essentia(2022)

Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream(en)

From 1970-1977, six low budget films shown at midnight transformed the way we make and watch films.

Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara(hi)

Once known for his intellectual prowess, a retired professor (Anupam Kher) begins experiencing memory gaps and periods of forgetfulness. But while he tries to laugh it off, it soon becomes clear that the symptoms are a sign of a more serious illness, prompting his grown daughter (Urmila Matondkar) to move in as his caretaker. Meanwhile, as his mind regresses, he recalls a traumatic childhood memory involving the death of Mahatma Gandhi.

Liberation: Direction of the Main Blow(ru)

This five part epic war drama gives a dramatized detailed account of Soviet Union's war against Nazi Germany during world war two. Each of the five parts represents a separate major eastern front campaign.

Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya?(hi)

Dr Samir is an absolute charmer when it comes to women, but he poses as a married man to keep them at bay. Love becomes a three-ring-circus for him after he ends up tangled in his web of lies with his girlfriend Sonia and pretend wife Naina.

Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles(fr)

A lonely widowed housewife does her daily chores and takes care of her apartment where she lives with her teenage son, and turns the occasional trick to make ends meet. Slowly, her ritualized daily routines begin to fall apart.

Death Wish 4: The Crackdown(en)

After the death of his girlfriend's daughter from a drug overdose, Paul Kersey takes on the local drug cartel.

Re-re-repeat(en)

Re-re-repeat A rhythmic dialogue between sound and image: exploring space, corporeal phenomenology and chance outcomes, which alter perceptions of time and memory.

Soul Kitchen(de)

In Hamburg, German-Greek chef Zinos unknowingly disturbs the peace in his locals-only restaurant by hiring a more talented chef.

Sullivan's Travels(en)

Successful movie director John L. Sullivan, convinced he won't be able to film his ambitious masterpiece until he has suffered, dons a hobo disguise and sets off on a journey, aiming to "know trouble" first-hand. When all he finds is a train ride back to Hollywood and a beautiful blonde companion, he redoubles his efforts, managing to land himself in more trouble than he bargained for when he loses his memory and ends up a prisoner on a chain gang.

All We Imagine as Light(ml)

In Mumbai, Nurse Prabha's routine is troubled when she receives an unexpected gift from her estranged husband. Her younger roommate, Anu, tries in vain to find a spot in the city to be intimate with her boyfriend. A trip to a beach town allows them to find a space for their desires to manifest.

Meet John Doe(en)

As a parting shot, fired reporter Ann Mitchell prints a fake letter from unemployed "John Doe," who threatens suicide in protest of social ills. The paper is forced to rehire Ann and hires John Willoughby to impersonate "Doe." Ann and her bosses cynically milk the story for all it's worth, until the made-up "John Doe" philosophy starts a whole political movement.

The Brutalist(en)

When a visionary architect and his wife flee post-war Europe in 1947 to rebuild their legacy and witness the birth of modern United States, their lives are changed forever by a mysterious, wealthy client.

State and Main(en)

A movie crew invades a small town whose residents are all too ready to give up their values for showbiz glitz.

Shall We Dance(en)

Ballet star Petrov arranges to cross the Atlantic aboard the same ship as the dancer and musical star he's fallen for but barely knows. By the time the ocean liner reaches New York, a little white lie has churned through the rumour mill and turned into a hot gossip item—that the two celebrities are secretly married.

Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu(hi)

Rahul and Riana meet each other for the first time, get drunk, and awake the next morning to find that they have gotten legally married to each other.

I'm Still Here(pt)

In 1971, military dictatorship in Brazil reaches its height. The Paiva family — Rubens, Eunice, and their five children — live in a beachside house in Rio, open to all their friends. One day, Rubens is taken for questioning and does not return.

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).

Shadow of a Doubt(en)

Just when Charlie is feeling especially frustrated by the lack of excitement in her small town in California, she receives wonderful news: Her uncle and namesake, Charlie, is coming to visit. However, as secrets about him come to the fore, her admiration turns into suspicion.

The Hills Have Eyes Part 2(en)

A motocross team on their way to trial a new super-fuel head out across the desert lead by Rachel, who, unbeknownst to the rest of the group, is a survivor of the cannibal clan which menaced the Carter family several years before.

Scent of a Woman(it)

An army cadet accompanies an irascible, blind captain on a week-long trip from Turin to Naples.

