Storyville : Season 18

Documentary made by a young South African filmmaker before Nelson Mandela's death which raises important questions about the iconic leader's legacy. Khalo Matabane spent two years making the film, interviewing those who knew and loved Mandela, and also those who criticised him. Global thinkers, politicians and artists including the Dalai Lama, Henry Kissinger and Ariel Dorfman talk about the effect of his policies and his decision making. Their thoughts are weighed equally with ordinary South

Storyville follows artist Ai Weiwei, China's most notorious artist. In recent years his provocative work has brought him global recognition - and a prision sentence from the Communist authorities. The documentary follows Ai Weiwei in the tense year following his release from his three month confinement in 2011. It documents his ongoing legal battles while on parole, and the pressure exerted by the authorities, who monitor his every move. At home and in his studio, the artist reflects on his

A film by Martin Wallace and Jarvis Cocker, The Big Melt combines 100 years of footage from the BFI National Archive with a score recorded live at the Crucible Theatre on the opening night of Sheffield Doc/Fest in June 2013 to tell the story of steel, the story of the men in the steelworks and the story of Sheffield. Taking us on musical journey into the soul of a nation, it brings to life the ghosts of our past, taking us into the belly of the furnaces and showing how our national character

Colonel Gaddafi was called 'mad dog' by Ronald Reagan. His income from oil was a billion dollars a week. He washed his hands in deer's blood. No other dictator had such sex appeal and no other so cannily combined oil and the implied threat of terror to turn western powers into cowed appeasers. Filmed in Cuba, the Pacific, Brazil, the US, South Africa, Libya and Australia, the cast of this documentary consists of palace insiders and those who gave shape to Gaddafi's dark dreams. They include a

In August 2008, 25 climbers from several international expeditions converged on high camp of K2, the final stop before the summit of the most dangerous mountain on earth. Just 48 hours later, 11 had been killed or simply vanished, making it the deadliest day in mountaineering history. In a century of assaults on K2, only about 300 people have ever seen the view from the planet's second highest peak. More than a quarter of those who made it didn't live long enough to share the glory. At the

Oscar-nominated documentary which explores love, sacrifice and the creative spirit through the 40-year chaotic marriage of two Japanese artists in New York, by following the rivalries that emerge as the couple prepare for a joint exhibition. Surviving decades of hardship, thwarted aspirations and the husband's chronic alcoholism, they are a study in artistic symbiosis. Now 80 years old and finally sober, renowned 'boxing' painter Ushio still treats his wife Noriko as his assistant. Noriko,

A gripping story of triumph and failure, set in the world's youngest country. South Sudan became an independent state in 2011, following almost 50 years of civil war. This documentary follows veteran Serbian coach Zoran Djordjevic as he seeks to forge South Sudan's first national football team. What follows is a fascinating and original portrait of the birth of a nation. Although still steeped in traumatic memories, the new nation is seeking to make a mark on the international soccer stage

Oscar-nominated film compiled from the video diary of a Palestinian farmer who documents unrest in his West Bank village. Emad Burnat starts filming with his first camera following the birth of his fourth son. At the same time in his village of Bil'in, a separation barrier is being built and the villagers begin to resist this decision. Over several years Burnat films this non-violent struggle against the Israeli army - which is led by two of his best friends - literally from his own point of

Located alongside the Tennessee River, Muscle Shoals in Alabama is the unlikely breeding ground for some of America's most creative and defiant music. Under the spiritual influence of the 'Singing River', as Native Americans called it, the music of Muscle Shoals has helped create some of the most important and resonant songs of all time. At its heart is Rick Hall, who founded FAME Studios. Overcoming poverty and tragedy, Hall brought black and white together in Alabama's cauldron of racial

Documentary exploring one of Japan's biggest train crashes in modern history, caused when a driver tried to catch up with a delay of just 80 seconds. It's a cautionary tale of what happens when punctuality, protocol and efficiency are taken to the extreme. On Monday April 25th 2005, a West Japan Railway commuter train crashed into an apartment building and killed 107 people. Just what pressures made the driver risk so much for such a minimal delay? Piecing together personal accounts of those

Documentary looking into into the religiously obsessive, competitive and bitterly divided cult of Bigfoot hunting, as filmmaker Morgan Matthews accompanies three American Bigfoot search parties trying to capture proof of the elusive ape-like creature. As truth and fact tip into malarkey, night-time hunts devolve into farcical displays of voodoo and comic stretches of the human imagination. What starts as a humorous look at perception gone off the rails, descends into a dark mystery as things

Moving and deeply personal documentary about Tim Hetherington, the award-winning British war photographer and film-maker killed in 2011 during the Libyan civil war. Director Sebastian Junger gracefully weaves together footage of Hetherington at work and emotional interviews with his family and colleagues to capture his collaborator and friend's compassion and intense curiosity about the human spirit. A tribute to this remarkable, talented young man, Which Way is the Frontline from Here? also

