The Presence III

Our Cinema

July 1940 •Russian

The Making of 'Riverplay'

January 2001 •German

Behind the scenes of Olaf Ittenbach's 2001 thriller

Weihnacht in Schweden

January 1962 •German

Short documentary by Gunter Otto

Stress - Das Universum des Jim Hart

January 1995 •German

A pseudo-documentary about the life, work and creations of trash filmmaker Jim Hart.

GINI VIDI VICI

March 2024 •French

Living in a Reversed World

January 1958 •English

Fascinating -- and unintentionally funny -- experiments at Austria's famed Institute for Experimental Psychology involve a subject who for several weeks wears special glasses that reverse right and left and up and down. Unexpectedly, these macabre and somehow surrealist experiments reveal that our perception of these aspects of vision is not of an optical nature and cannot be relied on, while the unfortunate, Kafkaesque subject stubbornly struggles through a morass of continuous failures.

Reconnaissance Pilot

January 1943 •English

Documentary/training film depicting the duties of a pilot in the Pacific Theatre of the Second World War as he flies reconnaissance missions over enemy-held islands.

Their Future in Your Hands

March 2006 •English

A moving introductory exploration of society's use of animals. By presenting facts about animals' rich emotional complexity and drawing parallels between the animal rights movement and other social justice movements in recent history, this video will help students use critical thinking skills to examine why and how the routine exploitation of animals continues-and they'll also learn what they can do to help stop it.

Keeping Track

September 2020 •Spanish

Tribute to the workers responsible for maintaining and repairing the tracks, stations, terminals, and tunnels of the metro.

Jean-Pierre Mocky, libre et sentimental

February 2023 •French

A journey into the mind of French actor and director Jean-Pierre Mocky (1929-2019), author of films both playful and profound, of an impressive richness.

Urban Solutions

January 2022 •Portuguese

An european artist writes about his experience in portraying life in Brazil during the colonial period. Aporteiro – concierge and security guard in one – watches the surveillance cameras in a residential building, while reflecting on his profession and the relationship with his employers. Between the exotic idyll of front yards and deterrent technology, his task is to establish security and normality. Brazil’s troubled past and complicated present come together in this highly charged film.

Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1

November 2013 •English

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, one veteran dies by suicide in America every 80 minutes. While only 1% of Americans has served in the military, former service members account for 20% of all suicides in the U.S. Based in Canandaigua, NY and open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the Veterans Crisis Line receives more than 22,000 calls each month from veterans of all conflicts who are struggling or contemplating suicide. This timely documentary spotlights the traumas endured by America’s veterans, as seen through the work of the hotline’s trained responders. CRISIS HOTLINE captures extremely private moments, where the professionals, many of whom are themselves veterans or veterans’ spouses, can often interrupt the thoughts and plans of suicidal callers to steer them out of crisis.

Positively Naked

April 2005 •English

No clothes. No apologies. This film marks artist Spencer Tunick's third 'Naked' documentary which feature photo shoots that create art from the naked bodies of men and women. In this shoot, 85 HIV-positive men and women gather in a downtown Manhattan bar where they bare it all for Tunick's camera, creating an unsentimental look at life with AIDS in America today.

Una foto recorre el mundo

January 1981 •Spanish

Documentary about the iconic portrait of Ernesto 'Che' Guevara by Cuban photographer Alberto Diaz Gutiérrez (known as 'Korda').

Polo with the Stars

September 1941 •English

A short in the WB Hollywood Novelty series (production number 7301) about the training of polo ponies. Buddy Rogers buys one of the ponies in training, and later uses him in a match where Jack Holt and Joe E. Brown are among the players. Edward G. Robinson and Jack Oakie are among the spectators who see Joe. E. Brown knock in the winning score.

Sign of Protest

January 1970 •English

This short documentary focuses on protests surrounding a homophobic sign that hung behind the bar of Barney's Beanery in West Hollywood for many years.

DiAna's Hair Ego Remix

December 2017 •English

Over twists, presses, and wash-and-goes, filmmaker Cheryl Dunye joins other clients and hairstylist DiAna DiAna in her South Carolina salon to discuss the current impact of AIDS on Blacks in the south, and what has changed and stayed the same since DiAna was featured in a seminal short video by Ellen Spiro thirty years ago. Commissioned by Visual AIDS in 2017 as part of ALTERNATE ENDINGS, RADICAL BEGINNINGS, a program of seven videos prioritizing Black narratives within the ongoing AIDS epidemic curated by Erin Christovale and Vivian Crockett.

Kolt 15 GAP

February 1971 •

Funny story of an unemployed metalworker, self-proclaimed Marxist, his views and whereabouts.

Brotherly Dance

July 2004 •Serbian

Savo from Kikinda (Serbia) and his brother recall how they called communal service few years back to empty the septic tank in their backyard. As careless servicemen weren't coming for days, Savo staged his death by drowning in the hole. Communal service sent three trucks while Savo was looking at them from the attic. A story of a small man who fought the system and won, only to become a huge YouTube hero afterwards.

1999 A.D.

January 1967 •English

A whimsical yet serious-minded look into the future sponsored by the appliance and radio manufacturer Philco-Ford. In the "1999 House of Tomorrow", each family member's activities are enabled by a central computer and revolve around products remarkably similar to those made by the sponsor. Power comes from a self-contained fuel cell which supports environmental controls, an automatic cooking system, and a computer-assisted "education room".