Manhattan Street Band

From the Depths

November 2013 •Italian

Both an activist and a documentarian, Valentina Pedicini also brings her background in anthropology to this impressively captured, claustrophobic nonfiction feature. Venturing beneath sea level, From the Depths profiles the lone woman at work in the last coal mine in Sardinia, Italy.

The Man Who Made Angels Fly

June 2013 •English

When the lights dim and the stage is revealed, Meschke channels life through the strings of his puppets, triggering the spiritual connection between the creator and his alter-egos: the charismatic Don Quixote, the loving Penelope, the inquisitive Baptiste, or the mysterious Antigone. THE MAN WHO MADE ANGELS FLY is a poetic story about a master of his craft that has inspired audiences to reflect upon common issues of suffering and the mortal coil. Visionary and un-biographic, imaginary tribute to the puppeteer.

Postcard (Or, from afar, you are a mirage)

March 2024 •Spanish

"The palm trees on the reverse are a delusion; so is the pink sand". This line, taken from a poem by Margaret Atwood, lights the path traced in "Postcard". As the years go by, landscapes transform, take on new meanings, and hold onto joys that will never be regained. The sea and the beach, once stages of happy summers, romances, and encounters, will turn into concentration camps or centers of detention and torture. This occurs across different times and places. In this piece, I embark on a journey through some of my works that explore the relationship between testimony, spaces, and time, engaging in dialogue with the beautiful film directed by Alejandro Segovia in 1972.

Deshilando Luz

May 2025 •Spanish

A film essay that intertwines the director's gaze with that of her late mother. Beyond exploring mourning and absence as exclusively painful experiences, the film pays tribute to her mother through memories embodied by places and objects that evidence the traces of her existence. The filmmaker asks herself: What does she owe her mother for who she is and how she films? To what extent does her film belong to her?

God's Girls

January 1992 •English

God's Girls describes life in a Sisters of Mercy convent in country New South Wales from the 1940's to present day. This courageous and clever film investigates the subtle complexities of change within a society that has been surrounded by mystery for hundreds of years. The stories from the women in the film reflect the often intricate paths of social, political and religious history, not only in Australia but also in the rest of the world.

Reconhecidos

April 2025 •Portuguese

Welcome Home Freckles

March 2025 •Korean

After four years away, Huiju returns home to South Korea. Exchanges with her loved ones are awkward and clumsy. Huiju turns once again to her familiar rituals: pruning the trees, preparing a sauce, tying a braid.

Black Panthers

December 1968 •French

A film shot during the summer of 1968 in Oakland, California around the meetings organised by the Black Panthers Party to free Huey Newton, one of their leaders, and to turn his trial into a political debate. They tried and succeeded in catching America’s attention.

Hello Cubans

November 1963 •French

A photo montage of Cubans filmed by Agnès Varda during her visit to Cuba in 1963, four years after Fidel Castro came to power. This black & white documentary explores their socialist culture and society while making use of 1500 pictures (out of 4000!) the filmmaker took while on the island.

Charlotte Rampling: The Look

May 2011 •English

A biographical study of legendary actress Charlotte Rampling, told through her own conversations with artist friends and collaborators, including Peter Lindbergh, Paul Auster, and Juergen Teller. Intercut with footage from some of Rampling's most famous films, this "self-portrait through others" is a revealing look at one of our most iconic screen stars.

Granito: How to Nail a Dictator

September 2011 •English

A story of destinies joined by Guatemala's past, and how a documentary film intertwined with a nation's turbulent history emerges as an active player in the present.

Wheedle's Groove

October 2009 •English

During the late 60s and early 70s, and decades before Nirvana, Microsoft and Starbucks put Seattle on the map, Seattle's African American neighborhood known as the Central District was buzzing. The soul sounds filled local airwaves and packed clubs seven nights a week. As many of the bands began breaking out nationally via major record deals, television appearances, and gigs with the likes of Curtis Mayfield and Stevie Wonder, the public demanded disco and the scene slipped into obscurity. Narrated by Seattle's own Sir Mix-A-Lot.

Hibernation

October 2017 •Norwegian

A majestic mountain range rises over a Norwegian town engulfed in darkness. The stormy sea laps at its shores. A thick snow is falling. The town’s inhabitants, almost motionless in their existence, are like creatures in hibernation. The camera’s static shots resembling photographs are woven together into an experimental documentary on life in Skaland.

Refuge

January 1972 •English

A documentary about the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order in London.

Extreme Consequences: The Reality of Prison Life

January 2007 •English

A compelling look at the choices that lead to incarceration and the reality of being locked up in Pelican Bay State Prison.

Nightmare Factory

October 2011 •English

The story of how one Pittsburgh boy’s fascination with monsters drove him to the very top of the Hollywood food chain. In 1989, Greg Nicotero, much to his parents’ chagrin, quit medical school and headed for Hollywood to pursue a dream of making monsters. Together with gore masters Howard Berger and Robert Kurtzman, Nicotero went on to create KNB EFX Group, one of the most prolific makeup effects studios in the world. After twenty years as the “go to guy” for the world’s most successful horror/sci-fi films, Greg Nicotero is the first one directors like Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez call.

Gramercy Stories

January 2008 •English

An inspiring look inside a unique residence in Manhattan that is providing a safe home for 25 gay and transgender teenagers for have experienced violence at home and on the streets. Told from their candid, often witty perspective, the film follows these courageous kids as they strive to remake their lives.

Chuck Jones: Memories of Childhood

March 2009 •English

Blending the animation of Chuck Jones’ original drawings, traditional documentary elements, and one of Jones’ most intimate interviews before his death in 2002, this biography imaginatively brings to life the complicated and difficult childhood of the man who dreamed up Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.

Refuge(e)

March 2019 •English

Refuge(e) traces the incredible journey of two refugees, Alpha and Zeferino. Each fled violent threats to their lives in their home countries and presented themselves at the US border asking for political asylum, only to be incarcerated in a for-profit prison for months on end without having committed any crime. Thousands more like them can't tell their stories.

Love Is a Verb

April 2014 •English

Love Is A Verb is an examination of a social movement of Sufi-inspired Sunni Muslims that began in Turkey in the l960s and now spans across the globe. The group is called Hizmet, the Turkish word for "service" or The Gülen Movement after its inspiration and teacher, Fethullah Gülen, a man TIME magazine named as one of the most influential leaders in the world in 2013 for "...preaching a message of tolerance."