Directed by William Klein

Directed by William Klein

5 Episodes

William Klein’s explosive New York street photography made him one of the most heralded artists of the sixties. As an American expatriate in Paris, Klein also made bold, challenging cinema in a filmmaking career that spanned more than forty years. In his three colorful, surreal fiction features—WHO ARE YOU, POLLY MAGGOO?, MR. FREEDOM, and THE MODEL COUPLE—he skewers the fashion industry, American empire, and governmental mind control with hilarious, cutting aplomb, while his essential documentaries MUHAMMAD ALI, THE GREATEST and ELDRIDGE CLEAVER, BLACK PANTHER capture two of the most galvanizing personalities of his time with electrifying immediacy. Still largely overlooked in the United States, his films are audacious, iconoclastic antidotes to all forms of social oppression.

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Directed by William Klein

5 Episodes

  • Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?
    1:42:49
    Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?
    Episode 1

    Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?

    Episode 1

    Directed by William Klein • 1966 • France

    After nearly a decade as American Vogue's most subversive fashion photographer, William Klein made this wild, pseudovérité incursion into the world of Parisian haute couture. Elegant, scathing humor ties together the various strands of this alternately...

  • The Model Couple
    1:41:20
    The Model Couple
    Episode 2

    The Model Couple

    Episode 2

    Directed by William Klein • 1977 • France

    In 1977 France, the Ministry of the Future chooses two 'normal,' white, middle-class citizens, Claudine (Anémone) and Jean-Michel (André Dussolier), for a national experiment. They will be monitored and displayed on television for six months in a model a...

  • Mr. Freedom
    1:31:59
    Mr. Freedom
    Episode 3

    Mr. Freedom

    Episode 3

    Directed by William Klein • 1969 • France

    William Klein moved into more blatantly political territory with this hilarious, vicious Vietnam-era lampoon of imperialist American foreign policy. Mr. Freedom (John Abbey), a bellowing good-ol'-boy superhero decked out in copious football padding, jets...

  • Muhammad Ali, the Greatest
    2:03:47
    Muhammad Ali, the Greatest
    Episode 4

    Muhammad Ali, the Greatest

    Episode 4

    Directed by William Klein • 1974 • France
    Starring Muhammad Ali, Sonny Liston, George Foreman

    A remarkable chronicle of some of the defining cultural moments of the twentieth century, William Klein’s up-close portrait of Muhammad Ali is an indispensable record of the icon in his electrifying pri...

  • Eldridge Cleaver, Black Panther
    1:10:53
    Eldridge Cleaver, Black Panther
    Episode 5

    Eldridge Cleaver, Black Panther

    Episode 5

    Directed by William Klein • 1970 • United States

    William Klein’s candid portrait of leading Black Panther figure Eldridge Cleaver catches up with the charismatic, controversial, and outspoken revolutionary during his exile in Algeria, where he—along with his wife, fellow Black Power activist Kat...

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