Flat Earth (2007, 22 MB, 7:08 min.)
“Flat Earth is a desktop documentary, which takes the viewer on
a seven minute trip around the world so that we encounter a series
of fragments taken from real peoples’ blogs. These fragments are
knitted together to form a kind of story or singular narrative.”
from Thomson & Craighead.
Trailer for LOOK, the movie, which is composed
entirely of surveillance camera footage.
LOOK asks (and attempts to answer) questions about
security versus privacy, highly relevant in modern,
legitimately paranoid times.
Are you always alone when you think you are?
Terra Nova: The Antarctic Suite (excerpt) (2008, 31 MB, 5:36 min.)
‘A look into the creative process of the making of DJ Spooky
Eyes on the Fair Use of the Prize (2006, 20.9MB, 2:19)
Another important, striking piece from the
Media That Matters Film Festival 6.
The filmmaker, Jacob Caggiano, is a young man who I
believe is even younger than me, and according to him,
the whole short film came together at the last minute.
I think this is a beautiful effort.
Breaking the Rules (2007, 8.7MB, 2 min.)
‘..I thought it might be interesting to have one episode devoted to breaking the rules.
This was a fun one for us’.
Some more DV tutorials – here.
From Izzy Video.
Asparagus! (A Stalk-umentary) – (2006, 65.8MB, 6:05)
From the excellent Media That Matters, powered by Arts Engine,
a short film from the Media Matters Film Festival 6.
Submissions are soon due for the 8th annual online festival.
Since I saw much of 6 on the big screen last year,
I’m reposting some of the most striking pieces.
All pieces are made by youth or other independent producers,
all under eight minutes.
This stalkumentary is also a 72-minute documentary,
cut down here to reach a wider audience.
Stories like these make so much sense to me,
being from a similar area, similar background.
Poignantly done, this is a lovely piece.
I also happen to really like asparagus.
Body of War (2007, 16.8MB, 2:30)
Trailer for the forthcoming documentary about
paralyzed Iraqi veteran Tomas Young’s fight to tell
the truth about the war.
Sad and informative, not to be missed.
Produced by Ellen Spiro and Phil Donahue,
original music by Eddie Vedder.
Evolution of Communication (2006, 15MB, 6:50 min.)
“Adobe Systems commissioned eMotion studios to create a film depicting the ‘Evolution of Communication’.
Various luminaries such as Doug Englebart (inventor of the mouse) and Martin Cooper
(inventor of the cell phone) helped tell the story of how communication has changed
and transformed over the past two decades. The film supported Adobe’s CEO Bruce Chizen
in a recent keynote address.
The production follows the arc of human communication from the moment when we are able
to discern shapes and sounds to the point of complex interactions as adults. The story
leads to a hint of where we are heading in the future, and to Adobe’s commitment to
facilitate personal and human communication and connection.”
From eMotion studios
Trailer for ,
a documentary about Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping,
produced by Morgan Spurlock.
I’m not convinced that Spurlock is the man to spread a good message,
but I sure would go to any church where Rev. Billy showed up.
DRIVE THE DEMONS OUT OF THOSE CASH REGISTERS!!
Volcano (2006, 7.6MB, 54 sec.)
Two beautiful & expressive poems in sign language.
The first is in British sign language
& comes from the deaf arts forum in Edinburgh,
Scotland. There are subtitles for the hearing.
The second is in American Sign Language & is written &
performed by Ellie, a sixth grader at the Metro deaf school in St Paul.
No translation for this one, so non signers should bear
the title in mind & enjoy the volcanic performance.
The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema -Trailer (2007, 8.97MB, 1:06 min.)
Slavoj Žižek, philosophy’s PT Barnum, struts his stuff
con shed-loads of brio in this Sophie Fiennes directed opus.
Doesn’t seem to be much genuinely new (the terrible fate of
the celebrity academic being to be lionised for what we already
know they’re going to do/say) but still vastly entertaining.
Readings from ‘Health Proxy’ (2007, 32.7MB, 8:19 min.)
So..declaration of interest..Robert Roth is a friend of mine & I get mentioned in the book.
