Social & External
Anna Maurel
Voiceover
Through interspersed conversation and prose, this experimental documentary follows a poet and a neuroscientist as they explore the definition of love, what it means, and why it matters.
In this experimental, self-ethnographic documentary, Tom Joslin blends breathtaking, moving snapshots from the natural world, filmic cultural touchstones, and cutting (pseudo) cinéma vérité to dissect and reassemble his gay identity despite constant warnings to stay in the closet. Blackstar sees Joslin and partner Mark Massi fleshing out their enduring commitment and obvious love for one another amidst the insecurity that a self-conscious documentary lens instills. As interviews with Joslin’s mother, father, and brothers attempt to break down the legitimacy of Joslin and Massi’s romance, the pair use everything at their disposal, including inspiration from gay revolutionaries and painfully honest conversations, to hold up their “abnormality” as a point of pride rather than shame. – Shayna Warner
In his contribution to the On Art and Artists interview series, Nathaniel Dorsky (b.1943) begins by discussing his childhood love of the John Ford film Stagecoach and its influence upon his decision to make films while attending Antioch College. Describing the affinity he developed for work operating at the intersection of film materiality and personal language, Dorsky explains how he developed his philosophy of the “devotional film” and the “microcosmic viewer.” Dorsky likens his practice to Buddhist sculpture, referring to himself as a “Japanese poet continuing aspects of the ethos of the Marxist revolution.” In the interview, the artist describes his use of the screen as an “altarpiece for the image” and emphasizes his use of editing to create works which “harmoniously coalesce.” Interview conducted by Jeffrey Skoller in May 2000, edited in 2014.
Twenty images of a camera running next to a chemical platform and capturing abstract light throught improvised gestures and asymmetrical motion
An essay style film in the vein of Orson Welles' "F For Fake" and Jon Jost's "Speaking Directly". From 2011 to 2013, filmmaker Kristian Day randomly documented the art and actions of the award winning metal sculptor, James Bearden. Refusing to make another artist documentary, Day insisted on illustrating Bearden's creative process through surreal and id oriented story telling.
Through phone call conversations, an aspiring Ilocano filmmaker relates to his mother working in Italy about his dreams and struggles while documenting the invisible betweenness of their language and distance.
An experiment with three dimensions in a moment of clarity: the focus of the camera's lens towards the present, the speed of the train and the material world distorted by the movements of the train.
In 1999, 11-year-old Nisha Platzer lost her older brother, Josh, to suicide. Twenty years later, her search for a specialized medical treatment leads her to the door of someone who was once exceptionally close to Josh. And so it is that she finally has the chance to truly know her brother through his chosen family. Captured over five years in which synchronicities continually manifested, Platzer’s documentation of these encounters gently asserts that both grieving and healing are meant to be communal experiences.
Documentary filmmaker Renton Hinderer takes a look back at his long relationship with one of his closest friends to understand the paths we choose in life, and how friendship is eternal through it all.
Why must a woman change her surname after marriage or divorce? This autoethnographic film explores the issue of women’s changing surnames in Turkey. Some women have taken their cases to the European Court of Human Rights to defend their legal and personal identities. What do men think about this? How do women feel? And what unfolds between the lines of these everyday experiences? The film seeks to make these struggles and emotions visible.
After discovering a stranger’s livestream, a month unfolds under his balcony, through watching and being watched.
Kogonada's visual essay about the formalistice choices of master filmmaker Stanley Kubrick
A camera crew travels through Thailand asking villagers to invent the next chapter of an ever-growing story.
The author's erotic imagination is mixed between desire and magazine clippings, and the trade of collage becomes a ship that travels from outer space to the city itself.
Benjamín trips to the south of Chile with his family and shots a visual letter to deceased filmmaker Raúl Ruiz.
Since the 1980s, the video shop has been a desperately necessary space for film culture. In Videoheaven, Alex Ross Perry tells the story of the neighbourhood video shop to consider wider, changing social histories, using appropriated footage from the high and lowbrow.
two friends sit on a park bench, considering a video adaptation of Waiting for Godot. A tragicomedy on things never completed, and what it means to complete a thing anyways.