It's Not Me(fr)

This free-form film is a self-portrait, which revisits more than 40 years of the author’s filmography and questions the major stations of his life, while capturing the political tremors of the time.

Paranoid Park(en)

A teenage skateboarder becomes suspected of being connected with a security guard who suffered a brutal death in a skate park called "Paranoid Park".

The Scary Movie(en)

Martina and Sonja, cross-dress in vampire capes and werewolf claws, re-enacting familiar horror tropes. A corresponding soundtrack of stock screams and "scary" music suggests that the girls' toying with gender roles and power dynamics may have dire consequences.

Presence(en)

A couple and their children move into a seemingly normal suburban home. When strange events occur, they begin to believe there is something else in the house with them. The presence is about to disrupt their lives in unimaginable ways.

Hummingbird(es)

Could film gelatin, a 16mm film camera, 3 lenses and film developing chemistry experimentation act as messengers between the spirit and the physical world? a one day trip to the remote town of Panguipulli (Chile) seeks to explore possibilities and to also expand on the power of audio frequencies as a healing instrument. A manifestation of the hummingbird movement? A connection between mind, landscape, sound, latent image? A replication of Rukapillan volcano’s intermittent flows of magma through fissures on the earth’s surface? -Colibri- erupts 16mm single frame experiments & bursts smoke and sonic healing vibrations

Goose Chase(en)

Students turn the world upside down in their quest to find Krit, a missing young boy. They embark on a challenging journey filled with unexpected twists of fate and high-stakes bets.

Time Traveling Through Time(en)

A wannabe film director becomes embroiled in a battle against the laws of time and space when his attempts to recreate the iconic black and white, photograph-only, time travel film, La Jetée, spiral out of control.

Tetralogía de las Alucinaciones(es)

b.2402(xx)

The film is about the deceleration of motion in linear form and speed, establishing a connection between space and love. It ends with high-contrast photos with increasingly drastic color changes. This short film, inspired by Brakhage's Stellar film, was created by manipulating 1750 space photos in Photoshop along with grotesque paintings. Some frames contain black paintings by Francisco Goya, grotesque drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, grotesque engravings by William Blake. In order to refer to Brakhage's poetic style and understanding of storytelling in experimental cinema, two poems by Frank O'Hara and Kenneth Koch are placed in the beginning and end of the film.

Deserted by the Masses(en)

Social media corrupts the mind of a young University student--but can he escape the psychological torment of alienation?

All about clandestine girl.(nl)

Inland Empire(en)

As a Hollywood actress begins to adopt the persona of her character in a film, her world becomes nightmarish and surreal.

Mágoa das Flores(pt)

Experimental college short film. Two servants plan and execute the coronation of a delicate and machiavellian entity until sunset.

To My Sister(en)

This is a poetic short film I made with Chloe Hall for a 12 week final major project where we adapted the poem my Forough Farrokhzad. This short film is about the confinement of women in Iran and the yearning for liberation in a patriarchal society. A tapestry of visual metaphors and poetic narration intertwine, illustrating the silent yet fervent struggle or Iranian women.

Growing Dimmer(en)

The light's in a student's room begin to shut off around him. He must escape the room before he is swallowed by darkness.

Night/Time(en)

A woman experiences past, present, and future through a nightmare.

Blue Crush Angels(en)

A lonely boy starts an online relationship with a girl during lockdown. One day she vanishes and as the days go by the line between the digital and the real starts to blur.

Metamorfosi(it)

Metamorphosis is a real ballet dance on the rocks, interpreted by a great climber, Patrick Berhault, and set in the picturesque countryside of Cote d'Azur and the Lingurian coast. Berhault's evolutions, in the sea, in the grottoes, on the rocks and precipices, are exceedingly difficult but they are chiefly performed to give the movement an aesthetic value. Matemorphosis is the story of a cycle without words, narrated with gestures and music. The climber Monique Dalmasso also partecipates in the film.

Guava Express(en)

A "hero" steps out for work on a rainy Monday with a red umbrella, unaware he's the star of a cosmic show. Rain falls, thoughts swirl, and reality bends. Is this just another day, or the beginning of something out of normalcy?

Slipped Grasp(en)

Memories trip themselves on threading details, looped my embellishment and deterioration until their separate origins are fused together into a sense. Inaccurate by recollection, reestablished through the abstraction of their obsession- reaching a new understanding through the slipping of their grasp.