All Films

Aspect

2004 • 9 min • United Kingdom

Across the surface of the forest, light, colour, shadow shift; rhythmic, kaleidoscopic. Matter and the immaterial in constant counteraction. The screen becomes a painting in animation. Ordinarily, light describes the motif. Here, the forest is almost – almost – occluded as the light that delineates the world becomes autonomous, visible; describes itself as subject. There are some very strange effects: light and shadow grow, die back; bark shimmers; branches tremble, or clouds pass above; trees shiver in the cold, or shake in threatening gesture; sunlight flickers, on and off, like an electric bulb. The portrait lives. These films are not the index of space and objects, but a cinema of time, movement, light; flickering lashes of mesmerised eyes in the click of an aperture.

Proving Ground 2

2004 • 38 min • Russia

The zombie apocalypse, in Russia.

Two Hours to Zero

2004 • 8 min

A crime story told two different ways concerning the events of a two month period leading up to (and immediately following) a bank robbery. The imagery has all been "appropriated" (the fancy, art-world-sanctioned term for "stealing") from four issues of an early 1960s comic book version of the then-popular American television show 77 SUNSET STRIP. Music by Rhys Chatham ("Guitar Trio"). - Lewis Klahr

Napëpë

2004 • 40 min • Brazil

The documentary narrates the story of the James Neel and Napoleon Chagnon's expedition to Yanomani territory, in 1968. It's a support to these indigenous people, who claims the devolution of the blood samples collected during the expedition, samples used today by the Project Genoma.

Young Marble Giants: Live at The Hurrah

2004 • 38 min

21 November 1980. 1. NITA 2. Choci Loni 3. Radio Silents 4. Colossal Youth 5. Credit in the Straight World 6. Brand New Life 7. Include Me Out 8. Wurlitzer Jukebox 9. Salad Days 10. Final Mix 22 November 1980. 1. Music for Evenings 2. Searching for Mr Right 3. Cakewalking 4. Credits in the Straight World 5. Final Day

Brave New York

2004 • 54 min

BRAVE NEW YORK is a free-form documentary that loosely chronicles the last twelve years of intense change in the East Village "hood." From the reopening of a newly curfewed Tompkins Square Park and Wigstock in '92 to the destruction of the cherished Loisaida Community Gardens, beyond the yuppie invasions of the "dot com" years to the present era, indelibly stamped with post 9/11 grief, this durable, lusty neighborhood survives in spite of a real estate gold rush that has excluded all but the well-to-do. The movie's main voices are those of the artists and street people whose wisdom and commentaries upon the dominant culture give us pause amidst the speedy approach of a "Brave New World." This Overview was taken from Fandor, where this film is available. 2004.

The Battle for L.A.

2004 • 48 min

Filmmaker Darren Doane ("42K") and a camera, hit the streets of L.A. in an almost guerilla-like fashion and interviews a number of DJs, rappers and dancers. Not only do they give their take on what hip-hop is, what it represents on a personal and social level, but he also attends what is termed "battles" between rappers. While such battles are known to get aggressive from time to time, it is often a way for people to blow off some steam, express themselves, strut their stuff and compete.

Contamination

2004 • 6 min • United Kingdom

A glimpse of a dystopian future in which the cross-contamination of genetic material is completely out of control. Contamination depicts an atmospheric and ultimately disturbing world with hybrid life forms.

The Disappearance Of The PX-15

2004 • 46 min • Canada

Launched in the shadow of Apollo 11 in 1969, six men were sealed inside a tiny deep-sea capsule and set adrift. Their mission: to survive for 30 days exploring the depths of the Gulf Stream. We follow marine archaeologist James Delgado as he recovers the sub and reunites the surviving “aquanauts”.

Underneath

2004 • 4 min

Tia is a little girl trapped within a world of domestic violence. Her anger at the injustice of it all is about to make her snap. But will anyone take notice?

Son of Satan

2004 • 12 min

It’s not always easy when you are a kid. Bullying, cussing, growing up. It’s all a part of life. Adaptation of the Charles Bukowski story.

The Silent Wrecks of Kwajalein Atoll

2004 • 55 min • United States of America

For the first time, the U.S. military has granted permission to an outside film crew to document the wrecks of Kwajalein Atoll -- a little-known outpost in the Marshall Islands.

At Five on the Dot

2004 • 56 min • Uruguay

The biggest peaceful demonstration of resistance to an authoritarian regime in Latin America in the 1970s was the general strike whereby Uruguayan workers and students rejected the military coup of 27 June 1973. In this documentary we follow what happened from two perspectives: that of the people who took part in the mass mobilisation, and that of those who captured those events in images.

The Dusk

2004 • 22 min • India

An old crowded chawl in the heart of Pune city. Managed by a stern landlady, it houses among others, an old man who has no family and is on the verge of becoming senile. He is all alone and the people around him don’t seem to care much. Caught in a time warp, he is slowly losing touch with reality. As time stops for him, for the rest of them life goes on.

The Spate

2004 • 4 min • Russia

A short, hilarious story about flooding phobia and sudden first love.

Ephèse

2004 • 8 min • France

Layers of colored matters spread in space. They transform and its movements let us suppose that there is an underlying law that directs the images. Ephese is thus a shape, continually mutating, although its essence remains the same.

Nenyure

2004 • 10 min • Spain

Things have disappeared in Nenyure, and only the traces of what once was remain. Nenyure are the buildings, the windows, the benches, the patios, and also the absence of what is missing, only preserved in memory.

Pink

2004 • 3 min • Canada

Director Smith examines the reasons why he likes to wear pink.

Ahmad Mahmoud: A Noble Novelist

2004 • 52 min

A portrait of the prominent Iranian novelist, whose work dealt with the troubled nature of life within his native country, often due to political upheaval.

Qudad, Re-Inventing a Tradition

2004 • 58 min

This documentary follows a group of Yemeni masons as they restore the 16th century Amiriya Madrasa using ancient—and uniquely Yemeni—techniques. Through this project they not only renovate and protect a revered landmark, but also ensure that their rare craft will not be lost.

We Iraqis

2004 • 54 min • France, Iraq

Living in exile in France for the past 25 years, Abbas Fahdel last year made Retour à Babylone, the occasion to return home, be reunited with his childhood friends and explore a reality that was now alien to him. In this film, Fahdel's camera shows us Iraqis in another light and the hopes and fears of these men and women who escaped the nightmare of a dictatorship only to be mired in chaos. He is better equipped than anyone for this task. He is both an "outside" angle of vision and a brotherly view. An Iraqi among Iarqis, he embodies a reference point in the turmoil. His presence and commitment during the past year, his receptivity during those months when everyone was preparing for war explains why his camera is never indiscreet or prying.

The Last Polaroid

2004 • 20 min • Spain

The day Mariana moves with her family to live in another city is a hard blow for her friend Eli.

O Escritor das Ruas

2004 • 14 min • Brazil

Carried out in the video workshop at Centro Cultural Taboão in Diadema, O Escritor das Ruas tells the tragic story of Salvador, a pixador from São Paulo. Daily life on the outskirts of big cities.

Fear the Reaper

2004 • 30 min • United States of America

A killer is stalking the people of Luna Pier and only one person knows what’s going on – or maybe she just thinks she does.