Clouds

Clouds 1969 by the British filmmaker Peter Gidal is a film comprised of ten minutes of looped footage of the sky, shot with a handheld camera using a zoom to achieve close-up images. Aside from the amorphous shapes of the clouds, the only forms to appear in the film are an aeroplane flying overhead and the side of a building, and these only as fleeting glimpses. The formless image of the sky and the repetition of the footage on a loop prevent any clear narrative development within the film. The minimal soundtrack consists of a sustained oscillating sine wave, consistently audible throughout the film without progression or climax. The work is shown as a projection and was not produced in an edition. The subject of the film can be said to be the material qualities of film itself: the grain, the light, the shadow and inconsistencies in the print.

Ask the Sexpert

A sex columnist gains popularity even while a ban on comprehensive sex education in schools is adopted by approximately a third of India’s states.

Joseph Cornell: Worlds in a Box

This is a 1991 documentary film about the legendary artist and filmmaker, Joseph Cornell, who made those magnificent and strange collage boxes. He was also one of our great experimental filmmakers and once apparently made Salvador Dali extremely jealous at a screening of his masterpiece, Rose Hobart. In this film we get to hear people like Susan Sontag, Stan Brakhage, and Tony Curtis talk about their friendships with the artist. It turns out that Curtis was quite a collector and he seemed to have a very deep understanding of what Cornell was doing in his work.

The Shaman's Apprentice

Scientist Mark Plotkin races against time to save the ancient healing knowledge of Indian tribes from extinction.

South

What kind of power is accessible through the discovery of a voice? Morgan Quaintance interlinks two anti-racist and anti-authoritarian liberation movements in South London and Chicago’s South Side with his own biography to explore what happens when speech is ignored, and the voice fades.

Photodiary

"The majority of my 8-mm works were made for the three-minute "Personal Focus" film special put on in Fukuoka. This film is an animation of photographs I had taken on a regular basis as a sort of diary, and was made to have a rough feel to it." - Takashi Ito

-YAMASE-

Film by Kenji Onishi. With friends. Mr. Yamase as main character, Sasakubo and Shinojima. And the girls having a good time. The camera is all you need. Looking still at the Mt. Buko which is disappearing.

6-18-67

6-18-67 is a short quasi-documentary film by George Lucas regarding the making of the Columbia film “Mackenna's Gold”. This non-story, non-character visual tone poem is made up of nature imagery, time-lapse photography, and the subtle sounds of the Arizona desert.

The Hills of Qaytariyeh

A strange and mischievous documentary on an archeological site in the Qaytarieh hills in Tehran. This short narrates the story of the dead people who wished never to be found.

Adios amigo mío, sin gestos, sin palabras

The title comes from Sergei Yesenin's last poem before comiting suicide. Using Virginia Woolf's last letters as a base, this film is meditation on the power of the word and its undertsanding and the the last moments before saying "goodbye".

American Swing

Chronicles the rise and fall of 1970s New York City nightclub Plato's Retreat.

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

Examines the public scandal and private tragedy which led to legendary director Roman Polanski's sudden flight from the United States.

A Messenger from the Shadows (Notes on Film 06 A/Monologue 01)

Thanks to his myriad film roles, Lon Chaney is known as “the man of a thousand faces,” and you could say that the early horror era never beheld a figure more intriguing. Yet because of his numerous transformations, his face never became as iconic as that of, say, Boris Karloff. Accompanied by a soundtrack from Bernhard Lang, this “re-imagination of shots” taken from Chaney´s forty-six surviving films offers a beguiling excursion into the history of film. The director reveals surprising associations, while highlighting the enduring magic of works which are now more or less forgotten.

Bukowski: Born Into This

Director John Dullaghan’s biographical documentary about infamous poet Charles Bukowski, Bukowski: Born Into This, is as much a touching portrait of the author as it is an exposé of his sordid lifestyle. Interspersed between ample vintage footage of Bukowski’s poetry readings are interviews with the poet’s fans including such legendary figures such as Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Joyce Fante (wife of John), Bono, and Harry Dean Stanton. Filmed in grainy black and white by Bukowski’s friend, Taylor Hackford, due to lack of funding, the old films edited into this movie paint Bukowski’s life of boozing and brawling romantically, securing Bukowski’s legendary status.

Up the Yangtze

At the edge of the Yangtze River, not far from the Three Gorges Dam, young men and women take up employment on a cruise ship, where they confront rising waters and a radically changing China.

Heliorama

A collage of newsreels, trailers, clips and other visionary and unseen fragments of sight and sound regarding the late plastic artist Helio Oititica.

