All Films

Johannesburg, 2nd Greatest City After Paris

1989 • 8 min • South Africa

William Kentridge’s ironic tribute to his hometown, animated on the basis of 25 drawings, is the first film of his “Drawing for Protection” cycle, in which he unfolds the triangle between Johannesburg building tycoon Soho Eckstein, his wife, and the dreamer Felix Teitelbaum. In this film he introduces the central characters of his meta-narrative which, located in a South Africa of the last days of a crumbling Apartheid, becomes an allegorical reflection on socio-political power relations.

Yellowstone Aflame

1989 • 30 min

Digitally re-mastered for amazing picture and sound quality, this fast-paced DVD presents Yellowstone before, during and after the Great Yellowstone Fires of 1988 and lets you learn the complete fire story. Discover the ecological role of fire and learn how it burned nearly a million acres of trees yet gave birth to a new cycle of growth. Through spectacular footage taken during the fires, see and hear the awesome phenomena of America’s greatest forest fire. Yellowstone Aflame is not only the best, most exciting fire video available, it offers valuable insight into the extreme conditions that led to the fires and explores important ecological changes in the park.

Filmfabriek Hollandia

1989 • 48 min • Netherlands

Portrait of the Hollandia film factory in Haarlem, where during the period 1912 to 1923, some sixty feature-length fiction films and hundreds of documentaries were made under the leadership of Maurits Binger. This laid the foundations of professional filmmaking in the Netherlands.

Earthquake

1989 • 59 min • Soviet Union

On December 7, 1988, a catastrophic earthquake occurred in Armenia that claimed more than 25 thousand lives. The film tells about the first days after the tragedy.

Boys/Life

1989 • 10 min • United States of America

An unfashionably joyous celebration of safe sex (group masturbation parties) and affection (fondling in public places) among gay men.

Remains to Be Seen

1989 • 17 min • United States of America

Solomon uses chemical and optical treatments to coat the film with a limpid membrane of swimming crystals, coagulating into silver recall, then dissolving.

How the Fox Judged the Wolf

1989 • 10 min • Soviet Union

About a wolf who gate crashes a wedding. Based on a Belorusian folk tale, although the decay of the Soviet Union at the time show through the pores of the depiction of the tale.

From Left to Right

1989 • 4 min • Soviet Union

What is the philosophical meaning of the film? The moon falls into a meat grinder, whimsical, but typically Maximovian creatures, entering or not entering into some kind of relationship, are formed from moon stuffing, and eventually, after many transformations, the dog turns out to be patiently waiting for this on the "other edge" of the screen, gets a bone.

Biennale Apollo

1989 • 6 min • Italy

A short Venice-set musical

Otto Dix: The Painter is the Eyes of the World

1989 • 59 min • Germany

This is the first documentary to illuminate Neue Sachlichkeit against the backdrop of the Weimar Republic and National Socialism. Dix’s works—including the key Metropolis triptych (1928–29), the great psychological portraits, and, last but not least, the landscapes with their hidden symbolism, painted during the years he spent at Lake Constance—form the starting point for this exploration of his oeuvre. They are placed in a context with works of art by George Grosz, Rudolf Schlichter, and Christian Schad, creating a new perspective on this crucial chapter in German art history.

A Drifting Man and A Wandering Girl

1989 • 39 min • Japan

A young man travels around in a truck while turning an 8mm camera. In his hometown in Kansai, he meets a high school girl. The film tells the story of the moratorium of youth through the connection of seemingly unrelated episodes between the young man and the girl. A truck driving through the city, a teacher from high school, an exchange with the girl. The film is full of transparency, with a conscious interplay between black and white and colour, as if it were a mental picture of the young man himself. In the last scene, the girl turns the 8mm camera on herself, and her face, enveloped in light, is refreshing.