Nonetheless, if he was my worst enemy, I’d still say watch this, then .
Health Proxy is pretty much sui generis..the only comparisons I can think of being those fragmentary, diaristic things in the Japanese tradition:The Pillow Book or Essays in Idleness.
Of course Kenko & Sei Shonagon never wrote about baseball or AIDS,
nor were they animated by the massively warm oppositional & radical spirit we find here.
The video is a nice job too – not only is it elegantly made, but Langager and Smolarski
pass the documentary acid test of honouring their subject matter whilst still creating
something with a palpable sense of their authorship.
Antinormalizer (2007, 83.9MB, 9:58 min)
This has quite a complex history, which is explained
better in the video than I could do here.
My nose twitched when I saw it posted on the
Rhizome list by Brett Stalbaum.
Anything associated with him is worth checking out
as witness the various excellent things he’s made with
a hiking theme ( & hiking theme so fails to do justice to the peculiarity
& wonder of them).
Anyway this one is a big team thing, students and staff from
two courses at Unviersity of California San Diego &
it’s entertaining & thought provoking & it feels like
a 2007, modern tech twist on 1968’s
‘Sous les pavés, la plage!’.
‘This is a cartoon representation of the process
used to link amino acids to make a protein.’
Flavoprotein (2006, 1.3MB, 4 sec loop)
‘This is a model of one of the proteins used
in the electron transport chain. Basically, where
we get most of our energy to survive as living organisms.’
Bilayer (2006, 3.3MB, 3 sec loop)
‘This is the general structure of our cell membranes.’
Beautiful animations -teaching materials- of chemical
processes & structures by Professor James K. Hardy
of the University of Akron. Thanks to Professor Hardy for
the accompanying explanations of what each animation
actually represents.
The whole series is a delight.
Return to Auschwitz – clip (1982, 1.95MB, 18 secs)
A tiny fragment today, but oh what a fragment.
An extract from an Italian television documentary
about a visit to the site of the Auschwitz extermination camp,
where he had previously been incarcerated for a year,
by the great Italian writer Primo Levi, who died 20 years ago this last April.
Levi wrote the indispensable memoir of the Holocaust,
‘If This is a Man’ ( in the US called ‘Survival in Auschwitz’).
Apparently this documentary used to be available on the net in its entirety.
If anyone can point us to a copy we’ll post the whole thing.
This tiny clip is nonetheless a key one. NEVER AGAIN!
Rudy Adler piece on the excellent gaaagle.com,
protesting Google’s spineless policy of assisting
Chinese government censorship.
Check out this site, there’s some great stuff there.
Even better, make a short & relevant movie & send it in.
Now.
Tevye – clip (1939, 32.1MB, 1:27 min)
Prior to WW2 there were between 10 & 13 million speakers
of Yiddish. Today there are probably less than 2 million.
Here is an image of a lost world, the flowering of Yiddish culture
in the years of the twentieth century before the Holocaust.
This is a clip from the 1939 film Tevye by Maurice Schwartz based on
the work of the great Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem
The film has recently been restored and is available for .
VlogHistory1 (2007, 15.5MB, 4:07 min.)
from the excellent Richard Show.
What I Can Say About Gordon Parks (2006, 2.9MB, 2:28 min.)
Gordon Parks passed away last year on March 7 2006.
He was a gifted and versatile artist & his work will continue
to provide inspiration for generations to come.
By Mica Scalin.
Depth of Field (2005, 25.9MB, 4:39 min.)
Hard and Soft Light (2005, 16.4MB, 4:37 min.)
Cutting (2006, 22.7MB, 4:15 min.)
Izzy is Israel Hyman, a weekend videographer from Mesa, Arizona.
His short educational tutorials are great and illustrate simple
techniques for shooting better DV.
japanese tradition sushi (2003, 30MB, 8:08 min.)
from – del.icio.us
Another Rocket in Baghdad (10th October 2006, 19.4MB, 4:06 min)
Everyone’s a target (8th Jan 2007, 1:51 min, 7.3MB)
Quite extraordinary stuff from the Alive in Baghdad vlog.
Check out the complete video archive on the site, where
you can also donate to help sustain this important project.
