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The London Perambulator (2009)
Character: Himself
Leading London writers and cultural commentators Will Self, Iain Sinclair and Russell Brand explore the importance of the liminal spaces at the city's fringe, it's Edgelands, through the work of enigmatic and downright eccentric writer and researcher Nick Papadimitriou - a man whose life is dedicated to exploring and archiving areas beyond the permitted territories of the high street, the retail park, the suburban walkways.
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Human, All Too Human (1999)
Character: Author
European philosophers: Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger and Jean-Paul Sartre. The theme revolves heavily around the school of philosophical thought known as Existentialism, although the term had not been coined at the time of Nietzsche's writing and Heidegger declaimed the label. The documentary is named after the 1878 book written by Nietzsche, titled Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits.
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Ian Rankin Investigates: Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (2007)
Character: Self
Crime writer Ian Rankin investigates The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Starting with Robert Louis Stevenson's nightmare in September 1885, Rankin traces the roots of this story, which stretches back to Stevenson's childhood. Grave-robbers, hallucinatory drugs and prostitution all play their part in the disturbing account of Henry Jekyll's double-life, as Rankin's journey takes him into the yeasty draughts and unlit closes of the city that inspired the tale - Edinburgh.
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The One and Only Mike Leigh (2014)
Character: Self
In a revealing documentary, Mike Leigh, director of Secrets & Lies, Vera Drake and Abigail's Party among many others, talks to Alan Yentob about a unique body of work and a lifelong struggle to make films on his own terms. On day one of a Mike Leigh film, there is no script, no story and the actors do not know if they will even be in the final film. It is a process that has yielded some of cinema's most celebrated performances, and Leigh's new film Mr Turner is already winning critical acclaim. Actors including Jim Broadbent, Eddie Marsan, Sally Hawkins, Lesley Manville and James Corden give fascinating insights into the director and his distinctive method of working.
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Jake Chapman's Accelerate or Die! (2023)
Character: Self
As one of the highly provocative British art duo The Chapman Brothers, artist Jake Chapman is no stranger to challenging his audience. In this new film, he poses the question, “why is it easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism?” Perhaps the answer is ‘Accelerationism’, which emerged 50 years ago and predicted the reality we’re now living: A frenzied stasis of rapid technological advancement coupled with cultural and political stagnation. Capitalism – Accelerationism claims – is breaking down our society, our humanity, and our planet. But the only way forward is not to run from it, but to dive deeper into it. Regardless of where that takes us… As befitting for an artist as visual and extreme as Jake Chapman, this film is also part-artwork – playfully and uncompromisingly distorting the idea of how a documentary should look and feel.
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100 Worst Britons (2003)
Character: Self
Channel 4 (UK) ran a poll, in 2003, for viewers to nominate their "worst Briton". The nominations had to be people who were living, not in prison and British.
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The Double Life of Saki (2007)
Character: Self
Drama-documentary which explores the life and work of the writer Hector Hugh Munro, better known by his pen name Saki, whose short stories satirised Edwardian society and culture.
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Karl Pilkington: Satisfied Fool (2007)
Character: Self
Karl Pilkington, best known for his podcasts with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant and his travel show An Idiot Abroad goes on a quest to find out if intelligence really makes you happier.
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The Secret World of Lewis Carroll (2015)
Character: Himself - Writer
It's a timeless classic of children's literature and the third most-quoted book in English after the Bible and Shakespeare. But what lies behind the extraordinary appeal of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to generations of adults and children alike? To mark the 150th anniversary of its publication, this film explores the life and imagination of its author, the Reverend Charles Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll. Journalist Martha Kearney delves into the biographies of both Carroll himself and of the young girl, Alice Liddell, who inspired his most famous creation. She discusses the book with a range of experts, biographers and distinguished cultural figures - from actor Richard E Grant to children's author Philip Pullman - and explores with them the mystery of how a retiring, buttoned-up and meticulous mathematics don, who spent almost his entire life within the cloistered confines of Christ Church Oxford, was able to capture the world of childhood in such a captivating way.
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The Future of Work and Death (2016)
Character: Self
The documentary focuses on how future technology could significantly change the two inevitable features of the human experience: punching the clock and fading away. With advanced automation and artificial intelligence, the utopia of the end of human labor or the dystopia of widespread unemployment could not be a thing of science fiction. Scientists, engineers and academics all come together to share their thoughts on the future.
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Dorian Gray : un portrait d'Oscar Wilde (2019)
Character: Self
The Picture of Dorian Gray, the seminal work of Irish writer Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), continues to find new readers and inspire artists and creators around the world more than a century after its publication in 1891, because it was endowed with all the elements necessary to make it an undisputed heritage of world literature.
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The Importance of Being Morrissey (2003)
Character: Self
Featuring interviews by famous fans and followers, this rare documentary encapsulates the essence of the controversial, enigmatic, and deliciously melancholic bard.
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« Orange mécanique », les rouages de la violence (2023)
Character: Himself
Examines and re-evaluates the 60-year history and cultural impact of A Clockwork Orange, as a novel, movie and stage play, with the help of archival content and interviews with important creative figures.
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Clay & Bone (2021)
Character: Narrator
Clay & Bone is an experimental documentary film, constructed from the film archive that was created during the building of Crossrail, the new railway under London.
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