Movie: Optic Nerve

  • HomePage

  • Overview

    "Barbara Hammer's Optic Nerve is a powerful personal reflection on family and aging. Hammer employs filmed footage which, through optical printing and editing, is layered and manipulated to create a compelling meditation on her visit to her grandmother in a nursing home. The sense of sight becomes a constantly evolving process of reseeing images retrieved from the past and fused into the eternal present of the projected image. Hammer has lent a new voice to the long tradition of personal meditation in the avant-garde of the American independent cinema." -- John Hanhardt, Biennial Exhibition Catalogue, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1987

  • Release Date

    1985-01-01

  • Average

    8

  • Rating:

    4.0 starts
  • Tagline

  • Genres

  • Languages:

  • Keywords

Recommendations Movies

Place Mattes
75%

Place Mattes(xx)

1987-01-01

Place Mattes explores the space between reaching and touching. Animation and optical printing are used to create travelling mattes for places, confounding the difference between eternal and internal.

Shoe
59%

Shoe(en)

2008-01-01

A story inspired by a shoe-doll displayed in Childhood Museum, Edinburgh. This short film shows a touching story about a young girl and her father in a poverty, London, 1910s. Qian Shi's BA Animation graduation film. The Best Student Film of BAF08. MX Award at TAF2010 (Tokyo Anime Fair 2010).

Final Move
40%

Final Move(en)

2013-10-08

To save his daughter's life and restore his reputation, disgraced ex-detective Nick Mathers must catch the sadistic Grand Master killer before time runs out, and the final piece is taken in the deadly game of chess.

As Meninas
60%

As Meninas(pt)

1995-12-08

During the military dictatorship in Brazil, Lorena, Lia and Ana Clara, three university students of different social backgrounds and origins meet at a nun's pension in São Paulo. Besides their differences, they become close friends, sharing their dramas and dreams, helping each other until the day they have to separate permanently.

Irreverent Imagination: The Golden Age of the Looney Tunes
60%

Irreverent Imagination: The Golden Age of the Looney Tunes(en)

2003-10-28

A documentary on the Looney Tunes. Including interviews from people who worked on it, and their family.

Let Him Be a Basketball Player
53%

Let Him Be a Basketball Player(sl)

2017-09-14

Story of Ranta, always hungry, clumsy and infinitely tall teenage boy (so tall that he could tie a necktie for Giraffes). When the gym teacher at his school invites him to play for a basketball team, Ranta's world is turned upside down. So starts an exciting journey, full of unpredictable adventures with his funny friend/manager Smodlak by his side.

Everything's Alright
47%

Everything's Alright(pt)

1978-10-23

Middle-class family reform their apartment, and the noise, the contact with the workers and strange occurrences turn what was supposed to be a trivial matter into a trip to hell.

Yung Galore
60%

Yung Galore(en)

2017-02-21

Danny and Dolly meet for the first time at a bus stop, both waiting to attend their first day back at high school, but after becoming acquainted, the two decide to ditch school and explore the small town in which Dolly is brand new to, only to end up falling in love with each other after learning of the unusual, not so pretty lives that they both live.

Young Guns of Texas
37%

Young Guns of Texas(es)

1962-11-30

A man searching for a stolen army payroll is joined by several men after the reward money. One of the pursuers, after killing a ranch foreman, elopes with the ranchers' daughter. Enraged at the shooting of his foreman and convinced that his daughter was kidnapped, the rancher leads a posse after his daughter. When Apaches attack the thieves and their pursuers, the rancher's posse is forced to side with his daughter's new husband and his friends.

56
69%

56(it)

2016-01-15

Home
53%

Home(en)

2005-03-10

On a hot summer night in Brooklyn, singles and couples converge in a brownstone apartment to flirt, fight, hook up and break up. A dreamy comedy-drama about sex, love and freedom, "Home" packs a lot of stories into just two floors.

Shocktroop
40%

Shocktroop(en)

1989-05-11

The special commando Delta Force is sent behind the line of fire into the terrain of the enemy. Their mission goal is to destroy a base where the enemies prepare a new weapon: a combat helicopter.

School of Senses
57%

School of Senses(hu)

1996-01-07

Hungarian erotic thriller based on the novel Erzekek Iskolaja. Lily, a young gypsy girl, falls madly in love with a dashing salesman who introduces her to life's pleasures. When Lili discovers he is engaged to another, her life begins to spiral downward.

Teddy Pendergrass: If You Don't Know Me
63%

Teddy Pendergrass: If You Don't Know Me(en)

2018-10-26

The untold and ultimately inspiring story of legendary singer, Teddy Pendergrass, the man poised to be the biggest R&B artist of all time until the tragic accident that changed his life forever at the age of only 31.

The Girls from Atlantis
35%

The Girls from Atlantis(de)

1970-04-03

A group of female aliens abduct men by sleeping with them.

Hannibal Buress: Miami Nights
60%

Hannibal Buress: Miami Nights(en)

2020-07-03

Mildly successful comedian, Hannibal Buress, performs his second stand-up special in Chicago based on his wild night with the police.

Similar Movies

D.E.B.S.
64%

D.E.B.S.(en)

2005-03-25

The star of a team of teenage crime fighters falls for the alluring villainess she must bring to justice.

Fat Girl
62%

Fat Girl(fr)

2001-03-07

Anaïs is twelve and bears the weight of the world on her shoulders. She watches her older sister, Elena, whom she both loves and hates. Elena is fifteen and devilishly beautiful. Neither more futile, nor more stupid than her younger sister, she cannot understand that she is merely an object of desire. And, as such, she can only be taken. Or had. Indeed, this is the subject: a girl's loss of virginity. And, that summer, it opens a door to tragedy.

