All Films

My Survival As a Deviant

1980 • 60 min

The myths of deviancy are explored and the realities of survival are experienced in the city of Sydney between 1979 and 1980 from the point of view of a broke and homeless gay male cartoonist and the many fellow travellers he meets on the streets.

Canada Vignettes: Arctic Seascape

1980 • 1 min • Canada

A vignette exploring the depths of the Arctic Ocean.

Jackie McLean on Mars

1980 • 32 min • United States of America

Jackie McLean is a true jazz master and one of the few true authorities of the bebop era still in business, but at the time of this film his main gig was teaching at Hartford. Hartford seems to have had a low-profile and low-budget jazz department, and the same goes for this film, which clocks in at just over half an hour, and barely scratches the surface of the subject matter. Still, what is here is engaging and a surprisingly candid portrait. McLean is shown practicing in his apartment and - briefly - playing with his quintet, but most of the running time is spent at Hartford in the classroom - and what classes they must have been. McLean's stream-of-consciousness lectures run from Sun Ra to JFK's assassination to how he learned Giant Steps, and the students try their best to keep up. A fascinating glimpse into the mind of a jazz musician.

Point de fuite

1980 • 25 min • France

A film consisting of four parts, which attempts to reduce the illusionist space that cinema inherits from the perspective devices of classical painting to the two sole dimensions of the screen, through means specific to the filmic medium. The motif of the window serves as serialized material, since it is by imagining itself like a window (Alberti, Dürer) that the Quattrocento painting was able to construct its perspective and illusionist space. Production : Visual Arts Insttute of Orléans.

Cinématon n°100 : Dominique Païni

1980 • 4 min • France

Dominique Paini's portrait by Gérard Courant (1980 - silent).

Table Top Sketches 1 & 2

1980 • 5 min • United States of America

Possesed by a White Shadow

1980 • 16 min • Japan

Exam

1980 • 9 min • Soviet Union

A propaganda film about the need to know the rules of the road.

The Weak Bullet

1980 • 13 min

Told with raw eccentricity and grotesque humor, The Weak Bullet is an ironic tale in which the trajectory of the eponymous bullet propels a bizarre narrative of social rupture and sexual paranoia.

O Insigne-Ficante

1980 • 60 min • Brazil

A travelogue film using Pound's concept of invention as a starting point.

Ki or Breathing

1980 • 29 min • Japan

'Ki or Breathing' is a spare concoction assembled from slow motion shots of nature and set to a score by the much-acclaimed Tohru Takemitsu.

Cult Explosion

1980 • 56 min • United States of America

Cult Explosion looks at religions groups considered by some to be cults include Hare Krishna, the Manson Family, the People's Temple, Scientology, Christian Science, Unity, Worldwide Church of God, Jehovah Witness, the Latter-Day Saints, the Unification Church, and Transcendental Meditation.

Ikuska 8: Arabako herrien heriotza

1980 • 10 min • Spain

Analysis of the problems facing the rural world of Araba, a region of the Basque Country.

Martha Clarke Light & Dark: A Dancer’s Journal

1980 • 54 min • United States of America

This documentary follows Martha Clarke's creative process for a year as she finds her own voice as a choreographer following her departure from Pilobolus Dance Theater.

Patterned Fairy Tale

1980 • 10 min • Soviet Union

The traditional patterns of ancient Kyrgyz carpets tell an old legend about the insidious sorcerer Kara-Khan, about a girl imprisoned by him in a dungeon, and about a brave young man hurrying to her aid.

Running Time

1980 • 6 min

The title of this video work, ‘Running Time’, refers to its duration. A figure running in landscape from infinity towards and past the camera is foreshadowed by a repeating image of himself. The soundtrack, treated similarly to the image, is made from recycling loops of a heartbeat. Both image and sound progress from the unidentifiable to the recognizable. In close relation to other works from this period, the central focus is on the pattern of lines that function as the basic building blocks of the video image, structuring visual representation in a significant way.

Secret

1980 • 9 min • Soviet Union

An animated film for children about a little man who could not come to terms with the mystery of a mysterious object.

Elvis Costello & The Attractions Live in Montreaux

1980 • 59 min • Switzerland

Elvis Costello & The Attractions tear through 20 songs from the Lake Geneva shoreline.

The Sparrow and the Chimney

1980 • 8 min • Bulgaria

Knurri und der Eierdieb

1980 • 10 min • East Germany

Knurri, a little rabbit, and his family want to sell eggs at the market. On the way there, Knurri strolls along and discovers late in the day that he has lost his eggs. A ravenous badger has devoured them. Nobody at the market wants to buy eggs from the rabbit family. Only when Knurri comes along and suggests painting the eggs with flower paint does the business get going and everyone is happy.

The Planet of the Oceans

1980 • 8 min • Romania

Short film from the Delta Space Mission film series. A giant tornado pulls the Delta spaceship into the endless ocean of a strange planet.

Closed Cinemas

1980 • 14 min

Manifesto for a third world cinema, in response to the boycott of Brazilian cinema and the closure of theaters.

Edison's Disco

1980 • 20 min • Soviet Union

Heino Pedusaar (born in 1931) was a sound director in Eesti Raadio. He has collected old audio records all around Estonia. For already twenty years he has been actively involved in restoring Estonian cultural heritage. Filmmakers follow his trip to Mooste in Põlva county and observe his skillful work in restoring old audio records.

Flipper

1980 • 13 min • United States of America

Color UCLA Student Film, shot on video. Preserved by the UCLA Film and Television Archive. A sardonic meditation on pinball machines and arcade games, and the people who are addicted to them.