Float

Interview with Robert Kramer

January 2015 •English

This last testimony of Robert Kramer (1939-1999) is a moving documentary with the independent American film director, in which he speaks of his political activism, his way of filmmaking, his relationship with Portugal and the revolutionary movements.

Making Of Castelo

October 2019 •Portuguese

A two parts making of documentary, following José Augusto Silva and his film crew during the shooting of a university short film called Castelo.

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.

Billy Elliot

September 2000 •English

County Durham, England, 1984. The miners' strike has started and the police have started coming up from Bethnal Green, starting a class war with the lower classes suffering. Caught in the middle of the conflict is 11-year old Billy Elliot, who, after leaving his boxing club for the day, stumbles upon a ballet class and finds out that he's naturally talented. He practices with his teacher Mrs. Wilkinson for an upcoming audition in Newcastle-upon Tyne for the royal Ballet school in London.

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.

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.

Allegory of Prudence

January 2013 •Portuguese

A short film made for "Venezia 70 - Future Reloaded". A homage to Paulo Rocha and Kenji Mizoguchi, filming the director's two tombs, one in Tokyo and the other in Quioto.

Tehran Is the Capital of Iran

March 1966 •Persian

Tehran Is the Capital of Iran (1966-79) documents life in a deprived district in the south of Tehran. The images of destitution in Tehran's poor areas is accompanied by a variety of spoken accounts: the official viewpoint on the district's living conditions, what the inhabitants have to say, and occasional extracts read out of school manuals. The key element in Shirdel's film is the counterpoint effect he creates with image and sound. His impressively powerful portrayal of social unease helps reinforce the impact of his astonishing documentary images and social themes.

The Colour Wheel Session

October 2022 •English

The Fantasia-inspired session features live performances of Life Is Yours, 2001 (Summer Sky), 2AM & Looking High from FOALS' 2022 album 'Life Is Yours'.

People Unite!

March 2022 •English

In the face of AAPI violence, an intergenerational coalition of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, People of Color organizers come together to organize a march across historic Washington Heights and Harlem, as a continuation of the historic and radical Black and Asian solidarity tradition.

Itapoa - Un proyecto que camina

Invalid date •Spanish

New Horizons

June 2015 •English

A brief visualisation of NASA’s historic spacecrafts Mariner, Pioneer, Voyager, and Dawn, exploring the solar system, culminating in the New Horizons mission.

Wolfe

January 2016 •English

"Wolfe" is an intimate confessional from Nick, who learned through puberty that the imaginary friend in his head was real, and violent.

Visions of Europe

May 2004 •English

Twenty-five films from twenty-five European countries by twenty-five European directors.

Playback

October 2019 •Spanish

In Córdoba, far from the Argentine capital, the end of a military regime promises a spring that is all too brief. “La Delpi” is the only survivor of a group of friends who are transgender women and drag-queens, who began to die of aids in the late 80s. In a Catholic and conservative city, the Grupo Kalas made their weapons and trenches out of improvised dresses and lip-syncing. Today the images of unique and unknown footage are not only a farewell letter, but a manifesto to friendship.

La noirceur souterraine des racines

September 2022 •French

Shot in Quebec, Canada, The Subterranean Blackness of Roots is a 16mm film triptych which uses several processes specific to analog cinema (hand processing, optical printing, photochemical alteration). The film seeks to show the sensory experience of the invisible life of stones, plants and the nature that surrounds us. It’s a dive into the heart of matter, the essence of the vegetal world and the nourishing earth.

Indigo Girls: It's Only Life After All

April 2024 •English

An intimate look into the lives of one of the most iconic folk-rock bands in America - the Indigo Girls. With never-before-seen archival and intimate vérité the film dives into the songwriting and storytelling of the music that transformed a generation.

Emails From Gary

September 2020 •English

Strange Trace presents a micro-opera by composer Greg Nahabedian. Emails From Gary uses transcriptions of the actual emails and phone calls exchanged between the composer and a former boss as they tried to quit an honestly dangerous working situation. Our presentation ends with a dramatic reading of actual Yelp reviews of the business in question.

Falas de Orgulho

June 2021 •Portuguese

The journey of eight characters of different ages, regions, life trajectories and religions – and behind them, stories of overcoming difficulties, prejudice and self-acceptance, passing through themes transversal to the letters that form the acronym LGBTQIA+ – that culminate in the celebration of being able to be who you are and in the exaltation of these voices.

Where do they all go?

April 2015 •Swedish

94-year old Esther, a pensioner with bad sight, is in search of her artist daugther’s public decoration. Endless phone conversations takes her through municipal bureaucracy and lost culture secretaries. Will she ever get an answer to the eternal question: Where does the art really go?