Wichita films

Wichita Films is a French production company specializing in documentaries. It was founded in 2005 by Clara Kuperberg and Julia Kuperberg who act as both director and producer. Wichita Films mainly works to commission from the French market, but are distributed worldwide.

Among their documentaries; This is Orson Welles and Women who Run Hollywood were selected twice at the Cannes Film Festival in 2015 and 2016 and at the Deauville American Film Festival 2015 and 2016, among other prestigious festivals. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences organized a special screening of The Women who Run Hollywood at the Linwood Theater in 2018 with Q&A, and they also won the Best Director Award at the Beverly Hills Film Festival the same year, for the same film.

Since 2019, the prestigious Editions Montparnasse and de l’Harmattan have released special DVD boxes with more than 30 of their films.

Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony won Best International Feature Documentary at The American Documentary and Animation Film Festival and Film Fund (AmDocs) in Palm Springs in 2021, and was released on Fandor in January 2022.

Since 5 years, 10 of their movies are released in the US on HBOmax, Amazon, Apple TV, Peacock….

In March 2024, they have won the Special Jury Award at The American Documentary and Animation Film Festival and Film Fund (AmDocs) in Palm Springs for their last film ; Mary Pickford, a blessing and a curse.

Our movies


  • Documentaries
From Improv to IconThe Journey of Mike Nichols

From Improv to Icon
The Journey of Mike Nichols

2023
In the 1960s, the success of his film “The Graduate” paved the way for a new generation of directors who would become what is known as the “New Hollywood,” shaking up an aging industry.
Mary Pickford, a blessing and a curse

Mary Pickford, a blessing and a curse

2023
The name Mary Pickford remains inextricably linked to the legend of American cinema. She, who invented the star system at the beginning of the 20th century and became the greatest star ever known
Dorothy Arzner, Pioneer, Queer, Feminist

Dorothy Arzner, Pioneer, Queer, Feminist

2023
Arzner worked within a patriarchal system; that of the American moguls who controlled Hollywood, yet she dressed like a man, openly embraced her homosexuality at a time when it was almost …
Cary Grant, the Man He Dreamed of Being

Cary Grant, the Man He Dreamed of Being

2022
To talk about Cary Grant is to tell the story of more than half a century of cinema, that of an absolute icon, unparalleled, an exceptional actor as no longer exists, the charm, the composure, …
The True Story of the Barrymores

The True Story of the Barrymores

2022
Telling the story of the Barrymores is to recount more than a century of cinema and the history of an art that they revolutionized. It’s also about recounting Hollywood, the crushing machine, and …
Joni Mitchell, Lady Blue

Joni Mitchell, Lady Blue

2022
It’s the story of a singer who enjoyed worldwide success from her first album, a unique voice, her atypical crystal clear voice, a unique guitar style that has spoken to a whole generation.
Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony

Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony

2022
What destined this young boy from Wales to become the incarnation of absolute evil when he took on the role of cinema’s most notorious serial killer?
Ida Lupino: Gentlemen & Miss Lupino

Ida Lupino: Gentlemen & Miss Lupino

2021
Ida Lupino, the only woman immersed in the heart of a masculine Hollywood, is not only the film noir actress who replicates Bogart, she is above all a great director that history has forgotten. …
Hollywood So French!

Hollywood So French!

2021
When we talk about France and French people in Hollywood, it’s always the same thing: Love, seduction, arts, Parisian women, the French-lover, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe.
Jack Lemmon, a true Trouper

Jack Lemmon, a true Trouper

2021
Jack Lemmon was born into a well-to-do New England family of Irish extraction. A lonely child he sort of liberated himself by acting in school productions and decided at the age of eight that he …
Rita Hayworth, from Gilda to Rita

Rita Hayworth, from Gilda to Rita

2020
In the light of all the changes that are happening all over the world, we need to tell the story of Rita Hayworth. But this time not through the film critic size or the cinephiles eyes but …
William Holden between shadow & light

