The Story of Film looks at cinema of the 1980s and examines how directors used movies to protest and speak truth to those in power. It first looks at film-makers in Communist China (Tian Zhuangzhuang, Chen Kaige, and Zhang Yimou) and examines Eastern Europran directors in Georgia (Tengiz Abuladze), the Soviet Union (Elem Klimov, Kira Muratova), and Poland (Krzysztof Kieslowski). It, then, discusses Africa cinema in Burkina Faso (Gaston Kabore) and Mali (Souleymane Cisse). In the United States, films are influenced by music video and the Cold War. It looks at the films of David Lynch, Spike Lee, John Sayles, and Maggie Renzi. In European protest filmmakers thrive in France (Luc Besson and Leos Carax), Spain (Pedro Almodovar and Víctor Erice), England (Stephen Frears, Terence Davies, Peter Greenaway, and Derek Jarman), Scotland (Bill Douglas and Bill Forsyth), Wales (Peter Greenaway), and Canada (David Cronenberg, Norman McLaren, and Denys Arcand).
—Shatterdaymorn