Letter to the Engineer(2011)

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.

The Paradox of Norval Morrisseau(en)

In this revealing study of Norval Morrisseau, filmed as he works among the lakes and woodlands of his ancestors, we see a remarkable Indigenous artist who emerged from a life of obscurity in the North American bush to become one of Canada's most renowned painters. Morrisseau the man is much like his paintings: vital and passionate, torn between his Ojibway heritage and the influences of the white man's world.

La Arquitectura Del Crimen(es)

The Eagles of Carthage(fr)

February 14, 2004, Radès Olympic Stadium, Tunis. The whole nation stands behind The Eagles of Carthage in the Africa Cup Final against Morocco. After many defeats they are just one step away from glory. Fifteen years after the match, Tunisians still recall the emotion of a day that deeply affected the History of the country.

No Father, No Mother(pt)

Three young people circulate in different mobility categories. The newly emancipated city goes through its everyday experiences.

Name of the Game(no)

One of Norway's most promising politicians is close to becoming the next prime minister, until scandalous stories of his past surface in the wake of the #MeToo movement. Director Håvard Bustnes sets out to make a film about him, but over time, he himself gets more and more drawn into Giske's publicity campaign.

How I'm Goin' Public(en)

A single-channel, nonlinear performance video and diegetic sounds. Exploring the ground of the reenactments of intimacy and the public display of these reenactments through video projections.

Samuel de Champlain: Québec 1603(fr)

Footage of Québec City locations and the artwork of well-known Quebec animator Frédéric Back are used to tell the tale of Champlain’s life in New France – from his first explorations and settlement to his death in 1635.

The Game(de)

Short documentary presents a high-tension soccer match from the perspective of an ever-vigilant referee.

White Death(es)

Impressionist portrait of a landscape forged by tragedy. A ghostly wanderer among the vestiges of a story where 44 young soldiers and a sergeant were pushed to their deaths

We Should Have Coffee Sometime(en)

We Should Have Coffee Sometime is a four-minute animated documentary exploring a loss of faith. The film begins with a meditation on the end of a relationship. About one minute later it is revealed that the relationship is not between friends or romantic partners but between co-director Maile Martinez and God. To complement and clarify the narration, the project employs a variety of animation styles.

Grandma Moses(en)

1950 short film portrait of the octogenarian folk artist. Nominated for an Oscar in the category "Best Short Subject, One-reel".

War on War(ar)

The camera wanders through streets standing witness to a war that has destroyed a city and an entire nation. Bagdadi goes to war against the Lebanese civil war, exploring different locations and situations in a country faced with its own demise. The poetic text raises questions of life and death through contrasting images of violent death and the will to live.

Free Child(en)

From leaving Egypt 10 years ago, to almost dying a month ago in a car accident. This film is about the journey in between and the massive role the internet played in the life of prominent Youtuber and Yes Theory co-founder Ammar Kandil.

Kid City(en)

Documentarian Jon Boorstin follows architect Frank Gehry and his sister, Doreen Gehry Nelson, as they attempt a new method of teaching elementary school children in Los Angeles. With funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the siblings work together on a pilot program of “design-based learning” that would restructure the typical classroom curriculum, replacing rote math or civics lessons with an imaginary city designed and built entirely by the students themselves. Restored in 2018 by the Academy Film Archive.

People Who Make Things(en)

A portrait of three Los Angeles area residents who create things with their hands. Angelo Austin decorates wedding cakes; Dean Jeffries designs, manufactures, and paints custom cars; and Pamela Weir-Quiton creates wooden dolls. Restored by the Academy Film Archive in 2016.

Small trades in Paris(fr)

Grinders, rag-men, China menders, mattress carders are among those small trades of yesteryear that have disappeared from our sight and fallen into oblivion. But way back in 1931 they were far from extinct and still populated and livened up the streets from dawn till dusk. The tenderness of Pierre Chenal look at them is only accentuated by the nostalgia experienced by today's viewer.

i ran from it and was still in it(en)

I ran from it and was still in it poetically interweaves personal family memories with original and found footage to offer a more complex portrait of familial loss and separation. Kae wades through deep emotions surrounding the death of his father and the sudden relocation of his children, repurposing intimate family scenes from his personal archive by pairing them with online media from a variety of sources to explore how the autobiographical model can potentially extend beyond the personal.

Stravinsky(en)

This documentary is an informal portrait of the great modern composer Igor Stravinsky. Proudly American, though still very much an Old World figure with a long and alert memory for people and events in music, literature and art, Stravinsky is depicted here conducting the CBC Symphony Orchestra in a recording of his Symphony of Psalms.

Man Yuk: A Portrait of Maggie Cheung(xx)

Experimental short made by Olivier Assayas for Fondation of Contemporary Art and starring Maggie Cheung.