William Holden between shadow & light

2020
William Holden was one of the great Hollywood stars of the ‘50s. And at the end of his career, even in the ‘70s, I mean, he still was well-known among most people.  Unfortunately, in …
Gary Cooper, the Irresistible

Gary Cooper, the Irresistible

2020
Gary Cooper´s daughter, Maria Cooper Janis, talks about the acting career of her father who did his own research on “who that man was he was going to portray”. You believed the character he …
Yellowface Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood

Yellowface
Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood

2019
Until today, the whitewashing is a racist tradition in Hollywood, and as the “blackface”, the “yellowface” was used in Hollywood as a propaganda tool and manifestation of the racism. The attack …
The Witches of Hollywood

The Witches of Hollywood

2019
Throughout time, witches have represented many things for women; maturity, sexuality, rebirth, revenge and feminism.
The Max Factor

The Max Factor

2018
The man who created the faces of Hollywood was born in Poland and became the wigmaker and make-up artist to the Court of Tsar Nicolas II. Because of rampant antisemitism in the early 1900s, he …
I, Douglas Fairbanks

I, Douglas Fairbanks

2018
The dashing and dazzling Douglas Fairbanks was the movie star who “swash buckled in Zorro, dueled exuberantly in Robin Hood and soared magnificently in The Thief of Bagdad”. He was the “First …
The Tiki Craze of Hollywood

The Tiki Craze of Hollywood

2018
Hawaii joined the United States in 1959 and became its 50th state. Hollywood was quick to discover the fabulous location and the native art of the Pacific which turned into a synthetic exotic …
Hollywood : No Sex Please!

Hollywood : No Sex Please!

2017
Deep rooted religious beliefs seemingly going back to the Pilgrim Fathers’ puritanism dominate a society which is entertained by violence no end on a daily basis. If it is true that American …
Hollywood Spies

Hollywood Spies

2017
Hollywood, as we now know from declassified National Archive documents, aided in the mobilization for war and its people contributed as spies, combatants, propagandists, documentary and …
Gene Tierney A Forgotten Star

Gene Tierney A Forgotten Star

2016
According to Martin Scorsese « Gene Tierney was the most underrated star in Hollywood ». Gene Tierney’s life story would perfectly lend itself to a screenplay for a successful Hollywood …
Hollywood Gossip

Hollywood Gossip

2016
Nowadays we are used to the most compromising selfies and Facebook and there is very little privacy for so called public persons. This was not the case when Hollywood was set up. One assumed that …
Ronald Reagan A Custom Made President

Ronald Reagan A Custom Made President

2016
In 1967, NewYork Police Department detective Ralph Salerno, made a prediction: “Organized Crime will put a man into the White House someday – and he won’t ever know until they hand him the bill”. …
Billy Wilder Nobody’s Perfect

Billy Wilder Nobody’s Perfect

2016
“Eighty percent of a picture is writing, the other twenty percent is the execution, such as having the camera on the right spot and being able to afford to have good actors in all parts”, Billy …
The Women Who Run Hollywood

The Women Who Run Hollywood

2015
The first talkie was directed by Alice Guy; the first color film was produced by Lois Weber, who directed more than 300 films over 10 years. Frances Marion wrote …
Hollywood Censored

Hollywood Censored

2015
With the Great Depression and evaporating income cinema attendance fell drastically, to counter this trend Hollywood became more and more violent and sexy, to a point that a call for censorship …
Screwball Comedy When Hollywood Went Mad

Screwball Comedy When Hollywood Went Mad

2015
The film critic Andrew Sarris defined a Screwball Comedy as “sex comedy without sex”. And indeed the leading characters keep fighting each other as long as possible. When two people would fall in …
This is Orson Welles

This is Orson Welles

2015
Misunderstood genius, superstar, Hollywood’s fallen angel, Orson Welles left his indelible mark on the 20th century. Yet how to talk about Welles without falling into overstatement and …
Los Angeles Film Noir

