Cinema of Decay: The Films of Bill Morrison

His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th(en)

A retrospective documentary about the groundbreaking horror series, Friday the 13th, featuring interviews with cast and crew from the twelve films spanning 3 decades.

Grizzly Man(en)

Werner Herzog's documentary film about the "Grizzly Man" Timothy Treadwell and what the thirteen summers in a National Park in Alaska were like in one man's attempt to protect the grizzly bears. The film is full of unique images and a look into the spirit of a man who sacrificed himself for nature.

Flying Supersonic(fr)

Thundering across the sky on elegant white wings, the Concorde was an instant legend. But behind the glamour of jet setting at Mach 2 were stunning scientific innovations and political intrigue. Fifteen years after Concorde's final flight, this documentary takes you inside the historic international race to develop the first supersonic airliner. Hear stories from those inside the choreographed effort to design and build Concorde in two countries at once - and the crew members who flew her.

Decasia: The State of Decay(en)

A meditation on the human quest to transcend physicality, constructed from decaying archival footage and set to an original symphonic score.

Moonage Daydream(en)

A cinematic odyssey featuring never-before-seen footage exploring David Bowie's creative and musical journey.

Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan(en)

There’s only one person who so accurately personifies movie magic in the history of film, and that man is special effects maestro Ray Harryhausen. Focusing on the man behind the landmark effects on films like Clash Of The Titans, One Million Years B.C., Jason And The Argonauts and many more, this in-depth film features interviews with the great man himself, and with an array of animators and directors influenced by his work including Guillermo del Toro, Peter Jackson, Nick Park, Terry Gilliam, James Cameron and Steven Spielberg. The film also features unseen footage of tests and experiments recently uncovered.

Atomic: Living in Dread and Promise(en)

Using only archive film and a new musical score by the band Mogwai, Mark Cousins presents an impressionistic kaleidoscope of our nuclear times – protest marches, Cold War sabre-rattling, Chernobyl and Fukishima – but also the sublime beauty of the atomic world, and how x-rays and MRI scans have improved human lives. The nuclear age has been a nightmare, but dreamlike too.

Rite of Spring(en)

Black-and-white film projections by Bill Morrison, using archival footage of frigid Arctic scenes.

Génération Club Dorothée - L'incroyable histoire d'une émission culte(fr)

Triple Fisher: The Lethal Lolitas of Long Island(en)

In 1992, a suburban New York teenager named Amy Fisher captured the national media's attention when she shot her lover's wife in the face. This sordid tale of underage sex, aggravated assault, and Joey Buttafuoco managed to spawn not one, not two, but three separate made-for-TV movies. Drew Barrymore, Alyssa Milano and Noëlle Parker all took stabs at portraying the disturbed young lady, yet a true on-screen depiction of Amy Fisher has never emerged - until now. In this Rashomon of found footage film, director Dan Kapelovitz mind-melds the multiple melodramas into one ultimate metadrama mashup.

Les Héros de notre enfance(fr)

Alien, Terror in Space(fr)

In space, no one can hear you scream! the catchy slogan that accompanies Alien sums up the unprecedented stakes of this film that will mark the history of cinema. In 1979, for the first time on screens, a mainstream feature film will mix two distinct worlds of genre cinema: science fiction and horror. Ridley Scott forever shakes up the cinematic landscape by plunging the audience into anguish with his oppressive universe and his iconic monster. The documentary looks back at the lasting impact of this masterpiece, exploring Scott’s audacity and the genesis of his unique aesthetic. In the claustrophobic corridors of the Nostromo spaceship, the heroine, played by Sigourney Weaver, becomes the first strong female figure to redefine the conventions of the genre, far from the clichés of the time. By revisiting the film's key sequences, the documentary shows how Alien explores profound themes such as survival and dehumanization, while reflecting a scathing critique of the capitalist system.

Bill Morrison: The Film Archaeologist(en)

Things fall apart, but they are also reassembled and given new life, in an enlightened form. Meet the New York based artist and filmmaker Bill Morrison in this interview about his haunting experimental collage films 'Decasia' and 'Light is Calling'.

Analepsis(en)

The video Analepsis, 2003-04, is composed of a series of excerpts taken from satellite television news reports. The individual 1-4 second clips are used to introduce the viewer to a given location. Through his method of re-editing the material and omission of the sound from the original news programs, Snyder restructures the footage, revealing the potential of a place to mean more than one thing and pointing to the cinematographic quality inherent in television news.

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid(en)

Juliet Forrest is convinced that the reported death of her father in a mountain car crash was no accident. Her father was a prominent cheese scientist working on a secret recipe. To prove it was murder, she enlists the services of private eye Rigby Reardon. He finds a slip of paper containing a list of people who are 'The Friends and Enemies of Carlotta'.

Death to 2020(en)

2020: A year so [insert adjective of choice here], even the creators of Black Mirror couldn't make it up… but that doesn't mean they don't have a little something to add. This comedy event that tells the story of the dreadful year that was — and perhaps still is? The documentary-style special weaves together some of the world's most (fictitious) renowned voices with real-life archival footage.

Rose Hobart 2(en)

An ongoing exploration of the films of Rose Hobart and a re-duplication of Joseph Cornell's infamous found footage masterpiece

let me come in(en)

Bill Morrison’s experimental short features decayed film reels from the lost, German silent film Pawns of Passion (1928).

