Film Snail

History

L. Frank Baum: The Man Behind the Curtain

L. Frank Baum: The Man Behind the Curtain

October 25, 2005

A featurette on L. Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and other children's books.

Parece que fue ayer

October 24, 2005

Portrays the cultural changes experienced in Puerto Rico since the 1950's until 2000, through the story of a family.

St. Peter

St. Peter

October 24, 2005

Saint Peter, a reluctant but passionate leader, from the crucifixion of Jesus to his own. The film's first half dramatizes the New Testament's "Acts": early fear, the renewal of Pentecost, Saul's conversion, the decision to baptize pagans, and the Apostles' dispersal. In the second half, an aged Peter goes to Rome to join Paul, arriving on the day of Paul's arrest. Paul's death brings a crisis to Rome's Christians and to Peter; lessons from Jesus's teachings guide his decision to stay. Events within the fictive household of Persius, a Roman aristocrat, capture the upheaval that Christian teachings bring to the Eternal City.

End of the Spear

End of the Spear

October 24, 2005

"End of the Spear" is the story of Mincayani, a Waodani tribesman from the jungles of Ecuador. When five young missionaries, among them Jim Elliot and Nate Saint, are speared to death by the Waodani in 1956, a series of events unfold to change the lives of not only the slain missionaries' families, but also Mincayani and his people.

The Strait Story

The Strait Story

October 21, 2005

The year is 1943 and Taiwan is under Japanese colonization. After finishing his studies in Japan, famous Taiwanese sculptor and painter Ching-Cheng Huang receives an offer to teach in Beiping Art School. He decides to visit friends and family back home before leaving for China. He boards the passenger liner "Takachiho Maru" in Kobe, Japan, with his girlfriend, a pianist. Tragically, the luxurious liner is torpedoed by an American submarine and sinks off the coast of Keelung, Taiwan. Decades later, Shou-shou, a fine art restorer with a crippling illness, finds one of Huang's paintings in an exhibition. As she restores the painting, Shou-shou learns about the artist, the stories behind his work and his death at sea. She recreates the story of the painting "Woman in Black", and romantically imagines the ways the artist painted his girlfriend. The more she studies, the more she was inspired by Huang's value of art and of life. Restoring Huang's painting thus becomes Shou-shou's way of ...

A Life in Suitcases

A Life in Suitcases

October 20, 2005

Follows Tulse Luper as he is swept into the ill-fortuned tides of the 20th century and forced to spend his life in a succession of imprisonments.

Titanic: A Tale of Two Journeys'

Titanic: A Tale of Two Journeys'

October 18, 2005

The fate of the RMS Titanic - the 'unsinkable' ship that never completed its maiden voyage - has enthralled us all for over a hundred years. Her power to captivate the world has only grown with every year she has lain on the seabed, so tantilizingly out of reach. Now, join a voyage of discovery as one man sets out to see the wreck of RMS Titanic with his own eyes. The result is a unique film that show the enduring passion for the Titanic story, the enormous challenges that must be conquered in order to visit the site and the amazing remains that still lie on the ocean floor, waiting for those brave and dedicated enough to make the long journey down.

Riot at the Rite

Riot at the Rite

October 18, 2005

In the spring of 1913, Parisian businessman Gabriel Astruc opens a new theater on the Champs Elysées. The first performance is the premiere of Igor Stravinsky's 'The Rite of Spring', danced by the Ballet Russes. The rehearsal process is extremely fraught: the orchestra dislike Stravinsky's harsh, atonal music; the dancers dislike the 'ugly' choreography of Vaslav Nijinsky. The volatile, bisexual Nijinsky is in a strained relationship with the much older Sergei Diaghilev, the Ballet Russes' charismatic but manipulative impresario. Public expectation is extremely high after Nijinsky's success in 'L'apres-midi d'un faune'. Finally, 'The Rite of Spring' premieres to a gossip-loving, febrile, fashion-conscious Parisian audience sharply divided as to its merits.

Two Days in October

October 17, 2005

Based on David Maraniss's book They Marched into Sunlight, a documentary telling the story of two seemingly unconnected events in October 1967 that changed the course of the Vietnam War. Whilst a US battalion unwittingly marched into a Viet Cong ambush which killed 61 young men, half a world away angry students at the University of Wisconsin were protesting the presence of Dow Chemical recruiters on campus. (Storyville)

Helen of Troy

Helen of Troy

October 12, 2005

British historian Bettany Hughes tours the eastern Mediterranean in search of facts behind the legends of "the face that launched a thousand ships," exploring the ways Greeks made love and war circa 1300 B.C.