Los Angeles Film Noir

2015
The approach to the subject matter is innovative in so far as it focus on Los Angeles as the model for urban crime. And who else would be better suited to talk about the underbelly of the city …
Steve Schapiro An Eye on American Icons

Steve Schapiro An Eye on American Icons

2014
“If you ́re on peoples wavelength and care about them”, says Schapiro, “they are very responsive”. How responsive you will see when Schapiro takes you through his most important work which will …
The Warner Saga

The Warner Saga

2014
The Warner Brothers’ career is a true “rags to riches” story. They very quickly sensed that there was more money to be made with film than with the paternal shop in Youngtown, Ohio. When Sam …
Hollywood the Indestructible

Hollywood the Indestructible

2014
in the 1920s, Hollywood was flush with money and they started building these fantastic movie palaces; it offered people who lived in tenements who were crowded and non air-conditioned a wonderful …
Sidney Korshak Hollywood’s Fabled Fixer

Sidney Korshak Hollywood’s Fabled Fixer

2013
FBI man Bill Roemer considered Korshak to have been nothing less than “the most important contact that the Mob had to legitimate business, labour, Hollywood and Las Vegas”. And Nick Toshes …
In Search of the Ideal Male made in Hollywood

In Search of the Ideal Male made in Hollywood

2013
Critic Molly Haskell says “when I think of male types in the cinema the images of men through the years and how they change I don’t really see it in terms of evolution, of progress. I really …
John Ford & Monument Valley

John Ford & Monument Valley

2013
Who else could talk with authority about the record Oscar winning director John Ford but one of his favorite actors, John Wayne. And he does so in his documentary mainly on horseback and at …
The Teen Movie Boom

The Teen Movie Boom

2012
The Teen Movie is a genre like the Western or the Film noir and reflects American culture or subculture and thereby has a huge influence on the younger generations worldwide.
The Witch Hunt is On!

The Witch Hunt is On!

2012
« Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the communist party? » This is the question thousands of Americans were forced to answer during the years of anti-communist paranoia.
Milos Forman Taking Off in America

Milos Forman Taking Off in America

2011
During one hour, the film director Milos Forman tells his journey from Czechoslovakia to Hollywood. Through anecdotes, Milos Forman explains how he succeeded in Hollywood and how difficult …
Hollywood between Paranoia & Sci-Fi The Power of Myth

Hollywood between Paranoia & Sci-Fi
The Power of Myth

2010
Extra-terrestrials, the end of the world, nuclear war, visions of doom, giant tsunamis, devastating meteorites, invaders of every sort: For over 50 years, the American movie industry has …
Stanley Donen, You Just Do It

Stanley Donen, You Just Do It

2010
Since he was a child, Stanley Donen attended dance classes and debuted on Broadway at age 17. With the help of the producer Arthur Freed and the actor Gene Kelly he got the chance to direct the …
From Weepies to Chick Flicks

From Weepies to Chick Flicks

2009
Since the mid-80’s, the so called chick flick genre has grown into an authentic cultural and sociological phenomenon in the film industry reflecting the dreams and longings of modern young women …
The Art of Spiegelman

The Art of Spiegelman

2009
Pulitzer Prize winner Art Spiegelman is best known for his creation of MAUS, which in the form of comics retraces his parents’ story as they survived the Holocaust. He worked for The New Yorker …
The True Story of John Dillinger

The True Story of John Dillinger

2009
Michael Mann directed his latest movie Public Enemies, with Johnny Depp as the famous gangster John Dillinger. While the film inspired by the Bryan Burrough’s famous best-seller romanticizes the …
Broadway goes Hollywood

Broadway goes Hollywood

2008
Musical comedy is a typical American form of entertainment dealing with burning issues of the American society from slavery to depression and World War II to Vietnam War.
The Brother who sent the Rosenbergs to the Electric Chair

The Brother who sent
the Rosenbergs to the Electric Chair

2008
In July 1950 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, both American citizens, were arrested by the FBI for delivering vital information on the US nuclear program to the Soviet Union. They both insisted that …
The Silver Screen Revolution : New Faces in Hollywood

