All Films

Murder Psalm

1980 • 16 min • United States of America

Inspired in part by a dream he had of murdering his mother, Brakhage here gives us one of his profoundest meditations on human aggression.

Schoolboy Father

1980 • 45 min • United States of America

High school senior discovers his summer girlfriend has given birth to his child, and decides to fight for custody.

Ixe

1980 • 48 min • France

“Ixe (written X and pronounced EEKS – as it is pronounced in French –, like a scream, a wound) is an imploded, crucified film. Made to be projected on four screens at once, X is drawn and quartered. At the four points of the compass, at the four ends of the cross, War, Sex, Religion and Drugs, the double exposures, the colliding glimpses the eye barely recognizes, the skilful repetitions of themes, remind us that Sex is also the war of bodies, and the pope, the Drug of the people. And the story of this young man, shooting up in order to experience all the horror of the world in front of his TV set, reminds us that the heroin orgy is indeed the subjective locus of the monsters of the modern unconscious.” - Guy Hocquenghem

Gracias a la Vida (o la Pequeña Historia de una Mujer Maltratada)

1980 • 48 min • Chile, Finland

The story of a Chilean refugee, marked by imprisonment and torture, illustrates the tragedy suffered by victims of violence in Latin America during the years of dictatorship.

Theatre Piece

1980 • 1 min • United States of America

Through "solipsistic, demiurgic actions," Sherman leaves his imprint on the theater world. He sits in a seat in the audience, occupies a chair onstage and stands at the door of the theater. Becoming transparent, he leaves his trace everywhere.

Women in Rock

1980 • 45 min • Germany

A documentary about women in the punk rock scene in Europe.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin

1980 • 29 min • United Kingdom

In 1376, the city of Hamelin is freed from a plague of hungry rats by a mysterious Piper who plays a tune and leads the vermin on a mery dance out of town and straight in to the river. But the greedy city Governers refuse to pay their agreed fee, so the Piper wreaks a terible revenge. He plays his pipe once more, only this time he leads all the children of Hamelin away to a magical mountain portal, from which they never return...

Les tailleurs de pierre

1980 • 53 min • Canada

Only the Ball Was White

1980 • 30 min • United States of America

Throughout the 1900's, before Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier in 1946, black baseball talent blossomed in the Negro Leagues. Baseball buffs still sing the praises of Josh Gibson who could be counted on to hit 70 homeruns in a season, and Satchel Paige who pitched over 100 no-hitters in his career. Only the Ball Was White pays tribute to the many topflight players from the Negro Leagues. Narrated by actor Paul Winfield, the program documents a bygone bittersweet era in baseball and the men who were denied stardom by the color line. Ballplayers throughout the country were interviewed for this program, all of them quick to tell tales of the life, the competition, and the camaraderie. These include: Satchel Paige, Roy Campanella, Buck Leonard, Jimmy Crutchfield, David Malarcher, Effa Manley, and Quincy Trouppe.

Ombres-ailes

1980 • 25 min • France

A nocturnal "offside". Pascal Martin and the celluloid bather summon us to a strange magical rite that refers to the ambiguous games of childhood.

The Enigma

1980 • 60 min

When John Fielding, MP, disappeared on the way home to his country estates he was, perhaps, cracking the first good joke of his life. Sergeant Jennings, left to pursue the investigation, finds little humour or help amongst Fielding's friends or family. Only Isobel could believe that Fielding might have wanted to disappear.

Buscando tréboles

1980 • 8 min • Colombia

Moving and poetic images of the daily lives of blind children at a school in Medellín.

John Prine: Live on Soundstage

1980 • 59 min • United States of America

Grammy Award-winning folk singer John Prine performs his early classics such as "Angel from Montgomery" and "Hello in There" in this 1980 concert filmed for the PBS series "Soundstage," featuring special guest Billy Lee Riley. Interviews with Prine as he tours his Maywood, Ill., hometown and his acoustic versions of "Paradise" and "How Lucky" punctuate live stage performances of songs from his "Bruised Orange" and "Pink Cadillac" albums.

Infinity

1980 • 9 min • United States of America

A cosmic experimental film by Jordan Belson, set to music by Iasos.

Día incompleto

1980 • 55 min • Mexico

Mexican feature film

Farewell, First Love Day

1980 • 4 min

8mm film made in 1980 by the Bunkyo University Film Research Club.

The Big Wheel

1980 • 29 min • United States of America

During the 1980 exhibition of Burden's monumental kinetic sculpture The Big Wheel at Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York, Burden and Feldman were interviewed by art critic Willoughby Sharp. Burden articulates the process of creating The Big Wheel, a 6,000-pound, spinning cast-iron flywheel that is initially powered by a motorcycle, and discusses its relation to his earlier performance pieces and sculptural works. Addressing his motivations and the meaning of this potentially dangerous mechanical art object, Burden discusses such topics as the role of the artist in the industrial world, "personal insanity and mass insanity," and "man's propensity towards violence."

Reasons to Be Glad

1980 • 3 min • United States of America

I made this film while experimenting with a home made rotoscope. It was drawn on index cards. It's a sort of valentine to film, to life and to Xavier Cugat too. The original 16mm negative was lost when my lab at the time closed suddenly. Boy, I don't miss film at all. (JS)

The Monarch Butterfly

1980 • 30 min • Soviet Union

A young biophysicist, dreaming of spiritual and physical immortality, makes an experiment on himself: by radioactive irradiation he violates the genetic code, as a result of which he passes into another biological substance and becomes immeasurably more perfect than his fellows on Earth.

Fountain/Car

1980 • 1 min • United States of America

XTC at the Manor

1980 • 60 min • United Kingdom

A documentary on the recording of the song "Towers of London" and a brief behind-the-scenes look at the making of the "Generals and Majors" video. Recorded at Richard Branson's mansion, August 1980.

Foods and Fun: A Nutrition Adventure

1980 • 13 min • United States of America

A little orange bird needs to build up his strength to fly south for he winter, so he consults a wise old owl who teaches him about nutrition.

The Sky Is Gray

1980 • 46 min • United States of America

From Ernest J. Gaines, author of "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," comes a deceptively simple, yet emotionally complex tale of a young boy's discovery of what it's like to be black in Louisiana during the 1940's. James, the boy in question, has a raging toothache that necessitates a trip to the dentist. His mother (played by Emmy-winner Olivia Cole), accompanies James to town on an eye-opening odyssey where the boy gains valuable insights into poverty, racism - and his own sense of pride. With an exciting musical score by Webster Lewis, this multi-award winning film explores a child's discovery that the world is a complicated place... where things are never truly black or white... only shades of gray.

Yan Ki Made in Hongkong

1980 • 45 min

Documentary about the working poor in Hongkong.