All Films

Good Intentions

1989 • 4 min

In this short film Peter Wells makes a personal 'Postcard from New Zealand' as part of a series for England's Channel Four. Looking for a "Kiwi Greek god" to showcase his "Gay Lynn" garden, he enlists Richard, third place getter in Mr Gay Auckland. While posing Richard tells them about his costume for the Sydney Mardi Gras. "Skirt in the shape of Rangitoto, a hat like Auckland's Harbour Bridge: Dame Edna would've loved it". Richard models the costume which also features budgie smugglers with 'NZ' sequined into them, a Southern Cross singlet, and ugg-glove sheep puppets.

The White Room

1989 • 47 min • United Kingdom

The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, King Boy D and Rockman Rock, try to find and gain access to the mystical White Room. They leave a party at their house and drive in their 1968 US Cop Car through night-time London and the dusty plains of the Sierra Nevada region of Spain. There they face judgement: will they be allowed to enter the White Room? Meanwhile their lawyer David Franks tries to find a loophole to free them from their contract with Eternity.

Tellus

1989 • 18 min

Preserved and digitized by the National Film and Business Archive

AIDS in the Barrio: Eso no Me Pasa a Mí

1989 • 30 min • United States of America

A documentary on the socioeconomic and cultural context of the AIDS epidemic in a Latino Philadelphia neighborhood.

Le chant de l'âme

1989 • 52 min • France

Aqua

1989 • 13 min • France, Senegal

Every morning, Amadou catches small fishes in the lake near Dakar. He puts them into thrown-away bottles to make aquariums.

Soleil d'Automne

1989 • 13 min • France

Dolce vita

1989 • 9 min • Norway

An experimental portrayal of a woman driven to collapse in her attempts at human approach and to master her surroundings. Intense, frenetic and confused, she stakes it all on shining shoes.

Death of Metalosaurus

1989 • 3 min • Yugoslavia

A short film that its creator made after seeing an electricity pylon laying on the ground in a field near Blok 45, a section of the New Belgrade suburb of Belgrade. The strangeness of the sight inspired Toholj to film it, and he intuitively saw the pylon as a giant beast or, as the film’s title suggests, the skeletal remains of an enormous dinosaur, which he captured through a series of rapidly alternating close-ups shot from a variety of angles.

The Abbotess and the Flying Bone

1989 • 18 min • Austria

In a black-and-white comic format three characters are tossed from life into death and back again into life. They flourish in the chaos of androgyny; they cultivate their perversity as if it were wealth.

Wicked Tale

1989 • 19 min • Soviet Union

A loving couple on an escapade, ending in a hotel room in the underworld. When the floor waiter shows up, the woman feel she has seen him before. And suddenly she discovers who he is.

Under the Erotic Tokyo Tower

1989 • 28 min • Japan

The Tokyo Tower is a symbol that has become an indispensable part of the Tokyo landscape, even if it is said to be an imitation of the Eiffel Tower. The story of Yumiko, who comes from Wakayama on a school trip to Tokyo, also revolves around this symbol. Yumiko is 17 years old and in love with a classmate. Three years later, Yumiko's love blooms again in this city at the age of 20... This is a movie "by girls for girls", with the sharp point of view of a female director, which exposes the cuteness and ugliness of women through the simple, pure and honest protagonist, without any pretence. Yumiko runs around the screen in a cheerful yellow voice, explaining the subtle psychology of a girl in love.

State of Shock

1989 • 58 min • Australia

The 1981 murder trial of Alwyn Peter made Australian legal history when his defence lawyer successfully argued that charges of murder and manslaughter were inappropriate for dispossessed, semi-tribal Aborigines.

Late May 1989

1989 • 10 min

Short film.

Fetal Pig Anatomy

1989 • 5 min

Apocalyptic experimental film incorporating found footage, including from the 1962 educational film of the same name.

A Kiralyi Par

1989 • 7 min

Animation by Varga Csaba

Eternamente Ágora

1989 • 24 min • Brazil

Documentary about Jomard Muniz de Britto and starring himself.

Ghent, 10 June 1989, for Geraldine Nerea

1989 • 5 min

In this video Vromman shows us virtuoso how a “plan séquence” is capable of exploring a given spatial arrangement notably an abandoned church in Ghent. It is as though the camera possesses a will of its own, or, more appropriately, as it became itself a dancer within the given space. The columns become veritable side wings behind which the dancers are playing hide and seek and where perpetually new movements and new images are discovered. Summary by argosarts.org

Björn Afzelius Live

1989 • 58 min • Sweden

A concert with Björn Afzelius at the Hovdala Castle during his summer tour of 1989.

About Bandits

1989 • 5 min • Soviet Union

Comedy short about bandits and their fights.

Kababaihan: Filipina Portraits

1989 • 40 min • Canada

Portraits of women activists in the Philippines and their role in the national democratic movement. Portraits of women women activists from all sectors of Philippine society in the movement to overthrow the Marcos dictatorship in the 1980’s. Women farmers, workers, students, mothers, and revolutionaries of the New People’s Army join forces in the people power uprising that ousts the US-backed President Marcos. We meet beauty queen Nelia Sancho, Sister Mary John Mananzan, head of a private Catholic college, Concha Araneta, guerrilla commander and daughter of a prominent landowning family; Alicia Barros, mother of fallen student leader Lorena Barros, and many more, in this inspiring documentary that introduces some of the heroines of the national democratic movement in the Philippines.

Redball

1989 • 5 min • China

Trees Cry For Rain: A Sephardic Journey

1989 • 32 min

Rachel Amado Bortnick takes the viewer on a fascinating journey exploring her Sephardic roots, recalling the rich, vanishing world of Sephardic culture and the endangered Ladino language.

Mickey's Field Trips: The United Nations

1989 • 16 min • United States of America

Mickey Mouse tours the United Nations complex.