William Friedkin
A lyrical and spiritual cinematic essay on The Exorcist, the last film of Alexandre O. Philippe explores the uncharted depths of William Friedkin’s mind’s eye, the nuances of his filmmaking process, and the mysteries of faith and fate that have shaped his life and filmography.
An introspective insight into the life and artistic journey of William Friedkin, an extraordinary and offbeat director of cult films such as The French Connection, The Exorcist, Sorcerer, Cruising, To Live and Die in L.A. and Killer Joe. For the first time Friedkin opens up, guiding the audience on a fascinating journey through the themes and the stories that have influenced his life and his artistic career.
William Friedkin attends an exorcism with Father Gabriele Amorth, as he treats an Italian woman named Cristina for the ninth time. Prior to filming, Cristina had purportedly been experiencing behavioral changes and “fits” that could not be explained by psychiatry, and which became worse during Christian holidays.
Originally commissioned to celebrate the completion of the Suez Canal and the opening of Cairos new opera house, Verdis Egyptian epic Aida is here seen in a spectacular new staging in the Teatro Regio Torino by the Oscar-winning American film director William Friedkin, creator of such famous movies as The Exorcist and The French Connection. The cast features American soprano Kristin Lewis who has been heralded for her remarkable voice, which she uses with powerful dramatic instinct, and Georgian mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili, whose Amneris dominates the stage with her dark, rounded, irresistible voice and extraordinary stage presence. Gianandrea Noseda leading the Orchestra and Chorus Teatro Regio Torino received accolaides from all: he controls everything- orchestra, singers, chorus, dancers, acrobats- with an all-encompassing overview. He knows exactly when its time to linger over a timbre, a color, an expressive chord.
William Friedkin and Nicolas Winding Refn discuss filmmaking
Algren will spotlight the hard-knock life and authentic creative legacy of one of the most underrated writers of the twentieth century, Nelson Algren. Algren's brutally honest portrayal of the American underclass and his hard-nosed lifestyle became his pathway to compassion. Through interviews with Algren contemporaries, experts, and "literary soulmates," as well as through the photography of Algren's friends, Art Shay and Stephen Deutch, the film will tell his story. It will celebrate his tremendous contribution to and influence on American letters, and push Algren, champion of the marginalized, out from the margins.
Thirteen filmmakers talk about Henri Langlois and their relationship with him.
The extraordinary life of Orson Welles (1915-1985), an enigma of Hollywood, an irreducible independent creator: a musical prodigy, an excellent painter, a master of theater and radio, a modern Shakespeare, a magician who was always searching for a new trick to surprise his audience, a romantic and legendary figure who lived only for cinema.
Friends and admirers of iconoclastic film director Sam Fuller read from his memoirs in this unconventional documentary directed by Fuller's only child, Samantha.
Actors, crew and executives who worked at Warner Bros. Pictures recall their days at the studio.
Documentary about the work of film director Michael Curtiz.
Spielberg, Soderbergh, Stone, Friedkin, Scorsese and others tell how Kubrick's directorial style influenced them and how his unique style was developed.
The behind the scenes story of how "Casablanca" became an American film classic.
A cop who moonlights as a hit man agrees to kill the hated mother of a desperate drug dealer in exchange for a tumble with the young man's virginal sister.
Miller's Tale is a personal journey into the life of playwright and actor Jason Miller and his relationship with his hometown, Scranton, Pennsylvania. Best known for his performance as Father Karras in The Exorcist, Miller experienced a brief but brilliant period of national acclaim, then curiously abandoned Hollywood to return to his hometown. After Miller died in a local bar Scranton, at the age of 62, filmmaker and fellow Scranton native Rebecca Marshall Ferris set out with her camera to find out why did this exceptional playwright, who achieved such phenomenal early success, never write a Broadway play again? And what happened to Miller in Hollywood that would make him run away from a promising acting career?
