Private Chronicles: Monologue

The collective life of the generation born as Jurij Gagarin became the first man in space. Vitaly Mansky has woven together a fictional biography – taken from over 5.000 hours of film material, and 20.000 still pictures made for home use. A moving document of the fictional, but nonetheless true life of the generation who grew up in this time of huge change and upheaval.

Chris Elliott's FDR -- A One-Man Show

Chris Elliot plays FDR in his live "One Man Show" about the life and times of the president, however, he looks and sounds nothing like the man and he re-enacts events from Roosevelt's life that never happened.

Autorretrato

Sankofa

A short documentary that emerge at the center of round table debate, participating in it there's three students from the Superior School of Arts and Design, Caldas da Rainha - Portugal. This conversation go along with a video essay about Afrofuturism and Pop Culture. Also, during the debate, an interview with another student gives some real example of how afrofuturism can be applied when it comes to in taking control of the colonial narratives into a black person perspective.

Wild Plants of Palestine

Wild Flowers Plants of Palestine follows journeys of observational tours solicited by the Palestinian Museum and conducted by two professors from Birzeit University to collect photos of and information on the Palestinian Flora. The title is adapted from a collection of 123 images (circa 1900 to 1920) of wild flowers in Palestine found in the Matson Collection in the Library of Congress. Despite the tendency to trace the wild plants, the text in general aims at questioning the territorial extension of what is meant by the term “Palestinian”, while standing on insignificant topographical features of the (postcolonial) landscape in West Bank. Furthermore, it addresses photography as a practice and a tool of distributing and restricting information at once.

My Mexican Bretzel

Lies are just another way of telling the truth. The desire to believe is the hand of the man hanging from a cliff and clinging to the only stone that would seem to save him. But he always ends up falling because the stone is a mirage, just as the cliff is. Death is awakening from this dream in which the essential can be said and in which the continuous and infinite has a beginning, an end and a meaning.

Le Mozart Noir: Reviving a Legend

Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges overcame class and race prejudices in 18th century France to become a musical genius who would inspire Mozart.

Functions of Film Sound

This visual essay sets clips from Robert Bresson's "A Man Escaped" to a reading of "Functions of Film Sound," a chapter from David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson's book "Film Art." The chapter analyzes the sound design of Bresson's masterpiece as a means of discussing the use of sound in film.

Planet of the Apes: A Milestone of Science Fiction

Since its release in 1968, Planet of the Apes, the masterful film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and starring Charlton Heston, and its subsequent sequels have asked its viewers challenging questions about contemporary society under the guise of a bold science fiction saga: a fascinating look at a hugely successful pop culture phenomenon.

The Marriage of Greta Garbo and Sergei Eiseinstein

What could have happened – what should have happened – if two giants in film history, like Greta Garbo and Sergei Michajlovič Eisenstein, could have declared their love for each other? The world's most famous actress, an honorary Russian citizen of cinema for her many performances; the world's most radical director, who could have immortalized her face in one of his famous close-ups? Sphinx Garbo did not want to be alone: she just wanted to marry the great Sergei. Perhaps she could have played Trotsky or Pancho Villa in one of his films. Perhaps their friends Charlie Chaplin, Walt Disney and Josef von Sternberg would have approved their love. Maybe they could have had a child together. Maybe all this could still have happened, in a Mark Rappaport film.

Rock Hudson's Home Movies

In this revisionist documentary, actor Eric Farr re-creates the character of Rock Hudson in order to take a look back at his films. It compares the actor's screen (and public) image with his real life and shows certain scenes, lines and situations in his films to insinuate that Hudson may have been gay.

Rebuild of Evangelion Series Analysis

Anna/Nana/Nana/Anna

A tribute to actresses, approaching their presence in and out the screen, humanizing the icons. From the Ukrainian Anna Sten to the French Anna Karina, we can see some close-up faces that marked the history of the cinema, and whose demand is more relevant than ever.

Debra Paget, For Example

A video essay where the author presumes motivations and insights in a fictionalized biography regarding Debra Paget, a contract player for 20th-Century Fox whom they groomed and coached for stardom.

Andrei Tarkovsky: WATER

A visual and interpretative journey through the filmography of Andrei Tarkovsky, in search of the hidden meaning behind the recurring presence of water — a central and mysterious element in his work. This video essay analyzes the scenes in which water appears, organizing them by theme: from everyday actions to metaphysical moments. An attempt to understand whether, behind the poetry of natural elements, lies a deeper message from the russian filmmaker.

Daedalus

"Fly too high and you will burn, go too low and you won't breathe." Shot in just seven consecutive days during the summer of 2023, it concludes the first volume of Bliss, a playlist of sounds and shapes. Daedalus delves into the perilous dance between striving for something and the suffocating pull of stagnancy. This chaotic structure bridges the warnings and epiphanic thoughts of 20th-century thinkers with the lives of today's dreamers.

Ueli Steck – Auf schmalem Grat

Deceased but not forgotten. In 2017, Switzerland's most famous mountaineer, "Swiss Machine" Ueli Steck, fell to his death in the Himalayas when he was just 40 years old. Three close friends travel again to the Everest region where he died. His family in Emmental has to deal with premature death.

Great

An animated film about the British engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who spearheaded numerous engineering marvels of the early 19th century - including the Thames Tunnel, the Great Western Railway, and the Great Eastern steamship (for 40 years the world's largest steamship). Various styles of animation are used to depict events in his colorful life.

My Name Is Jonah

What is the secret origin of this self-proclaimed 'real-life warrior, adventurer and musician'? How has he gained his tremendous cult following? Steel yourselves for a quest to explore how this enigmatic personality came to be and the powerful effect he has on all those he meets.

Klassenverhältnisse am Bodensee

A filmmaker reconstructs a common memory about the formerly industrialized Lake Constance region, which was also largely built up by migration – and in recent years has mainly attracted people who do not like to pay taxes. The imprints speak, the fog. Without talking heads, in perspectives beyond the memorialized self-image of this region, classism becomes comprehensible.