André de Toth

The Midnight Sun Film Festival is held every June in the Finnish village of Sodankylä beyond the arctic circle — where the sun never sets. Founded by Aki and Mika Kaurismäki along with Anssi Mänttäri and Peter von Bagh in 1985, the festival has played host to an international who’s who of directors and each day begins with a two-hour discussion. To mark the festival’s silver anniversary, festival director Peter von Bagh edited together highlights from these dialogues to create an epic four-part choral history of cinema drawn from the anecdotes, insights, and wisdom of his all-star cast: Coppola, Fuller, Forman, Chabrol, Corman, Demy, Kieslowski, Kiarostami, Varda, Oliveira, Erice, Rouch, Gilliam, Jancso — and 64 more. Ranging across innumerable topics (war, censorship, movie stars, formative influences, America, neorealism) these voices, many now passed away, engage in a personal dialogue across the years that’s by turns charming, profound, hilarious and moving.

Four boys act out games in a nearly barren landscape near a mining excavation where blasting is going on. The oldest, Szafran, is their leader. When he gets into a frenzy, so do the others: running barefoot through thistles, rubbing dirt in their hair, catching fish barehanded. Szafran says he is the Antichrist and gives orders. Are these games or something else?

Noted Hollywood stars and directors talk about the history and evolution of the film industry in Los Angeles.

A documentary looking at the life and career of film director Frank Capra. Hosted by Ron Howard.

A young man finds out that his parents had been used in an atomic-weapons experiment shortly before he was born, and that the results have had some unexpected effects on him.

Luke, an escaped convict, and Jaroo, a loner gold prospector, team up with a band of Apache Indians in 19th century Mexico to capture a large, heavily armed fortress for the millions -- or billions -- of dollars in gold that are rumored to be stored within. Written by Brian C. Madsen

During World War II in North Africa, a group of British commandos disguised as Italian soldiers must travel behind enemy lines and destroy a vital Nazi oil depot.

During World War II in North Africa, a group of British commandos disguised as Italian soldiers must travel behind enemy lines and destroy a vital Nazi oil depot.

A former British spy stumbles into in a plot to overthrow Communism with the help of a supercomputer. But who is working for whom?

A gladiator gets caught up in a slave revolt and the invasion of England.

During the Mongol invasion of Poland, a conflict between Mongol Emperor Genghis Khan and his oldest son Ogotai ensues when the former aims for peace and the latter itches for war and conquest.

A Welsh pirate raids up and down the Caribbean, battling the Spanish, the English and other pirates.

A Welsh pirate raids up and down the Caribbean, battling the Spanish, the English and other pirates.

U.S. spies catch a Moscow-born U.S. citizen (Ernest Borgnine) helping spies, and they force him to counterspy.

Blaise Starrett is a rancher at odds with homesteaders when outlaws hold up the small town. The outlaws are held in check only by their notorious leader, but he is diagnosed with a fatal wound and the town is a powder keg waiting to blow.

Wartime thriller with film noir elements based on a true story as written in A.P. Scotland's autobiography "The London Cage". The plot has greatly exaggerated the actual events of A.P. Scotland's experiences, including the addition of a fictional love interest.

A U.S. lawman busts Copenhagen counterfeiters to help his sister, falsely accused of murder.

A U.S. lawman busts Copenhagen counterfeiters to help his sister, falsely accused of murder.

The painfully true story of welterweight boxing champion Barney Ross is detailed in Monkey on My Back. Cameron Mitchell stars as Ross, whose meteoric ring career is interrupted when he joins the Marines at the outset of WWII. A highly decorated hero, Ross contracts malaria oversees and is given morphine to assuage the pain. By the time he returns to the states, Ross is a confirmed drug addict. Before he can rise to the top again, he must hit rock bottom and his descent into the hell of narcotics dependency is graphically illustrated (so much so that the film was almost denied a Production Code seal). Though a cured Barney Ross served as technical advisor for Monkey on My Back, he ended up suing the producers for defamation of character -- and lost.

