Life Squared

Toronto Jazz

January 1963 •English

Toronto is regarded as the third largest jazz centre in North America. This film features a cross-section of jazz bands of that city: the Lenny Breau Trio, the Don Thompson Quintet and the Alf Jones Quartet. Their styles show creative self-expression, hard work, and improvisation.

Gay Rights

April 1987 •English

Two councils with two different approaches to LGBT rights.

Arabian Coffee

January 1968 •Spanish

'Coffea arábiga' was sponsored as a propaganda documentary to show how to sow coffee around Havana. In fact, Guillén Landrián made a film critical of Castro, exhibited but banned as soon as the coffee plan collapsed.

Four Years of Solitude

June 2023 •English

A written testimony by co-director Jin Ryoo on his experience preparing for Korean compulsory military service is juxtaposed with images of an empty UCSD campus, the desolate construction sites sprawling off of it, and the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial.

In Memory

April 1987 •French

One year after the death of Simone de Beauvoir (14 april 1986) Delphine Seyrig pays homage by visiting her grave. which she finds still covered with flowers and letters from all over the world.

La Rose et le Barrage

January 1963 •French

A parallel montage of the construction of a dam in Galicia and the architecture of a small Roman-style church.

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.

Night and Fog

April 1959 •French

Filmmaker Alain Resnais documents the atrocities behind the walls of Hitler's concentration camps.

A Fan's Guide to Ms. Marvel

June 2022 •English

A documentary short that gives you an exclusive look behind the groundbreaking original series, "Ms. Marvel", from its comic book origins to its development and production as Marvel Studios’ next hit series on Disney+. It features interviews with its award winning filmmaking team and the show’s captivating star, newcomer Iman Vellani.

The End of Summer

January 1964 •French

A 16 year old girl recalls the last moments of her summer vacation, spent with friends in the Laurentians north of Montreal. She reminisces about their talks on life, death, love, and God. Shot in direct cinema style, working from a script that left room for the teenagers to improvise and express their own thoughts, the film sought to capture the immediacy of the youths presence their bodies, their language, their environment.

Song 5

March 1964 •English

SONG 5: A childbirth song (the Songs are a cycle of silent color 8mm films by the American experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage produced from 1964 to 1969).

Post Traumatic: An American Nightmare

July 2009 •English

This thirty minute documentary features interviews with Giovinazzo's key contemporaries discussing the continued impact and influence of Combat Shock twenty-five years later.

Bad Boy of Bonsai

May 2022 •English

Bad Boy of Bonsai is an experimental art-house documentary that focuses on Guy Guidry, a Louisiana local, and his passion for bonsai.

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.

The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat

June 1896 •French

A group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.

La Belle Époque de Michel Ocelot

June 2021 •French

Marie and Jack: A Hardcore Love Story

January 2002 •English

Marie Silva and Jack Bravo are a married couple who also happen to make porn films for a living. This documentary examines what a marriage involving a couple whose jobs it is to have sex with other people is like, what the pressures are and the differences between their professional lives and their personal lives.

Black Crowns

October 2023 •Spanish

The hairstyles of four Afro-descendant people from Mexican - Senegalese families, represent the starting point to reflect, through memories that emerge from their past and present, what it is like to live in México wearing a Black Crown and the consequences that implies.

Type III Sadness

October 2023 •Spanish

Itzanamí, a young woman, is facing stormy relationships. In his attempt to discover himself, he creates a documentary, wondering why he associates love with violence. Revisiting her family's past, and the relationships her grandmother and mother have gone through, she discovers the true face of love: the love between the women in her family.

The Mind-Benders: LSD and the Hallucinogens

January 1967 •English

This FDA film explores the history of hallucinogenic drugs, and specifically the effects and therapeutic uses of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Combining graphics that suggest a hallucinogenic experience, snippets of interviews with users (who explain their reasons for taking the drug) and doctors, and taped sessions of research with volunteers, the film delves into the destructive as well as possible positive uses of the drug.