Art of the Potter

Charlotte Gainsbourg looks at her mother Jane Birkin in a way she never did, overcoming a sense of reserve. Using a camera lens, they expose themselves to each other, begin to step back, leaving space for a mother-daughter relationship.

This movie chronicles the life and times of R. Crumb. Robert Crumb is the cartoonist/artist who drew Keep On Truckin', Fritz the Cat, and played a major pioneering role in the genesis of underground comix. Through interviews with his mother, two brothers, wife, ex-wife and ex-girlfriends, as well as selections from his vast quantity of graphic art, we are treated to a darkly comic ride through one man's subconscious mind.

Paul Hugo ten Hoopen, the 98-year-old Amsterdam painter, delves into his childhood, education, and past artworks, while exploring his philosophy on the creation of art itself. Paul’s story brings out the perspective of a professional in his field. He urges new artists to find their own voice – their own colours – to be as original as possible.

In this revealing study of Norval Morrisseau, filmed as he works among the lakes and woodlands of his ancestors, we see a remarkable Indigenous artist who emerged from a life of obscurity in the North American bush to become one of Canada's most renowned painters. Morrisseau the man is much like his paintings: vital and passionate, torn between his Ojibway heritage and the influences of the white man's world.

Art documentary

Acclaimed Canadian artist Cliff Eyland looks back on his life after a successful double lung transplant.

The documentary is titled after Arkadaş Z. Özger’s poem “Hello My Dear” which had caused much controversy in the period it was first published. Considered to be in defiance of heteronormativity, the said poem includes references to the poet’s personality, his family, his relationship to the society, and his “unexpected” death, which came three years after its publication. Today, 50 years after it was written, the documentary follows these same lines in the poem utilising cinematic elements. The documentary also rediscovers the poetics; reaches out to the family, the comrades, the friendships, departing from the official historical accounts, cognizant of his experience of otherness, in pursuit of the “lost” portrait of Arkadaş Z. Özger.

The Victorian era is often cited for its lack of sexuality, but as this documentary reveals, the period's artists created a strong tradition surrounding the classical nude figure, which spread from the fine arts to more common forms of expression. The film explains how 19th-century artists were inspired by ancient Greek and Roman works to highlight the naked form, and how that was reflected in the evolving cultural attitudes toward sex.

In 1986, during the Paris-Dakar rally, singer Daniel Balavoine, who was leading a humanitarian operation, was killed in a helicopter crash alongside Thierry Sabine. Nicolas Mathieu, his assistant, Léo Missir, his artistic director, HSH Albert of Monaco, and Charles Belvèze discuss the artist's career and his political and humanitarian commitments. Pierre Fauque and Anne Amado retrace the last moments of his life, from his arrival in Tamanrasset on January 6 to the day of his death in the desert, in the midst of a storm.

Profile of the Haida artist Bill Reid

A feature-length documentary celebrating the life and work of Trinity Bay artist and storyteller Clifford George.