Broadway Cinema: The Heart of Filmmaking in Nottingham(2022)

Land Without Bread(es)

An exploration —manipulated and staged— of life in Las Hurdes, in the province of Cáceres, in Extremadura, Spain, as it was in 1932. Insalubrity, misery and lack of opportunities provoke the emigration of young people and the solitude of those who remain in the desolation of one of the poorest and least developed Spanish regions at that time. (Silent short, voiced in 1937 and 1996.)

Windows(en)

A sort of documentary on the people known to have fallen out of windows in a certain time frame in a certain geographical location. One of Greenaway's early short films.

Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory(fr)

Working 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.

Listening to the Space in my Room(xx)

Ostensibly a portrait of a place where the artist had resided until recently, the new film by Robert Beavers conjures not only the memory but also the physical presence of those who have previously stayed there. Adhering to a solitary intimacy while simultaneously acting as an ode to human endeavour and shared impulses toward fulfillment through art, Listening to the Space in my Room is a moving testament to existence (whose traces are found in literature, music, filmmaking, gardening) and our endless search for meaning and authenticity. The film's precise yet enigmatic sound-image construction carries a rare emotional weight.

Natpwe: The Feast of the Spirits(fr)

In Natpwe, the feast of the spirits, co-directors Tiane Doan na Champassak and Jean Dubrel have produced an immersive, seemingly timeless document of an annual Burmese trance ritual that dates back to the eleventh century. Shot in Super 8 and 16mm in sooty black and white, the film conveys the astonishing sense of liberation of tens of thousands of bodies and minds — a mass expression of faith, but also a rapturous respite from societal intolerance.

The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat(fr)

Likely in June 1897, a group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.

Hong Kong Stories(fr)

A documentary about Hong Kong cinema mythology via Julien Carbon and Laurent Courtiaud’s experience as screenwriters in the HK film industry, working for Wong Kar-wai, Tsui Hark, Daniel Lee and Johnnie To

Viva Tar!(id)

From the lens of its alumni, this film chronicles about the history of Marching Band Korps Putri Tarakanita, a marching band extracurricular that continues its legacy to this day.

Bronx, New York, November 2019(en)

Cal State Long Beach, CA, January 2020(en)

A wordless portrait of sculptor Jessica Jackson Hutchins shows us the artist in the process of transforming clay into uncanny forms.

The Heights of Cumanday(es)

Calentoso, is a young boy that must transport mules across the mountains. He will be challenged to discover the deep secrets that the summit entails. This film is based on the legend of the ghost of the Ruiz Snow Mountain in the Region of Cumanday in Colombia.

The Most Holy Brotherhood(es)

The High Holy Brothers is a documentary on a mysterious Messianic cult formed by peasants who fled the violence of the forties/fifties in Colombia and are admitted to live in the mountains of southern Tolima. Its members dress in sacks, they have their own dialect and regard everything as “Blessed”, minus the right side of the body, which castrated covering it with the “holy coat”. This group rejects all elements of the consumer society, established institutions, the state, church and political parties.

Sea Countrymen(it)

Sicily, Granitola, 1955. At the first light of dawn, the fishermen set out in their boats for open water, timing the rhythm of their oars to murmured chants. They set their nets in the sea, regulate the cords, organize the boats in a square. The men’s work becomes increasingly harder as the tuna are hoisted onto the boats, wriggling, beating their tails until death arrives and the water is tinged with blood.

Beyond Dreams(pt)

The film tells the life story of Roman Romancini, one of the most important Brazilian mountaineers, in his endeavor to reach his greatest dream: climbing Mount Everest, the highest mountain on the planet. Directed by Rafael Duarte (Bambalaio Filmes) and produced by Leonardo Edde (URCA Filmes), the documentary shows how Roman reached, during his preparation years, 4 of the “7 summits” during winter, considered by many an almost impossible mission. Survivor of the avalanche that hit the Khumbu Falls in 2014, a few feet from Everest Base Camp, Roman returned to the Himalayas four years later with Rafael Duarte and Padawa Shepa, who together documented the most challenging expedition of his life.

Photogenies(fr)

Lost short film.

Hanča, Janko a Lucia(sk)

The Man of the Trees(fr)

The life story of Daniel Balimá, a horticulturist with a disability in Burkina Faso.

Maya Deren, Take Zero(en)

This documentary interweaves celluloid and voice recordings by Maya Deren, and colleagues who knew her firsthand: Jean Rouch, Jonas Mekas, Alexander Hammid, Cecile Starr etc. Maya Deren (1917-1961) was an experimental filmmaker. In the 1940s and 1950s she made several influential avant-garde films, such as Meshes of the Afternoon (1943). Images from this and her other work are used in this documentary. You can also hear her voice, as well as accounts by contemporaries such as Jean Rouch and Jonas Mekas.

Lyd(ar)

A sci-fi documentary that follows the rise and fall of Lyd — a 5,000-year-old metropolis that was once a bustling Palestinian town until it was conquered when the State of Israel was established in 1948. As the film unfolds, a chorus of characters creates a tapestry of the Palestinian experience of this city and the trauma left by the massacre and expulsion.

Li Lian Jie's Shaolin Kung Fu(zh)

Documentary about Shaolin Monk training techniques and Jet Li .