Action in Arabia(en)

Reporter Michael Gordon uncovers intrigue in Damascus, where the Allies and Nazis struggle for control of Arab sympathies.

One Cut of the Dead(ja)

Real zombies arrive and terrorize the crew of a zombie film being shot in an abandoned warehouse, said to be the site of military experiments on humans.

The Calypso Singer(en)

Animated short based on Stan Freberg's take on the Banana Boat Song.

Box(en)

The execution was scheduled and the last meal consumed. The coolness of the poisons entering the blood system slowed the heart rate and sent him on the way to Judgement. He had paid for his crime with years on Death Row waiting for this moment and now he would pay for them again as the judgment continued..

Box(en)

A doomsday pepper is surprised to find a mysterious box appear in his living room with no trace as to how it could've gotten there.

Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya?(hi)

A married doctor lands in trouble when his flirtatious ways lead a woman to fall for him.

P.K.P.(ru)

The defeated remnants of vile Ukrainian nationalists, headed by the leader of the Ukrainian liberation movement, Symon Petliura, cannot accept their historical fate and are plotting an insurrection against the Soviet regime in Ukraine. There is nothing Petliura and his cohorts would not do to win back control over Ukraine, including selling it to the highest bidder, in this case, the Polish dictator Jozef Pilsudski. A group of plotters are coordinating an insurrection in Kyiv with an attack from Poland headed by Petliura’s general Yurko Tiutiunnyk. Predictably, the invincible Red Army defeats the nationalist plotters and proves that the Soviet borders are impregnable.

Brent Weinbach: Appealing to the Mainstream(en)

Brent Weinbach is weird. In this show, Brent attempts to adjust his quirky personality so that he can fit in with the world around him, which would be valuable to his career as a comedian and entertainer. Through an absurd and abstract discourse, Brent explores the ways in which he can appeal to a broader, mainstream audience, so that ultimately, he can become successful in show business.

Box(fr)

Main Krishna Hoon(hi)

In answer to an orphan boy's prayers, the divine Lord Krishna comes to Earth, befriends the boy, and helps him find a loving family.

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog(en)

London. A mysterious serial killer brutally murders young blond women by stalking them in the night fog. One foggy, sinister night, a young man who claims his name is Jonathan Drew arrives at the guest house run by the Bunting family and rents a room.

Lethal Weapon 2(en)

Riggs and Murtaugh are on the trail of South African diplomats using their immunity to engage in criminal activities.

Jennifer Lopez | All I Have(en)

"Jennifer Lopez: All I Have" was the first concert residency by American entertainer Jennifer Lopez. Performed at Zappos Theater (formerly The AXIS Theater) located in the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, the residency began on January 20, 2016 and concluded on September 29, 2018. The show has received critical acclaim for its production and Lopez's showmanship. The residency grossed $101.9 million after 120 shows, making it the sixth highest-grossing Las Vegas residency of all time, and the top residency by a Latin artist.

Night of the Living Doo(en)

In a spoof of 1972's The New Scooby-Doo Movies, Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Inc. gang pick up a hitchiking Gary Coleman. Soon after, the Mystery Machine proceeds to break down (multiple times) leaving them stranded at a haunted castle owned by David Cross.

Andrei Rublev(ru)

An expansive Russian drama, this film focuses on the life of revered religious icon painter Andrei Rublev. Drifting from place to place in a tumultuous era, the peace-seeking monk eventually gains a reputation for his art. But after Rublev witnesses a brutal battle and unintentionally becomes involved, he takes a vow of silence and spends time away from his work. As he begins to ease his troubled soul, he takes steps towards becoming a painter once again.

Box(en)

8mm film by Swiss artist Roman Signer.

The Little Bather(fr)

Louis-Philippe Fourchaume, another typical lead-role for French comedy superstar Louis de Funès, is the dictatorial CEO of a French company which designs and produces sail yachts, and fires in yet another tantrum his designer André Castagnier, not realizing that man is his only chance to land a vital contract with the Italian magnate Marcello Cacciaperotti. So he has to find him at his extremely rural birthplace in 'la France profonde', which proves a torturous odyssey for the spoiled rich man; when he does get there his torment is far from over: the country bumpkin refuses to resume his slavish position now the shoe is on the other foot, so Fourchaume is dragged along in the boorish family life, and at times unable to control his temper, which may cost him more credit then he painstakingly builds up...

Maine-Ocean Express(fr)

"Maine-Ocean" is the name of a train that rides from Paris to Saint-Nazaire (near the ocean). In that train, Dejanira, a Brazilian, has a brush with the two ticket inspectors. Mimi, another traveler and also a lawyer, helps her. The four of them will meet together later and live a few shifted adventures with a strange-speaking sailor (Mimi's client).

Decalogue V(pl)

Jacek, an angry drifter, murders a taxi driver, brutally and without motive. His case is assigned to Piotr, an idealistic young lawyer who is morally opposed to the death penalty, and their interactions take on an emotional honesty that throws into stark relief for Piotr the injustice of killing of any kind.

Box(en)

8mm film by Swiss artist Roman Signer.

Florence Fight Club(ru)

Intertwined stories from the gladiator/athletes participating to the Calcio Storico Fiorentino yearly championship.

Fantomas Unleashed(fr)

In the second episode of the trilogy Fantômas kidnaps distinguished scientist professor Marchand with the aim to develop a super weapon that will enable him to menace the world. Fantômas is also planning to abduct a second scientist, professor Lefebvre.