Casual Ties: Casualties

A Long Way Home

January 2003 •English

Family members struggle to heal their emotional wounds after an incident of sexual abuse.

Cassini's Grand Finale

April 2017 •English

To help visualize the dramatic final chapter in Cassini's remarkable story, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory produced this short film that features beautiful computer-generated animation, thoughtful narration and a rousing score. Producers at JPL worked with filmmaker Erik Wernquist, known for his 2014 short film "Wanderers," to create a stirring finale video befitting one of NASA's most successful missions of exploration.

Hollywood - The Second Step

June 1936 •English

This short follows the early career of actress Jane Barnes. She starts by doing extra work. After several months she is offered a studio contract (the "first step"). However, her work consists mostly of fashion shoots and bit parts that end up on the cutting room floor. She is even used as a stand-in for Maureen O'Sullivan on the set of a Tarzan movie when camera angles and lighting must be set up.

Splinter

August 2013 •English

Gabriels Horn

January 2012 •German

A young couple is faced with a difficult decision.

La Jetée

February 1962 •French

A man confronts his past during an experiment that attempts to find a solution to the problems of a post-apocalyptic world caused by a world war.

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.

Strangers

August 2003 •

A short story of two strangers meeting in a train journey, not knowing that something stranger is coming their way.

Night and Fog

April 1959 •French

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

Tsotsi

December 2005 •Tswana

A young South African boy from the Johannesburg ghetto named Tsotsi, meaning Gangster, leaves home as a child to get away from his helpless parents. Now a teenage thug, Tsotsi finds a baby in the back seat of a car he's just stolen. He decides that it is his responsibility to care for the infant and in the process learns that maybe the criminal life isn’t the best way.

Paranoid Park

July 2007 •English

A teenage skateboarder becomes suspected of being connected with a security guard who suffered a brutal death in a skate park called "Paranoid Park".

Thriving with Cerebral Palsy: The Cordell Brown Story

May 2018 •English

This documentary chronicles the inspirational story of a man who would not accept "no" for an answer. Born with cerebral palsy, Cordell Brown faced many challenges and most believed he would amount to nothing. Despite the odds stacked against him, Cordell proves that with heartfelt determination he can make a difference in the world.

Something Old, New, Borrowed and Blue

November 2019 •Indonesian

A traditional wedding procession walks along a narrow street towards the home of the bride. Guests and family members are waiting inside the home on this big day, as they listen to prayers from the loudspeakers. The bride, Putri, is getting ready inside her bedroom while her mother is helping with the final touches of her hair and makeup. Tender and frank conversations about marriage are shared between mother and daughter in that intimate space, before Putri leaves to begin a new life with her husband.

Reckless

November 2013 •Norwegian

An uncompromising and controversial short set in the Scandinavian suburbia on the hottest day of the summer. A sister reluctantly babysits her little brother. Two young boys catch her attention, and she makes a crucial decision.

Olga Kay's Circus

July 2010 •English

You're invited to join YouTube's first interactive circus. Choose your own destiny.

The Fantasy of a Barnacle

June 2010 •French

Elisa and Mathieu are siblings at their early 20s. She has incestuous desires for her brother who has a girlfriend, but he refuses her. She struggles with her forbidden desire and plays a trick on him.

Janjaal

January 2025 •English

A fisherman survives a deadly boat incident with a mysterious golden pocket watch that grants wishes, but at a steep cost. As a police officer seeks to revive his son, he discovers the dark power of the watch, leading to devastating consequences.

When We Met

June 2024 •Chinese

In the summer of 2012 in a small town in the south of China, divorced shopkeeper Peng Yun makes the acquaintance of Ji Qing Qing who sells meat skewers from her rickshaw.

The Voice of Fear

April 2024 •Portuguese

This film may not give you an answer, but it’ll show you some of mine.