A scout leading a wagon train through hostile Indian country gets involved with a Sioux chief's daughter.

A year after a violent train robbery the Pinkerton detective agency hires a bounty hunter to find the three remaining killers. He tracks them to Twin Forks but has no clue to their identity. Tensions surface as just his presence in town acts as a catalyst.

A landowner in colonial Africa leads a safari through Nukumbi territory in order to capture an escaped criminal.

When a stagecoach guard tries to warn a town of an imminent raid by a band of outlaws, the people mistake him for one of the gang

Set in 1869, after the Civil War, Texas had not yet been readmitted to the Union and carpetbaggers, hiding behind the legal protection of the Union Army of occupation, had taken over the state. Federal Captain Porter, a Texan, has to carry out orders against his own people. He brings in the rebel leader Ben Westman whom he knows is innocent of a murder that he is accused of. In trying to prove his innocence, Porter himself becomes a wanted man.

Reformed parolee Steve Lacey is caught in the middle when a wounded former cellmate seeks him out for shelter. The other two former cellmates then attempt to force him into doing a bank job.

Having been a spy for Quantrill's raiders during the Civil War, Jeff Travis thinking himself a wanted man, flees to Prescott Arizona where he runs into Jules Mourret who knows of his past. He takes a job on the stage line that Mourret is trying to steal gold from. When Mourret's men kill a friend of his he sets out to get Mourret and his men. When his plan to have another gang get Mourret fails, he has to go after them himself.

A New York sculptor who opens a wax museum to showcase the likenesses of famous historical figures runs into trouble with his business partner, who demands that the exhibits become more extreme in order to increase profits.

It's 1876 and all the Indians are at peace except the Comanches lead by Black Cloud. When Black Cloud wipes out a town, only six soldiers are left and they head for the nearest fort. In the desert they are reinforced by members of a stagecoach and find some water at a deserted mission. Pinned down by Black Cloud they send an Indian boy who was Black Cloud's prisoner on to the fort while they try to bargain with Black Cloud whom they learn is without water.

Major Lex Kearney, dishonourably discharged from the army for cowardice in battle, volunteers to go undercover to try to prevent raids against shipments of horses desperately needed for the Union war effort. Falling in with the gang of jayhawkers and Confederate soldiers who have been conducting the raids, he gradually gains their trust and is put in a position where he can discover who has been giving them secret information revealing the routes of the horse shipments.

Mine owner William Sharon keeps having his gold shipments held up by a gang of bandits. Sharon hires banker Charles Crocker, who happens to have connections in the Central Pacific Railroad, to build a spur line from Virginia City to Carson City, so that the gold can be shipped by railroad. Silent Jeff Kincaid is the railroad engineer. However there is opposition to the railroad, chiefly from another mine owner, Big Jack Davis.

A small rancher is being harassed by his mighty and powerful neighbor. When the neighbor even hires gunmen to intimidate him he has to defend himself and his property by means of violence.

The fastest gun in the West tries to escape his reputation.

A pilot wants a life of ease, flying for drug smugglers and looking the other way until his conscience is tweaked by a woman he has misused. The story unfolds in flashbacks as the pilot battles the storm and recalls his failures, including a love affair with the wife of his best friend.

An insurance man's affair with a blonde leads to guilt, murder and a confession to his wife.

An insurance man's affair with a blonde leads to guilt, murder and a confession to his wife.

Art editor Madeleine Damian carries on numerous loveless affairs. After a failed relationship with advertiser Felix Courtland, the increasingly depressed Madeleine attempts suicide. When Jack Garet, her secretary and former lover, tries to blackmail her, Madeleine resigns and seeks a reclusive life. Neighbor David Cousins befriends Madeleine, but soon Courtland and Garet discover her whereabouts and disrupt her new life.

Seriously ill, concert pianist Karen Duncan is admitted to a Swiss sanitorium. Despite being attracted to Dr Tony Stanton she ignores his warnings of possibly fatal consequences unless she rests completely. Rather, she opts for a livelier time in Monte Carlo with dashing Paul Clermont.

