Focus | Short Film

Lost, Lost, Lost(en)

Jonas Mekas adjusts to a life in exile in New York in his autobiographical film, shot between 1949 and 1963.

Master and Tatyana(lt)

Lithuanian photographer, the legend of Soviet Sixties' generation Vitas Luckus tragically passed away in 1987. Yet the life and times of the talented rebel still impassion and lead us to a journey questioning why, at all times, we are wary of those who are really free.

Émergence(fr)

Katiana talks about her experiences as a woman in Haiti. As a woman, she faces many limitations and abuses from men who are more privileged than she is. Despite the difficulties of her condition, she has found the courage to achieve greater personal and financial independence.

Bettina Rheims(fr)

Who are we? Psychoanalysis of Ukrainians(uk)

A film about the collective psychological traumas of Ukrainians.

Identity(en)

Identity is an experimental short film about gender fluidity, memory, and transformation.

Ernest Cole: Lost and Found(fr)

More than 60,000 of Ernest Cole’s 35mm film negatives were inexplicably discovered in a bank vault in Stockholm, Sweden. Most considered these forever lost, especially the thousands of pictures he shot in the U.S. Told through Cole’s own writings, the stories of those closest to him, and the lens of his uncompromising work, the film is a reintroduction of a pivotal Black artist to a new generation and will unravel the mystery of his missing negatives.

OKINAWA PHILADELPHIA(en)

An Okinawan photographer, Mao Ishikawa was 33 years old when she crossed the ocean to Philadelphia in order to photograph the life of her friend, Myron Carr, a former US marine whom she met during his service in Okinawa in the 1970s. The subsequent photo book, “Life in Philly”, is filled with raw and vivid images, capturing the atmosphere and the culture of the predominantly African American neighborhood of downtown Philadelphia in the late 80s. This film looks back on those days, bringing Myron to remembrance as Mao and his surviving family try to find the missing pieces.

A Great Day in Harlem(en)

Art Kane, now deceased, coordinated a group photograph of all the top jazz musicians in NYC in the year 1958, for a piece in Esquire magazine. Just about every jazz musician at the time showed up for the photo shoot which took place in front of a brownstone near the 125th street station. The documentary compiles interviews of many of the musicians in the photograph to talk about the day of the photograph, and it shows film footage taken that day by Milt Hinton and his wife.

La calle del Agua(es)

Benjamina Miyar Díaz (1888-1961) led an unusual life in her house on calle del Agua in Corao, Asturias, at the foot of the Picos de Europa mountain range in northern Spain: she was a photographer and watchmaker for more than forty years, but she also fought in her own humble and heroic way against General Franco's dictatorship.

Self and Others(ja)

In 1983, photographer Gocho Shigeo met an early death at the young age of 36. The view we see reflected in Gocho’s photographic images has become more profound over time since his death and has struck a chord in people’s hearts. While focusing on Gocho’s collection of photographs Self and Others, the film also visits places associated with him, creating a collage with the manuscripts, letters, photographs and voice recordings remaining in an attempt to capture “one more gesture”—a theme pursued by Gocho through photographic expression. This film is neither a critical biography nor a monograph on the photographer. Rather, we are offered a new perception. As if mesmerized, the photographs Gocho left behind captivate us in their gaze.

Last Days of the Arctic(is)

Ragnar Alexsson, a.k.a. RAX, is among the most celebrated photographers in the world. His series Faces of the North are a living document of the dying cultures of the far northern reaches of the planet. His photo essays of farmers and fishermen in Icleand, and of the great hunters of Greenland give an amazing insight into everyday life of people who struggle a daily battle with the Arctic nature. A celebration of the photographer and his subjects, Last Days of the Arctic is an elegy for a disappearing landscape and the people who inhabit it.

Arakimentari(en)

A look at the life and work of Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki and his impact on Japanese culture.

The Photographer(en)

1948 ARC Identifier 46998 / Local Identifier 306.131. FEATURES THE PERSONALITY, PHILOSOPHY, TECHNIQUES AND ARTISTRY OF EDWARD WESTON, AS SHOWN THROUGH SCENES OF THE ARTIST AT HOME, ON LOCATION AND AT WORK WITH HIS STUDENTS. U.S. Information Agency. (1982 - 10/01/1999) Made possible by a donation from Simon Phipps

The Man Who Saw Too Much(es)

A film about fragility; about a man obsessed with photographing the accident who discovered that the fate of others was his way of connecting to life. When does the image of the accident become the object of desire? Following the footsteps of Metinides and the work of contemporary tabloid photographers, we discover Mexico City through a narrative of crime scenes and accidents; rubbernecking though Metinides’ Gaze.

Synonymous With(en)

A student's increasingly intimate line of questioning causes his interview with a local horror host to take a vulnerable turn.

Pier Paolo Pasolini: An Italian Journey(de)

In the summer of 1959, as a magazine correspondent, writer and filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini (1922-75) traveled along the Italian coast. In 1963, he documented the sexual behavior of the Italians. In the winter of 1970-71, he witnessed the hardships of the most impoverished Italian population suffering from the boot of state power. After these three trips, he came to the conclusion that Italian society had changed drastically for the worse over the years.

Três no Tri(pt)

Mexico Cup, 1970: Pelé scores the goal against Czechoslovakia, helping the Brazilian team towards its third championship. Orlando Abrunhosa immortalized the feat in the most reproduced photo around the world, but this is not his only feat.

As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty(en)

A compilation of over 30 years of private home movie footage shot by Lithuanian-American avant-garde director Jonas Mekas, assembled by Mekas "purely by chance", without concern for chronological order.

Julius Shulman: Desert Modern(en)

Julius Shulman: Desert Modern focuses on Shulman's remarkable 70-year documentation of the renowned Mid-Century Modern architecture of the Palm Springs area/ Shulman, at the age of 97, describes with humor and insight his artistic intentions and the back-story to some of his most legendary photographs. He is joined by noted architectural historian Alan Hess and Michael Stern, co-authors of the book, "Julius Shulman: Palm Springs". Stern is also curator of the "Julius Shulman: Palm Springs" exhibition which originated at the Palm Springs Art Museum in February 2008. The flm showcases Shulman's inspired photography of the architecture of Richard Neutra, Albert Frey, John Lautner, E. Stewart Williams, Palmer and Krisel and William Cody, among others. E. Stewart Williams' Frank Sinatra House is featured, as well as Richard Neutra's Kaufmann House, one of the most famous homes in America, largely due to Shulman's iconic 1947 photograph.