TENSAI BANPAKU

Perspectrum

January 1975 •English

In this animated short, simple geometric forms as thin and flat as playing cards constantly form and re-form to the sound of the koto, a 13-stringed Japanese instrument.

Fantaisie érotique

January 1936 •Czech

69SEC

November 2016 •French

This is a story of love seen from a square, in which a couple gets united, separated and rearranged again. A special kind of puzzle.

Sebastian and Jonas Leaving the Party

November 2019 •English

"My last image of Jonas."—Ken Jacobs

La Maison en Petits Cubes

June 2008 •Japanese

La Maison en Petits Cubes tells the story of a grandfather's memories as he adds more blocks to his house to stem the flooding waters.

The Adventures of *

January 1957 •English

Life drums the playfulness out of a boy as he grows up.

The Bomb

June 2017 •English

Filmmakers use archival footage and animation to explore the culture surrounding nuclear weapons, the fascination they inspire and the perverse appeal they still exert.

Rectangle & Rectangles

January 1984 •English

This is a didactic film in disguise. A progression of brilliant geometric shapes bombard the screen to the insistent beat of drums. The filmmaker programmed a computer to coordinate a highly complex operation involving an electronic beam of light, colour filters and a camera. This animation film, without words, is designed to expose the power of the cinematic medium, and to illustrate the abstract nature of time.

60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero

December 2011 •English

An anthology of one-minute films created by 51 international filmmakers on the theme of the death of cinema. Intended as an ode to 35mm, the film was screened one time only on a purpose-built 20x12 meter public cinema screen in the Port of Tallinn, Estonia, on 22 December 2011. A special projector was constructed for the event which allowed the actual filmstrip to be burnt at the same time as the film was shown.

Banner of Youth

January 1957 •Polish

A short film advertising the newspaper Sztandar Młodych (The Banner of Youth), noteworthy for its abstract elements painted directly onto film stock. An attempt at showing the complexity of the world in a capsule, the film reflects the new policy of the openness to the West during the Thaw of the late 1950s in Poland.

Photodiary '87

July 1987 •Japanese

I turned my gaze to the various events in daily life and made this filmic diary in a manner as if confessing my feelings. Of course, since I was making the film, I wanted to depict these feelings and events with tricky techniques. I used various methods to shoot photographs of a relative's wedding, the landscape I see from window of my house, commemorative travel photographs and the like frame-by-frame.

Third Page from the Sun

January 2014 •French

Three books: a film festival catalogue, a dictionary, the Bible. Three works whose materiality has become obsolete by the digital dematerialization. A commentary on the fragility of culture.

It's Such a Beautiful Day

August 2012 •English

Bill struggles to put together his shattered psyche.

Scanning of Modulations

November 2001 •Japanese

Eye-popping digital moving image work with an equally arresting soundtrack from noise music heavies.

Lost Utopia

January 2007 •Japanese

The story of Adam and Eve with jazzy music. Short experimental animation without words.

Blend

January 2009 •Japanese

This short experiments with the flow of oil ink over the surface of the water. Mizue manipulated the ink by blowing with straws or stirring with toothpicks and used stop motion animation techniques to shoot the resulting effects.

Port of Wormy

January 2009 •Japanese

A surreal short animation by Mirai Mizue.

Scope

January 2012 •Japanese

This is no animation, it's one picture. Short experimental film by Mirai Mizue

Lulu

October 1996 •English

Initially commissioned to accompany a Danish production of Alban Berg’s LULU, Lewis Klahr’s cut-out animation refigures the opera's themes in a torrent of images. With an ever-inventive approach to color and symbol, Klahr distills the title character's moral predicament, along with a great many of German Expressionism’s characteristic motifs, in the span of a pop song.

Sounds Good

November 2019 •English

A boom operator attempts to record the noise mushrooms make in this semi-experimental animation inspired by the world of sounds.