All Films

Signal from a Dying Planet

1972 • 12 min

Set in 1997, this short sci-fi film narrates the story of a normal world that slowly degenerates into an amoral and lifeless place.

Un lion nommé l'Américain

1972 • 20 min

A film about a lion.

Forbidden Joy

1972 • 11 min • United States of America

In Forbidden Joy (1972), director Imelda Sheen utilizes many avant garde techniques to tell the mysterious story of a woman picnicking in a cemetery with a toddler by her side. The films plays with mood as it changes styles of music from African, to funk, to soul, to classical, while black-and-white footage shows us a glimpse of the rough streets in the woman’s past. —Trisha Lendo

Arquitetura, A Transformação do Espaço

1972 • 50 min • Brazil

A film in three movements. In the first one, we find a historical synthesis of Brazilian architecture, from the slaves' dwellings to the Ministry of Education Building. In the second segment, architects such as Burle Marx, Lina Bo Bardi, Grigori Warchavchik and Joaquim Cardoso talk about architecture's social function. In the third movement, inhabitants of some Brazilian cities discuss the space they live in.

This Bit of That India

1972 • 20 min • India

"This Bit of That India" is a layered reflection on youth culture, diversity, progress, education, technology and sexuality. The film juxtaposes documentary moments that celebrate individual freedom with a theatrical performance of Federico Garcia Lorca's "The House of Bernarda Alba", as a metaphor for repression and conformity.

Ommo

1972 • 17 min • United States of America

Originally an 8mm film with hand-painting which was blown up to 16mm and hand-painted again before multiple printings with several optical manipulations. A mandala of ever changing configurations, both angelic and demonic, to be seen as an evanescent phenomenon.

To Pour Milk into a Glass

1972 • 7 min • United Kingdom

A simple gesture, introduced in the very title of the work, is repeated with slight variations – the glass is half filled, the content overflows, the glass breaks, the milk spills on the table – and constitutes the film’s only action. Lamelas rejects any type of narration or human presence, and the filmic code – reduced and dissected – comprises the only argument.

Cycles #1

1972 • 5 min

A hand-made film of a circular form that fluctuates in rhythms of light and sound.Cycles 1 is made by sticking paper dots onto the surface of the film and to its (optical) sound track. On projection these separate instants are converted simultaneously into picture and sound.The gaps between the dots gradually decrease until a fusion of the material occurs; the separate image-moments coalesce into a pulsating ball of light; simultaneously we hear rhythmic sounds fusing into a continuous rising drone.These transformations are taking place in our perceptual systems, for if we examine the physical strip of film, no such change is seen. Apparently we register time through our optical and our aural senses in very different ways, one chemical, the other mechanical.

Improve Your Pronunciation

1972 • 11 min

Four teenagers and a narrator discuss ways in which to recognize and correct pronunciation problems.

Zocalo

1972 • 15 min • United States of America

ZOCALO is a color, optically-printed experiment that uses as its base the Zocalo Square in Mexico City. Unlike my other films … it began as a class experiment … and because of my feelings towards the square itself … pursued it in all its variations … finished in December 1972.

Bronze: River of Metal

1972 • 30 min

Traces bronze from its discovery in Mesopotamia in the third millenium BCE to the 20th century.

Glasses For Susan: A New Day

1972 • 13 min

Little Susan needs glasses. Her obvious nearsightedness is ruining her social life, hindering her education, and impeding the development of one of the world's all-time great ice hockey players. Unfortunately, Susan herself does not seem to realize there is a problem and she has apparently been abandoned by her parents. Luckily, a kindly teacher gives her a book about a little girl struggling with the exact problem facing Susan.

Playing Dice

1972 • 5 min

«A hand at the top right of the screen throws three dice. They tumble, become still, are picked up and thrown again. The scene is projected on two large walls that face each other; the two projections are asynchronous. A malaise sets in with the consciousness of the presence of a mirror against which the dice bounce. The spectators are prey to a monochromatic phantasmagoria where real and virtual images of the die faces in the mirror are confounded, where a wall becomes the mirror of the other. The black dots on the dice faces such as dead heads taunt us with their random apparitions.». (Jean-Pierre Bertrand)

Struga - Bilder einer Landschaft

1972 • 24 min • East Germany, Germany

A declaration of love to Lusatia and its Sorbian inhabitants.

