Beacon

Silversun Pickups: Behind Better Nature

January 2016 •English

A story about friendship, independence and the making of a record. Silversun Pickups deconstruct the making of their latest record “Better Nature” while starting their own record label.

Meaning of Robots

March 2012 •English

This short film profiles the benevolent Mike Sullivan, who has been in the process of shooting a stop-motion robot sex film in his New York City apartment for the last ten years. Obsessed with the meticulous construction of the miniature robot porn stars, his apartment now overflows with thousands, leaving him only tiny paths to navigate and no place to film his epic.

Ténérife

September 1932 •French

Loon

October 2021 •English

Is wilderness more valuable than money? It depends on who you ask. Loon is a through hiking naturalist who understands what’s truly valuable in life. At 80 years old with more than 2,000 acres of wilderness to his name, he must decide what to do with this precious asset.

Shutter Shooter

September 2023 •Spanish

Etienne-Jules Marey, a French inventor who turned a gun into a camera. A hand-drawn hunter whose weapon, instead of firing ammunition, shoots photographs. Carlos, a Mexican wildlife photographer who used to be a real life hunter until he chose to get rid of all his guns. All come together in this poetic yet approachable animated documentary short film.

James Baldwin Abroad

February 2023 •English

Showcasing three short films by American writer James Baldwin, wherein he muses about race, sexuality and civil rights, among other topics, in Istanbul, Paris and Great Britain.

The Water Walker

September 2020 •English

A documentary following young Anishinaabe water activist Autumn Peltier as she travels to the UN to preserve the future of Indigenous communities.

The Panola Project

January 2022 •English

Highlighting the heroic efforts of Dorothy Oliver to keep her small town of Panola, Alabama safe from COVID-19, The Panola Project chronicles how an often-overlooked rural Black community came together in creative ways to survive.

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.

Barefoot Empress

July 2021 •English

A 96-year-old woman in a Kerala village pursues her lifelong dream of getting an education. Having never gone to school, she must start at the beginning...first grade.

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. (Silent short, voiced in 1937 and 1996.)

Hidden

November 2022 •Spanish

A homeless couple looks for a way to get ahead, working and making an effort, while trying to overcome their past.

Streaming

February 2024 •English

A series of short films including Detergent, Square and ACPOAPM, made in New York.

8 Arms to Hold You

November 2004 •English

An "Ock-umentary" exploring the character of Doc Ock and the way he as well as his tentacles were brought to life on the silver screen.

Notes on the Circus

May 1967 •English

The short film is a montage of sped up clips of The Ringling Brothers Circus in action set to a musical track. The film is separated into four segments, each segment which focuses on different acts within the circus. The later segments often incorporate clips from earlier segments, mostly as background to the featured acts. The speed of the clips match the tempo of the soundtrack music.

The Wind in the Wires

September 1972 •English

This documentary recounts the history of modern aviation (primarily in Britain) from roughly 1900 until the inter-war period, using old monochrome footage of original aircraft, contemporary color footage of replica planes in flight as well as a number of photographs of famous aviators.

Borneo in de jungle van de Sarawak

January 1982 •Dutch

Short documentary.

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.

I'm the Vet

December 2022 •English

A story about my sister, Dr. Lindsay Eisenhour, one of the lead veterinarians at Neel Veterinary Hospital in Oklahoma City, battles the reality of her profession and of pet care.

Her Violet Kiss

December 2021 •English

A woman attends a party where she is observed by and finally meets a mysterious guest.