Bird

This portrait of a guinea fowl is the first clear vision I've had of the hot-blooded dinosaurs still living among us. (SB)

City Streaming

This is a film made in Toronto, in memoriam, so to speak - a memory piece, a "piecing-together" of the experience of living there. The consciousness of the maker comes to sharply focused visual music - not to arrive at snapshots, as such, but rather to "sing" the city as remembered from daily living...complementary, then, to an earlier film, "Unconscious London Strata." Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2015.

Marilyn's Window

This stream-of-consciousness could be nothing less than pathway of the soul, as images of Marilyn's window are remembered from inside-out, its "view" interwoven with all of other windowing and the Elements of the known world.

Flight

Pun on "light" intended - that short preceding expulsion of breath perhaps the "subject matter" of this film which centers in consideration of death. It is the third tone poem film and did much surprise me by thus completing a trilogy of the "4 classical Elements." (SB)

Underground

A shadow reveals its form from the darkness underground. It communicates with a woman's consciousness, and she begins to see fragmentary memories that transcend time and place, as if daydreaming. The shadow takes on the woman's form and travels. Situating itself in places invisible from above ground, it traces what once happened there, listening to the human memories buried in the flow of time.

North on Evers

In NORTH ON EVERS James Benning takes the road movie seriously, making his circular trip across the U.S. a marvelously photographed, intensely felt, and disturbing portrait of contemporary America. In many ways, this recent film is a departure of Benning’s earlier films which are characterized, at times, by extremely long, carefully planned takes and a minimal narrative approach. In NORTH ON EVERS, the shots are kept short with a narrative that is direct and detailed, like a diary or a long series of postcards to a friend. What this work shares with the other films is a dry wit and a deep interest in the American social landscape.

Nullarbor

An animated road-movie set across the vast and barren landscape of Australia's Nullarbor Plain.

Happiness Guide

Masha and Valya, vegetarians and abstainers, invite their former friends Natasha and Sergey over. Natasha and Sergey took a mortgage, they are planning a child. Natasha tries to persuade Masha to throw a wedding party, nevertheless she hints at Valya being no good for Masha. Masha in reply tells Natasha that her husband Sergey drinks vodka on the quite. Natasha makes a scene to Sergey. Masha tries to reconcile friends and convince them of their relationship being cracked. The guests are leaving. Valya blames Masha for climbing out of her business. Masha and Valya have a quarrel. Masha remains alone.

The Peasants

A historical revolutionary film depicting the struggle of peasants and the Baku proletariat against landowners and Musavatists in 1919.

SUMMER II

In a follow-up to his 2021 short, SUMMER, Liam once again spends the duration of a summer filming, editing, and releasing a single shot every day. Things have changed or have they?

Dharmaveer 2

Explores Anand Dighe's life, tracing his political journey and capturing the essence of his impactful legacy as a prominent figure.

Six: Inside

Delves deep into the anxiety, thrill and uncertainty of six aspiring animation artists as they are plunged into the twelve-week trial-by-fire that is the NFB's Hothouse for animation filmmakers.

Devil's Island

After Italian capitulation in WW2, German forces are rushing to take control of the Dalmatian coast, forcing thousands of people to take refuge. One partisan boat, filled with refugees, tries to reach a safe area, but because of a storm it must stop near a small island. While the crew tries to repair it, a German gunboat comes from nearby.

Mas alla del vacio

Film from Juan N. López Reyes

Ta' Pelle med

Laurits lives with his granddaughter Adda on a small farm. He has always had difficulty making ends meet, and the bailiff often has to visit Lauritz to try to collect the outstanding taxes. The friendly parish bailiff and dairy manager Rasmus wants to help Lauritz, but he won't hear of it. Rasmus is a kind man who takes care of Pelle, a child in foster care, and also supervises another foster child, Ole, who works at Bakkegården, where the strict manager Børge Andersen makes life difficult for him. Lauritz is popular among the local children and skilled at building kites. One summer...

The Recess

Sahar a 17 year old student is determined to skip high school during the recess to attend the football stadium to watch the football match between Esteghlal F.C. vs. Al-Ain as part of AFC Champions League against the national ban on women to enter football stadiums in Iran.

Die verbotene Frau

Photographer and journalist Verena has a well-paid job that she enjoys and a loving partner. When she meets the Arab Khalid, she falls in love with the charming man who fascinates her greatly. The two meet again in Dubai

It Came from Below

Jessie and her friends go deep underground to find out what happened to her father who claimed a monster lurks in the caves and has killed his friends. Wanting to uncover the truth, they will soon be hunted by a deadly creature from another world.

NULL

A hitman is tasked to take out ex-mobsters when he suddenly hears a voice that questions his morality.

Wait Please

A wonderfully touching tale about love

El último secuestro

Songs Overheard in the Shadows

Balanced on the edge of what is visible, everything comes from nothingness and returns to nothingness. Strands of consciousness trying to convene with each other. Forms of personal significance in a time of crisis, set free into random motion through chance operations. Recurring details point towards a center.