Films with: Hudson, Peter

Jean-Siméon Chardin painter /

In pre-Revolutionary France, the still life was considered merely a minor genre of painting. How then did the still life artist and portraitist Jean-Siméon Chardin, the ultimate outsider in an age of frivolity, rise to become a court favorite of Louis XV? This program captures the essence of the artist dubbed the "Great Magician" by Diderot for his uncannily realistic portrayal of domestic scenes. Using slow pans and close-ups, the program closely examines the painter's technique as it profiles the man behind the brush--so very out of tune with his times, yet supremely successful in his art.

DVD 4096

Stakes of Islam

Documents how life, especially religious life for Muslims, has changed in Central Asia's Fergana Valley since the breakup of the Soviet Union.

DVD 4990