The Chaperone

Summer in the City

March 1970 •German

German writer Uwe Johnson lived for several years in the 1960s on Manhattan’s Upper Westside where he got to know his neighborhood very well, observing the goings-on in the streets, cafeterias, and parks. In 1968 German Television agreed to co-produce a film for broadcast featuring interviews with various neighborhood characters.

The Falling Star

March 2019 •French

The last conscious moments of Stalin, the solitary tyrant who believes himself immortal. An evocation of the mental chaos of the Little Father of the People who was suffering from delusions of persecution and untold power during the three days of his death throes. And, in fact, is he really dead? In the limbo of the Soviet past, the ghosts from the gulag dream of settling some old scores.

Other Half

May 2021 •English

As an Individual Being in a world comprised of Merged Couples, Ren longs to find his other half and become complete.

Grand Central Market

January 1963 •English

This film portrays activity in Grand Central Market in Los Angeles, California. Highlighted are vendors that represent the melting pot that is America, selling their wares to people of all ages and all walks of life. The film was directed by William Hale. Notably, the film also showcases some early work of famous cinematographer, Haskell Wexler.

Crossroads

January 1931 •Russian

One Small Step

June 2018 •

​Luna is a vibrant young Chinese-American girl who dreams of becoming an astronaut. From the day she witnesses a rocket launching into space on TV, Luna is driven to reach for the stars. In the big city, Luna lives with her loving father Chu, who supports her with a humble shoe repair business he runs out of his garage. As Luna grows up, she enters college, facing adversity of all kinds in pursuit of her dreams.

Barflies

October 1996 •English

Two drunk flies drink beer, smoke from a giant cigarette and become attracted to a bright light in this adult claymation comedy.

Speeding, of Course

March 2025 •Finnish

70-year-old Timo makes the most of his short ride to work. Speeding up on a bicycle ends up in a ditch, but the adrenaline rush leaves a feeling of pleasure.

The Traffic Separating Device

April 2020 •Swedish

In order to rectify the poor bus accessibility at Slussen station in Stockholm, the city council, as per the municipal board’s recommendation, erects so-called ‘bus traps’ on the street.

Unicorn Blood

March 2013 •Spanish

Two teddy-bears go hunting unicorns, their favorite prey.

Yoko Ono: This Is Not Here

May 1972 •English

On John's 31st birthday, Yoko held an art exhibit, "This Is Not Here", at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, N.Y.. The show was taped and aired on U.S. TV on May 11, 1972 as "John and Yoko in Syracuse, New York.

Land Without Bread

December 1933 •Spanish

An exploration —manipulated and staged— of life in Las Hurdes, in the province of Cáceres, in Extremadura, Spain, as it was in 1932. Insalubrity, misery and lack of opportunities provoke the emigration of young people and the solitude of those who remain in the desolation of one of the poorest and least developed Spanish regions at that time.

St. Mickeyland

April 2023 •English

Welcome to St. Mickeyland! In painting-like tableaus, a reservation inhabited by cartoon and media icons is displayed. The assembled characters are in search of meaning in life, reflecting on their creation in the honeypot of capital. While Snow White learns stand-up paddling, Winnie-the-Poo gives birth to a descendant, adding a dash of humanity to the ficitonal shell.

nakedyouth

July 2007 •Japanese

In nakedyouth, Shishido takes us on a journey through the uncertainty and excitement of young love and homoerotic love. These gentle films quiver with sexual tension, which is linked to the natural world: trees reflecting on the surface of a pond, butterflies fluttering in the breeze.

Automania 2000

June 1964 •English

An animated, dark satire of America's automobile-obsessed, consumerist culture. An anonymous, brilliant scientist toils tirelessly in his ivory tower satisfying the public's ever-increasing demands for novelty and status consciousness, with predictable environmental consequences.

The Present

March 2013 •Chinese

A married man on a business trip checks into a hotel. The hotel manager’s daughter falls for him at first sight. Rejected by the man, she embarks on a journey of revenge...

Untravel

February 2018 •Serbian

A film about (local) patriotism, tourism and emigration. A girl lives in a gray, isolated country, enclosed by a huge wall. She has never travelled anywhere, but all her life she has dreamt of leaving forever for a perfect world called “Abroad”.

24 Frames per Century

August 2013 •English

This short piece by Athina Rachel Tsangari, commissioned for the seventieth edition of the Venice Film Festival in 2013, draws on Jean-Luc Godard's "Contempt" and functions as a meditation on the state of cinema, depicting two film projectors contemplating the uncertainty of their future.

The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet!

January 2019 •English

La Paz is a happy, but noisy village. A little peace and quiet would make it just right. But there is one noisy rooster who doesn't give two mangos about this mayor's silly rules. Instead, he does what roosters were born to do - he sings.

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.