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oscar niemeyer documentary goes from strength to strength - as does the 102 year old architect himself!

March 2010.  OSCAR NIEMEYER -A VIDA E UM SOPRO has had a hugely successful release in cinemas in Germany far in excess of the distributor Salzgeber & Co Medien's expectations.  A small scale theatrical release was planned principally to promote the simultaneous DVD release, but such was the press coverage and audience interest that the release has expanded to playdates in over 70 cities and towns across Germany.  Audiences have found much to admire in the film, not just his extra-ordinary architectural achievements and super-centennial age, they have also responded warmly to his life philosophy expressed in his own words.

Oscar Niemeyer spent his 102'nd birthday in December 2009 working as usual in his studio overlooking Copacabana beach, "turning 102 is crap and there is nothing to commemorate" was his disdainful response to journalists questions.

Even more remarkably, he is currently in the midst of a very prolific period.  New landmark projects have just opened in Ravello - Italy and in Belo Horizonte - Brazil and a major cultural centre bearing his name is under construction in Aviles Spain.  He is also working on the renovation of the Sambadrome - the home of Rio de Janeiro's carnival parades.

Niemeyer continues to flaunt his love of life. He still enjoys his cigars - "an old habit that I cultivate with much gusto". Four years ago, at the age of 98 and a widower, he married his 60 year old secretary.

More information on our documentary page.

Wavelength Pictures acquires Shooting Robert King (formerly Blood Trail) for international sales

February 2010.  Wavelength Pictures is pleased to announce the acquisition of worldwide rights for the acclaimed documentary SHOOTING ROBERT KING (formerly Blood Trail), a profile of American photo-journalist Robert King. Wavelength Pictures is re-launching the film internationally in Berlin at the 2010 European Film Market, following the strong critical reaction that accompanied its UK cinema release and its subsequent award nominations at the end of 2009.

During the Berlinale/EFM, Wavelength Pictures will be based at the Media Stand in the Central Hall of the Martin Gropius Bau.

Full details on our Documentaries page

wavelength pictures latest acquisitions

October 2009.  Wavelength Pictures has had a busy Autumn with the acquistion of a number of new documentaries. HOCKNEY ON PHOTOGRAPHY (2009, 52 mins) is an indepth look at the photographic work of Britain's greatest living artist. Highly distinctive photographic collages such as Nude posed by Theresa Russell (pictured right) had a huge impact in the art world and among a wider public. Hockney himself speaks at length about his revolutionary techniques in front of some of his enormous collages. This documentary is essential viewing for anyone with an interest in photography. BEAUTY WITHIN US - THE PHOTOGRAPHER JOCK STURGES (2009, 52 mins) is a profile of the American photographer who's enduring theme of the nude female has aroused controversy because of the young age of his subjects. The filmmakers join him as he works at on of his regular nudist beach locations, meeting his family and his models. They also speak with the galleries who withstood the controversy and showed his work. JULIA FRANK - PORTRAIT OF AN AUTHOR (2009, 52 mins) is a profile of a leading figure of the new generation of German writers offering a new perspective on the fraught history of her nation in the 20th century. Her critically acclaimed 2007 novel Die Mittagsfrau drawing her own family's experiences struck a chord with the population and to become an enormous best seller with 750,000 copies sold in Germany alone along with translations into 30 languages.

Wavelength Pictures picks up acclaimed German documentaries

April 2009.  Wavelength Pictures has picked up international sales rights for the acclaimed documentaries GUENTER GRASS - THE AWKWARD ONE a biographical profile of the Nobel Prize winning author best known for his ground-breaking novel The Tin Drum. The filmmakers take the simple but highly effective approach of accompanying him to meetings with publishers, book signings and lectures, where he takes challenging questions from his audiences. A visit to his birthplace in present day Poland (Gdansk) is also the location for a very insightful round table discussions with his translators who grapple with creating new translations of The Tin Drum that better represent his powerful use of the German language. BLACK SUN - THE ESOTERIC CULTURE OF THE THIRD REICH is a unique highly authoritative account of the mythological background of Nazism in which the filmmakers shed light on the sinister intertwining of esoterics, mythology and racism on which Nazi ideology was based. Aryan supremacist ideology was not something that Adolf Hitler created, he embraced and advanced something that had been advocated by a small dedicated group for some time. Without this ideological underpinning, many of the terrible crimes perpetrated during the Nazi era might not have happened.

Wavelength Pictures signs agreement to
revive European Cinema Classics

March 2009.  Wavelength Pictures has signed an agreement to become worldwide sales agent for two classics of European cinema. Andrzej Wajda's acclaimed KORCZAK (1990) a highly influential depiction of the efforts of the legendary paediatrician to care for the 200 children in his orphanage in the Warsaw Ghetto, and Krzysztof Zanussi's A YEAR OF THE QUIET SUN a love story set in the war scarred Poland of 1946 and a winner of the Golden Lion at the 1984 Venice Film Festival.