The Story of Film: An Odyssey poster

The Story of Film: An Odyssey

★ 8.4 5K votes 2011–2011 1 seasons · 15 episodes Ended Channel 4
DocuseriesNonfiction storytelling across episodes.This show: 10/10Real historyReal historical events and figures woven into the story.This show: 10/10Intellectual challengeRewards close attention and theorizing.This show: 8/10PhilosophicalBig questions of meaning, ethics and existence.This show: 7/10Visually strikingComposition and imagery worth pausing for.This show: 7/10
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Votes per Episode
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About

"A poet's map of world cinema's evolution"

A sweeping documentary chronicle of global cinema, from its earliest experiments to the digital age, narrated by film historian Mark Cousins. Across fifteen chapters it moves beyond the usual Hollywood-centric story to trace innovations from Iran, Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe alongside the familiar giants. The pace is meditative and essay-like, built on long clips and Cousins' distinctive, hushed narration rather than talking-head interviews. It feels less like a clip show and more like a personal, poetic lecture, best absorbed slowly, ideal for anyone who loves thinking about how images tell stories.

Watch it for

the genuinely global scope, spotlighting overlooked filmmakers usually erased from mainstream film history.

Maybe skip if

you want fast-paced clip montages rather than slow, essayistic narration over long extended scenes.

Written by our AI editor to help you decide, spoiler-free by design.

All Seasons

Series 12011
8.04K1515h 32m
EpTitleRatingYoursVotesRuntime
1Birth of the Cinema8.1
41064 min
2The Hollywood Dream8.0
32262 min
3The Golden Age of World Cinema8.1
29562 min
4The Arrival of Sound8.1
25962 min
5Post-War Cinema8.0
25662 min
6Sex & Melodrama7.8
23462 min
7European New Wave8.1
24362 min
8New Directors, New Form8.0
20862 min
9American Cinema of the 70s8.1
21462 min
10Movies to Change the World7.7
20962 min
11The Arrival of Multiplexes and Asian Mainstream7.8
20262 min
12Fight the Power: Protest in Film7.8
19662 min
13New Boundaries: World Cinema in Africa, Asia & Latin America7.9
19562 min
14New American Independents & the Digital Revolution7.9
19662 min
15Cinema Today and the Future7.9
19862 min

Full Cast & Crew

Cast

Mark Cousins Self - Presenter
Aleksandr Sokurov Self - Interviewee
Norman Lloyd Self - Interviewee
Lars von Trier Self - Interviewee
Paul Schrader Self - Interviewee
Haskell Wexler Self - Interviewee
Yuen Woo-Ping Self - Interviewee
Robert Towne Self - Interviewee
Samira Makhmalbaf Self, Self - Interviewee
Jean-Michel Frodon Self - Film Historian, Self - Interviewee

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