David Thompson

Busby Berkeley: Going Through the Roof

David Thompson

Busby Berkeley, Kenneth Anger

Documentary profile of legendary dance choreographer Busby Berkeley.

Screen Goddesses

David Thompson

Elizabeth McGovern

A celebration of the greatest leading ladies of the cinema

Paul Verhoeven: From Holland to Hollywood

David Thompson

Paul Verhoeven, Monique van de Ven

Very insightful BBC documentary about Paul Verhoeven, tracking his career up to Showgirls. The programme focuses on talks with Verhoeven, but also includes interviews with many of the people who worked with him, both from the US and Holland, and even his wife. Also has a lot of behind the scenes footage from the set of Showgirls. Verhoeven is very open about the way he works, the themes in his movies and his life. He also interprets his own work in a very frank and intelligent way and, as always, is a gas.

Quentin Tarantino: Hollywood's Boy Wonder

David Thompson

Quentin Tarantino

The BBC Omnibus series broadcasted a profile documentary on Quentin Tarantino in 1994 as Pulp Fiction hit the UK screens. It includes interviews with many of collaborators. It's shot in part in Quentin Tarantino Hollywood appartment and the Video Archives.

Robert Altman in England

David Thompson

Robert Altman, Richard E. Grant

Robert Altman interviewed during the making of GOSFORD PARK (2001), as well as members of the cast and crew. Also, revealing behind the scenes footage and information about his career leading up to this feature.

Nicolas Roeg: It's About Time...

David Thompson

Nicolas Roeg, Dilly Barlow

The first major profile of the great British film director Nicolas Roeg, examining his very personal vision of cinema as in such films as Don't Look Now, Performance, Walkabout and The Man Who Fell to Earth. Roeg reflects on his career, which began as a leading cinematographer, and on the themes that have obsessed him, such as our perception of time and the difficulty of human relationships.

Silent Britain

David Thompson

Matthew Sweet, Jack Cardiff

Long treated with indifference by critics and historians, British silent cinema has only recently undergone the reevaluation it has long deserved, revealing it to be far richer than previously acknowledged. This documentary, featuring clips from a remarkable range of films, celebrates the early years of British filmmaking and spans from such pioneers as George Albert Smith and Cecil Hepworth to such later figures as Anthony Asquith, Maurice Elvey and, of course, Alfred Hitchcock.

Ennio Morricone

David Thompson

Ennio Morricone, John Boorman

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.

Writing with Light: Vittorio Storaro

David Thompson

Vittorio Storaro, Bernardo Bertolucci

Documentary about Vittorio Storaro, cinematographer of Apocalypse Now, The Last Emperor, Reds, Il Confimista, 1900. Vittorio Storaro talks about his work, along with collaborators like Warren Beatty and Bernardo Bertolucci and peers like Nestor Almendros. On-set footage from Dick Tracy and The Sheltering Sky. Storaro explains his zany theories about light and colour, and gives a potted history of lighting in the cinema. Sublime.

All the World's a Screen - Shakespeare on Film

David Thompson, David M. Thompson

An exploration into the history of Shakespeare's plays, from the silent era to the modern day featuring archive interviews with movie directors including Laurence Olivier, Orson Welles, Franco Zeffirelli, Kenneth Branagh and more.

Beyond Justice

Duccio Tessari

Rutger Hauer, Carol Alt

A woman's ex-husband, who is the son of an Arab chieftain, kidnaps their teenage son and brings him back to Morocco, where the boy is to be made the leader of the tribe. The child's mother hires a mercenary to get her son and bring him back to her.

Granada: From the North

David Thompson

Ludovic Kennedy, David Plowright

The story of Granada, the company responsible for Britain's most enduring soap opera Coronation Street, the current affairs series World in Action, and highly praised drama from Brideshead Revisited to Prime Suspect. With contributions from Jeremy Isaacs, Gus Macdonald, David Plowright, Michael Parkinson, Gerry Robinson and Sir Denis Forman. Director David Thompson

Cinema Sex Politics: Bertolucci Makes "The Dreamers"

David Thompson

Bernardo Bertolucci, Michael Pitt

The making of The Dreamers, its background and relation to the May 1968 student riots in Paris.