Pehlivan focuses on a three-day wrestling competition, an ancient tradition that dates back over a thousand years to the time of the Ottoman Empire, originating in the games the soldiers would play to entertain themselves in between battles. Maybe that's why there's more than a hint of homoeroticism in the way the wrestlers oil themselves up with grease, making sure to cover every inch of their bodies so that their opponents will be unable to get a grip. Pialat's closeups emphasize the men's muscular bodies jammed together and sliding off one another, posed in intimate, twisted arrangements, struggling desperately for a grip on each other's bodies. Arms are jammed down pants, one of the only places there's some potential for a handhold, and the whole thing is very suggestive and sensual, a form of intimate male contact that's sanctioned as a show of strength and masculinity.

Examines the early 1980s Hong Kong filmmaking community. Tony Rayns interviews some of the new gener...
Michael Cockerell sheds new light on the tragi-comedy of the 1970s by focusing on some of its most c...

While the film focuses on a mother and son’s relationship, it investigates the long-term effects of ...
Huw Edwards presents a documentary examining the relationship between Victorian prime ministers Benj...

British surrealist Leonora Carrington was a key part of the surrealist movement during its heyday in...

The long-suppressed story of 12,000 Japanese Americans who dared to resist the U.S. government's pro...

Seekers of Oblivion explores the exciting life and adventures of Isabelle Eberhardt. Born in Geneva,...

Documentary about Ilyich Ramírez Sánchez, aka "Carlos the Jackal", international terrorist.

In this hour-long documentary, Oxford academic Janina Ramirez tours the country in search of Anglo-S...

Using home videos recorded by her voice coach, Diana takes us through the story of her life.

On May 8, 1989, Sports Illustrated ran an article about Ultimate frisbee… about a team with no name ...

Carne Ross was a government highflyer. A career diplomat who believed Western Democracy could save u...

Nikola Tesla is considered the father of our modern technological age and one of the most mysterious...

Archival footage of an American Nazi rally that attracted 20,000 people at Madison Square Garden in ...

Haunted by uncanny similarities between Nazi stage techniques and the showmanship employed by modern...

2010 documentary film on the Armenian Genocide by the Young Turk government of the Ottoman Empire du...

Summer 1936 - The Berlin Olympics, organized by the Nazi regime on the eve of World War II, acted as...

Unlike what people may think, Krakatoa was not the biggest volcanic eruption in history. More than t...