodes will be updated to reflect the current life or status of the subject.

A series of eight crudely animated shorts written, directed, and voiced by director David Lynch in 2002. The series details the daily routines of a dull-witted white trash man. The man lives in a house along with his frazzled wife and squeaky-voiced child, both of whom are nameless as is the man in the shows.

The real stories that inspired TV movies that have become a part of American pop culture. The program combines cinematic re-creations with first-person interviews with women in peril who recount the jaw-dropping experiences that gave them their turn in the spotlight.

Revolver is a British music TV series on ITV that ran for one series only, of eight episodes, in 1978. It was produced by ATV. The series producer was Mickie Most, who was inspired to make the programme after he saw an interview with Top of the Pops' producer Robin Nash, in which he boasted that TOTP was a music programme that the whole family could enjoy together. Most set out to make a show which was the antithesis of that, and which featured live music performances most closely related to the then emergent Punk rock and New Wave music scenes - though it also included other more mainstream artists such as Kate Bush, Dire Straits and Lindisfarne. The official host of the programme was Chris Hill, but it is remembered more for the contributions of Peter Cook. Cook played the manager of the fictional ballroom where the show was supposedly taking place, and frequently made disparaging remarks about the acts appearing.

An up-close and personal examination of the life, music and career of the legendary entertainer. Told in his own words from hours of archived interviews, along with commentary from those closest to him, the documentary weaves the music and images from Sinatra’s life together with rarely seen footage of his famous 1971 “Retirement Concert” in Los Angeles. The film’s narrative is shaped by Sinatra’s song choices for that concert, which Gibney interprets as the singer’s personal guide through his own life.

Matt Berry explains, comments on, and muses about various events, anniversaries, and other aspects of life in the UK.

Ancient Earth is an original CuriosityStream documentary series running for 2 seasons. Each season comprises of 3-3 episodes, respectively that feature stunning animations in Ultra HD 4K quality. The 1st season sheds light on the kind of life that existed in the Permian, Triassic and Cretaceous periods. The 2nd season is about some crucial moments in the evolution of life: the disappearance of the giant insects, the rise of the feathered dinosaurs, and the dawn of the mammals.

Chronicles the life of Judy Garland, from her first public performance in 1924 until her death.

Offers a reappraisal of "yacht rock", a critically neglected era of music popularized by a boom in FM radio stations and its smooth sound. The gleaming yacht sound was, in part, always defined by a group of LA-based session players and composers who worked across a range of yacht bands, informing their specific tone and level of musicianship. Some of these artists talk about the yacht phenomenon and being part of the scene back in the day. The series explores how the music adapted from the the bearded sensitivity of the '70s to the bombast of the MTV '80s, and how a satirical online drama contributed to a revival of interest and enthusiasm for these sounds in the digital era.

Dermot O'Leary relives moments from the lives of some of the biggest stars in music and film. Together they view both seen and unseen footage from the star's career.

Louis de Pointe's epic story of love, blood, and the perils of immortality, as told to the journalist Daniel Molloy. Chafing at the limitations of life as a black man in 1900s New Orleans, Louis finds it impossible to resist the rakish Lestat De Lioncourt's offer of the ultimate escape: joining him as his vampire companion.

Inspired by Manzano’s own childhood, ALMA’S WAY centers on 6-year-old Alma Rivera, a proud, confident Puerto Rican girl who lives in the Bronx with her family among a diverse group of close-knit friends and community members. Infused with Manzano’s humor and grounded in a social and emotional curriculum, the series will give children ages 4-6 the tools to find their own answers, express what they think and feel, and recognize and respect the unique perspective of others.

A-list celebrities share their personal health issues in a series of intimate conversations with Dr. David Agus, a world-renowned medical authority and cancer specialist. With their deeply honest and thoughtful conversations serving as the narrative spine of the show, Dr. Agus will take viewers on an eye-opening and inspirational journey that sheds new light on the most important medical topics from today’s headlines. Full of personal revelations, cutting-edge breakthroughs, game-changing technologies and accessible take-aways, The Checkup with Dr. David Agus will not only change lives, it will save lives.

A documentary series focusing on the music from Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The show centers on the songs and score from the movie and features interview with director Ryan Coogler, composer Ludwig Göransson, among others.

Thalia takes audiences on a musical journey, uncovering the classics that inspired generations of artists and created the current Latin music landscape seen today. Through a combination of interviews, found footage and modern renditions of classic hits by today’s biggest stars, the series revisits the history of Latin music and uncovers the future of the genre in an intimate way not yet seen before.