
01 Jul 1984

Fragi - Away from Happiness
Biopic about legendary Turkmen philosopher and poet, Makhtoumkuli, who was also known as Fragi.

Docudrama that recounts the astonishing life story of a forgotten genius, English poet Alexander Pope, who lived from 1688 to 1744.

Narrator

Alexander Pope

Duchess of Marlborough

Interviewee

Dr Johnson

Lord Byron
Lady Arabella Fermor
Interviewee
Interviewee

01 Jul 1984

Biopic about legendary Turkmen philosopher and poet, Makhtoumkuli, who was also known as Fragi.

09 Nov 2020

In the desolate countryside, haunted by recurrent dreams, a young drifter finds himself at the borderlands between the living and the dead.

01 Jan 1984

In his lifetime, Thomas Merton was hailed as a prophet and censured for his outspoken social criticism. For nearly 27 years he was a monk of the austere Trappist order, where he became an eloquent spiritual writer and mystic as well as an anti-war advocate and witness to peace. Merton: A Film Biography provides the first comprehensive look at this remarkable 20th century religious philosopher who wrote, in addition to his immensely popular autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain, over 60 books on some of the most pressing social issues of our time, some of which are excerpted here. Merton offers an engaging profile of a man whose presence in the world touched millions of people and whose words and thoughts continue to have a profound impact and relevance today.

18 May 2001

A celebration of love and creative inspiration takes place in the infamous, gaudy and glamorous Parisian nightclub, at the cusp of the 20th century. A young poet, who is plunged into the heady world of Moulin Rouge, begins a passionate affair with the club's most notorious and beautiful star.

27 Sep 2019

Granting unprecedented access, Joan Armatrading tells her life story, both as a songwriter and as a performer. Features key performances from Joan and many of the musicians she has influenced.

12 Feb 2004

A posthumous look at the last days of Guenther's life as he, his best friend, and his sister let loose on a four-day binge of alcohol, drugs, and sex.

01 Jan 1973

The film tells the story of Pir Sultan Abdal, a famous folk poet in Turkey, who criticized some Ottoman governors, Hizir Pasha in particular and as a result was hung by him.

22 Dec 1980

Narcisus and Psyche is based on a novel by Sandor Weores which was adapted by Vilmos Csaplar and director Gabor Body for a feature-length film. Borrowing the character of Psyche from mythology and placing her in Europe in the 19th century, the authors give her a "modern" life. She is an attractive young woman - and remains so throughout the film, in spite of one hardship after another. Psyche is libidinous, and her prurient interests shock her staid contemporaries.

05 Apr 2020

Sir Ian McKellen reads the poetry, Michael Wood traces the journey on the ground. Together they conjure up the extraordinary life, times and words of China’s greatest poet, Du Fu. In this film, the first to ever be made about Du Fu in the west, Michael follows his tracks by road, train and riverboat. Along the way, he meets ordinary people, dancers and musicians, who help to tell the amazing story of a poet whose words have resonated through the centuries, describing the experiences of ordinary people caught up in war, corruption, famine and natural disasters. "I am one of the privileged. If my life is so bitter, then how much worse is the life of the common people?"

26 Jun 1991

The story of poet Aleksa Santic, visionary and romanticist, great loser in private life. The poet was born in strict patriarchal, rich trading family from Mostar, in conservative social environment, in controversial times in the end of XIX and beginning of XX century. As a young man, he falls in love with the Slavonian girl, Anka Tomlinovic, daughter of poor photographer, leaving her under pressure of his family. Later, he meets Zorka Solina, young and rich girl from Mostar who, again because of the interests of her family, leaves the poet. In his mature years, Aleksa Santic engages himself passionately in social and political life of his age. Disappointments, poverty, sickness and loneliness follow. And the certainty of early death. His older brother tells the story of poet's life, while he is dying.

20 Sep 1912

The first Georgian full-length documentary follows the trip of the “king of Georgian poetry”, Akaki Tsereteli, to Racha and Lechkhumi, and his relationships with the people living in the mountainous areas of Western Georgia

30 Oct 2011

Live performance, Bayerische Staatsoper, 2011. The Tales of Hoffmann (French: LES CONTES D'HOFFMANN) is an opéra fantastique by Jacques Offenbach that combines three short stories by E.T.A. Hoffmann into a haunting whole: a melancholy poet reflects on three women he loved and lost in the past: a mechanical performing doll, a Venetian courtesan, and the consumptive daughter of a celebrated composer. One of the questions this opera poses for any director is how to link the 'tales' of Hoffmann's three lost loves together and knit them satisfactorily into the Prologue and Epilogue. In this production, Richard Jones solves the puzzle by turning it into an autobiographical journey which ends with a grand meet-up of all the characters Hoffmann has encountered: for once, Hoffmann is not presented as a rollicking kind of drunken story-spinner, but rather a sad-eyed, sobered-up depressive, who reaches for the bottle only because his disastrous love life has gone wrong yet again.

06 Oct 2008

About the young life and loves of artist Salvador Dalí, filmmaker Luis Buñuel and writer Federico García Lorca.

25 Sep 2018

An American poet living in Berlin hopes to win a prestigious grant while dealing with her former relationships, a rival poet, and her own penchant for stealing things.

02 Aug 1961

An influential Serbian poet decides to leave Nazi-occupied Belgrade and join partisans in the country. A young resistance activist, however, is not so thrilled with the idea because the old and womanizing intellectual doesn't fit in with his strict moralistic standards.

18 Sep 2009

In 1818, high-spirited young Fanny Brawne finds herself increasingly intrigued by the handsome but aloof poet John Keats, who lives next door to her family friends the Dilkes. After reading a book of his poetry, she finds herself even more drawn to the taciturn Keats. Although he agrees to teach her about poetry, Keats cannot act on his reciprocated feelings for Fanny, since as a struggling poet he has no money to support a wife.

10 Feb 2024

A film that explores the metaphor of human emotions through meteorological phenomena. The story follows a Queen whose feelings influence the weather: the skies are clear and radiant when she is in love, but her inner turmoil can unleash storms. This allegory reflects how our emotional states can affect our environment and relationships. The film highlights themes of identity and self-expression, positioning itself within a queer perspective.

25 Jan 2017

Robert Burns was well aware of the revolution taking place across the Atlantic as he grew up. The poet was inspired. And America was to be inspired by him. From Abraham Lincoln to Frederick Douglass, and Walt Whitman to Bob Dylan, some of the most significant figures in American politics and culture have cited Burns as an influence.

02 Oct 2002

A man, Milan steps off a train, into a small French village. As he waits for the day when he will rob the town bank, he runs into an old retired poetry teacher named M. Manesquier. The two men strike up a strange friendship and explore the road not taken, each wanting to live the other's life.


Examines the career and literary output of Pablo Neruda, who makes his home at Isla Negra on the coast of Chile. Includes views of Mr. Neruda reading many of his poems in the locales which inspired them.