Their Eyes

Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory

March 1895 •French

Working men and women leave through the main gate of the Lumière factory in Lyon, France. Filmed on 22 March 1895, it is often referred to as the first real motion picture ever made, although Louis Le Prince's 1888 Roundhay Garden Scene pre-dated it by seven years. Three separate versions of this film exist, which differ from one another in numerous ways. The first version features a carriage drawn by one horse, while in the second version the carriage is drawn by two horses, and there is no carriage at all in the third version. The clothing style is also different between the three versions, demonstrating the different seasons in which each was filmed. This film was made in the 35 mm format with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and at a speed of 16 frames per second. At that rate, the 17 meters of film length provided a duration of 46 seconds, holding a total of 800 frames.

in retrospect

February 2025 •German

Immigrant workers build a shopping mall for the upcoming 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. In 2016, nine people with migrant backgrounds are killed in a racist attack at the same mall.

36 Ways To Say Good Morning

November 2018 •English

Good Morning in Singapore.

A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness

October 2015 •Panjabi

A woman in Pakistan sentenced to death for falling in love becomes a rare survivor of the country's harsh judicial system.

Last Day of Freedom

April 2015 •English

When Bill Babbitt realizes his brother Manny has committed a crime he agonizes over his decision to call the police.

Godzilla Story Development!

September 2006 •English

The story of how the original Godzilla went from idea to script to screen.

All for One

April 2002 •French

In a closed locker room, rugby players perform the last pre-match rituals. Warming up their souls and bodies, all tense in anticipation of the fight.

Let's Ask Nostradamus

June 1953 •English

Nostradamus writes a letter to his young son, and his prophecies are compared to events of the French Revolution.

3 Logical Exits

January 2020 •Arabic

A sociological meditation on the different "exits" that young Palestinians choose, in order to cope with life in the refugee camps.

Pontormo and Punks at Santa Croce

January 1982 •English

A New View of the Moon

May 2018 •English

Wylie carries a telescope through the streets of Los Angeles to offer passersby a new and closer look at a familiar object: the moon. Because everyone needs to keep looking up. Because it is a beautiful and wondrous sight to behold the body of the moon.

The Magic of Walt Disney World

December 1972 •English

A look at the many attractions, resort hotels, and other amusements at Walt Disney World in its first year of operation.

Kyoko

March 2017 •Japanese

In 1971, John Lennon and Yoko Ono embark on a search for a girl named Kyoko. On April 23rd, they are arrested by the police at a hotel in Palma de Mallorca, Spain.

Olive

November 2023 •English

“Olive” is a short documentary that follows Olive Hagemeier, an energetic woman, on her daily routine of salvaging, repackaging and redistributing food, and occasional other types of “waste”, across Atlanta, GA. Presented in a quiet observational style, this film is both a character study of a committed and enigmatic volunteer, as well as an ethnographic work that places the audience in the heart of a decentralized, volunteer-run mutual aid network in a “post-COVID” American city.

Despejadas

November 2018 •Portuguese

Aimé Césaire, Un homme une terre

May 1976 •French

Alternating interview segments, shots of Martinique landscapes and scenes from Aimé Césaire's play La Tragédie du roi Christophe (1963), Sarah Maldoror portrays her friend as a politician, a poet, and a founder of the Négritude movement.

Lua

March 2024 •Portuguese

Joseph Wilson meets the dance teacher fighting transphobic violence through voguing in Rio’s favelas.

Windows

January 1974 •English

A sort of documentary on the people known to have fallen out of windows in a certain time frame in a certain geographical location. One of Greenaway's early short films.

The Captain

May 2022 •English

Of Maine’s more than 5000 commercial lobstermen only 4% are female. The Captain celebrates that fearless minority through the lens of Sadie Samuels. At 27 years old, she is the youngest and only female lobster boat captain in the Rockport, Maine harbor. Despite the long hours and manual labor of hauling traps, Samuels is in love — obsessed even — with what she calls the most beautiful, magical place on the planet. Her love for lobster fishing was imparted early in her childhood by her dad Matt, who has been her mentor and inspiration since she was a little girl in yellow fishing boots.

Mein Wunschland

January 1960 •German