A cattle-vs.-sheepman feud loses Connie Dickason her fiance, but gains her his ranch, which she determines to run alone in opposition to Frank Ivey, "boss" of the valley, whom her father Ben wanted her to marry. She hires recovering alcoholic Dave Nash as foreman and a crew of Ivey's enemies. Ivey fights back with violence and destruction, but Dave is determined to counter him legally... a feeling not shared by his associates. Connie's boast that, as a woman, she doesn't need guns proves justified, but plenty of gunplay results.

Evelyn, an emotionally vulnerable and unstable woman, stays at the home of her doctor Dan Proctor. There she meets and falls in love with his brother, Douglas, who is happily married to Ann. Evelyn then sets forth to break up the happy marriage and win the love of Douglas.

Leslie Calvin, the sole survivor of a submarine accident, goes to her relatives in order to recover emotionally. Unfortunately, she encounters various scam artists led by Mr. Sydney who intend to kill her and steal the family assets. Dr. George Grover helps Leslie to defeat Sydney.

Through flashbacks, the story of a Nazi war criminal is exposed.

The Lone Wolf goes undercover in Egypt to foil a Nazi plot to bomb and disable the Suez canal, which is vital to England's war effort.

Lydia MacMillan, a wealthy woman who has never married, invites several men her own age to her home to reminisce about the times when they were young and courted her. In memory, each romance seemed splendid and destined for happiness, but in each case, Lydia realizes, the truth was less romantic, and ill-starred.

Two girls run away from a small village. Gyöngyi comes from an aristocratic family and her father throws her out of the house when he discovers she has gotten pregnant out of wedlock. She finds herself wandering the streets of Budapest and earns money playing the violin in a restaurant. Vica is an orphaned peasant; she is afraid of her stepfather and moves to the city where she gets a job on a construction site. Gyöngyi and Vica meet on the streets of Budapest, move in together and turn their lives around.

Two girls run away from a small village. Gyöngyi comes from an aristocratic family and her father throws her out of the house when he discovers she has gotten pregnant out of wedlock. She finds herself wandering the streets of Budapest and earns money playing the violin in a restaurant. Vica is an orphaned peasant; she is afraid of her stepfather and moves to the city where she gets a job on a construction site. Gyöngyi and Vica meet on the streets of Budapest, move in together and turn their lives around.

Set in Paris (which looks more like Budapest), the story concerns a murder investigation conducted by one Judge Henri Tessier. The audience is led to believe that Robert Petrovich, estranged husband of Tessier's sweetheart Marion, is responsible for the murder.

Ignác Semmelweis is 18 and is in Vienna, training to become a judge-advocate, to comply with the wishes of his family. He is, however, attracted by the medical science, and joins the team of Professor Rokitanszky.

Another winner from Hungarian director Ivan Szekely (aka S.K. Seeley and Steve Sekely), A Nosty fiu Esete Toth Marival was released in English-speaking regions as I Married for Love. Feri Noszty (Paul Javor) is a handsome but irresponsible Hussar officer who prefers a life of wine, women and song to his military responsibilities. Unwilling to bow to family pressure, Feri refuses to marry heiress Mary Toth (Eva Szorenyi) for her dowry alone. But Mary falls in love with the prideful Feri, and to win his affections she poses as her own poverty-stricken maid. Based on a novel by Kalman Mikszath, A Noszty Fiu Esete Toth Marival was filmed simultaneously in Hungarian- and German-language versions.

Robert Flaherty and Zoltán Korda shared best director honors at the Venice Film Festival for collaborating on this charming translation of Rudyard Kipling’s “Jungle Book” story “Toomai of the Elephants.” A harmonious mix of the two filmmakers’ styles, Flaherty's adeptness at ethnographic documentary meeting Korda's taste for grand adventure, ELEPHANT BOY also served as the breakthrough showcase for the thirteen-year-old Sabu, whose beaming performance as a young mahout leading the British on an expedition made him a major international star.