Olmsted and America's Urban Parks

Epidemic of Loneliness

Three episodes of the unfinished series commissioned by the now-defunct Corporation for Public Broadcasting, examining how and why people fail to make meaningful connections in the early 21st century. Hosted by amateur filmmaker Kurtis Matthew Russell who was given a budget of 5 dollars.

Isamu Noguchi: Stones and Paper

Isamu Noguchi was a sculptor, designer, architect, and craftsman. Throughout his life he struggled to see, alter, and recreate his natural surroundings. His gardens and fountains were transformations meant to bring out the beauty their locations had always possessed.

Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America

To Olmsted, a park was both a work of art and a necessity for urban life. Olmsted’s efforts to preserve nature created an “environmental ethic” decades before the environmental movement became a force in American politics. With gorgeous cinematography, and compelling commentary this film presents the biography of a man whose parks and preservation are an essential part of American life.

André Le Nôtre, le jardinier de Louis XIV

André Le Notre is certainly the most famous French gardener. He was also a designer, architect, engineer, landscaper and urban planner. He worked for Louis XIV from 1645 to 1700 and designed the gardens of Versailles, Vaux le Vicomte, Chantilly and Fontainebleau, as well as the Tuileries in Paris.

The Birds and the Beasts Were There

Visits to three animal parks in Miami, Florida: the Rare Bird Farm, with it's many chickens, cranes, and other birds; the Monkey Jungle, where the visitors are caged and the simian inhabitants roam freely; and finally the Parrot Jungle.

Britain's Park Story

The British invented them for the world, and they have been described as 'the lungs of the city - historian Dan Cruickshank reveals the history of our public parks.

Enchanting Bournemouth

Bournemouth offers a variety of sports, pastimes, steamer trips, and fine dining for holidaymakers, competing with cheaper foreign holidays and offering a variety of transportation options.

Faire le Bois

From the open air theater in the Bois de Boulogne the sex workers Heden, Claudia and Samantha, tell about the woods which is their work place.

Bill & Daisy

after mourning the passing of his late wife, Bill finds the courage to travel to New York City and reconnect with his favorite mistress.

Sunderland Roker Regatta and Festival August Bank Holiday

Roll up, roll up, for all the fun of the fair as Sunderland celebrates the August bank holiday.

Versailles, une révolution au jardin

Lagoa do Nado - A festa de um parque

Severo

Sherwood Park

Reclaiming what was once stolen from him, a man journeys back to the place of his childhood nearly 80 years after his world came crashing down.

Au parc Lafontaine

This short documentary profiles the idyllic landscapes of Parc Lafontaine. Set to an original song, the film follows a mother who brings her son to the park, where he plays, swings, and watches the ducks and gondolas glide on the pond. As an adult, he wanders through the park with his sweetheart. The song closes sadly, for his sweetheart leaves him. The passing gondola seems to bear his love away forever, but the final scenes suggest a happy ending. - NFB

Children playing with skipping rope

A group of children are encouraged to play in a park by two men. Some play a skipping game. One of the other children refuses and eventually runs away. Another child is fascinated by the camera and stares at it throughout, even when encouraged by one of the men to play. IN the background, traffic passes and pedestrians stroll past behind a railing on an upper level. The children wear sunhats, indicating the weather is very sunny.

Un printemps de square

Der Schlossgärtner

The award-winning short documentary portrays the tenacious Mosigkau castle gardener who has been persistently fighting bureaucracy and lack of money for 30 years to preserve a UNESCO castle park.

Bussaco Park

Old recordings of the Bussaco Park in Portugal - founded in the collection of Norwegian film pioneer Hans Berge.

Scaredy, the Cat

A documentary about a very shy feral cat adopted by people at the public tennis courts in NYC's Riverside Park and how she came to trust a very few of them.