Nina's House

Nina's House

October 12, 2005

Starting in 1944 in the wake of the Liberation and continuing into the '60s, 'houses of hope' were established to lend a semblance of continuity to youngsters orpahaned by the war. Nina's Home takes place between September 1944 and January 1946 in an orphanage housed in a chateau outside Paris. At the outset, the country residence is run by Nina who has a core population of French Jewish children whose parents are probably dead. Food is scarce. News of the Concentration Camps hasn't hit yet, but some months later, a contingent of youths arrive form the liberated camps. The children are a disparate, wild, damaged group and conflicts ensue. Nina's challenge is to help them make their first delicate moves toward the future and in the process restore all of them, including herself, to life.

The World's Fastest Indian

The World's Fastest Indian

October 12, 2005

The life story of New Zealander Burt Munro, who spent years building a 1920 Indian motorcycle—a bike which helped him set the land-speed world record at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats in 1967.

Israel and the Arabs: Elusive Peace

Israel and the Arabs: Elusive Peace

October 10, 2005

Israel and the Arabs: Elusive Peace is the name of a three-part British documentary series shown in October 2005 on BBC Two about the attempts to settle the Israeli–Palestinian conflict after the 2000 Camp David Summit. The series was produced by Norma Percy, who had produced The Death of Yugoslavia before. Like her previous series, Israel and the Arabs: Elusive Peace relies extensively on in-depth interviews with key players involved in this issue, such as Ehud Barak, Bill Clinton, and Colin Powell.

Spring Snow

Spring Snow

October 9, 2005

Based on the first novel, Spring Snow, of Mishima Yukio's Sea of Fertility tetralogy, it follows the troubled and illicit affair between two youngsters amongst the aristocracy and rich of early twentieth century Japan.

Treasure Fleet: The Adventures of Zheng He

Treasure Fleet: The Adventures of Zheng He

October 7, 2005

Between 1405 and 1433, Admiral Zheng He of China led seven epic voyages to more than 30 countries, including Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Kenya and Tanzania. The admiral and his crew gathered knowledge and wealth from Indochina to Africa for China's Ming empire. These voyages were the biggest naval expeditions mounted at the time. Zheng He was bigger than life and could have changed the course of history. But after the seven voyages, he and his Treasure Fleet were forgotten by China, and the world, for six hundred years. National Geographic photographer Michael Yamashita sets sail to discover why. To celebrate the 600th anniversary of Zheng He's maiden exploration voyage, Michael Yamashita traveled over 10,000 miles from Yunnan in China to Africa's Swahili coast taking over 40,000 pictures for the feature story on this great explorer, published in the July 2005 edition of National Geographic.

Parzania

Parzania

October 7, 2005

Centered around the 2002 massacres in Gujarat, the film tells the story of a happy family that is torn apart by the loss of their son Parzan.

Who Killed Walter Benjamin…

Who Killed Walter Benjamin…

October 6, 2005

Philosopher Walter Benjamin (1892-1940), a German Jew, flees Germany in 1932, during the turmoil preceding Adolf Hitler's definitive rise to power. On September 26, 1940, he dies in Portbou, a small village on the French-Spanish border. The unexplained end of a man who managed to avoid a horrible fate just to face death in very mysterious circumstances.

Four Minutes

Four Minutes

October 6, 2005

Sir Roger Bannister's historic running of the sub-four-minute mile is celebrated in Four Minutes, an inspiring and respectably authentic TV movie about breaking the most famous barrier in the history of sports.

The Improbable Mr. Attlee

The Improbable Mr. Attlee

October 1, 2005

After World War II, the British public voted a Labour Government into power on the promise of sweeping social reforms. Led by the modest and unremarkable Clement Attlee, the victory was a surprise to almost everyone as it was general wisdom that the Tory party would return but with a reduced majority. Prof David Reynolds tells the story of Labour's postwar government and examines the achievements of Clement Attlee , including the introduction of the NHS in Britain.

Hitler's Hitparade

October 1, 2005

A compilation of found footage from musicals, home movies, animated shorts, educational films, commercials, and propaganda set against pop music from the Third Reich, Hitler's Hitparade presents audiences with an unprecedented experiential collage of Nazi Germany.