Before Prop 8, Milk or Will & Grace, before the AIDS epidemic, gay pride parades or the Stonewall uprising, "The Boys in the Band" changed everything. "Making the Boys" explores the drama, struggle and enduring legacy of the first-ever gay play and subsequent Hollywood movie to successfully reach a mainstream audience. Beloved by some for breaking new ground, and condemned by others for reinforcing gay stereotypes, "The Boys in the Band" sparked heated controversy that still exists four decades later. Featuring anecdotes from the surviving cast and filmmakers, as well as perspectives by legendary figures from stage and screen, "Making the Boys" traces the behind-the-scenes drama and lasting legacy of this cultural milestone.
Documentary by Luc Lagier exploring Godard's career as a filmmaker, the production of Breathless and his influence and his relationship with American cinema.
2010 documentary on William Friedkin's 1973 horror classic, featuring the never before seen on set footage of cinematographer Owen Roizman.
A discussion of North by Northwest, and its influence.
An overview of Alfred Hitchcock's filmmaking style.
A documentary on the life and career of Victor Fleming, director of such iconic movies as The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind.
Films beget films. Filmmakers influence other filmmakers constantly. But the most influential filmmaker of all time is Alfred Hitchcock.
A documentary on the sound in Alfred Hitchcock films.
Part 1 of the making of William Friedkin’s 1980 thriller ‘Cruising’ and the controversies it created.
A look at the visual design of the film The Shining (1980).
Part 2 of the making of William Friedkin's 1980 thriller 'Cruising' and the controversies it created.
An overview of the making of, and a look at the continuing popularity of, Stanley Kubrick's The Shining.
A documentary featuring film historians, directors and authors discussing the making of Billy Wilder's 'Double Indemnity'.
A documentary featuring film historians, directors and authors discussing the making of Billy Wilder's 'Double Indemnity'.
Documentary about the great 1940s horror movie producer Val Lewton, featured on the 2005 DVD release "The Val Lewton Horror Collection."
The magic and creation behind the making of William Friedkin's classic action film To Live and Die in L.A. (1985). It follows cast, crew and the director several years after the film sharing their experiences while working on the project, also including footage from the shooting, and they discuss in detail the conception of the most spectacular scenes filmed there and also the great debate about the different endings developed for the film.
In the wilderness of British Columbia, two hunters are tracked and viciously murdered by Aaron Hallum. A former Special Operations instructor is approached and asked to apprehend Hallum—his former student—who has 'gone rogue' after suffering severe battle stress from his time in Kosovo.
A documentary on the production of The French Connection (1971).
Part war movie, part courtroom thriller, this gripping drama finds a war hero put on trial for a rescue mission gone terribly wrong with only his doubtful friend and fellow marine to represent him.
A behind-the-scenes retrospective made for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the classic horror film, The Exorcist. Includes interviews with Linda Blair and the other stars of the film, along with commentary from the director and writer on some of the deeper meanings behind the elements they used to terrify their audiences, and previously unreleased footage including make-up tests and deleted scenes.
During the trial of a man accused of his father's murder, a lone juror takes a stand against the guilty verdict handed down by the others as a result of their preconceptions and prejudices.
Horror documentary with interviews to William Friedkin, Stan Winston, John McNaughton, Tom Holland and Ridley Scott.
Someone does a nasty hatchet job on a San Fransisco big noise and the Assistant D.A. takes charge of the investigation. Through a web of blackmail and prostitution involving the Governor, an old lover of the law man emerges as a prime suspect and he has to deal with his personal feelings as well as the case.
A 1950s high school cheerleader meets a leather clad rebel biker and goes out on the town with him. When he steals an item of jewellery he gets thrown in prison but not for long. He makes a desperate escape and he is determined to catch up with his lost love and re-new their criminal activities.
Pete Bell, a college basketball coach is under a lot of pressure. His team isn't winning and he cannot attract new players. The stars of the future are secretly being paid by boosters. This practice is forbidden in the college game, but Pete is desperate and has pressures from all around.
A short documentary on the history of the horror film narrated by Christopher Lee.
The idyllic lives of Phil and Kate seem complete when they select the winsome young Camilla as a live-in nanny for their newborn child. But the lovely young Camilla s not what she appears to be.
