The Backyard Broadcast

Daybreak Express

January 1953 •English

Set to a classic Duke Ellington recording "Daybreak Express", this is a five-minute short of the soon-to-be-demolished Third Avenue elevated subway station in New York City.

One Night Only

November 2009 •English

A romantic drama about two couples shifting sexual dynamics over one night in a music bar.

Bon Iver: Autumn

July 2019 •English

An intimate look at the creation of Autumn, a unique tour by the notoriously cryptic band Bon Iver.

Gypsy Sweetheart

March 1935 •English

Tina, a singing Gypsy with a band of roving gypsies, is invited by Tom to come over to his mother's estate where a lawn party is in progress. She brings along her friends and a whole caravan of gypsies take over the green, telling fortunes, singing and dancing. Most of the comedy is supplied by the kleptomaniac butler, Bellingham, and his employer who humors his nutty ways...as good help seems to be hard to find.

if you seek amy

February 2025 •

Distortions and deconstructions of Y2K pop stars' seductive images and iconic hits.

Glitter

September 2001 •English

A young woman is catapulted into pop stardom, with her already-famous DJ boyfriend calling the shots.

Rabbits Under the Shed

May 2021 •English

After a disagreement with her mom, 8-year-old Natalie runs away — all the way to her backyard, where she meets a family of rabbits and decides to move in with them. Songs are sung and friends are made in this sweet, funny short film about building trust, overcoming fear, and connecting across difference to make room for everyone.

Red Ruta

July 1972 •Ukrainian

Oksana (played by Sofia Rotaru) is a young and beautiful Carpathian girl. On the "Donetsk-Verkhovyna" train she becomes acquainted with a young miner from Donetsk called Boris. The travellers fall in love, but are parted when they arrive at their destination. In the Carpathian mountains their paths diverge, but Boris (played by Vasyl Zinkevych, soloist of the instrumental band "Smerichka") discovers where she is staying. The couple meet again and rekindle their love. Their friends invite them to perform in a concert for vacationers at a mountain resort, where they sing about their feelings for each other.

Baby Einstein: Baby Beethoven - Symphony of Fun

September 2002 •English

This DVD includes upbeat music for movement and active play, plus new activity modes: play, dance, and quiet-time modes; and new discovery cards: real-world animals and objects with sound effects.

One Man Band

June 2005 •English

With one coin to make a wish at the piazza fountain, a peasant girl encounters two competing street performers who'd prefer the coin find its way into their tip jars. The little girl, Tippy, is caught in the middle as a musical duel ensues between the one-man-bands.

Wilderness

July 2022 •English

A cinematic meeting point between nature and technology, Doug Aitken’s unearthly short is enfolded in evocative hymns whose voices are eerily AI-generated. Glimmering phone screens might have replaced the starry Milky Way, yet the famous Venice Beach still hums with the vibrancy of human activities.

Spectral Ascension

March 2017 •English

Music by Byron Westbrook, 16mm film by Paul Clipson.

Ça va, ça va

January 1990 •French

Snookles

January 1986 •English

A baby dragon and a little bird fail to make beautiful music together.

After Hours

January 1961 •English

Documentary short showcasing the genius of jazz greats Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge, Cozy Cole, and Milt Hinton, among others.

The Sun's Gonna Shine

January 1969 •English

A lyrical recreation of Lightnin’ Hopkins’ decision at age eight to stop chopping cotton and start singing for a living. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2013.

On the Forest Stage

March 1954 •Russian

The animated film was created based on the fables of Sergey Mikhalkov "Cautious birds" and "Hare in the hops." Drake with his assistants arranges a performance on the forest stage for animals. He tells fables about forest dwellers from the stage.

Die singenden Babies

January 1930 •German

The female vocal ensemble Singing Babies, founded by Edmund Fritz, puts on a gig.

NSL

September 2023 •German

'NSL' it's a combination of three songs ( Nass , Schweiss & Lecker ) in one video clip by Till Lindemann, released on 29 September 2023

The Music of Regret

May 2006 •English

Simmons, best-known for her photographs of miniature rooms populated by dolls and of oversized objects—such as a house, birthday cake, and pistol—balanced on female legs, both human and fake, brings these characters to life in a three-act mini-musical. The film is inspired by three distinct periods of Simmons’s photographic work: vintage hand puppets, ventriloquist dummies and walking objects enact tales of ambition, disappointment, love, loss, and regret. Working with composer Michael Rohaytn ("Personal Velocity") and cameraman Ed Lachman ("The Virgin Suicides" and "Far From Heaven"), Simmons’s puppets come to life in miniature domestic scenes that echo real life.