Showcasing three short films by American writer James Baldwin, wherein he muses about race, sexuality and civil rights, among other topics, in Istanbul, Paris and Great Britain.
Fajr (2019)
In the Moroccan desert night dilutes forms and silence slides through sand. Dawn starts then to draw silhouettes of dunes while motionless figures punctuate landscape. From night´s abstraction, light returns its dimension to space and their volume to bodies. Stillness concentrates gaze and duration densify it. The adhan -muslim call to pray- sounds and immobility, that was condensing, begins to irradiate. And now the bodies are those which dissolves into the desert.
The Role of Chance (1984)
"The Role of Chance" ("La part du hasard") focuses exclusively on drawing and painting techniques used by the painter Henri Dimier. Shot over several weeks in the same artist's studio, the film shows works in their different phases, processes rarely explained or little known. It also addresses many practical issues (choice of paper, pigment grinding, reports drawings, put the tiles, cliches, etc) as well as broader questions of method and inspiration (use of space, the role of contours, power of suggestion perspectives, use of random processes). Patrick Bokanowski sought with this film to restore the spirit of this teaching, showing how to bend a note or sometimes revealing an essential mystery of creation.
Dora Maar in Spite of Picasso (2014)
Dora Maar, a world-class photographer who began her artistic career in the French Surrealist scene of the 30s, lived in the shadow of Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, her lover between 1935 and 1943, with whom she maintained a chaotic, even violent, relationship. Fortunately, she survived Picasso's abusive behavior and its sequels to find a new path, the best one, the one that is worth to be told, in spite of Picasso.
On the Sly: In Search of the Family Stone (2017)
One man's search for the prolific funk legend, Sly Stone.
What's My Line At 25 (1975)
A retrospective of the classic game show, What's My Line, in which a four-member celebrity panel attempted to identify a contestant's occupation through yes or no questions. In addition, each episode featured a celebrity mystery guest that the panelists tried to identify the guest while blindfolded. The show ran from 1950-1967 and prominently featured John Daly, Bennett Cerf, Arlene Francis, and Dorothy Kilgallen. This documentary looked back on the show 25 years after it premiered.
Linda's Film on Menstruation (1974)
This is an educational short released by the Los Angeles Public Library explaining what to expect when you get your first period.
We Were Soldiers (2002)
The story of the first major battle of the American phase of the Vietnam War and the soldiers on both sides that fought it.
Dreams of Love (1970)
This is a romantic biographical film about Franz Liszt. In a distinguished saloon of Paris, the unknown composer, Liszt, defeats the renown Thalberg at a piano competition. Through his playing, he wins the favours and later the hand of the countess D'Agoult. A daughter is born in their marriage, Cosima. Liszt is better and better known, Marie introduces him to the circle of artists.
Queen Margot (1994)
Paris, Kingdom of France, August 18, 1572. To avoid the outbreak of a religious war, the Catholic princess Marguerite de Valois, sister of the feeble King Charles IX, marries the Huguenot King Henry III of Navarre.
The Green Book: Guide to Freedom (2019)
In 1936, Victor H. Green (1892-1960) published The Negro Motorist Green Book, a book that was both a travel guide and a survival manual, to help African-Americans navigate safe those regions of the United States where segregation and Jim Crow laws were disgracefully applied.
Unveiling the Calgary Soldiers' Memorial (2011)
The unveiling and dedication ceremony of the Calgary Soldiers' Memorial.
Life in Australia: Geraldton (1966)
Made by the Department of Immigration to entice immigrants from Great Britain, this film shows an idyllic picture of life in the Western Australian regional town of Geraldton in the mid 1960s.
Orsay, les grandes métamorphoses (2020)
Inaugurated in 1986 by François Mitterrand, a link between the Louvre and Pompidou, Orsay houses the largest collection of Impressionist art in the world. Project after project, the museum has been transformed to modernize and welcome more visitors, while preserving its historic character. Challenges taken up with each new project.
Men Who Have Lost Their Roots (1956)
Hungarian refugees in Austrian camps after the failed revolution in Budapest.
UPC Codes and 666 (1994)
“Using straightforward, scientific methods, this video reveals irrefutable proof of the presence of the number 666 in the Universal Product Code, which appears on 95% of all supermarket products. A comprehensive, step-by-step deciphering process is used to break down the UPC into its component parts, and the derivation of the number 666 is made clear. Startling evidence of the role of UPC's in the new monetary system is uncovered--the prophecy of Revelation coming true today!”