Rentals
The Arts on Film
Behind the canvas with a movie camera: you can almost smell the turpentine in these fascinating portraits of artists at work.
"Writing about music is like dancing about architecture," so it's said. So what about filming about art? Whatever the challenges, filmmakers have never been deterred from exploring other media in film - and for that we should give thanks. These films give us an often unique record of the artist - dancer or architect, painter or sculptor, musician, novelist or poet - at work and at leisure. They present artists speaking lucidly about their work. They preserve performances otherwise lost forever. And, perhaps best of all, they take us inside the creative process, allowing us to witness works of art emerging before our eyes.
Ernest Cole: Lost and Found Ernest Cole: Lost and Found
Documentary 2024 107 mins Director: Raoul Peck
Raoul Peck’s sorrowful portrait of Ernest Cole, the first photographer to expose the horrors of apartheid to the world.
Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other
Documentary 2024 100 mins Director: Manon Ouimet and Jacob Perlmutter
A creative artist couple navigate love and ageing in this brave, fascinating documentary.
Grantchester Grantchester
Documentary 1958 15 mins Director: John R.F. Stewart
Rupert Brooke's poem 'The Old Vicarage, Grantchester' is given the pop video treatment.
A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things
Documentary 2024 88 mins Director: Mark Cousins
A striking portrait of an artist deserving of greater recognition, directed by Mark Cousins (A Story of Film).
Loving Vincent Loving Vincent
Drama 2017 95 mins Director: Hugh Welchman and Dorota Kobiela
The first ever fully painted feature film takes us through the last days of Vincent van Gogh.
National Gallery National Gallery
Documentary 2014 181 mins Director: Frederick Wiseman
The inner workings of London’s National Gallery are laid bare in this absorbing, forensic examination by revered filmmaker Frederick Wiseman.
Lives of Artists Not Wives of Artists Lives of Artists Not Wives of Artists
Campaigning film 1984 46 mins Director: Sue Aron, Monika Morawietz and Rowena Rowling
Five women artists, including Paula Rego, contest the "hierarchy of art forms" in the male-dominated art world.
Mark of the Hand Aubrey Williams Mark of the Hand Aubrey Williams
Documentary 1987 53 mins Silent Director: Imruh Caesar
The Guyanese painter returns to his homeland on a “journey to the source of his inspiration”.
More Arts on Film in our Free collection.