Documentary
Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will celebrate its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. The film is an exploration of urban spaces in major cities and the type that inhabits them, and a fluid discussion with renowned designers about their work, the creative process, and the choices and aesthetics behind their use of type.
MOVIE COMMENTS
SIMILAR MOVIES
Pressing On: The Letterpress Film
Retratação
The Atomic Cafe
Le Corbusier, l'architecte du bonheur
Hanzi
The Corporation
The Gutenberg Enigma
Arne Jacobsen’s Modern Denmark
Endless Letterpress
Les Couturiers de l'Église
Art & Copy
Alternate Spaces
HU
Design Canada
Mark of the Hand
In Louboutin's Shoes
Programming the Nation?
The Merchants of Cool
Urbanized
Ardisson, l'Homme en Noir : l'hommage
SIMILAR MOVIES
Pressing On: The Letterpress Film
IMDB 6.8 | May , 2017
Why has letterpress printing survived? Irreplaceable knowledge of the historic craft is in danger of being lost as its caretakers age. Fascinating personalities intermix with wood, metal, and type as young printers save a traditional process in Pressing On, a 4K feature-length documentary exploring the remarkable community keeping letterpress alive.Retratação
IMDB 0 | Oct , 2019
Fernando Lemos, a Portuguese surrealist artist, fled from dictatorship to Brazil in 1952 searching for something better. The movie follows the last moments of his journey and the struggle for the preservation of his legacy, trying to fulfill his last great desire: to be a good dead man.The Atomic Cafe
IMDB 7.3 | Mar , 1982
A disturbing collection of 1940s and 1950s United States government-issued propaganda films designed to reassure Americans that the atomic bomb was not a threat to their safety.Le Corbusier, l'architecte du bonheur
IMDB 10 | Dec , 1957
Documentary devoted to the architectural and urban planning designs of Le Corbusier. The architect supports his in-depth reflection on the city and its necessary adaptation to modern life with plans, drawings and images, particularly Paris, whose revolutionary development dreamed of by Le Corbusier is exhibited here. Its first projects will remain at the stage of a model: the modernization plan for the city of Algiers. Some will be created by other architects: Ministry of Education in Rio de Janeiro, UN Palace in New York. From the post-war period in less than 10 years, Le Corbusier created large housing units in Marseille, Nantes, a chapel in Ronchamps, a factory in Saint-Dié, a town in Chandigarh in India. Through diagrams, the architect presents his theory of the "radiant city", the mathematical key modulor of his work as well as his project for reorganizing the countryside, industrial and urban cities into a grouping around a cooperative system.Hanzi
IMDB 7.6 | May , 2017
Hanzi is a documentary exploring international design, visual culture, and identity through the lens of modern Chinese typography. The film covers a variety of topics such as how languages shape identity, and what role handwriting plays in the digital age.The Corporation
IMDB 7.6 | Sep , 2003
Since the late 18th century American legal decision that the business corporation organizational model is legally a person, it has become a dominant economic, political and social force around the globe. This film takes an in-depth psychological examination of the organization model through various case studies. What the study illustrates is that in the its behaviour, this type of "person" typically acts like a dangerously destructive psychopath without conscience. Furthermore, we see the profound threat this psychopath has for our world and our future, but also how the people with courage, intelligence and determination can do to stop it.The Gutenberg Enigma
IMDB 7.5 | Sep , 2017
A portrait of the inventor of the letterpress, who was a key figure in the history of mankind, but also an enthusiastic inventor, a daring businessman, a tenacious troublemaker: the life of Johannes Gutenberg (circa 1400-68).Arne Jacobsen’s Modern Denmark
IMDB 0 | Nov , 2021
Danish documentary about the disobedient schoolboy with a talent for painting, who became one of Denmark’s greatest architects. His ideas were ahead of their time and often received criticism, but today, 50 years after his death, Arne Jacobsen's schools, town halls and libraries are still with us, and they define modern Denmark.Endless Letterpress