Oscar-winning documentary which tells the remarkable story of the American rock icon who never was. With a great soundtrack, moving interviews and a breathtaking twist, this is the ultimate film about the resonating power of music. In the late 60s, Detroit-based singer Sixto Rodriguez was momentarily hailed as the finest recording artist of his generation. But when his album bombed, he disappeared into oblivion amid rumours of a gruesome onstage suicide. The film tells the astonishing story of

Storyville tells the riveting story of what happened when, in 1973, tennis star Billie Jean King agreed to face former world champion and self-proclaimed male chauvinist pig Bobby Riggs. It was a tennis match that gripped the world, a culmination of the struggle for equal rights that King and other female tennis players had been demanding for years. Through scintillating match footage, archive and interviews with key tennis players and pundits, the film tells the interrelated stories of the

Documentary telling the intimate but explosive story about the man behind the greatest fraud in recent sporting history, a portrait of a man who stopped at nothing in pursuit of money, fame and success. It reveals how Lance Armstrong duped the world with his story of a miraculous recovery from cancer to become a sporting icon and a beacon of hope for cancer sufferers around the world. The film maps how Armstrong's cheating and bullying became more extreme and how a few brave souls fought back,

Documentary looking at a century of cycling. Commissioned to mark the arrival of the 2014 Tour de France in Yorkshire, the film makes full use of stunning British Film Institute footage to transport the audience on a journey from the invention of the modern bike, through the rise of recreational cycling, to gruelling competitive races. Award-winning director Daisy Asquith artfully combines the richly-diverse archive with a hypnotic soundtrack from cult composer Bill Nelson in a joyful, absorbing

Jorgen Leth's film focuses on the 1976 Paris-Roubaix single day bike race over the cobbled farm tracks of northern France, normally reserved for cattle. Leth covers the race with twenty cameras and a helicopter and captures the drama as some of the sport's greats, including Merckx, De Vlaeminck, Maertens and Moser, battle it out through the dirt and dust clouds.

Documentary which follows three Chinese teenagers inside a Beijing rehabilitation centre for internet addicts. China is one of the first countries in the world to label overuse of the internet a clinical condition. To combat what authorities deem the greatest social crisis for youth today, the Chinese government has created treatment facilities to detox and cure teenagers of their online addictions. With extraordinary access, the film shows how the teens are lured to the centre against their

Documentary which provides a vivid glimpse into a vanishing way of life in the Himalayas, as new technology extends its tentacles even into these remote regions. In 1999, the King of Bhutan made a landmark proclamation approving the use of television and the internet. The film begins at the end of this process as Laya, the last remaining village tucked away within the Himalayan kingdom, becomes enmeshed in roads, electricity and cable television. Through the eyes of Peyangki, an eight-year-old

Storyville follows Viktor Bout, Russian entrepreneur, arms smuggler and, strangest of all, amateur film-maker. Until three days prior to his 2008 arrest on charges of conspiring to kill Americans, Bout kept his camcorder running. He documented a life spent in the grey areas of the arms industry, crossing the line morally, if not legally, many times over before he was eventually undone by a post-9/11 crackdown. Dubbed by some the Merchant of Death and portrayed by Nicolas Cage in Hollywood's Lord

For the first time ever, six former heads of Israel's domestic secret service agency, the Shin Bet, share their insights and reflect publicly on their actions and decisions. Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel has been unable to transform its crushing military victory into a lasting peace. Throughout that entire period, these heads of the Shin Bet stood at the centre of Israel's decision-making process in all matters pertaining to security. They worked closely with every Israeli prime

Documentary which follows six brilliant scientists during the launch of the Large Hadron Collider, marking the start of the biggest and most expensive experiment in the history of the planet. Filmed over seven years, it is an emotionally charged journey with scientists attempting to push the edge of human innovation. For the first time, a documentary gives viewers a front row seat to a significant and inspiring scientific breakthrough as it happens. As they seek to unravel the mysteries of the

With unprecedented access, this documentary looks into the hidden world of one of Russia's most impenetrable and remote institutions - a maximum security prison exclusively for murderers. Deep inside the land of the gulags, this is the end of the line for some of Russia's most dangerous criminals - 260 men who have collectively killed nearly 800 people. The film delves deep into the mind and soul of some of these prisoners. In brutally frank and uncensored interviews the inmates speak of their

Documentary which explores timeless themes of love and marital commitment. For the past two decades, acclaimed documentary filmmaker Doug Block has helped support himself by shooting weddings. Hired for his intimate documentary style, he found himself emotionally bonding with his wedding couples on their big day, only to send off their videos and never see them again. Many years and 112 weddings later, having long wondered what has become of their marriages, Block begins to track down some of

Renowned magician James 'The Amazing' Randi has been wowing audiences with his jaw-dropping illusions, escapes and sleight of hand for over 50 years. When he began seeing his cherished art form co-opted by all manner of con artists, he made it his mission to expose the simple tricks charlatans have borrowed from magicians to swindle the masses. This entertaining film chronicles Randi's best debunkings of faith healers, fortune tellers and psychics. It documents his rivalry with famed