The BEST episodes of Storyville season 2012
Every episode of Storyville season 2012, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Storyville season 2012!
Storyville has developed an enviable reputation since it was launched by the BBC in 1997 as a showcase for the best in international documentaries. Screening over 340 films, from some 70 different countries, the strand has garnered a staggering array of awards: five Oscars, 15 Griersons, three Peabodys and two International Emmys.
#1 - Hitler, Stalin, and Mr Jones
Season 2012 - Episode 18 - Aired 7/5/2012
An investigation into who killed Welsh journalist Gareth Jones. Jones's greatest scoop was to reveal the starvation to death of millions in 1930s Ukraine, caused by Stalin's policies. A portrait emerges of a fiercely bright young man who preferred a journalist's life of courage and danger which took him from smalltown Wales to even hitching a lift in Hitler's private plane. However, in a 1930s world of competing ideologies, there existed a fine line between journalism and spying. This film explores to what extent this dual role, and taking on Stalin, may have contributed to his early death on the plains of Mongolia.
#2 - Hijack Hell: Bus 174
Season 2012 - Episode 13 - Aired 4/18/2012
During the early morning rush hour in Rio de Janeiro on 12 June 2000, a hijacker seized control of a bus near the city's historic botanical gardens. A lone gunman, seemingly insane or on drugs, held his victims captive as the authorities and the media surrounded the parked bus. Unable to determine his motives or purpose, the authorities stood their ground for four hours and tried to talk the hijacker into giving himself up while the television cameras broadcast every second with shocking intimacy, capturing the attention of the entire nation for the duration of the standoff. Jose Padilha's nail-biting documentary not only recounts the events of that fateful day, but also gives voice to the hijacker, 21-year-old Sandro do Nascimento. At a very young age, Sandro watched his mother be murdered. Later, as an orphaned teenager living on the streets of Rio, he survived the brutal police slaughter of several of his homeless friends. Poor, hopeless, and hooked on cocaine, Sandro finally reached his breaking point. Padilha's unflinching thriller boldly gives voice to Nascimento, proving that he also was a victim in this unfortunate situation.
#3 - The Chef Who Conquered New York: Serving Up Paul Liebrandt
Season 2012 - Episode 24 - Aired 11/12/2012
Storyville takes an intimate look at the driven and talented British celebrity chef, Paul Liebrandt, who at 24 was the youngest chef to be awarded three stars by the New York Times. His controversial and hyper-modern dishes have meant that he soon became a chef whom critics loved or loved to hate. The film follows Liebrandt for over a decade as he rose to the peaks of success in the cutthroat world of haute cuisine in New York City. Exploring the complicated relationships between food critics, chefs and restaurant owners, the film delves into the life of an uncompromising, thought-provoking young chef ahead of his time.
#4 - The Reluctant Revolutionary
Season 2012 - Episode 11 - Aired 3/19/2012
DURATION: 1 HOUR, 10 MINUTES An intimate portrait of Yemen as the revolution unfolds, told through the eyes of warm-hearted local tour guide Kais. Award-winning documentary filmmaker Sean McAllister portrays Kais' transformation from sceptic of the revolutionary cause to participant with characteristic intimacy and frankness. The film tracks Kais from his initial irritation with the demonstrations against President Saleh's 33-year reign to his witnessing the determination of the demonstrators, which culminates in a massacre of 52 protestors. This is a personal and at times deeply shocking documentary which takes the viewer to the heart of what is like as a normal civilian to live through a revolution.
#5 - Surviving Progress
Season 2012 - Episode 15 - Aired 6/4/2012
Documentary telling the double-edged story of the grave risks we pose to our own survival in the name of progress. With rich imagery the film connects financial collapse, growing inequality and global oligarchy with the sustainability of mankind itself. The film explores how we are repeatedly destroyed by 'progress traps' - alluring technologies which serve immediate need but rob us of our long term future. Featuring contributions from those at the forefront of evolutionary thinking such as Stephen Hawking and economic historian Michael Hudson. With Martin Scorsese as executive producer, the film leaves us with a challenge - to prove that civilisation and survival is not the biggest progress trap of them all.
#6 - Girl Model
Season 2012 - Episode 16 - Aired 6/25/2012
Storyville: documentary which exposes the shocking supply of ever younger girl models to the Japanese modelling industry. The film follows 13-year-old Nadya from poverty in Siberia to the city of Tokyo and a life as a model. American scout Ashley promises her a lucrative career, but all is not as it seems as Nadya's optimism quickly fades when confronted with the dehumanising culture of life in Japanese casting sessions.