The Silver Screen Revolution :
New Faces in Hollywood

2008
This is the story of how a handful of young and enthusiastic filmmakers stormed the citadel of the American movie industry and created a new cinema. It was an age when talented young people like …
Sinatra a Song for the FBI

Sinatra a Song for the FBI

2007
Who knows that the FBI had a file of 1275 pages about Frank Sinatra, by far the largest on any show biz personality. What interested the FBI most was Sinatra’s relations with organized crime, his …
Dominick Dunne In search of Justice

Dominick Dunne In search of Justice

2007
This documentary is the story of the extraordinary life story of Dominick Dunne, best known as an investigative journalist and writer for Vanity Fair, for successful novels and also the presenter …
The Dark Side of the FBI

The Dark Side of the FBI

2006
Since its foundation the FBI has always been shrouded in mystery but when J.Edgar Hoover took over he made it into one of the most brilliant search engines of our time. Hoover was at the helm of …
James Ellroy «American Dog»

James Ellroy «American Dog»

2006
This is the story of a life-long obsession, the life in question being James Ellroy’s. From a news item, the murder of the Black Dahlia, to the slaying of his mother, this is the initiatory …
Martin Scorsese The Emotion through the Music

Martin Scorsese
The Emotion through the Music

2005
From Taxi Driver, for which he hired the great Bernard Herrmann, meet with New York New York, or The Last Waltz, until now, as he produces a series of documentaries about Blues music, and even …
The Screen Actors Guild in Hollywood

The Screen Actors Guild in Hollywood

2004
When everyone thinks of Hollywood, the Golden years of Hollywood, all you see is beauty everything in the screen, the lines of chorus girls are all smiling, happy and everyone …
The Howard Hughes Mystery

The Howard Hughes Mystery

2004
Directors : Clara Kuperberg & Robert KuperbergProducer : Program 33Year : 2004Running time : 52 minutesChannel : France 5 Casting Richard HackAuthor of the biography about Howard Hughes Pat …
Joseph Campbell : The Hero with the Thousand Faces

Joseph Campbell : The Hero with the Thousand Faces

2004
All stories are myths. For all stories make up the mosaic of myth, what Campbell called the “modern myths”. So it doesn’t matter whether it is a movie, a novel, an opera or indeed a new story. It …
The Hollywood Exiled

The Hollywood Exiled

2003
Directors : Clara Kuperberg & Robert KuperbergProduced by Program 33 Year : 2003Running Time : 52 minutesNetwork : Planète Casting Norma BarzmanBlacklisted Screenwriter Bernard …
The Secret Story of Universal Studio

The Secret Story of Universal Studio

2003
Directors : Clara Kuperberg & Robert KuperbergProducer : Program 33 Year : 2003Running Time : 52 minutes Channel : Ciné Cinéma Casting Dennis McDougall Journalist at the LA Times and …
Dean Tavoularis : The Magician of Hollywood

Dean Tavoularis : The Magician of Hollywood

2003
Directors : Clara Kuperberg & Robert KuperbergProducer: Program 33 Year : 2003Running Time : 52 minutes Channel : Ciné Cinéma Casting Francis Ford Coppola Warren Beatty Roman Polanski Gérard …
Sweet Smell of Corruption

Sweet Smell of Corruption

2003
Journaliste spécialisée dans les affaires criminelles, Sally Denton a mené l’enquête sur les liens occultes qui unissent, aujourd’hui encore, les parrains de Las Vegas et les plus hautes sphères …
George Sidney in Hollywood

George Sidney in Hollywood

2002
« Le petit-maître, élégant et raffiné du cinéma », Monsieur George Sidney, nous livre dans sa dernière interview le récit d’un Hollywood aujourd’hui disparu. travers des images d’archives et des …
Surf Now, Apocalypse Later

Surf Now, Apocalypse Later

2002
Intrigues amoureuses au goût de guimauve, décapotables, drive-in, parties nocturnes sur la plage arrosées de Coca et de milk-shakes, cette vision rassurante de la jeunesse, symbole d’une Amérique …

