2025
In 1985, Star Trek's George Takei joined a group of dedicated fans to make a student film deep in the California forest—only for the footage to mysteriously vanish. Nearly 40 years later, Beam Me Up, Sulu unearths this lost film, revealing not just a piece of fan history but a broader story of representation, resilience, and the ongoing fight for inclusion in media and society.
1940
Second attempt to create a feature film out of the 200,000-plus feet of film which Soviet film-maker Sergei Eisenstein shot during 1931-32 in Mexico for American socialist author Upton Sinclair, his wife and a small company of investors. The projected film, to be called "Que Viva Mexico", was never completed due to exhaustion of funds and Stalin's demand that Eisenstein return to the USSR (he had been absent since 1929). The first attempt at editing the footage, in the USA, resulted in "Thunder Over Mexico", released in 1934. In 1940, Marie Seton, from the UK, acquired some of the footage from the Sinclairs in an attempt to make a better cutting according to Eisenstein's skeletal outline for the proposed film. This film has apparently been lost.
2024
In 1975 French Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Pierre Dominique Gaisseau traveled to Panama to make a film on the indigenous island-dwelling Kuna people. Accompanied by his wife and their daughter, Gaisseau lived with the Kuna for a year, gaining their trust and filming their most intimate ceremonies. He promised to share the resulting film with the community, but that never happened. Fifty years later, the Kunas are still waiting to discover “their” film, now a legend passed down from the elders to the new generation. One day, a hidden copy is found in Paris…While uncovering this fascinating story with humility and warmth, Swiss-Panamanian filmmaker Andrés Peyrot succeeds in capturing a true sense of culture and place. The result is simultaneously a cautionary tale raising questions around how and why documentaries are made and for whom, and a testament to the power of what it means to see yourself on the big screen.
1976
Sex star gives an explosive behind the scenes view of the people who make sexual fantasies come true on the silver screen. Sex Stars is the first feature documentary made by Lech Kowalski.
Documentary that captures Tom Petty and the band in 1982-1983 as they finish, promote, and tour around the “Long After Dark” album (their final with legendary producer Jimmy Iovine). It aired only once on MTV in 1983. After the long lost 16mm reels were finally found, a restored version with 19 minutes of extra footage was released in 2024.
1895
Scene from a Trilby-themed stage play. Lost.
1897
A line is shot to the man clinging to the overturned boat. He fastens it to his body using all his fast failing strength. The crew pull him through the surf to the shore, where he is rolled and patted and worked over until resuscitated.
2014
Jirón is the story of “Jirón de niebla” (Shred of Fog), the last film made by Mexico’s duque of horror, Carlos Enrique Taboada, which, for several reasons, was never shown or premiered. The mistery behind the disappearance of this film will be revealed in a series of interviews with the people who worked on it.