#7 - Guerrilla - The Taking Of Patty Hearst
Season 2012 - Episode 4 - Aired 2/8/2012
The story of the 1974 kidnap of Patty Hearst, a teenage newspaper heiress and Berkeley undergrad, which set off one of the most bizarre episodes in recent American history. (2005)
#8 - The Other Irish Travellers
Season 2012 - Episode 26 - Aired 12/16/2012
A documentary which takes a personal look at the history of Ireland's vanished Anglo-Irish classes through the quirky family of filmmaker Fiona Murphy. The director follows her father and his four siblings back to the estate in County Mayo where they grew up in the newly-independent Ireland of the 1930s, to trace lives rich in contradiction. While the siblings wrestled with their Anglo-Irish identity, their father carved out a successful career as a diplomat at the height of the British Empire. Tracking the family's fortunes from Cromwell's times, through first-hand accounts of the Civil War and mass exodus of the Anglo-Irish under Eamon de Valera, the film explores how this individualistic family tried to hold on, despite the odds.
#9 - From the Sea to the Land Beyond: Britain's Coast on Film
Season 2012 - Episode 25 - Aired 11/18/2012
Made from over 100 years of BFI archive footage, From the Sea to the Land Beyond offers a poetic meditation on Britain's unique coastline and the role it plays in our lives. With a soundtrack specially created by Brighton-based band British Sea Power, award-winning director Penny Woolcock's film offers moving testimony to our relationship to the coast - during wartime, on our holidays and as a hive of activity during the industrial age.
#10 - JFK's Road to the White House: Primary 1960
Season 2012 - Episode 23 - Aired 11/4/2012
'A new kind of reporting, a new form of history', Robert Drew promised John F Kennedy. He was proposing a revolutionary, small camera filming live with Kennedy day and night for nearly a week during the climax of his 1960 Wisconsin presidential primary run against Hubert Humphrey. Capturing JFK's rock-star presence, this documentary grants viewers unprecedented access into the world of a young politician and his glamorous wife as they campaigned across the Wisconsin landscape, building dramatic tension as the candidates await the ballot.
#11 - Olympic Massacre: One Day In September
Season 2012 - Episode 22 - Aired 9/12/2012
In September 1972, Palestinian terrorists took12 Israeli athletes hostage in the Olympic Village in Munich. This film recounts in gripping hour-by-hour detail the horrifying story of the attempt to first negotiate with the terrorists, and then to rescue the athletes.
#12 - The $750 Million Thief
Season 2012 - Episode 21 - Aired 9/5/2012
Manhattan attorney Marc Dreier funded an increasingly extravagant lifestyle through fraud that netted over 750 million dollars. Director Marc H Simon filmed his former employer and mentor during Dreier's 60-day wait under house arrest for sentencing.
#13 - Racing Dreams
Season 2012 - Episode 20 - Aired 8/13/2012
The coming-of-age story of three kids who dream of one day becoming professional race car drivers. Eleven-year-old Annabeth, twelve-year-old Josh and thirteen-year-old Brandon compete for the championship in the World Karting Association's national series, widely considered the little league for professional racing. Clocking speeds of up to 110 kmh, these young drivers race their way through the year-long national series that spawned many top drivers. At the same time - in intimate moments of young love and family struggle - they navigate the treacherous road between childhood and young adulthood.
#14 - The Queen of Africa: The Miriam Makeba Story
Season 2012 - Episode 19 - Aired 7/23/2012
A documentary which takes a look at the life of South African singer and civil rights activist Miriam Makeba. Forced into a life of exile for exposing the harsh realities of apartheid, Makeba was the first African musician to win international stardom. Always anchored in her traditional South African roots, Makeba's music delivered messages against racism and poverty. Exposing a tumultuous life - Makeba married South African musician Hugh Masekela and Black Panther Stokely Carmichael - this film traces her life and music using rare archive of performances, interviews and intimate scenes.
#15 - Albino Witchcraft Murders
Season 2012 - Episode 17 - Aired 7/2/2012
Storyville: documentary which charts the attempts of two people with albinism to follow their dreams in the face of prejudice and fear in Tanzania. Against the backdrop of an escalation in brutal murders of people with albinism, quietly determined 15-year-old Veda still dreams of completing his education. Josephat Torner has dedicated his life to campaigning against the discrimination of his people, confronting communities who may be hiding the murderers. Harry Freeland's film reveals a story of deep-rooted superstition, suffering and incredible strength.
#16 - The Real Great Escape
Season 2012 - Episode 14 - Aired 4/19/2012
For the first time, the true story of the mastermind behind World War II's Great Escape is told by his niece, Lindy Wilson. Squadron Leader Roger Bushell was a young London barrister, an auxiliary pilot and a champion skier when he was shot down and captured early in the war. He escaped three times and in spite of the Gestapo's threat to shoot him if he ever escaped again, Bushell accepted the role of 'Big X' on his return to the top-security POW camp, Stalag Luft 111. After 18 months of preparation, one of the greatest escapes of the war took place. Their aim to distract the enemy succeeded, as it was estimated that five million Germans were deployed to recapture the 76 escapees. However, Hitler's rage was uncontainable and he personally ordered a terrible reckoning.
