Films on literature, music, art, history, society and more. Top up your ideas! The films in the Academy media library form the core of the site effort to nudge folk towards 'being cultured.' In our eyes 'being cultured' just means knowing a bit more about how the world works, how human beings work together best, what it means to be a worthwhile person in a general as well as a particular sense. There is no creed on offer. It's not a religion. There are no absolute answers. But quite a few folk have done it before us so we need to look back as well as we can and use their experience. We need to read their books and look at what they created. The astonishing resource of easily available films like these on your smartphone or screen means that getting cultured is open to millions whereas before it was only a tiny minority of folk 'born lucky' at the top of society you might say who had the chance. They didn't always take it! Make sure you do.. Get going!
Tchaikovsky was born into a modest family on the bottom rank of the Russian aristocracy. His father was a mining engineer and after an early education from a French governess Tchaikovsky was sent to the School of Jurisprudence in St Petersburg. A Music Conservatory opened there shortly afterwards and as one of its first graduates he launched into the doubtful career of music composition. His gifts were soon recognised however and he went on to achieve extraordinary international acclaim. Patriots of Russia struggle to claim him as their own but it is a mark of the appeal of music to all humanity that his music is loved in all corners of the earth. The film traces his touching career and ends with an overview of his works. AM076HD20 Tchaikovsky 2020 36'52