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VOD / DVD


Mary Pickford, a blessing and a curse

Mary Pickford, a blessing and a curse

Vod
2024
Mary Pickford’s name remains inseparable from the legend of American cinema. She invented the star system at the beginning of the 20th century.
3,99$ to rent / 9,99$ to buy
Dorothy Arzner, Pioneer, Queer, Feminist

Dorothy Arzner, Pioneer, Queer, Feminist

Vod
2024
A true feminist pioneer, she nevertheless created essentially female characters, atypical and modern heroines, often ready to do anything to renounce their predestination.
3,99$ to rent / 9,99$ to buy
Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony

Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony

Vod
2024
What destined this young boy from Wales to become the incarnation of absolute evil when he took on the role of cinema’s most notorious serial killer? How do you get from the bricks of Port …
3,99$ to rent / 9,99$ to buy
Ida Lupino: Gentlemen & Miss Lupino

Ida Lupino: Gentlemen & Miss Lupino

Vod
2022
Ida Lupino, the only woman immersed in the heart of a masculine Hollywood, is not only the film noir actress who replicates Bogart, she is above all a great director that history has forgotten.
3,99$ to rent / 9,99$ to buy
The Women Who Run Hollywood

The Women Who Run Hollywood

Vod
2021
The first talkie was directed by Alice Guy; the first color film was produced by Lois Weber, who directed more than 300 films over 10 years.
3,99$ to rent / 9,99$ to buy
The Witches of Hollywood

The Witches of Hollywood

Vod
Vod
2020
Throughout time, witches have represented many things for women; maturity, sexuality, rebirth, revenge and feminism. Witches are characters who often live in a society that oppresses or fears …
3,99$ to rent / 9,99$ to buy
Ronald Reagan A Custom Made President

Ronald Reagan A Custom Made President

Vod
2019
In 1967, NewYork Police Department detective Ralph Salerno, made a prediction: “Organized Crime will put a man into the White House someday – and he won’t ever know until they hand him the bill”. …
3,99$ to rent / 9,99$ to buy
Hollywood No Sex Please!

Hollywood No Sex Please!

Vod
2018
Deep rooted religious beliefs seemingly going back to the Pilgrim Fathers’ puritanism dominate a society which is entertained by violence no end on a daily basis. If it is true that American …
3,99$ to rent / 9,99$ to buy
The Max Factor

The Max Factor

Vod
2018
In 1935 he had created a make-up empire which allowed him to ask the famous architect S. Charles Lee to build an art-deco office for him which is now the Hollywood Museum in Los Angeles.
3,99$ to rent / 9,99$ to buy
Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing & Racism in Hollywood

Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing & Racism in Hollywood

Vod
2018
Until today, the whitewashing is a racist tradition in Hollywood, and as the “blackface”, the “yellowface” was used in Hollywood as a propaganda tool and manifestation of the racism.
3,99$ to rent / 9,99$ to buy
Hollywood Gossip

Hollywood Gossip

Vod
2016
Nowadays we are used to the most compromising selfies and Facebook and there is very little privacy for so called public persons. This was not the case when Hollywood was set up. One assumed that …
3,99$ to rent / 9,99$ to buy
Gene Tierney, a Forgotten Star

Gene Tierney, a Forgotten Star

Vod
2016
According to Martin Scorsese « Gene Tierney was the most underrated star in Hollywood ». Gene Tierney’s life story would perfectly lend itself to a screenplay for a successful Hollywood movie …
3,99$ to rent / 9,99$ to buy
Hollywood Spies

Hollywood Spies

Vod
2016
In the National Archives we discover that stars as Cary Grant, Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Leslie Howard, Josephine Baker, John Ford and many more, were spies for the Allies, and changed the …
3,99$ to rent / 9,99$ to buy
Billy Wilder Nobody’s Perfect

