Episode VIII • 2020 • episode "8/10" • The Last Dance

90:29

The extraordinary and dramatic story of Gertrude Bell, the most powerful woman in the British Empire in her day. She shaped the modern Middle East after World War I in ways that still reverberate today. More influential than her friend and colleague Lawrence of Arabia, Bell helped draw the borders of Iraq and established the Iraq Museum. Using never-seen-before footage of the region, the film chronicles Bell's extraordinary journey into both the uncharted Arabian desert and the inner sanctum of British male colonial power. With unique access to documents from the Iraq National Library and Archive and Gertrude Bell's own 1,600 letters, the story is told entirely in the words of the players of the day, excerpted verbatim from intimate letters, private diaries and secret communiques. It is a unique look at both a remarkable woman and the tangled history of Iraq.

2017 • People

52:29

More than five centuries ago, Michelangelo Buonarroti was the darling of the Catholic Church. Throughout his masterful career, the Papacy commissioned him to create many of its most important pieces, including the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel. He spent his life glorifying the Church, etching Catholic ideals into masterpieces that defined religion for the masses. Yet when he died, his body was secretly shepherded off to Florence, and the Church was denied the opportunity to honor him with a grand funeral in Rome. Historians have long wondered about the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death, but now, five hundred years after his death, new finds are revealing a darker side to the master artisan. While restoring Michelangelo's sculptures in the tomb of Julius II, art historian Antonio Forcellino noticed some strange inconsistencies in the famous statue: "The Moses." Forcellino believes he has pieced together evidence of a deep rift between the Church and the esteemed artist. The cause: Michelangelo's belief in Protestant ideals. The imperfections in the statue started him on a careful scientific and historical investigation that exposed remarkable evidence of Michelangelo's involvement with a clandestine fellowship trying to put an end to the decadence and corruption of the Clergy and reform the Church from within. The group's radical ideas and accusations of corruption were considered heretical and punishable by death. Michelangelo's involvement put him at dangerous odds with powerful officials who held his livelihood - and life - in their hands. "Michelangelo Revealed" takes us back over 500 years to the dangerous political climate of papal Rome, vividly portrayed through dramatic reconstruction. We are thrown into the heart of a fierce battle for religious control between the cardinals, and the resulting injustices of the Inquisition, shedding new light on the angst surrounding Michelangelo's "Last Judgement" in the Sistine Chapel and his previously shrouded connections to a subversive religious group and persecuted religious beliefs. "Secrets of the Dead: Michelangelo Revealed" deconstructs the puzzling discrepancies between the sculptures Michelangelo created and the way he described them, revealing an intricate effort to carve his own beliefs into stone, while protecting himself from the wrath of a powerful Cardinal who viewed him as a heretic. MICHELANGELO REVEALED paints a stunning new picture of brave religious expression, personal vendettas, careful cover-ups and a most gifted artist desperately trying to reconcile his loyalty to the church with his own personal belief about the road to salvation.

Secrets of the Dead • 2008 • People

45:07

Are gay men actually born gay? If so, what causes this and how could homosexuality have survived the evolutionary process? Ever since openly gay filmmaker Bryce Sage came out of the closet, he has struggled to answer these fundamental questions. Bryce sets out on a cross-country and around the world journey to ferret out the answers. Along the way, he confronts his own homosexuality and family history, exploring the nature vs. nurture side of the issue. He’ll bombard his brainwaves with gay and straight erotica to determine just how fundamentally gay his brain really is and he’ll talk to animal biologists about their studies of homosexuality in other species. There is documented evidence of homosexuality in over two hundred. Bryce becomes an amateur detective, trying to crack the code of his genes. He discovers that in Samoa every family has a male member who is either gay or is encouraged to become more feminine to support familial needs.

S53E08 • The Nature of Things • 2013 • People

114:47

Uniquely adept at art as well as commerce, Walt Disney was a master filmmaker who harnessed the power of technology to tell stories of outsiders struggling for acceptance and belonging, while questioning the conventions of class and authority. As Disney rose to prominence and gained financial security, his work became increasingly celebratory of the American way of life that made his unlikely success possible. A polarizing figure - though true believers vastly outnumber his critics - Disney's achievements are indisputable. In this two-part, four-hour film, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE examines Disney's complex life and continuing legacy, featuring rare archival footage from the Disney vaults, interviews with biographers and historians, as well as the animators and designers who helped turn his dreams into reality. Both an inspiring story and a cautionary tale about the price of ambition, Walt Disney offers an unprecedented look at the man who created a world and built an empire.

S1E1 • American Experience • 2015 • People

47:01

How did the mafia evolve from gangs into a multi-national organisation run as efficiently as a legitimate business? In 1931, legendary mobster "Lucky" Luciano formed a mafia board to establish policy among the families.

S1E1 • The Mafia • 2005 • People

63:21

In 1955, the great scientist Albert Einstein died in Princeton - his express wish was that his body be cremated, so as to leave no earthly remains. But, on the day of his death, his brain was secretly removed by doctors at Princeton Hospital - supposedly for “scientific study.” Nearly 40 years later, no study is complete, and there are only rumors as to whereabouts of the missing brain. This film follows the quest of an Einstein expert, Professor Sugimoto Kenji, who travelled from his home in Japan to the USA to try and find the greatest relic of 20th century science.

1994 • People