State of Exception

Estado de Excepção is a documentary about CITAC (Coimbra Theater Initiation Circle), a university theater group, revealing history since it was constituted in 1956 until the aftermath of the 1974 revolution. It is the history of the theater group university and, through it, the history of theater in Portugal, revealing two remarkable decades of the History of Portugal. Through the Academy of Coimbra, the documentary reproduces student life, the position of women in society, and the change in mentalities of being and being in the world. It reproduces the existing censorship and the fight against the dictatorship, the resistance to an exhausted regime, as well as the emerging contradictions of the democratic revolution. CITAC has a heritage of 50 years of experience in Coimbra. It carries with it the possibility of the theatrical and civic formation of thinking bodies, constituting a proper ball of a possible model, generation by generation, between studies, theater, and social drama.

Mondongo II: Portrait of Mondongo

“This is a film about the end of a friendship. It wasn’t meant to be. Fifteen years ago, they painted my portrait.” (Mariano Llinás)

PHOENIX

They're All Painted If You Actually Look

An observational documentary following Steven Brooke and how the solitude of painting impacts his life and artwork.

The Big Wheel

During the 1980 exhibition of Burden's monumental kinetic sculpture The Big Wheel at Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York, Burden and Feldman were interviewed by art critic Willoughby Sharp. Burden articulates the process of creating The Big Wheel, a 6,000-pound, spinning cast-iron flywheel that is initially powered by a motorcycle, and discusses its relation to his earlier performance pieces and sculptural works. Addressing his motivations and the meaning of this potentially dangerous mechanical art object, Burden discusses such topics as the role of the artist in the industrial world, "personal insanity and mass insanity," and "man's propensity towards violence."

Bernini

A documentary about Gian Lorenzo Bernini, creator of the Baroque sculptural style. It shows more than 60 masterpieces exhibited in Villa Borghese, Rome. These prestigious masterpieces are explained and analyzed in detail.

Ugly Beauty

Documentary in which art critic Waldemar Januszczak argues that beauty is still to be found in modern art, despite several recent books claiming the contrary.

Mark of the Hand

Guyanese painter Aubrey Williams (1926-1990) returns to his homeland on a “journey to the source of his inspiration” in this vivid Arts Council documentary, filmed towards the end of his life. The title comes from the indigenous Arawak word ‘timehri’ - the mark of the hand of man - which Williams equates to art itself. Timehri was also then the name of the international airport at Georgetown, Guyana's capital, where Williams stops off to restore an earlier mural. The film offers a rare insight into life beyond Georgetown, what Williams calls “the real Guyana.” Before moving to England in 1952 he had been sent to work on a sugar plantation in the jungle; this is his first chance to revisit the region and the Warao Indians - formative influences on his work - in four decades. Challenging the ill-treatment of indigenous Guyanese, Williams explored the potential of art to change attitudes. By venturing beyond his British studio, this film puts his work into vibrant context.

The Business of Thought: A Recorded History of Artists Space

An oral history of Artists Space, the legendary New York artists organization. Told through the voices of the artists, critics and curators who formed it, the film is narrated by voiceover culled from 30 hours of archival cassette tape interviews over a 45 year period. Artists such as Laurie Anderson, Mike Kelley, Hito Steyerl and David Wojnarowicz walk us through the decades. A formally-experimental and raucously-told chronology composed of rare archival documentation, The Business of Thought... is a reminder of the radical potential of the arts and the importance of collective, cultural spaces.

The Rembrandt Association, an exceptional year

Documentary about the Rembrandt Association. In the 19th century, a lot of Dutch art disappeared abroad, before the Rembrandt Association stood up in 1883 to put a stop to it. Today, 140 years later, the Association still helps determine what art lovers see in Dutch museums. In their crowning year, the Association faces a difficult choice: will they make the largest contribution in their history to the purchase of Rembrandt's De Vaandeldrager? The amount of 175 million needed for the painting is causing discussion. Is this money well spent?

Cezanne

A film record of an exhibition of the late work of Paul Cezanne, organized by The Museum of Modern Art and the Reunion des Musees Nationaux in Paris. The camera moves across details of paintings, as well as details of Cezanne’s studio, providing an intimage, close-up view of the artist’s work. The narration is provided by Cezanne’s own words, taken directly from records of correspondence. 22nd Annual San Francisco International Film Festival Participation- Communication Competition, 1978.

Cartoneras

Cartoneras is a documentary that grapples with Latin America’s urban realities, and the cardboard publishing movement that has emerged from these in the 21st century. Reflecting on the different contexts that propelled this form of community publishing, like Argentina’s 2001 economic crisis, the independent art scene, and the movements which formed around waste-pickers, the film’s narrative is developed through conversations with important actors from the cartonera world.

Ningwasum

Ningwasum follows two time travellers Miksam and Mingsoma, played by Subin Limbu and Shanta Nepali respectively, in the Himalayas weaving indigenous folk stories, culture, climate change and science fiction.

Vízie z Inferna-umenie proti zabúdaniu

A Tour of the Louvre

The tumultuous history of the Louvre Museum, founded in 1793, and its fabulous art collections, an immortal testimony to the destiny of France and all of Europe.

FIGHT until the snow melts

The film is a documentary record of the passed stage of the life of the creative association "Buryatsky Underground" ("BATO") for 6 years of its existence.