Billy Wilder Nobody’s Perfect

Vod
2016
“Eighty percent of a picture is writing, the other twenty percent is the execution, such as having the camera on the right spot and being able to afford to have good actors in all parts”
3,99$ to rent / 9,99$ to buy
L.A Film Noir

L.A Film Noir

Vod
2015
The approach to the subject matter is innovative in so far as it focus on Los Angeles as the model for urban crime. And who else would be better suited to talk about the underbelly of the city …
3,99$ to rent / 9,99$ to buy
This is Orson Welles

This is Orson Welles

Vod
2015
Watch the film here: Misunderstood genius, superstar, Hollywood’s fallen angel, Orson Welles left his indelible mark on the 20th century. Yet how to talk about Welles without falling …
3,99$ to rent / 9,99$ to buy
Sidney Korshak, Hollywood’s Fabled Fixer

Sidney Korshak, Hollywood’s Fabled Fixer

Vod
2013
FBI man Bill Roemer considered Korshak to have been nothing less than “the most important contact that the Mob had to legitimate business, labour, Hollywood and Las Vegas”.
3,99$ to rent / 9,99$ to buy
The Witch Hunt is on!

The Witch Hunt is on!

Vod
2011
“Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the communist party?” This is the question thousands of Americans were forced to answer during the years of anti-communist paranoia.
3,99$ to rent / 9,99$ to buy
Milos Forman Taking Off in America

Milos Forman Taking Off in America

Vod
2011
During one hour, the film director Milos Forman tells his journey from Czechoslovakia to Hollywood. Through anecdotes, Milos Forman explains…
3,99$ to rent / 9,99$ to buy
The Brother who sent the Rosenbergs on the electric chair

The Brother
who sent the Rosenbergs on the electric chair

Vod
2008
In July 1950 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, both American citizens, were arrested by the FBI for delivering vital information on the US nuclear programme to the Soviet Union.
3,99$ to rent / 9,99$ to buy
James Ellroy «American Dog»

James Ellroy «American Dog»

Vod
2006
This is the story of a life-long obsession, the life in question being James Ellroy’s. From a news item, the murder of the Black Dahlia, to the slaying of his mother, this is the initiatory …
3,99$ to rent / 9,99$ to buy

About us


Passionate  about  American film history and American culture, Clara and Julia Kuperberg created their own film company, Wichita Films, in 2006 to produce and direct documentaries. The two sisters had come from different spheres.

For three years, Julia was on the editorial board of the famous French TV show, Tracks, broadcast on the French/German channel ARTE, before being solicited by the international company, Fremantle. After several years working on shorts programs, Julia made the decision to join forces with her sister, Clara, already a documentary film director.

Clara has always been attracted by the documentary form. After she directed her first documentary in 2001, (she also directed approximately ten films for various producers),  she made the decision to join forces with Julia and create their own production company ; Wichita Films.

The Kuperberg sisters work as equal measure as producers, directors, writers and editors on their films. Their films, all in english, are distributed all over the world.
Their films This is Orson Welles and The Women who Run Hollywood  were selected and screened at the Cannes Film Festival 2015 and 2016, among other prestigious film festivals. In April 2018, the Kuperberg sisters won Best Director Award at the Beverly Hills Film Festival for The Women who Run Hollywood. And in June, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences screened their film for a special screening at the Linwood Theater in Los Angeles.

They have also edited several DVD boxes set collection with the prestigious Editions Montparnasse and the Editions l’Harmattan with more than 30 of their documentaries inside.

In 2021, Hannibal Hopkins & Sir Anthony won Best International Feature Documentary at The American Documentary and Animation Film Festival and Film Fund (AmDocs) in Palm Springs. In March 2024, their last film Mary Pickford a blessing and a curse has won Special Jury Award at the American Documentary Film Festival.

They are now working on a collection about the women pioneers in Hollywood ; Dorothy Arzner, Mary Pickford and Ida Lupino.

Photo : copyright Sklae photographer

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Wichita Films
28 avenue Faidherbe
93260 Les Lilas
France


Aurélia Loncan
Press Relations