Bring Me the Head of Geraldo Rivera

1989 • 8 min • United States of America

Folks are busy at the production offices of Mort Downey Jr.'s talk show. A warehouse worker is preparing manifests for shipping. He needs the sign off of the producer, a voluble woman who's talking non-stop on the phone to someone named Harry. She signs the manifest without looking up as she talks about sexual surrogates, a woman crushed to death by her fat lover, and a fist fight on Geraldo Rivera's show. "Thank goodness he's been taking boxing lessons," she says. She's interrupted by the arrival of a uniformed woman with a nose ring. The woman opens a paper bag she's carrying and hands the producer what's inside. The horror is only beginning...

Dance of Darkness

1989 • 55 min • United States of America

The dark sensibilities and cultural resonances of Butoh, the radical Japanese dance movement, are explored in this multilayered work. Profoundly rooted in both traditional and contemporary Japanese culture, Butoh arose in a spirit of revolt in the early 1960s. Characterized by frank sexuality and bodily distortions, Butoh transforms traditional dance movements into new forms, stripping away the taboos of contemporary Japanese culture to reveal a secret world of darkness and irrationality.

Horror Effects: Hosted by Tom Savini

1989 • 37 min

Tom Savini has served as a makeup artist for some of Hollywood's most terrifying -- and disgusting -- creature features. In this instructional program, he takes fans behind the scenes to reveal the secrets of his craft. Clips from Savini's masterpieces, including the Friday the 13th movies, Dawn of the Dead and Creepshow, accompany a discussion of his career and some helpful tips for viewers pursuing their own Hollywood dreams (or nightmares).

Flamethrowers

1989 • 4 min • Germany

Short film by SCHMELZDAHIN

Red & Rosy

1989 • 18 min

Drag racer Richard “Big Red” Friedman becomes addicted to a speed-like adrenal drug after a career ending crash and dives into a world of hallucinations and monstrosities.

Rosanne Cash: Retrospective

1989 • 40 min • United States of America

Sourced from Laserdisc, this collection of promotional videos and short film from Roseanne Cash, up to 1989.

Mamãe Parabólica

1989 • 15 min • Brazil

Comedy in which drag queen Laura de Vison acts as a madame, her debiloid daughter and a professor.

Hunter

1989 • 36 min • Germany

In the words of Robert Frank, Hunter is about “. . . a man whose destiny is not to find a destination. . . . A man who fears that he will never find what his imagination compels him to look for, a mystical traveler going by train and by car through . . . language and landscape.” The film was shot entirely on location in Germany’s industrial Ruhr region in September/October 1989.

The Golden Dream

1989 • 38 min

This film is made up from archive footage from the early years of the twentieth century covering the years from 1900 to 1920. The footage, often unique, was filmed by different people and groups the world over, and is united to give a wide overview of the fate of European civilization.

Snakes Natures Armored Warriors

1989 • 40 min

Poisonous snakes are among the most deadly feared, yet fascinating creatures on earth. They strike their prey with pin-point precision, injecting lethal doses of poison. Now, for the first time on video, you can take an inside look at the exciting world of these intriguing reptiles. Witness lightening quick strikes and live capture scenes of America's most deadly snakes, the Rattler, Water Moccasin and the Coral Snakes. Join host and expert snake handler Bob Popplewell as he separates myth from reality!

Mickey's Safety Club: Playground Fun

1989 • 20 min • United States of America

Mickey Mouse, Huey, Dewey, and Louie. and Daisy Duck teach about the importance of safety while having fun at the playground

How to Squash a Squat

1989 • 45 min

1989, New York City's Alphabet City and East Village. A year after the Tompkins Square Park Riot, squatters and their community allies try to stop the demolition of their building after an arson. Police forces occupy the neighborhood while the demolition continues. A portrait of an East Village that is no more. An homage to the voices and sounds of a neighborhood before its gentrification.

Switzerland: The Alpine Wonderland

1989 • 59 min • United States of America

A tour of the mountains, valleys and cities of this beautiful country. Visit Neuchatel, then shop in elegant Lausanne. The dungeon of the Chateau de Chillon, the city of Geneva and Zermatt's magnificent Matterhorn.