Subscribe to watch - 14-day free trial, then £4.99 a month
Celluloid Man
A tribute to film archivist and obsessive cinephile P.K. Nair, and his long, hard fight to preserve India's precious film heritage.
Documentary 2012 156 mins Not rated
Director: Shivendra Singh Dungarpur
Overview
Celluloid Man is a tribute to film archivist and obsessive cinephile P.K. Nair, a man whose childhood fascination with cinema finally led to the creation of the National Film Archive of India. In a country where film preservation was once regarded as irrelevant, Nair's has been a long, hard fight to preserve precious fragments of India's film heritage that would otherwise be lost forever.
Comparable to France's late, great 'man of cinema', the noted film archivist Henri Langlois, Nair has also influenced generations of Indian filmmakers by introducing them to new worlds through the prism of cinema. Featuring wonderful clips and interviews with many Indian and international filmmakers, this award-winning documentary is both a portrait of a man's passion with film and a love letter to cinema itself.
Related
Documentary
Mifune : The Last Samurai Mifune : The Last Samurai
Documentary 2016 80 mins Director: Steven Okazaki
The on and off-screen character of Toshiro Mifune, Japan’s first international movie star, is explored in this illuminating documentary exploring the life and legacy of this mercurial icon.
Stray Stray
Documentary 2020 72 mins Director: Elizabeth Lo
A soulful new voice emerges in Elizabeth Lo’s evocative award-winning debut documentary, which details life on the streets of Istanbul from the perspective of the city’s stray dogs.
Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project
Documentary 2018 88 mins Director: Matt Wolf
The taped crusader: VHS nerds, media scholars and archive enthusiasts will appreciate this documentary about the African-American activist who recorded 30 years of TV news.
Dreams of a Life Dreams of a Life
Documentary 2011 91 mins Director: Carol Morley
The power of kinship is explored in Carol Morley’s drama-documentary, drawn from real life and resonant with the way we live now.
MLK/FBI MLK/FBI
Documentary 2020 106 mins Director: Sam Pollard
Sam Pollard's resonant exploration of the US government's surveillance and harassment of Martin Luther King, Jr.
As Above, So Below As Above, So Below
Documentary 2020 70 mins Director: Sarah Francis
A poetic reflection on sovereignty, perspective, space and futurisms.
South Asian Heritage Month
I'm British But... I'm British But...
Documentary 1989 29 mins Director: Gurinder Chadha
Britain beats to the sound of Bhangra and Bangla in Gurinder Chadha's debut film.
Sixth Happiness Sixth Happiness
Biopic 1997 94 mins Director: Waris Hussein
Funny, acerbic and moving story of a young man's sexual awakening as family life crumbles around him.
The Lunchbox The Lunchbox
Drama 2013 105 mins Director: Ritesh Batra
Mismatched lunchboxes lead to an unlikely romance in this exquisite Indian drama, brimful of tantalising food and elegantly delivered wisdom.
Mogul Mowgli Mogul Mowgli
Drama 2020 89 mins Director: Bassam Tariq
Bassam Tariq’s visceral directorial debut, co-written with Riz Ahmed, finds a British-Pakistani rapper’s life spiralling out of control when, on the cusp of success, he succumbs to a debilitating illness.
New
After Life After Life
Drama 1998 119 mins Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
Koreeda's lyrical fantasy challenges the viewer to reflect on the experiences that most make life worth living.
Maborosi Maborosi
Drama 1995 109 mins Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
Koreeda’s first fiction feature is an exquisite meditation on loss, loneliness, uncertainty, and coming to terms with the past.
Mifune : The Last Samurai Mifune : The Last Samurai
Documentary 2016 80 mins Director: Steven Okazaki
The on and off-screen character of Toshiro Mifune, Japan’s first international movie star, is explored in this illuminating documentary exploring the life and legacy of this mercurial icon.
I Am Cuba [Soy Cuba] I Am Cuba [Soy Cuba]
Drama 1964 140 mins Director: Mikhail Kalatozov
Mikhail Kalatozov’s epic about the Cuban Revolution is breathtaking both for its scope and the audacity.
Still Walking Still Walking
Drama 2008 115 mins Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Koreeda’s subtle, moving account of the tensions within a family is his most Ozu-like film.
Nobody Knows Nobody Knows
Drama 2003 141 mins Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Koreeda’s drama about four children left to fend for themselves is a heartbreaking study of childhood neglect.