Disjointed moments from the filmmakers’ daily lives during the past year. Captured on a 1985 VHS camcorder with color and luminosity distorted by its failing color Newvicon tube. Cut with distorted tape-recorded fragments of nostalgic broadcast television ephemera. Scored by whatever was handy— from an ambient electronic song with a surprising amount of pipe organ (Oneohtrix Point Never - Boring Angel) to midi versions of your favorite SNES soundtrack (Donkey Kong Country – Aquatic Ambience, Opening, and Treetop Rock) to a not-quite-right rendition of a song that will make you want to say “Oh, Angelo, that’s tearing my heart out!” (Xiu Xiu – Falling). A voyeuristic peak at home movies that exist somewhere between soon to be forgotten and forgotten long ago. The occasional dot matrix time stamps in the corner of the footage somehow make it harder to place in time.
An experimental portrait of Fernando Fernán Gómez, one of the most renowned Spanish artists of all time.
A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.
A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.
Documentary about the art of film editing. Clips are shown from many groundbreaking films with innovative editing styles.
Daniel Craig candidly reflects on his 15 year adventure as James Bond. Including never-before-seen archival footage from Casino Royale to the upcoming 25th film No Time To Die, Craig shares his personal memories in conversation with 007 producers, Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.
As Australian cinema broke through to international audiences in the 1970s through respected art house films like Peter Weir's "Picnic At Hanging Rock," a new underground of low-budget exploitation filmmakers were turning out considerably less highbrow fare. Documentary filmmaker Mark Hartley explores this unbridled era of sex and violence, complete with clips from some of the scene's most outrageous flicks and interviews with the renegade filmmakers themselves.
Takes us to locations all around the US and shows us the heavy toll that modern technology is having on humans and the earth. The visual tone poem contains neither dialogue nor a vocalized narration: its tone is set by the juxtaposition of images and the exceptional music by Philip Glass.
Stars of "The Walking Dead," Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira, walk down memory lane and visit iconic locations where pivotal moments between their characters, Rick and Michonne, were filmed.
Against a plain, unchanging blue screen, a densely interwoven soundtrack of voices, sound effects and music attempt to convey a portrait of Derek Jarman's experiences with AIDS, both literally and allegorically, together with an exploration of the meanings associated with the colour blue.
This special explores the return of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker to the screen, as well as Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen to their classic roles. Director Deborah Chow leads the cast and crew as they create new heroes and villains that live alongside new incarnations of beloved Star Wars characters, and an epic story that dramatically bridges the saga films.
A look behind the lens of Christopher Nolan's space epic.
Retrospective documentary about the making of the horror cult classic "The Return of the Living Dead."
Told through performances, TV interviews, home movies, family photographs, private letters and unpublished memoirs, the film reveals the essence of an extraordinary woman who rose from humble beginnings in New York City to become a glamorous international superstar and one of the greatest artists of all time.
After years in the limelight, Selena Gomez achieves unimaginable stardom. But just as she reaches a new peak, an unexpected turn pulls her into darkness. This uniquely raw and intimate documentary spans her six-year journey into a new light.
Amber Heard and Nicole Kidman discuss their characters Mera and Atlanna.
An intimate documentary delving into Rian Johnson's process as he comes in as a director new to the Star Wars universe.
The story lives forever in this feature-length documentary that charts the making of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
The history of cinematic sound, told by legendary sound designers and visionary filmmakers.
Since the invention of cinema, the standard format for recording moving images has been film. Over the past two decades, a new form of digital filmmaking has emerged, creating a groundbreaking evolution in the medium. Keanu Reeves explores the development of cinema and the impact of digital filmmaking via in-depth interviews with Hollywood masters, such as James Cameron, David Fincher, David Lynch, Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, Steven Soderbergh, and many more.
A promotional making-of documentary for the film The Matrix (1999) that devotes its time to explaining the digital and practical effects contained in the film. This is very interesting, seeing as how they're giving away the cinematic secrets that they created solely for the this movie, that have now been spoofed and referenced in countless other films.
SEDUCED AND ABANDONED combines acting legend Alec Baldwin with director James Toback as they lead us on a troublesome and often hilarious journey of raising financing for their next feature film. Moving from director to financier to star actor, the two players provide us with a unique look behind the curtain at the world's biggest and most glamourous film festival, shining a light on the bitter-sweet relationship filmmakers have with Cannes and the film business. Featuring insights from directors Martin Scorsese, 'Bernando Bertolucci' and Roman Polanski; actors Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain and a host of film distribution luminaries.
