Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks

The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat(fr)

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.

Luchando! Cuba's Struggle to Survive(en)

This film was shot in Cuba in 1994. The opportunity came when Russel Porter, an Australian documentary filmmaker, was invited to teach at the international film and television school (EICTV) located some forty kilometers from Havana. He took the opportunity to make a film about life in Cuba today. He examines how people are surviving the hardships caused initially by the "blockade" imposed by the USA over 30 years ago and increased by the more recent loss of trade with the countries of Eastern Europe. The goal was to faithfully and objectively portray the current atmosphere and character of this "little island in the Caribbean." Apart from Russel and producer Denise Patience, the film crew was Cuban: cinematographer Alejandro Perez, sound recordist Lenin de los Reyes, production manager Elaine Santos, and local liaison Alex Alday.

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.

Megacities(en)

Megacities is a documentary about the slums of five different metropolitan cities.

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.

The Coast of Commerce(en)

Take a revealing tour along a coast of contrasts, from the folksy freshness of Whitby to the coaly Tyne, queen of all rivers.

Pride & Attitude(de)

The viewpoints of women from a country that no longer exists preserved on low-band U-matic tape. GDR-FRG. Courageous, self-confident and emancipated: female industry workers talk about gaining autonomy.

Hungry for Profit(en)

Is our food bought at the price of famine in the developing world? Is agribusiness more interested in producing profits than producing food? This PBS independent documentary investigates U.S. and European agribusiness in the Third World. Filmed on five continents, it takes a close look at agribusiness, which is turning the world's food supply into a global supermarket, buying food at the lowest prices-regardless of small farmers and local populations-and selling it at the highest price and the greatest profit whenever possible.

Mountain Spring: The Flinders Range(en)

Progress in South Australia manifests itself around the Flinders Range country in the industries of Whyalla, Port Pirie, Port Augusta, Leigh Creek and Aroona Dam. Wildflowers cover the countryside.

Quel numéro ? - What number ? ou le travail automatisé(fr)

The Autobiography of a 'Jeep'(en)

The invention and use of a jeep are described, from the viewpoint of one of the vehicles.

Up the Yangtze(zh)

At the edge of the Yangtze River, not far from the Three Gorges Dam, young men and women take up employment on a cruise ship, where they confront rising waters and a radically changing China.

Vlak č. 101(cs)

My Saga(en)

Four years ago, Adam Harris was struck down with a brain tumour, an event that he was determined to transform from something tragic into a period of life-changing positivity. With the love of his family and driven by his passion for Star Wars, he undertook a pilgrimage with his son, Jack Anakin Harris, into the heart of Star Wars fan culture. This father and son embarked on a journey to explore the bonds between generations of fans as they experience the build up to the release of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, while sharing their own profound moments of closeness.

Review 34th Year No. 7(en)

A West Yorkshire story of rewilding wetlands in a landscape once dominated by deep coal mining.

Fists of Pride(en)

Fists of Pride follows Little Tiger and his fellow fighters as their Thai coaches prepare them for the annual Water Festival competition. In a boxing camp on the Thai-Burmese border the children of mostly illegal migrant workers fleeing Burma live and train for prize fights. In a region where combat sports have always been a matter of honor and money, the film reveals their daily struggles. Bets are open and as the hope of prize money rizes, the young boxers contemplate what it could mean for them and their families

Into the Okavango(en)

A passionate conservation biologist brings together a river bushman fearful of losing his past and a young scientist uncertain of her future on an epic, four-month expedition across three countries, through unexplored and dangerous landscapes, in order to save the Okavango Delta, one of our planet's last pristine wildernesses.

Québec...?(fr)

This short documentary film is a fascinating portrait of urban and rural Quebec in the late 1960s, as the province entered modernity. The collective work produced for the Quebec Ministry of Industry and Commerce calls on several major Quebec figures.

Beneath the Surface(fr)

Hoping to reconnect, three brothers embark on a fishing trip with their father, whose absence from their childhood has left them with lasting scars. For Stéphane, Jean-Pierre, Jérôme and Laurent, this is a chance to find some answers, and maybe even to make their peace with the past.

