All Films

Act V.

1981 • 12 min

Shakespear's Hamlet Act V. animated. Hamlet suspects his uncle has murdered his father to claim the throne of Denmark and the hand of Hamlet's mother, but the prince cannot decide whether or not he should take vengeance.

Pax Vincit

1981 • 5 min • Poland

The more peace is celebrated in the official propaganda, the more likely another armed conflict is. The "Peace will win" slogan, popularized after World War II, in fact masked the increasing risk of the Cold War.

Not Satisfied

1981 • 45 min

The 8mm documentary "Not Satisfied" (directed by Tatsuya Ota) follows the band Anarchy

AC/DC: Lightning Over Japan

1981 • 55 min

Recorded live at Nihon Seinen-kan, Tokyo, Japan, 05/02/1981.

Music Word Fire And I Would Do It Again (Coo-Coo): The Lessons

1981 • 29 min

Buried inside the epic American opera for television, “Perfect Lives” are the boogie-woogie lessons being sold by Buddy to untalented people in the middle of America. This pilot for the series is an abstraction that plays on the meaning of life (which is unknowable) and how to make art (impossible to teach) featuring the sublime mysteries of the traveling musician.

Sun Loaf

1981 • 10 min • Soviet Union

A fabulous story about how the dough ran away from the grandmother early in the morning. And it turned, toasted in the sun, into a sweet solar korovai, which was enough for animals and birds to eat.

Arabic Numeral Series 0 + 10

1981 • 28 min

“With some exceptions, the Arabics take the idea of the void as their ground. That is, the light we do see almost always seems to be set against darkness, or occasionally against white, these momentary flickers that materialize tenuously out of emptiness. But the darkness is not ‘night,’ or even simply some more abstract absence of light, but a more profound vacuum: it represents a world stripped of all the coordinates of the known, an unmeasurable absence. […] These lushly sensual, pleasurable-to-view films are also terrifying: their unpredictability, continually enacting new dramas of surprise, alternatively swamps the viewer in light and leaves him adrift in darkness.”

Five Year Diary, Reel 2: The Definitions of Fat and Thin (December 13–22, 1981)

1981 • 27 min • United States of America

Anne consults the dictionary in this one – what is “fat?” what is “thin?” Inanimate objects are animated, and Anne experiences problems with her camera. (Liz Coffey)

My Brother Became A Sheep

1981 • 21 min • Japan

Said to draw inspiration from the writings of Sigmund Freud and European mythology, My Brother Became A Sheep was an 8mm animation produced at the time Harada was a sophomore in high school.

Signals: Read 'Em or Weep

1981 • 6 min • United States of America

A safety-focused documentary short highlighting the critical importance of reading signal warnings, maintaining machinery, and following proper operating procedures on construction sites. The film emphasizes how attention to both signals and instructions can prevent accidents and ensure workplace safety.

Une vallée contre un empire

1981 • 52 min

When the Soviet troops entered Afghanistan in December 1979, Christophe de Ponfilly and Jérôme Bony made their first clandestine reportage in the Panjshir valley. "A valley against an empire" testifies to the beginning of the struggle of a young commander, Amah Shah Massoud.

Chutes de Souvenirs/Florence

1981 • 1 min

Outtakes from the movie

Une tannerie artisanale

1981 • 26 min • Canada

Misshitsu dokyumento: Yubi to shita

1981 • 60 min • Japan

"...és Mészöly Kálmán, a kapitány"

1981 • 49 min

The documentary follows a day ( 31st October 1981) of the Hungarian national football team and their charismatic coach Kálmán Mészöly preparing for their WC qualifier against Norway.

Nail 2

1981 • 8 min • Soviet Union

The second story is about human misfortunes and mistakes, played out... with nails.

Queue

1981 • 9 min • Soviet Union

Breasts

1981 • 30 min

A girl walks into a bra shop and finds herself in a wondrous world of discoveries about a changing body and patriarchal beauty standards.

Belgrade at Night

1981 • 60 min • Yugoslavia

A pop musical featuring singer Oliver Mandic who, after being dumped by girlfriend, makes a drastic move which takes him to Wonderland. While experiencing unusual situations and meeting interesting characters, he establishes a new relationship with a girl who takes him back to reality.

Wer wohnt im Wohnzimmer?

1981 • 22 min

In this short feature film, the cohabitation of an average family is turned upside down: Not the parents, but the children have the power of disposal over the shared apartment.

Manne the Mowie

1981 • 4 min • Germany

Manne's last summer: goes to watch a football game, drinks, pukes. Man keeps drinking. Man drops dead.

Mea Culpa

1981 • 5 min • United States of America

In his first collaboration with David Byrne and Brian Eno, Conner used footage from educational films to create a rhythmically austere image-track for music from their pioneering “sampling” album “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts” (1981).

Marseille toujours

1981 • 20 min

Ilkla Moor Baht Hat

1981 • 4 min • United Kingdom

Animated paper cut-outs. An amusing interpretation of the traditional Yorkshire circular song. A man goes courting on Ilkla Moor without his hat, catches his death of cold, dies, is buried, gets eaten by worms, the worms are eaten by ducks, and the ducks are, finally, eaten by the man's friends.