IMDB 0 | Mar , 2019
Facing deteriorating machines and the advance of new technologies, Argentine printing presses are closing up their shops. A group of young designers has rediscovered this great technical innovation in the history of the written word – the typesetting printing press – but the technique is difficult to learn, passed down from master to apprentice. The last press mechanic in the country will be in charge of teaching them so that this historic technique endures.Les Couturiers de l'Église
IMDB 8 | Mar , 2016
Art & Copy
IMDB 7 | Aug , 2009
The personal odysseys of some of the most influential advertising visionaries of all time and the stories behind their campaigns.Alternate Spaces
IMDB 0 | Dec , 2022
A short documentary on the River Ouse, following it downstream from Lewes to Newhaven, meditating on the surrounding area.HU
IMDB 4 | Jan , 2012
A symmetrically divided building: on one side, an important public hospital, on the other, a bewildering ruin. On the horizon, Rio de Janeiro, public health, education and Brazil’s aged modern project. Shot entirely in the monumental and only partially occupied modernist edifice of the University Hospital of UFRJ. A material metaphor of the Brazilian public sphere and its political maze. A synthesis architecturally expressed of the modernist utopia/dystopia.Design Canada
IMDB 7 | Jun , 2018
Through the lens of graphic design, “Design Canada” follows the transformation of a nation from a colonial outpost to a vibrant and multicultural society. What defines a national identity, is it an anthem? A flag? Is it a logo or icon? How do these elements shape who we are? In the 1960s and 1970s, these questions were answered by an innovative group of Canadian designers, who used design to unify the nation.Mark of the Hand
IMDB 0 | Jan , 1987
Guyanese painter Aubrey Williams (1926-1990) returns to his homeland on a “journey to the source of his inspiration” in this vivid Arts Council documentary, filmed towards the end of his life. The title comes from the indigenous Arawak word ‘timehri’ - the mark of the hand of man - which Williams equates to art itself. Timehri was also then the name of the international airport at Georgetown, Guyana's capital, where Williams stops off to restore an earlier mural. The film offers a rare insight into life beyond Georgetown, what Williams calls “the real Guyana.” Before moving to England in 1952 he had been sent to work on a sugar plantation in the jungle; this is his first chance to revisit the region and the Warao Indians - formative influences on his work - in four decades. Challenging the ill-treatment of indigenous Guyanese, Williams explored the potential of art to change attitudes. By venturing beyond his British studio, this film puts his work into vibrant context.In Louboutin's Shoes
IMDB 0 | Aug , 2015
This film offers an up-close look at the world of renowned shoe designer Christian Louboutin and his first foray into the Asian footwear market.Programming the Nation?
IMDB 6.2 | Aug , 2011
Programming the Nation? takes an encompassing look at the history of subliminal messaging in America. According to many authorities, since the late 1950s subliminal content has been tested and delivered through all forms of mass-media including Hollywood filmmakers Alfred Hitchcock and William Friedkin. Even our modern military has been accused of these practices in the "war on terror" against soldiers and civilians both abroad and at home. With eye-opening footage, revealing interviews, humorous anecdotes, and an array of visual effects, the film categorically explores the alleged usage of subliminals in advertising, music, film, television, anti-theft devices, political propaganda, military psychological operations, and advanced weapons development. Director Jeff Warrick makes it his personal mission to determine if these manipulative tactics have succeeded in "programming the nation?" Or, if subliminal messaging belongs in the category of what many consider urban legend.The Merchants of Cool
IMDB 7.2 | Feb , 2001
A documentary on the marketing of pop culture to Teenagers.Urbanized
IMDB 7.4 | Sep , 2011
A documentary about the design of cities, which looks at the issues and strategies behind urban design and features some of the world's foremost architects, planners, policymakers, builders, and thinkers.Ardisson, l'Homme en Noir : l'hommage
IMDB 0 | Jul , 2025