The Story of Film part 11: Innovation in Popular Culture Around the World

Acclaimed filmmaker Lauren Greenfield examines modern greed amid the world of the 1%. Travelling through America and beyond, she meets the international elite and families overwhelmed by debt, yet determined to live the ‘luxury lifestyle.

Jayne Mansfield: Goddess? Genius? Satanist? This wild documentary from the makers of Room 237 examines the blonde bombshell's relationship with Anton LaVey.

The inspiring and fascinating story of two child-trafficking survivors who form Nepal’s first and only circus; an ode to survival and the healing power of performance.

Carol Salter's award-winning portrait of a young Chinese woman training to become a mortician is a tender and reflective elegy on death and the fragility of life.

Michael Caine takes us back to swinging London in this engaging documentary on the 1960s cultural revolution, featuring over 50 interviews with the key players.

Five decades on from the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality, a range of LGBTQ+ stars (including Sir Elton John and Stephen Fry) reflect on Britain's history of prejudice, persecution and liberation.

A sensuous and sexy snapshot from the life of James Dean, capturing moments from the years before his career took off.

Kent Jones’ excellent documentary about a historic encounter between two cinema greats.

Sally Ann Howes plays the 12-year-old spotted by a casting director, setting her on the way to stardom.

Mapping how British film and TV depicts the gay and lesbian lifestyle, Andrea Weiss raids the archives for her funny and persuasive documentary.

An illuminating documentary about American cinema’s maverick genius Robert Altman, featuring unseen home movies and extensive interviews.

From the director of Heimat, a mini-epic about the history of German cinema.

Neneh Cherry, director Mark Cousins and cinematographer Christopher Doyle's exquisite love song to the Swedish city.

Mark Cousins’ cine-essay, inspired by Sergei Eisenstein’s 1930s Mexican odyssey, is a poetic meditation on memory, landscape and walking.

Mark Cousins' personal and poetic exploration of the cinema of childhood, as told through 53 great films from 25 countries.

This stunning series closes with an appraisal of post-9/11 cinema, analysis of its best directors and a speculative look at film in the future.

Tarantino, Lebowski and Buzz Lightyear refresh the movies with dazzling dialogue, visuals and a signpost toward cinema's future.

Easy Rider and 2001: A Space Odyssey signal a new phase in cinema. It's part of a movement bringing Polanski, Tarkovsky and others to prominence.

The hunt for a Jersey serial killer sparks a dangerous awakening in a young woman in this astonishing psycho-sexual thriller, which sets all the senses aflame.

David Tennant is inspired as the renegade Scottish psychiatrist R.D. Laing, whose unorthodox therapeutic ideas chime with the radical spirit of 1960s counterculture.

A gripping real-life story of a Mafia kidnapping in Italy is enthrallingly re-imagined as supernatural fantasy by the directors of the acclaimed Salvo.

Star-crossed lovers from rival street gangs conduct an illicit affair in this pulsating urban romance.

From the director of Interior. Leather Bar. comes this eerie and powerful psychological thriller that offers a disturbing insight into the dark heart of Trump’s America.

Eight more award-winning short films from around the world, exploring female desire, empowerment and the realities of being a woman, a lesbian and a feminist in the modern world.