Lesser Choices

A Fan's Guide to Ms. Marvel

June 2022 •English

A documentary short that gives you an exclusive look behind the groundbreaking original series, "Ms. Marvel", from its comic book origins to its development and production as Marvel Studios’ next hit series on Disney+. It features interviews with its award winning filmmaking team and the show’s captivating star, newcomer Iman Vellani.

The New Greatness Case

June 2022 •Russian

Anya was an ordinary Moscow teenager who found a chat group of her choice online. They talked about animals, the stars and social issues. A man called Ruslan D joined the group, who set up an office space for the online group to meet. Step by step, he began to lead young people who were critical of the Putin's regime towards political activism. Ruslan D placed a camera in the meeting room, and when he had enough footage, he handed it over to the prosecutor. The police raided the teenagers' homes and they were arrested on charges of planning to overthrow the government and terrorism. Three years of legal proceedings transformed Anya's mother from a loyal follower of Putin to a hunger-striking activist. Moscow-based director Anna Shishova followed Anya and her mother's life throughout the event and eventually revealed the true identity of Ruslan D.

Second Place

February 2012 •English

One of several Kevin Jerome Everson pieces regarding African-American rodeo riders, SECOND PLACE brings us inside the big show. The jerkily pixilated view of a bucking bull offers an aesthetic equivalent of the cowboy's wild ride while the film's silence lends an unexpected repose to the contest. Whether anticipating a bull's blasting out of the gate or watching an old hand stretch out his back, Everson's camera is ever-attentive to the action at the edge of the frame. - Max Goldberg

Hannas baby

June 2019 •Swedish

The Colour of His Hair

June 2017 •English

Based on an unrealized film script written in 1964 for The Homosexual Law Reform Society, a British organisation that campaigned for the decriminalization of homosexual relations between men, "The Colour Of His Hair" merges drama and documentary into a meditation on queer life before and after the partial legalization of homosexuality in 1967.

I Am One of the People

May 2022 •English

Harmful chemicals are disproportionately affecting Black communities in Southern Louisiana along the Mississippi River. I am One of the People is an experimental short film exposing the environmental racism of “Cancer Alley.”

Crimes of Honour

December 1999 •English

Throughout the Islamic world, each year hundreds of women are shot, stabbed, strangled or burned to death by male relatives because they are thought to have “dishonoured” their families. They may have lost their virginity, refused an arranged marriage or left an abusive husband. Even if a woman is raped or merely the victim of gossip, she must pay the price. Crimes of Honour documents the terrible reality of femicide – the belief that a girl’s body is the property of the family, and any suggestion of sexual impropriety must be cleansed with her blood. We meet women in hiding from their families, a brother who describes his reasons for killing the sister he loved, and a handful of women who have committed themselves to the protection of young women in danger of losing their lives.

Post Traumatic: An American Nightmare

July 2009 •English

This thirty minute documentary features interviews with Giovinazzo's key contemporaries discussing the continued impact and influence of Combat Shock twenty-five years later.

The Unfinished Journey

December 1999 •English

A short about American life and history produced for the millennium New Year's Eve celebration.

Me Time

May 2022 •German

In this documentary, 6 protagonists tell their personal experiences of abortion and sterilization, from unplanned pregnancy to a happy mother and vice versa from the wanted child to regretting motherhood.

Bad Boy of Bonsai

May 2022 •English

Bad Boy of Bonsai is an experimental art-house documentary that focuses on Guy Guidry, a Louisiana local, and his passion for bonsai.

Searching for Bong

October 2015 •Korean

Unlike our dream of becoming a great filmmaker, the movie boards that adults talk about are tough. We are looking for our idol, Bong Joon-ho...

Visions of Europe

May 2004 •English

Twenty-five films from twenty-five European countries by twenty-five European directors.

Buba

July 1930 •Georgian

This documentary film is about one of Georgia's regions - Racha. The title of the film is taken from the name of one of Racha's high mountain villages. It tells about the poorest in society living in the mountains and the rise of the SSSR. The product of a remarkable collaboration between the first Georgian female filmmaker and the leading Georgian avant-garde artist David Kakabadze.

Birdman

July 2015 •English

A portrait of Robert, a troubled but poetic soul struggling with his purgatorial existence in a hackney scrapyard.

Larisa

October 1980 •Russian

Elem Klimov's documentary ode to his wife, director Larisa Shepitko, who was killed in an auto wreck.

Affirmations

June 1990 •English

A look at what it's like to be gay and black in America.

Fanalysis

March 2002 •English

Actor/cult icon Bruce Campbell examines the world of fan conventions and what makes a fan into a fanatic.

Generation Sputnik

December 2016 •German

From 1957 —the year in which the Soviets put the Sputnik 1 satellite into orbit— to 1969 —when American astronaut Neil Armstrong walked on the surface of the moon—, the beginnings of the space conquest were depicted in popular culture: cinema, television, comics and literature of the time contain numerous references to an imagined future.

Hollywood Rated 'R'

June 1997 •English

A roller-coaster ride through the history of American exploitation films, ranging from Roger Corman's sci-fi and horror monster movies, 1960s beach movies, H.G. Lewis' gore-fests, William Castle's schlocky theatrical gimmicks, to 1970s blaxploitation, pre-"Deep Throat" sex tease films, Russ Meyer's bosom-heavy masterpieces, etc, etc. Over 25 interviews of the greatest purveyors of weird films of all kind from 1940 to 1975. Illustrated with dozens of films clips, trailers, extra footage, etc. This documentary as a shorter companion piece focusing on exploitation king David F. Friedman.