Mini-series (Documentaries)

Directed by Michael Gill et al.
670 minutes; released 1969.
Art historian Kenneth Clark examines the breadth of Western European culture, defining what he considers to be the crucial phases of its development.

Directed by Cassian Harrison.
165 minutes; released 2001.
The story of ancient Greece's Golden Age as told through the lives of some of its most prominent figures, including Cleisthenes, Themistocles, Pericles, and Socrates. Narrated by Liam Neeson.

Directed by Clare Beavan et al.
900 minutes; released 2000.
Simon Schama introduces British history from its ancient beginnings to the 20th century, highlighting the epic themes and towering figures that transformed an island "at the edge of the world" into an empire.

Directed by Peter John Ingles et al.
450 minutes; released 2006.
With comments from such players as Wayne Gretzky, Hayley Wickenheiser and Ken Dryden, this series chronicles the story of a game and the soul of a nation. Born as a game of survival against the Canadian winter, hockey gave a new country its first heroes and champions. Narrated by Paul Gross and James Hyndman.

Directed by Neville Meyer.
60-minute programs; released 1994.
Former Israeli ambassador to the United States Abba Eban chronicles the birth and development of the state of Israel. Featured in interviews and archival footage are Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, Winston Churchill, Anwar Sadat, Golda Meir and Yitzhak Rabin. English with optional Hebrew, Russian and Spanish subtitles.

Directed by Ya'akov Eisenman.
60-minute programs; released 1979.
Relates the drama of the Jewish people's return to Zion and the establishment of the State of Israel. Also portrays the Jewish-Arab struggle for Palestine, persecution of Jews in Europe, the war of 1948 and David Ben-Gurion's Declaration of Independence. Narrated by Ian McKellen.

Directed by Clare Beavan et al.
400 minutes; released 2006.
Simon Schama introduces eight major artists: Caravaggio, Bernini, Rembrandt, David, Turner, Van Gogh, Picasso, and Rothko.

Directed by Gwynne Basen et al.
300 minutes; released 2002.
A television series about spectacular gardens and the lives of those who tend them.

Directed by Claude Lanzmann.
566 minutes; released 1985.
Without dramatic re-enactment or archival footage, this documentary uses interviews with surviving camp inmates, SS commandants and eyewitnesses to unearth disturbing details--including timetables, finances, and logistics--about the step-by-step Nazi plan to carry out the Holocaust.