All Films

Smile

1971 • 22 min • Soviet Union

The year 2061... The world after the atomic disaster. People are afraid of civilization, which, in their opinion, will surely lead to an atomic explosion again. So they destroy the last car, the last plane, burn the last book. They prepare to destroy the last scenic masterpiece. And only teenage Tom can't desecrate Leonardo da Vinci's beautiful creation. The crowd tears the painting apart, and the boy carries away in his fist a scrap of ruined canvas. In his hole, he gingerly unclenches his fingers - the smile of Gioconda shines in the palm of his hand. The boy sleeps, curled up like an embryo in the white space of the frame, and with him faith is born again.

Des ensembles

1971 • 3 min • Canada

A play on the colour, form and movement of two simple figures: a flower and a star. The effect is gay and lively, a constant surprise, but the movement has a mathematical precision as multiples of the figures form sets or ensembles, forming and reforming on the screen in absorbing, piquant harmony.

Rubber Band

1971 • 3 min • Canada

"Holding a rubber band between my thumbs and forefingers, I strum it as fast as I can close to the microphone. The camera is static and runs until the S8 cartridge runs out. The sound is recorded on tape separate from the film, so the audio which sounds like a drum, slowly moves out of synch with the image." - David Askevold

Me's and Youse

1971 • 5 min • United States of America

A wonderful and humorous example of early image processing, Parry Teasdale and Carol Vontobel perform to camera as their faces are morphed together, forming an image of one person. The exercise is repeated by Nancy Cain and Skip Blumberg as the music speeds up.

The University in St Andrews

1971 • 16 min

Archive footage of the University of St Andrews in 1971 gives an insight into what it was like to be a student at the University over 40 years ago.

Drugs: The First Decision

1971 • 8 min

An educational film that depicts the widespread use of prescription drugs to treat illnesses as well as the misuse and abuse of those drugs.

Holy Smoke In Three Acts

1971 • 8 min

Made by 21st Cinetics and Billy Budd Films for the Morris County, Pennsylvania Division of Drug Control and Intervention, “Holy Smoke in Three Acts” is an unconventional anti-drug cartoon that was inspired by ideas put forth by students. The animation were created by R.J. Barcklow. The short, three-act animated film presents two artists and examines how the world around them influences their artwork. Both of the artists are influenced by drugs, drug use and the anti-drug campaign.

Alligator on Lizard

1971 • 5 min

Daisy the pet alligator has its teeth brushed by owner Gwen Roberts. Gwen is interviewed by TV reporter Del Cooper about owning and looking after pet alligators at her home in St Keverne on the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall. The word alligator comes from the Spanish word el lagarto meaning lizard. Alligators are native only to America and China but Chinese alligators are an endangered species. Taming exotic animals to become pets became fashionable in the 70s

Aktion Zürich

1971 • 10 min

Action by Otto Muehl.

Fall

1971 • 19 min

"What is most powerfully effective in FALL is the extraordinary sophistication of DeWitt's visual techniques, his graphic eye, and his complex designs. Because each unit of the exposition is so painstakingly conceptualized and nurtured, an audience is afforded a unique kind of purview on the elements as they are reconstituted in the more complex overlays. Thus the early, Magritte-like compositions of eye and sky establish basis for later more complicated efforts .... Color changes worked on given images (the bird, the sky) avoid the oversimplifications of hues/cues. Certain effects, as when clouds pass through the falling body which is outlined in flaming orange, can only be described as awesome. ... [A] work of immense dedication and exceptional skill." – John Fell

Under a Tree...

1971 • 9 min

A feminine crossdresser explores their sexuality.

Robot (Sisyphus)

1971 • 5 min • Italy

Robotic presentation of the myth of Sisyphus.

Emtigon

1971 • 10 min • Ireland

In this pitch-black vaudeville of impotence and aggression, Emtigon tragicomically details a homeless old man's covert intrusion into the life of a young female social worker.

Transvestites

1971 • 28 min • New Zealand

Pioneering New Zealand reporter Dairne Shanahan reports on transvestites and transsexuals.

Edgardo

1971 • 5 min • Argentina

Hirsch’s first steps in filmmaking were documentations of her performances and happenings in public spaces. These were collective actions, filmed initially on 8mm or 16mm film, which record the reactions of a randomly chosen spectator.

North America: Its Rivers

1971 • 14 min • United States of America

Explores the distinctive features of the major rivers of the continent, and discusses their contributions to the farming, recreation, transportation and hydroelectric power of North America.

Vertical Room Pan

1971 • 11 min

Vertical Room Pan was made in Haxton's San Diego studio in 1971. A device was made that allowed the camera to rotate around a horizontal axis. The resulting film is a 360 degree rotation of the studio in a vertical direction. This is somewhat analogous to the way the film passes through the camera. The film was first shown in the 5th Avenue space in downtown San Diego. The installation forced the audience to view the film over a six foot wall. The film was projected near the ceiling on a wall at the rear of the space The film is about the way the camera describes space and the control of the way the viewer is oriented to the film projection.

Money: How Its Value Changes

1971 • 12 min • United States of America

This educational film from the 1970s explains how changes in the value of a dollar are related to concepts such as cost of living, recession, depression, supply, demand and inflation.

Guernica

1971 • 11 min

In this experimental short film, Alfredo Mina explores Picasso's "Guernica" through a combination of sound, photography, real life footage of war, and visual paths of the painting itself.

The Time of Vampires

1971 • 8 min • Yugoslavia

A Grand Guignolesque grotesque which happens in the dusk of one of those imaginary nights when everything is possible. The scene takes places in a village’ inn and cemetery located one next to the other: joyful and always tipsy guests from the inn continuously meet mischievous vampires who, with their jokes, bother their brothers from this world.

Having a Fresh Look

1971 • 32 min • United Kingdom

A look at Derby's Railway Technical Centre, which exists to apply science to the practical problems arising from a changing railway system which has its roots in the past.

Florentina

1971 • 17 min • Argentina

Documentary about a school teacher who becomes the director of the establishment.

Gente di Milano

1971 • 3 min

David Lamelas was invited to mount a solo exhibition, a short film was shot with a stationary camera documenting everything that happened to enter its angle of view. At the same time, eleven photographs were taken at regular intervals.

Blown by the Wind

1971 • 18 min • Lebanon

A series of vibrant drawings painted by Palestinian children are brought to life in Blown By the Wind. The montaged still images glimpse at their everyday lives, their memories and imagination following the Six Day War in 1967.