Ziraldo - Uma obra que pede socorro

The theme of death is heavily interwoven in Smolder’s surreal salute to Belgian painter Antoine Wiertz, a Hieronymus Bosch-type artist whose work centered on humans in various stages in torment, as depicted in expansive canvases with gore galore. Smolders has basically taken a standard documentary and chopped it up, using quotes from the long-dead artist, and periodic statements by a historian (Smolders) filling in a few bits of Wiertz’ life.

Tjipto Setiyono, 85, is a rickshaw painter. Despite being past his prime, he lives alone in a 3-by-3 meter square boarding room, in which Tjipto’s brush strokes give birth to his paintings.

Five hundred years after his birth, the life and career of the Italian Renaissance's last great painter is explored.

Louisa May Alcott, author of "Little Women," leads a literary double life, writing under the pseudonym A.M. Barnard, an identity that remains until the 1940s.

Filmmaker Jake Auerbach decides to offer a description of his friend Lucian Freud that's more truthful than the common media image by asking a number of people who have sat for Freud's portraits to share their experiences with the camera. They include several of Freud's friends and daughters, and the film becomes a depiction not only of his art, but also his private persona. Lucian Freud does not appear, with the exception of a brief shot at the end of the film.

Michael Palin discovers the story of 17th-century Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi. He unearths not only her paintings, but a complex and difficult life.

The Spanish author Enrique Jardiel Poncela (1901-1952) was one of the best comedy writers of all time, a novelist and newspaper columnist, misunderstood, even censored, both by the Second Republic government and Francoism, an outsider ahead of his time; also a filmmaker and screenwriter in Hollywood, architect of a revolutionary theatrical building and scenographer, cartoonist and illustrator. An implausible genius.

RICHARD WRIGHT was an African-American author of novels, short stories and non-fiction that dealt with powerful themes and controversial topics. Much of his works concerned racial themes that helped redefine discussions of race relations in America in the mid-20th century. Born on a plantation in Mississippi, Wright was a descendent of the first slaves who arrived in Jamestown Massachusetts. This program follows his arduous path from sharecropper to literary giant. Through authors like H.L. Menken, Sinclair Lewis, Theodore Dreiser, he discovered that literature could be used as a catalyst for social change. In 1937 Wright moved to New York and his work began to garner national attention for it's political and social commentary. Much of Wright's writing focused on the African American community and experience; his novel Native Son won him a Guggenheim Fellowship and was adapted to the Broadway stage with Orson Welles directing in 1941.

A journey into the hearts, minds and eyes of Georgia O’Keeffe, Emily Carr and Frida Kahlo - three of the 20th century’s most remarkable artists.