Vortex

1972 • 14 min • Canada

In 'Vortex', the intense subjectivity of techno-psychedelia converges with the technological gamesmanship of the space race. The subject matter, however, is 'space' and extinction.

Jazz Is Our Religion

1972 • 50 min • United Kingdom

An evocation of jazz through photographs, words and music. Music by Johnny Griffin Quintet with Jon Hendricks and the voices of Art Blakey, Kenny Clarke, Jo Jones, Sonny Murray, Eddie Gomez, Bill Evans. Jazz poems by Langston Hughes and Ted Joans.

Serpent

1972 • 14 min • United States of America

Financed by Guggenheim Fellowship. The serpent embodies the primal chaotic life force in mythic symbology. SERPENT uses natural and electronic imagery to convey this elusive creative force. An outstanding piece of art. Striking, kinetic. Its form, techniques, and texture patterns should be studied by all aspiring young filmmakers. A beautiful combination of pure visual poetry and ideas about man and the world. – Jurors, American Film Festival.

Prizren the City of Resources and Beauty

1972 • 18 min • Yugoslavia

“Prizren - the City of Resources and Beauty” is a documentary directed by Zvonimir Saksida and produced by Zastava Film in 1972, which presents the history, traditions and beauties of Prizren with the aim of promoting the touristic potential of the city. Discovered in the Lumbardhi Cinema archive, it was screened for the first time during the exhibition “At Once Vague and Unavoidable: Modernities 1945-1989” produced as part of the partnership between Lumbardhi Foundation and Oral History Initiative within the project “Prizren Urban Memoryscapes” supported by Franco-German Cultural Fund, the French Embassy, the German Embassy, Municipality of Prizren and Sharrcem. The restoration and digitization of “Prizren - the City of Resources and Beauty” was made possible by the partner of the project, the French National Audiovisual Institute - INA and the French Embassy.

Scenes From New York City Transit

1972 • 17 min

Portrays the loneliness and alienation subway riders experience in the dirt and graffiti laden New York City subway. Screeching cars, pulsing escalators and moving platforms, nervous and stressed riders as they wait interminably or as they surge forward to compete for a seat during rush hour. The underground claustrophobia is finally relieved as the trains emerge above the ground and rattle to the end of the line.

TV In and TV Out

1972 • 13 min

In Sonnier’s video tape TV In and TV Out, two images are superimposed, one shot off network television and the other shot from a studio performance situation involving some of the materials and visual qualities of his sculptures. This live image is colorized by a device which adds color to a black and white image and in turn manipulates the color. Colorized color is more opaque and less three-dimensionally tactile than synthesized color, but it is tactile in its video scan-line texture. …

Gravel Springs Fife and Drum

1972 • 10 min

A compelling and award-winning portrait of Othar Turner, his music and their role in the Gravel Springs community. The film not only demonstrates how to make a cane fife, but also gets to the heart of both Turner and his fife and drum music as he's shown performing at an annual Fourth of July picnic. Quick cuts between dancing band members and the rhythmic movements of Turner's family going about their daily chores capture the mounting excitement and provide a rare, revealing glimpse of the work and play that characterize this traditional rural Mississippi society.

Åtgärdas

1972 • 27 min

According to Eric M Nilsson, this is an utterly unsuccesful film. It's a film about things he saw but never understood. If two people gaze upon the same thing, one of them will claim to experience something else. In this, they receive evidence that they exist, because the individual understands comparisons — but hates similarities.

Claudia

1972 • 26 min

An experimental film documentary of a playful little girl exploring nature.

Nogarok

1972 • 5 min • United States of America

"Glimpses into a day in the life of three children. The three are busy with their lives. We see them, but what are they thinking? My camera screws up, but the effect seems appropriate and so I use the footage anyway. Birds are also busy with their own lives out there. Everybody is eating something. What kind of thinking do birds do? Oh, there’s a cat!. And a squirrel shows up. What a busy day! And soon it will be time for bed. Must not forget to brush your teeth." –Abbott Meader