Wild Strawberries
81%

Wild Strawberries(sv)

1957-08-28

Crotchety retired doctor Isak Borg travels from Stockholm to Lund, Sweden, with his pregnant and unhappy daughter-in-law, Marianne, in order to receive an honorary degree from his alma mater. Along the way, they encounter a series of hitchhikers, each of whom causes the elderly doctor to muse upon the pleasures and failures of his own life. These include the vivacious young Sara, a dead ringer for the doctor's own first love.

Bridget Jones's Diary
67%

Bridget Jones's Diary(en)

2001-04-13

Bridget Jones is an average woman struggling against her age, her weight, her job, her lack of a man, and her various imperfections. As a New Year's resolution, Bridget decides to take control of her life, starting by keeping a diary in which she will always tell the complete truth. The fireworks begin when her charming though disreputable boss takes an interest in the quirky Miss Jones. Thrown into the mix are Bridget's band of slightly eccentric friends and a rather disagreeable acquaintance into whom Bridget cannot seem to stop running or help finding quietly attractive.

Strange Days
70%

Strange Days(en)

1995-10-13

Former policeman Lenny Nero has moved into a more lucrative trade: the illegal sale of virtual reality-like recordings that allow users to experience the emotions and past experiences of others. While they typically contain tawdry incidents, Nero is shocked when he receives one showing a murder.

Desert Hearts
70%

Desert Hearts(en)

1985-10-01

While waiting for her divorce papers, a repressed literature professor finds herself unexpectedly attracted by a carefree, spirited young woman named Cay.

Beyond Silence
69%

Beyond Silence(de)

1996-12-18

Beyond Silence is about a family and a young girl’s coming of age story. This German film looks into the lives of the deaf and at a story about the love for music. A girl who has always had to translate speech into sign language for her deaf parents yet when her love for playing music grows strong she must decide to continue doing something she cannot share with her parents.

Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams
69%

Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams(bs)

2006-03-01

A woman and her daughter struggle to make their way through the aftermath of the Balkan war.

Bollywood/Hollywood
59%

Bollywood/Hollywood(en)

2002-10-25

Rahul Seth is a dashing young millionaire who believes he is "western" enough to rebel against his mother and grandmother. They are not too keen about his Caucasian girlfriend Kimberly who, to make matters worse, is a pop star. Before you can say "karmic intervention," Kimberly dies in a freak accident and Rahul is devastated. Instead of allowing him to mourn in peace, Rahul's mother sees the opportunity she's been waiting for. She threatens to call off his sister's wedding unless he finds himself a "nice Indian girl." Rahul enlists the services of Sue, a fiercely independent escort whom he believes to be Hispanic, and therefore not "married" to the conventions taught to young Indian women. With a wink in her eye, Sue accepts the deal to pose as his Indian bride-to-be. She needs the money and having never been a fan of the typical Indian male, she feels her heart is safe. The charade begins....

Longing
64%

Longing(de)

2006-02-15

An average, everyday metalworker and volunteer firefighter content in his marriage to his childhood sweetheart finds his emotions unexpectedly stirred when he falls for a pretty waitress from a nearby town.

The Liberal War
0%

The Liberal War(en)

1974-11-26

The Vietnam War during the JFK years and beyond. Made in 1972 in the filmmaker's apartment, without documentary footage of the war, metaphors are created through the animation of images and objects, and through guerrilla skits. By rejecting the authority of traditional documentary footage, the anarchist spirit of individual responsibility is established. This is history from one person's point of view, rather than a definitive proclamation.

Antonia's Line
70%

Antonia's Line(nl)

1995-09-21

After World War II, Antonia and her daughter, Danielle, go back to their Dutch hometown, where Antonia's late mother has bestowed a small farm upon her. There, Antonia settles down and joins a tightly-knit but unusual community. Those around her include quirky friend Crooked Finger, would-be suitor Bas and, eventually for Antonia, a granddaughter and great-granddaughter who help create a strong family of empowered women.

The City of Lost Children
72%

The City of Lost Children(fr)

1995-05-17

A scientist in a surrealist society kidnaps children to steal their dreams, hoping that they slow his aging process.

Bella
0%

Bella(en)

2023-08-19

An elderly woman is confronted by an intruder in her home. Shortly after she realizes a familiar face and a familiar feeling.

To Live or Let Die
63%

To Live or Let Die(en)

1982-01-01

To Live or Let Die is a 1982 American short documentary film directed by Terry Sanders, about the neonatal I.C.U. of the Children's Hospital in Los Angeles, where life and death decisions must be made while ethical dilemmas are also posed by new technologies.. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short.

Sound of Sunshine - Sound of Rain
57%

Sound of Sunshine - Sound of Rain(en)

1983-01-01

Oscar nominated animated short film from 1983. A blind boy visualizes what he hears and experiences on a regular basis.

Flamenco at 5:15
64%

Flamenco at 5:15(en)

1983-01-01

In this Oscar Winning documentary short film, students in their final year at the National Ballet School of Canada are seen learning the flamenco from Susana and Antonio Robledo, who come to the school every winter to conduct classes which are held after the day's regular schedule has ended.

The Voices
62%

The Voices(en)

2014-01-19

A mentally unhinged factory worker must decide whether to listen to his talking cat and become a killer, or follow his dog's advice to keep striving for normalcy.

Hellion
58%

Hellion(en)

2014-06-13

When motocross and heavy metal obsessed, 13-year-old Jacob's delinquent behavior forces CPS to place his little brother Wes with his aunt, Jacob and his emotionally absent father must finally take responsibility for their actions and each other in order to bring Wes home.

Infinitely Polar Bear
66%

Infinitely Polar Bear(en)

2014-01-18

A manic-depressive mess of a father tries to win back his wife by attempting to take full responsibility of their two young, spirited daughters, who don't make the overwhelming task any easier.