Ghost Town to Havana(en)

A rampant, street level story of mentorship and everyday heroism in tough circumstances. An inner city coach's son, estranged in his youth from his father, spends five years on ball fields in inner city Oakland and Havana, following the lives of two extraordinary youth baseball coaches, Roscoe in Oakland and Nicolas in Havana. The coaches meet on videotape and two years of red tape later, Coach Roscoe and nine Oakland players travel to Havana to play Coach Nicolas' team. For one week, the players and coaches eat, dance, swim, argue and play baseball together. But when the parent of an Oakland player is murdered back home, it brings back the inescapable reality and challenges of life in an American inner city.

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.

Evil Does Not Exist(ja)

Takumi and his daughter Hana live in Mizubiki Village, close to Tokyo. One day, the village inhabitants become aware of a plan to build a camping site near Takumi's house offering city residents a comfortable "escape" to nature.

Rodan(ja)

Mining engineer Shigeru investigates the disappearance and death of his fellow coworkers when prehistoric nymphs are discovered emerging from the mines. After an attack on the local village, Shigeru heads deeper into the mines only to make a more horrifying discovery in the form a prehistoric flying creature. Soon a second monster appears as the two converge in Fukuoka.

The Time to Live and the Time to Die(zh)

An autobiographical film based on Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien's memories of his youth growing up in Taiwan after emigrating from mainland China.

Dimensions of Dialogue(cs)

Three surreal depictions of failures of communication that occur on all levels of human society.

Living(ru)

In the second feature film by Russian director Vasily Sigarev, fate brings ordeals to characters that find themselves immersed in deep crisis; they must seek the strength to cope with adversity. In a remote and cold region of Russia, Galya, a middle-aged woman with a drinking problem, has been separated from her twin daughters and she wants them back. On the other hand, Grishka and Anton are a young couple who decide to get married, but right after the wedding their relationship is put to the test in a brutal way. While Artyom longs to see his missing father, but his mother objects. There is only one element that brings all of these characters together: misfortune.

'Til Madness Do Us Part(zh)

An insight into the everyday lives of 50 inmates of a mental institution in the Chinese province of Yunnan, who are there for killing someone, committing a crime against a public official, or have a developmental disability.

Aqua(xx)

A cat wakes up surrounded by water and must learn to survive.

Problemista(en)

Alejandro is an aspiring toy designer from El Salvador, struggling to bring his unusual ideas to life in New York City. As time on his work visa runs out, a job assisting an erratic art-world outcast becomes his only hope to stay in the country and realize his dream.

Oppenheimer(en)

The story of J. Robert Oppenheimer's role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II.

Conclave(en)

After the unexpected death of the Pope, Cardinal Lawrence is tasked with managing the covert and ancient ritual of electing a new one. Sequestered in the Vatican with the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders until the process is complete, Lawrence finds himself at the center of a conspiracy that could lead to its downfall.

Joker(en)

During the 1980s, a failed stand-up comedian is driven insane and turns to a life of crime and chaos in Gotham City while becoming an infamous psychopathic crime figure.

The Evil Dead(en)

In 1979, a group of college students find a Sumerian Book of the Dead in an old wilderness cabin they've rented for a weekend getaway.

L'Avventura(it)

Claudia and Anna join Anna's lover, Sandro, on a boat trip to a remote volcanic island. When Anna goes missing, a search is launched. In the meantime, Sandro and Claudia become involved in a romance despite Anna's disappearance, though the relationship suffers from guilt and tension.

Sing Sing(en)

Divine G, imprisoned at Sing Sing for a crime he didn't commit, finds purpose by acting in a theatre group alongside other incarcerated men in this story of resilience, humanity, and the transformative power of art.

Halloween III: Season of the Witch(en)

A terrified toy salesman is mysteriously attacked, and at the hospital, babbles and clutches the year's most popular Halloween costume, an eerie pumpkin mask. Suddenly, Doctor Daniel Challis finds himself thrust into a terrifying nightmare.

Another Round(da)

Four stagnant high school teachers decide to test out a theory that maintaining a constant level of intoxication will improve their overall lives.

Close(fr)

Two 13-year-old boys spend an idyllic summer together, but their connection is put to the test when they become the subject of speculation at school.

Death Wish(en)

A mild-mannered father is transformed into a killing machine after his family is torn apart by a violent act.