#17 - Tabloid: Sex in Chains
Season 2012 - Episode 12 - Aired 3/26/2012
Documentary which follows the stranger-than-fiction account of a former beauty queen whose single-minded devotion to the man of her dreams became a tabloid sensation. Allegations that Joyce McKinney had kidnapped her estranged lover and held him captive, handcuffed to a bed in a remote cottage, became the stuff of headlines. Directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Errol Morris, Joyce's crusade for love and personal vindication takes her through a surreal world of gunpoint abduction, manacled Mormons, oddball accomplices, bondage modelling, magic underwear and dreams of celestial unions.
#18 - Who Is Gorky? An Abstract Life
Season 2012 - Episode 10 - Aired 3/12/2012
In a personal journey into a family tragedy, filmmaker Cosima Spender explores how she and her relatives have been shaped by her grandfather - the pioneering Abstract Expressionist painter, Arshile Gorky. Following a series of tragedies, he committed suicide in 1948, leaving a young wife and two daughters behind. Through conversations with her grandmother, Gorky's widow, Spender tries to make sense of his creativity, the reasons for his death and the shadow it subsequently cast. The film takes the viewer through the pain and courage of the family, coming to an emotional climax in Gorky's Armenian birthplace.
#19 - Murderball
Season 2012 - Episode 9 - Aired 3/6/2012
Documentary exploring the sport of wheelchair rugby, unofficially known as murderball. Created by quadriplegic athletes and played with bone-breaking intensity, the game is as aggressive as the name suggests. It is an official event at the Paralympics and the film documents the fierce rivalry between the American and Canadian teams before and during the Athens games of 2004. Filmmakers Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro document this fierce competition as well as the personal stories of the athletes who are passionate, driven and determined to win.
#20 - Knuckle: Bare Fist Fighting
Season 2012 - Episode 8 - Aired 3/5/2012
Documentary which goes inside the secretive Traveller world - a world of long and bitter memories. Filmed over twelve years, the film chronicles a history of violent feuding between rival families, using remarkable access to document the bare-fist fights between the Quinn McDonaghs and the Joyce clans, who, though cousins, have clashed for generations. Vivid, violent and funny, the film explores the need for revenge and the pressure to fight for the honour of your family name.
#21 - Fire in Babylon
Season 2012 - Episode 7 - Aired 2/27/2012
Documentary which tells the story of how West Indies cricket triumphed over its colonial masters through the achievements of one of the most gifted teams in sporting history. Key players of the 1980s side recount how it emerged to smash the giants of cricket - first Australia and then England. In a turbulent era of race riots in England and civil unrest in the Caribbean, the West Indian cricketers, led by the enigmatic Viv Richards, struck a defiant blow at the forces of white prejudice worldwide. Their undisputed skill, combined with a fearless spirit, allowed them to dominate the genteel game at the highest level, on their own terms. This is their story, told in their own words.
#22 - The Love of Books: A Sarajevo Story
Season 2012 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/20/2012
Documentary which tells the story of a group of men and women who risked their lives to rescue a library - and preserve a nation's history - in the midst of the Bosnian war. Amid bullets and bombs and under fire from shells and snipers, this handful of passionate book-lovers safeguarded more than 10,000 unique, hand-written Islamic books and manuscripts - the most important texts held by Sarajevo's last surviving library.
#23 - If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Season 2012 - Episode 5 - Aired 2/13/2012
Nominated for a 2011 Academy Award, this documentary tells the remarkable story of a young American environmentalist involved with the Earth Liberation Front - a group the FBI came to describe as America's 'number one domestic terrorism threat'. For years, the ELF - operating in separate anonymous cells without any central leadership - had launched spectacular attacks against dozens of logging companies they accused of destroying the environment. In December 2005, Daniel McGowan was arrested by federal agents in a nationwide sweep of radical environmentalists involved with the ELF. Part coming-of-age tale, part thriller, the film interweaves a verite chronicle of Daniel as he faces life in prison, with a dramatic recounting of the events that led to his involvement with the group.
#24 - Survivors: Lust for Life
Season 2012 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/23/2012
Heather Leach was a cheeky flame-haired documentary director living life to the full - maybe too full! But at the age of 30 she was suddenly diagnosed with a thyroid disease and then cancer. As part of Storyville's Survivors season, Lust For Life follows her battle with ill-health, despair and depression and her emergence to find a new way to live a cheekier and more fulfilling life.
#25 - Survivors: My Friend Sam: Living For the Moment
Season 2012 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/16/2012
As part of Storyville's Survivors season, My Friend Sam: Living For the Moment is about an extraordinary man named Sam Frears. Sam, now 39 years old, was born with an extremely rare genetic disorder - Familial Dysautonomia - which left him with only a 50% chance of making it to his fifth birthday. The film reveals a complex, engaging, exceptional person as he struggles with everyday life while pursuing his joint goals of getting his acting career back on track and finding love.