The Counter Assault Tactical (C.A.T.) Squad investigates a spy who is supplying plutonium to the Sjambok, a racist South African paramilitary group that is working on a nuclear bomb. The American government, too, is investigating Sjambok, using the top-secret spy plane Python Wolf. When one of the members of the C.A.T. Squad is shot down over South Africa during another mission, his squad leader undertakes a rescue operation to bring his friend back home.
When terrorists start killing scientists who are working on NATO's laser defense program, an elite team, the Counter Assault Tactical (C.A.T.) Squad, is brought in to to stop the killers.
The first revival of Rod Serling's acclaimed 1950/60s television series of the same name.
In 1985, Barbra Streisand released "The Broadway Album," which remains one of her most popular records. Barbra's first television special on HBO debuted in 1986. The special—which combined an interview with director William Friedkin with documentary footage of Barbra in the recording studio making 'The Broadway Album' - was only 40 minutes long. The best of Broadway comes to life in the tour, as Streisand rehearses "Putting it Together," "Can't Help Lovin' That Man of Mine" and "If I Loved You." Also included is the music video for "Somewhere."
A fearless Secret Service agent will stop at nothing to bring down the counterfeiter who killed his partner.
Arms dealers from several companies vie to sell the most expensive and highest tech weapons to a South American dictator. There are complications; understanding the exact nature of how 'gifts' are used to grease the wheels of a sale, a religious conversion from one of the salesman and a romance that begins to grow between two competitors.
A serial killer brutally slays and dismembers several gay men in New York's S/M and leather districts. The young police officer Steve Burns is sent undercover onto the streets as decoy for the murderer. Working almost completely isolated from his department, he has to learn and practice the complex rules and signals of this little society.
In 1950, a group of unlikely criminal masterminds commits the robbery of the century. Led by Tony Pino (Peter Falk), a petty thief fresh out of prison, and Joe McGinnis (Peter Boyle), who specializes in planning lucrative capers, the gang robs Brink's main office in Boston of more than $2 million. However, things begin to go awry when the FBI gets involved, the cops start cracking down on the gang and McGinnis refuses to hand over the loot...
American director William Friedkin interviewed Austrian director Fritz Lang on February 21st and 24th, 1975. Lang died August 2nd, 1976.
12-year-old Regan MacNeil begins to adapt an explicit new personality as strange events befall the local area of Georgetown. Her mother becomes torn between science and superstition in a desperate bid to save her daughter, and ultimately turns to her last hope: Father Damien Karras, a troubled priest who is struggling with his own faith.
During the Great Depression, a con man finds himself saddled with a young girl—who may or may not be his daughter—and the two forge an unlikely partnership.
Tough narcotics detective 'Popeye' Doyle is in hot pursuit of a suave French drug dealer who may be the key to a huge heroin-smuggling operation.
A witty, perceptive and devastating look at the personal agendas and suppressed revelations swirling among a group of gay men in Manhattan. Harold is celebrating a birthday, and his friend Michael has drafted some other friends to help commemorate the event. As the evening progresses, the alcohol flows, the knives come out, and Michael's demand that the group participate in a devious telephone game, unleashing dormant and unspoken emotions.
Based on Harold Pinter's enigmatic play about a boarder in a British seaside dwelling who is visited by two strangers. They torment him verbally, ask him idiotic unanswerable questions, force him to sit down and stand up, and give him a "party". Then, eventually, they take him away, a tongue-tied idiot. The trivial becomes the terrible, and with it a certain wonder, a certain pity.
Rachel arrives in New York from her Amish community intent on becoming a dancer. Unfortunately Billy Minsky's Burlesque is hardly the place for her Dances From The Bible. But the show's comedian Raymond sees a way of wrong-footing the local do-gooders by announcing the new Paris sensation "Mme Fifi" and putting on Rachel's performance as the place is raided. All too complicated, the more so since her father is scouring the town for her and both Raymond and his straight-man Chick are falling for Rachel.
Mayhem on a Sunday Afternoon was the last of three documentaries William Friedkin made for producer David Wolper. It concerned the world of pro football.
An impassioned plea for the release of a young man sentenced to die in an Illinois prison.
A naval officer stands trial for mutiny for taking command from a ship captain he feels is acting in unstable fashion, endangering both the ship and its crew.
