Illuminated Lives: A Brief History of Women's Work in the Middle Ages

Jul 4, 1989

0h 5m

★ 0.0

Overview

This animated short challenges enduring myths, spawned by fairy tales and romances, about women in medieval society. It explores the differences and similarities between that distant period and our own, and shows what medieval women’s lives were really like.

Genres

History

Animation

Documentary

Production Companies

ONF | NFB

Illuminated Lives: A Brief History of Women's Work in the Middle Ages Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Narrator

Margaret Pacsu

Gus Van Sant tells the story of a young African American man named Jamal who confronts his talents while living on the streets of the Bronx. He accidentally runs into an old writer named Forrester who discovers his passion for writing. With help from his new mentor Jamal receives a scholarship to a private school.

7.1

Mirai

Jun 16, 2018

Unhappy after his new baby sister displaces him, four-year-old Kun begins meeting people and pets from his family's history in their unique house in order to help him become the big brother he was meant to be.

5.8

Crusade in Jeans

Nov 15, 2006

Dolf a 15 year old boy is sent back in time by a timemachine. Accidentally he is sent back to the Middle Ages. He is rescued by children who are part of a childrens' crusade, on their way to rescue Jeruzalem. During the trip Dolf finds out the danger is not coming from outside the crusade, but from within.

5.8

The Last Warrior

Jan 18, 2018

A new era is about to begin in Eastern Europe. Scythians, the proud warriors, are all but gone and most of the few remaining descendants have become ruthless mercenary assassins. Lutobor, a warrior who becomes involved in intertribal conflicts, sets off on a perilous journey to save his family guided by a captive Scythian.

4.7

Railway Station

Jan 1, 1980

Warsaw's Central Railway Station. 'Someone has fallen asleep, someone's waiting for somebody else. Maybe they'll come, maybe they won't. The film is about people looking for something.

8.0

Andrei Rublev

Dec 16, 1966

An expansive Russian drama, this film focuses on the life of revered religious icon painter Andrei Rublev. Drifting from place to place in a tumultuous era, the peace-seeking monk eventually gains a reputation for his art. But after Rublev witnesses a brutal battle and unintentionally becomes involved, he takes a vow of silence and spends time away from his work. As he begins to ease his troubled soul, he takes steps towards becoming a painter once again.

6.7

The 13th Warrior

Aug 13, 1999

A Muslim ambassador exiled from his homeland joins a group of Vikings, initially offended by their behavior but growing to respect them. As they travel together, they learn of a legendary evil closing in and must unite to confront this formidable force.

7.0

The Warrior

Sep 7, 2001

In 1375, China was in chaos between Yuan Dynasty and Ming Dynasty. Coryo (an ancient kingdom of Korea then) sent a delegation of many diplomats, soldiers and a silent slave to make peace with the new Chinese government. However, this delegation got charged as spies and sent in exile to a remote desert.

6.1

I Want to Deliver Your Voice

Aug 25, 2017

The story focuses on high school girl Nagisa Yukiai who lives in a seaside town. She has believed her grandmother's story that spirits dwell in words and they are called "kotodama" (word spirit). One day, she strays into a mini FM station that has not been used for years. As an impulse of the moment, she tries to talk like a DJ using the facility. But her voice accidentally broadcasted reaches someone she has never expected.

0.0

Pride & Attitude

Oct 9, 2025

The viewpoints of women from a country that no longer exists preserved on low-band U-matic tape. GDR-FRG. Courageous, self-confident and emancipated: female industry workers talk about gaining autonomy.

4.7

La conquista de Albania

Sep 20, 1983

King Carlos II of Spain (r. 1665-1700) once sent his brother Luis to lead a military expedition into Albania and conquer that land for the Spaniards. Since Albania was a part of the dowry of Luis' wife, it seemed like a reasonable idea at the time. While that expedition and its final battle is the subject of this historical film, the scale involved can hardly do justice to the concept. The protagonists talk incessantly, and by the time they get down to the final grand battle, it turns out to be a skirmish between several dozen men.

7.5

The Adventures of Robin Hood

May 13, 1938

Robin Hood fights nobly for justice against the evil Sir Guy of Gisbourne while striving to win the hand of the beautiful Maid Marian.

6.9

Mona Lisa Smile

Dec 19, 2003

Katherine Watson is a recent UCLA graduate hired to teach art history at the prestigious all-female Wellesley College, in 1953. Determined to confront the outdated mores of society and the institution that embraces them, Katherine inspires her traditional students, including Betty and Joan, to challenge the lives they are expected to lead.

7.8

The Virgin Spring

Feb 8, 1960

Devout Christians Töre and Märeta send their only daughter, the virginal Karin, and their foster daughter, the unrepentant Ingeri, to deliver candles to a distant church. On their way through the woods, the girls encounter a group of savage goat herders who brutally rape and murder Karin as Ingeri remains hidden. When the killers unwittingly seek refuge in the farmhouse of Töre and Märeta, Töre plots a fitting revenge.

7.2

The Earth Is Blue as an Orange

Nov 26, 2020

Single mother Anna and her four children live in the front-line war zone of Donbas, Ukraine. While the outside world is made up of bombings and chaos, the family is managing to keep their home a safe haven, full of life and full of light. Every member of the family has a passion for cinema, motivating them to shoot a film inspired by their own life during a time of war. The creative process raises the question of what kind of power the magical world of cinema could have during times of disaster. How to picture war through fiction? For Anna and the children, transforming trauma into a work of art is the ultimate way to stay human.

2.7

Oldrich and Bozena

Aug 1, 1985

At the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries Boleslav's kingdom fell apart in the fratricidal war between the Přemyslovci and the other clans the main profiteer of this being the German emperor. At that time it seemed as if the Czech state and the lineage of its princes was awaiting its end..." It is with these words that the tale of this film begins, whose narrative is based upon the the play by František Hrubín of the same name.

7.2

Henry V

Oct 5, 1989

In 1415, in the midst of the Hundred Years' War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France.

7.3

Ivan the Terrible, Part I

Nov 11, 1944

Set during the early part of his reign, Ivan faces betrayal from the aristocracy and even his closest friends as he seeks to unite the Russian people. Sergei Eisenstein's final film, this is the first part of a three-part biopic of Tsar Ivan IV of Russia, which was never completed due to the producer's dissatisfaction with Eisenstein's attempts to use forbidden experimental filming techniques and excessive cost overruns. The second part was completed but not released for a decade after Eisenstein's death and a change of heart in the USSR government toward his work; the third part was only in its earliest stage of filming when shooting was stopped altogether.

7.2

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Mar 1, 1978

Krabat, a beggar boy, is lured to become an apprentice to an evil, one-eyed sorcerer. With a number of other boys, he works at the sorcerer's mill while learning black magic. Every Christmas one of the boys has to face the master in a magical duel, where the boy never stands a chance because the master is the only person who is allowed to use a secret spell: The Koraktor.

1.0

Kitty-Cat Fantasia

Dec 13, 1991

"Shiro" is a black cat who loves her family very much. She loves them so much she wants to help them out in times of need and trouble…but it’s difficult to do this if she’s just a cat. So one night, she wishes on the moon to make her able to help, and the next day, she has turned into a human girl.

Illuminated Lives: A Brief History of Women's Work in the Middle Ages

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

Illuminated Lives: A Brief History of Women's Work in the Middle Ages Trailers