All Films

Ariipaea Vahine

1978 • 55 min • France, French Polynesia

“Ariipaea-Vahine” is originally a poem by Henri Hiro. This poem will become a play performed several times at the Grand Théâtre and in Moorea by the Pupu Arioi. In 1978, the Matarau cinema unit was created at the Maison des Jeunes et de la Culture. The first film in this department will be an adaptation of the play. In his book "Autonomous Tahiti", Philippe Mazelier defines the piece as follows: "The theme is classic, the parabola transparent: as long as it was faithful to ancestral convictions, Ariipaea passed from the world of men to the world of gods, and Maohi culture was alive. When she converted, the gods stopped speaking to her, and Tahitian culture died. To revive it implies for Henri Hiro to fight Western culture. He calls for a return to basics against the consumer society while the latter, at the same time, is working twice as hard.

Exquisite Corpse

1978 • 8 min • United States of America

The "exquisite corpse" named in the title of this piece refers to a favorite game of the Surrealists, played by passing a folded sheet of paper among a group; each person draws one section of a body on the folded segment without looking at the other sides. What was done with pen and paper, Gusella accomplishes electronically using the VideoLab. Utilizing quick, voltage-controlled live switching between two cameras, Gusella approximates composite images. For examples, his torso appears to combine with a close-up of his face. The perceptual effect is mesmerizing and disorienting.

Drugs In America

1978 • 50 min

Documentary on drug use in America

Homage à François Couperin (Butterflies)

1978 • 3 min

A three-minute fantasy of butterflies and dragonflies cavorting amongst the pussywillows, Japanese-inspired animation accompanied by two variations on keyboard works by the Baroque composer.

In my Hometown I-III

1978 • 11 min • Japan

In this elegant, muted suite of three miniatures, Michishita captures the snowy landscape of Sapporo with a refined eye for its shadows and textures.

Lily

1978 • 28 min • Iceland

At the beginning of the film, three medical students are hunting for a body to use for research purposes. They hear of a tramp that has been found dead. The body is in the mortuary and as no-one seems to know who he is; they decide to take the body for dissection without formal permission. When the body is placed on the operating table, one of the students recognizes the man, and scenes from his acquaintance with the dead man flash back. At the same time certain things begin to happen that they had not allowed for.

Mundial

1978 • 20 min • Argentina

An unpublished piece by this pioneer of experimental cinema with the participation of Elías Cherñajovsky and Sergio Levin.

Einar Guðmundsson, The Movie

1978 • 45 min • Iceland

A film about Einar Guðmundsson, the poet (Einar Guðmundsson, litlaskáld)

Clouds & Crickets

1978 • 2 min • United States of America

An abstract kaleidoscope of colors and shapes set to soft music.

Daylight Test Section

1978 • 4 min

Recurring emergence of narrative. The “loaded” image becomes the determinant feature for reading otherwise unemotional footage; a first experiment in what is an ongoing investigation.

Bobine 10

1978 • 5 min

film by Pierre Clementi

Room List

1978 • 20 min

ROOM LIST is a "tour" of a room and the objects in it. The narrator tells you about his personal belongings, their origins and uses, and the systems of organization governing their placement. The film draws attention to details, demonstrating how one person structures his living space on functional as well as sentimental grounds.

Zebras

1978 • 7 min

Three zebras, their graphics and their environment generate the frames of this film, which, once projected, is neither a presentation of the zebras, nor a continuity of movement, but a succession of isolated effects which seem random, even though they are generated by a fully structured photographic picture. The zebras are not the film (they are not seen in the projected film), but they are the structure of the film, that is to say its score (the succession of frames).

Aquarium

1978 • 10 min

A non-narrated glimpse of the sea's most unusual inhabitants. A musical score accompanies each creature and emphasizes its appearance, movements and unique behavior. Underwater photography reveals fish that can walk, fish that have hands, fish that swim upside down, strange fish, colorful fish, and poisonous fish.

Video Clouds

1978 • 8 min • Canada

An illustration of the possibilities around electronically manipulating the colours of moving clouds. This formal investigation also makes it possible to experiment with other technical applications such as coloured titles, animation, etc.

Land Day

1978 • 50 min • Palestinian Territory

Land Day is commemorated by Palestinian annually on March 30. On that day in 1976, Palestinian citizens of Israel rebelled against the attempts of the ruling authorities to expropriate and colonize large swathes of their lands around six villages in the Galilee. Palestinians announced a general strike and organized marches in different Arab towns, where violent confrontations with the police erupted resulting in six martyrs amongst the demonstrators. Since then, the 30th of March was marked as a national day in which Palestinians show unity and intention to defend their land and the attachment to their national identity. Yom El Ard recounted the events of that day and documented the first anniversary activities. It features interviews with victims of violence, mayors of the affected villages and shows rarely seen footage of that era.

Unity

1978 • 14 min

An elegiac memory piece on the persecution of gays in Nazi Germany.

The Compleat Angler

1978 • 1 min • United States of America

After receiving his Ph.D. from NCSU in 1978, Turner Whitted left for Bell Labs and proceeded to shake the CGI world with an algorithm that could ray-trace a scene in a reasonable amount of time. His film, The Compleat Angler is one of the most mimicked pieces of CGI work ever, as every student that enters the discipline tries to generate a bouncing ray-traced ball sequence.

Great Britain: A Travel Guide

1978 • 9 min • United Kingdom

Wordless portrait of British transport, featuring cross-channel ferries, InterCity 125s, and cars.

Child's Play

1978 • 1 min • Canada

Child at play with a rocking horse and other toys

Arthur Rimbaud in New York

1978 • 7 min

1978–79. Slideshow, approx. 7 min. Courtesy the Estate of David Wojnarowicz and P.P.O.W, New York.

Canada Vignettes: The Horse

1978 • 1 min • Canada

The story of the impact that the introduction of the horse had on the North American West.

Visit the Elsinore

1978 • 15 min • Soviet Union

A poetic fantasy on the theme of "Hamlet", the heroes of which are the passengers of a tourist bus that stopped in Elsinore.

The El

1978 • 27 min • United States of America

An experimental silent film by Tom Palazzolo documenting the comings and goings of Chicago's "El" rapid transit system in the 1970s. Exact year unknown.