The Story of Film: An Odyssey

Sex and melodrama in the movies of the fifties: James Dean, On the Waterfront and glossy weepies. We travel to Egypt, India, China, Mexico, Britain and Japan to find that movies there were also full of rage and passion. Exclusive interviews include associates of Indian master Satyajit Ray; legendary Japanese actress Kyoko Kagawa, who starred in films by Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu; and the first great African director, Youssef Chahine.

All Episodes - Season 1

Episode 1

Birth of the Cinema

Episode 2

The Hollywood Dream

Episode 3

The Golden Age of World Cinema

Episode 4

The Arrival of Sound

Episode 5

Post-War Cinema

Episode 6

Sex & Melodrama

Episode 7

European New Wave

Episode 8

New Directors, New Form

Episode 9

American Cinema of the 70s

Episode 10

Movies to Change the World

Episode 11

The Arrival of Multiplexes and Asian Mainstream

Episode 12

Fight the Power: Protest in Film

Episode 13

New Boundaries: World Cinema in Africa, Asia & Latin America

Episode 14

New American Independents & The Digital Revolution

Episode 15

Cinema Today and the Future