This Is Not a Film

An interview with film director Roman Polanski conducted during his period of house arrest, discussing his life and work.

This fiction-documentary hybrid uses a sensational real-life event—the arrest of a young man on charges that he fraudulently impersonated the well-known filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf—as the basis for a stunning, multilayered investigation into movies, identity, artistic creation, and existence, in which the real people from the case play themselves.

A man, his dog, a young woman and a filmmaker in a house by the Caspian Sea. All three are wanted, but they are also in search of each other. Thus begins an absurd game in which reality and fiction merge.

An American is kidnapped while attending a conference in Cairo and ends up in prison in Iran on spying charges. His wife goes to Iran, determined to get him out.

A yellow cab is driving through the vibrant and colourful streets of Tehran. Very diverse passengers enter the taxi, each candidly expressing their views while being interviewed by the driver who is no one else but the director Jafar Panahi himself. His camera placed on the dashboard of his mobile film studio captures the spirit of Iranian society through this comedic and dramatic drive…

Complications arise in a director's attempt to film a scene in Life, and Nothing more... (1992).

Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who has been barred from leaving the country, arrives at a village on the Iran-Turkey border to supervise a film based on a real-life couple seeking passports to Europe being shot in Turkey, but both his stay and the production run into trouble.

After Shideh's building is hit by a missile during the Iran-Iraq War, a superstitious neighbor suggests that the missile was cursed and might be carrying malevolent Middle-Eastern spirits. She becomes convinced a supernatural force within the building is attempting to possess her daughter Dorsa, and she has no choice but to confront these forces if she is to save her daughter and herself.

Various women struggle to function in the oppressively sexist society of contemporary Iran.

After a ten year absence, acclaimed filmmaker Molly Dineen is back with a new feature documentary: Being Blacker; an intimate portrait of Jamaican-born reggae producer, businessman, father, son and prominent community figure, Blacker Dread. 40 years after featuring in Dineen’s first film, Blacker and his family, friends and community in South London face the combined challenges of rapid social change, gentrification, inequality, poverty, crime and racism as they seek to secure their futures. Made with intimacy and warmth, the film takes us deep into Blacker’s world as he buries his mother, closes his business and faces prison for the first time. Being Blacker offers a rarely-heard perspective on life in Britain today.

Filmmaker Jafar Panahi and actor Behnaz Jafari travel to a tiny village after receiving a plea for help from a girl whose family has forbidden her from studying acting. Amusing encounters abound, but they soon discover that the local hospitality is rivaled by the desire to protect old traditions.

When a young girl's mother doesn't meet her after school, she tries to navigate the streets of Tehran by herself.

Marzieh is a young female actress living in Tehran. The authorities ban her theatre work and, like all young people in Iran, she is forced to lead a secret life in order to express herself artistically. At an underground rave, she meets Iranian born Saman, now an Australian citizen, who offers her a way out of her country and the possibility of living without fear.

An art thief becomes trapped in a New York penthouse after his heist goes awry. Imprisoned with nothing but priceless works of art, he must use all his cunning and invention to survive.

By the People: The Election of Barack Obama is a documentary film produced by Edward Norton broadcast in November 2009 on HBO, which follows Barack Obama and various members of his campaign team, including David Axelrod, through the two years leading up to the United States presidential election on November 4th, 2008.

30 for 30 is the umbrella title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN and its sister networks and online properties. The series, which highlights people and events in the sports world that have generally received small amounts of attention, has featured two "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series under the ESPN Films Presents title in 2011-2012, and a series of 30 for 30 Shorts shown through the ESPN.com website.

James Lipton sits down with some of the world's most accomplished actors and directors for penetrating, fascinating interviews.

The daily lives of prisoners in Emerald City, an experimental unit of the Oswald Maximum Security Prison where ingroups - Muslims, Latinos, Italians, Aryans - stick close to their mutual friends and terrorize their mutual enemies.

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.

Family Business was an American reality TV series produced for the cable network Showtime. Based in Los Angeles, the series focused on the pornography industry and the life of Adam Glasser, a reality porn star and video director who uses the stage name "Seymore Butts". Also featured on the series were his son, Brady, along with his mother, Lila Glasser, and his older cousin, Stevie Glasser, both of whom help Adam run the eponymous "family business" of the series, which in this case is a successful porn video production and distribution house in the San Fernando Valley, known for the "Seymore Butts" line of videos. The series first aired in 2003. In Canada it is broadcast on The Movie Network, Movie Central, and Showcase Television, in the UK on Channel 4, and in Latin America on FX. The first two seasons are currently available on DVD in North America. The series ran for four seasons. The series won the 2005 AVN award for 'Best Alternative Release'.

This story basically follows the most important happenings in Prophet Josephs life, from the view of muslims. The most important happenings are: 1. his travel to egypt 2. his rise and growing up in Egypt 3. his life problems when his "owner" Zuleikha falls in love with him and wants him to return the love to him. 4. his stay in prison, and how he reforms the prisoners. 5. his return by the side of the Pharao. 6. his uprising to the side of the pharao as his advisor. 7. his brothers coming to egypt, and how he decides to make them regret their mistakes so they can receive forgivness, and peace. 8. his reunion with his family after more than 20 years.

A unique look inside the terrifying lives of families encountering paranormal phenomena within their own homes, witnessing first-hand the frightening incidents they experience daily. Surveillance cameras set up throughout the houses capture every moment of the eerie activity that transpires and document the damaging toll it takes on the families' lives.

For millions, the election of Barack Obama marked a new era of hope. This four-part series tells the story of how he tried to reshape America as told by his inner circle - and the president himself.

Hezar-Dastan was an Iranian epic historical drama television series from 1987, developed and directed by Ali Hatami. Hezar Dastan is considered one of the most important and most influential works of art in the history of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. The production of the show took almost 8 years, starting in 1979 and ending in 1987, during which Hatami established a large set to represent Tehran in both Qajar dynasty and World War II, retroactively creating Iran's first movie studio and backlot (named Ghazali Cinema Town). The show tells the story of Reza Khoshnevis (also known as Reza Tofangchi), and his life and entanglement with corruption in government, and trying to correct it using not conventional means. The story is split into two section and it features Iran during the turbulent times of the latter days of Qajar Dynasty and during the events of World War II and Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran.

Follow renowned journalist Elvis Mitchell as he travels with A-list filmmakers and actors to places of inspiration around the world with unprecedented access, exploring how each location shaped their work and identity.

The daily lives of a group of racing wives in Lake Norman, N.C., where the who's who of stock car racing live. Go inside the personal and professional lives of the women as they support their husbands, friends and one another, both on and off the raceway.

As told through clips from 183 female directors, this epic history of the cinema focuses on women’s integral role in the development of film art. Using almost a thousand film extracts from thirteen decades and five continents, Mark Cousins asks how films are made, shot and edited; how stories are shaped and how movies depict life, love, politics, humour and death, all through the compelling lens of some of the world’s greatest filmmakers – all of them women.

In this crime docuseries spinoff, a convict is paroled 30 years after being sentenced to death for murder. Then he makes a stunning confession.

Prisoner of Love follows Chelsea Holmes, the self-proclaimed "prison matchmaker," as she dedicates her time to helping men and women living free lives find love with prisoners behind bars. And Chelsea isn't simply a matchmaker, she is also looking for love with someone on the inside. Prisoner of Love documents couples as they navigate the unique struggle of dating someone in prison. Chelsea does all she can to give these singles the tools to make their relationships successful beyond prison walls, but are these matches built to last?

Naeem, who has endured 15 years in prison for his daughter's love, faces a major crisis after his release to see her.