On the surface, this collection of shorts by up-and-coming African American filmmakers arrived at a perfect time. The cutting-edge products of the New Black Cinema of the early '90s had disappeared, giving way to embarrassingly stereotypical, scatological fare such as Booty Call and Next Friday. This feature-packed compilation (which includes production notes, interviews with all of the filmmakers, and audio commentary by four) attempts to prove that African American cinema is intent on moving past the lowbrow humor, as six of the seven shorts steer clear of any comedy.
On the surface, this collection of shorts by up-and-coming African American filmmakers arrived at a perfect time. The cutting-edge products of the New Black Cinema of the early '90s had disappeared, giving way to embarrassingly stereotypical, scatological fare such as Booty Call and Next Friday. This feature-packed compilation (which includes production notes, interviews with all of the filmmakers, and audio commentary by four) attempts to prove that African American cinema is intent on moving past the lowbrow humor, as six of the seven shorts steer clear of any comedy.
2000-08-01
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0.0The lives of Jeff, Lauren and Lloyd—three very different people who share one common experience—have been transformed by speaking up for mental health. These inspiring stories depict what mental health in America really looks like and highlights just how important it is to speak up and seek help.
4.0Here's a strange one. First, a song on a blackboard: a Polish translation of “I love my little rooster” by American folk writer Almeda Riddle. Then, two men roll around trash bins and lift them to the garbage truck. They do it several times. A woman shouts in the distance. At the end, the picture stops, and the woman sings the song. An early short by Piotr Szulkin.
6.1This sex education movie explore themes of body development, sexual hygiene, masturbation, menstruation, puberty, sex and giving birth.
0.0a very quiet weekend car center. A car that appears somewhere starts to turn around the car center. Turn and turn and turn...
6.7Working 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.
0.0In Unstately, Ring Swisher, incumbent school board member, and his campaign manager, Max DeLai, are faced with their greatest challenge in a dozen years – an opponent.
6.0Part of John Nesbitt's Passing Parade series, this short shows how three seemingly unimportant things can affect people. The first is how the number 7 affects a student accused of theft charges. The second segment shows that a person's doodles can reveal personality traits. The final segment shows why certain items are on men's suits, such as lapels.
0.0One night, two perspectives: Swabian high school graduate Carlo tries to keep his girlfriend's first visit a secret from his parents, who want to find out what's going on.
0.0A portrait of a French scientist and author who explores the heavens above and beyond the call of duty. A man unafraid to turn over the rocks that litter a terrain of terror and titillation: a terrain of things that go jump in the night and hide by day only, to re-surface in our nightmares.
7.2Using every known means of transportation, several savants from the Geographic Society undertake a journey through the Alps to the Sun which finishes under the sea.
6.9Manivald is a fox in his early 30s. He is still living at home with his mother. One day a young hot wolf called Toomas comes to fix the washing machine. A love triangle develops between the three of them. Things get out of hand and Manivald realizes that it is time to move out.
0.0A narrator, a friend, a meet cute, and the question of sentience are explored through an absurdist, fruitful romance.
0.0In this mock opera infused with gallows humour, Ronnie Drew and his band of bohemian merrymakers, The Dubliners, re-enact the execution ballad ‘The Night Before Larry Was Stretched’. Larry finds himself caught in a hangman’s noose as just reward for being ‘the best burglar in all Ireland’. Made in 1965, the film remained uncompleted and unseen until its restoration in 1998.
4.0A dark comedy that takes place in the not-so-distant future about one woman who longs to break free of her government issued screen and experience the world with her own eyes.
On an unknown planet, an old space farmer is working with his robot partner to move equipment around. From the outset, there is some obvious friction between the two characters, and a feeling of differing priorities. When the farmer makes an interesting discovery, will that clash of priorities push them into conflict with each other? What impact will the conflict have on the newly found object?