DVD Videos

A leading musician of the swing era and an outstanding representative of the big band style, Count Basie was an eminent bandleader and jazz pianist. He led one of the most enduring swing bands of all time; no other musician was ever more committed to stomping, shouting, swinging, jumping and dragging away the blues than Count Basie. In Swingin’ the Blues, a distinguished group of Basie alumni − including early band stars Harry “Sweets” Edison, Earle Warren and Claude Williams, and later stars like Illinois Jacquet, Buddy Tate and Joe Williams − lend their insights. The film is generously supported by vintage performance footage beginning in the 1930s and master recordings of the greatest Basie sessions.

The Story of Jazz puts the crown on the "Masters of American Music" series. As entertaining as it is informative, it is a seamless array of performances, comments, and compelling historic insight. This colourful tale of cross-cultural influences that produced a constantly evolving and enduring music is a rich 97-minute weave of sounds, rare film clips, stills and interviews. Never before have the filmed comments of so many important jazz artists been assembled for one project, and never before has the history of jazz been told as vividly and with such attention to historic detail.

Bluesland − A Portrait in American Music explores the blues, with all its poetic irony and sly humour, its eroticism and timeless power. A uniquely creative and highly visual look at American blues, Bluesland travels the expansive landscape of the music, tracing its roots from the beginning of the 20th century through the Mississippi Delta to Louisiana, Texas, Kansas City and Chicago. With rare and memorable footage of the greatest performers, the film follows the music’s many tributaries as blues flows into the sophisticated jazz of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Count Basie, the rhythm and blues of Louis Jordan and Dinah Washington, and the rock and roll of Chuck Berry and Elvis. Bluesland is a moving, authentic and illustrative overview of the blues – a must for all music lovers.

On New Year's Eve 2009 Havana's legendary nightclub, Tropicana, celebrated its seventieth birthday with a colourful revue, and the evening’s special guest was the world-famous Omara Portuondo. Together with her five-man band, which ranges in style from the Cuban guajira, bolero, mambo and son to elements of jazz, the grande dame of traditional Cuban singing offers a delightful contrast to the exuberant joy in dancing shown by the Tropicana Ballet.

Recorded live at the Tropicana, Havana, 2009.

The origins of French Art Nouveau, seen through the eyes of the art dealer and collector, Siegfried Bing (1838-1905). The name of his Parisian art gallery, L’Art Nouveau, was the same as that of the art movement around 1900, also known as Jugendstil.

Siegfried Bing opened his Paris gallery L’Art Nouveau in 1895. His goal was to promote a modern style by bringing together the visual and the applied arts in innovative interiors with a contemporary design. Bing’s L’Art Nouveau achieved its greatest triumph and international acclaim at the Paris World Exhibition of 1900.

The film re-establishes Bing’s role as the principal disseminator of Japanese art in Europe and as a key figure in the discovery of Vincent Van Gogh. Bing’s ties with other painters, including the Nabis Edouard Vuillard and Pierre Bonnard are shown as well as his ability to work closely with creators and designers in the United States including Louis Comfort Tiffany, Rookwood and Company in Cincinnatti and the Grueby Ceramic Company in Boston.

Bing’s L’Art Nouveau achieved its greatest triumph and international acclaim at the Paris World Exhibition of 1900.

Occupation: Dreamland is a fascinating portrait of a squad of the US Army’s 82nd Airborne deployed in the doomed Iraqi city of Falluja during the winter of 2003. A collective study of the squad unfolds as they cope with a complex environment of low-intensity conflict and confusion creeping steadily towards catastrophe. Through the squad’s activities Occupation: Dreamland provides a vital glimpse into the last days of Falluja, portrayed by the US military as a “terrorist safe-haven” before a final series of assaults began in the spring of 2004 that effectively destroyed the city. The result is a revealing, sometimes surprising look at Army life, operations and the complexity of American war in the 21st century.

Of all the Hispanic American stars, there is no doubt that María Félix holds pride of place. First and foremost an actress, singer, inspiration for a whole generation of artists, she represented the feminine ideal who, always seeking perfection, broke all the rules until she became emblematic of ambivalence. The European and American jet-set chose her as the most exotic and attractive personality of the 60s and 70s. María Félix marks an era. Her androgynous essence heralded times to come.

Structured around an exclusive interview in which Maria Felix responds to an unseen narrator (her double?), the film is a lot more than a straight biographical profile. Maria Félix radiates in front of the camera. Sensitively filmed, she imposes her beauty beyond the passage of time. How does she maintain such undying vitality, such a strong temperament? Sublime narcissism? How did she create the myth to which she is so closely bound? The house in Cuernavaca, the casa de Polanco in Mexico, the amphitheatre... Maria Félix talks about her films, her men, her jewels (the famous French jeweller, Cartier, flew the magnificent diamond jewels that Maria once wore to Mexico for the film). Thus, little by little, the legend unfurls...