Empire

The Pax Americana takes care on our peace, ensures our comfort, guarantees our prosperity… An idyllic postcard of the new Empire.

The Making of 'The Thing'

October in Madrid

Initially a made-to-order documentary on Spain, the film becomes an open-ended work-in-the-making about the creative process. “Settling in the Spanish capital to make a documentary, Hanoun sketches out for us the different steps involved in making a film. The author turns his hesitations, his doubts and difficult working conditions into the constituents of his work”. (Raphaël Bassan)

Thirty Million Letters

Thirty Million Letters is a 1963 short documentary film directed by James Ritchie and made by British Transport Films. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short.

Nine from Little Rock

The Arkansas school integration crisis and the changes wrought in subsequent years. This film profiles the lives of the nine African-American students who integrated Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas, during the fall of 1957. The film documents the perspective of Jefferson Thomas and his fellow students seven years after their historic achievement. Central to this story is their quiet but brave entrance into Little Rock High, escorted by armed troops under the intense pressure of the on looking crowd. We learn first hand their impressions of the past and present and their hopes for the future. Their selfless heroism broke the integration crisis and pioneered a new era. This film went on to win an Academy Award® for Best Documentary Short in 1964.

Eskimo Artist: Kenojuak

This documentary shows how an Inuit artist's drawings are transferred to stone, printed and sold. Kenojuak Ashevak became the first woman involved with the printmaking co-operative in Cape Dorset. This film was nominated for the 1963 Documentary Short Subject Oscar.

Snow

Comprising train and track footage quickly shot just before a heavy winter's snowfall was melting, the multi-award-winning classic that emerged from the cutting-room compresses British Rail's dedication to blizzard-battling into a thrilling eight-minute montage cut to music. Tough-as-boots workers struggling to keep the line clear are counterpointed with passengers' buffet-car comforts.

Jenny is a Good Thing

Jenny is a Good Thing is a 1969 American short documentary film about children and poverty, directed by Joan Horvath. Produced by Project Head Start, it shows the importance of good nutrition for underprivileged nursery school children. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short.

Shoot Me

The Iranian filmmaker Narges Kalhor, daughter of a former advisor of Ahmadinejad's, has been living in exile in Germany for four years. When she hears that the fellow Iranian rapper Shahin Najafi, who is also living in exile in Germany, faces death threats and has to hide because of one of his songs, she doesn't hesitate and has to find him. On her search she encounters fear everywhere. Narges Kalhor has to face her inconvenient memories of suppression, hatred and anger for her past in Iran.

No Woman Born

A first visit to South Africa seems to invite observation of the extremes or of folklore in society, but Tan Chui Mui initially chose a very different road. She intended to make a short science fiction film and not to focus on the occasionally grim reality of today's South Africa. With the help of local film makers, she set off in Durban looking for suitable locations and four actors who wanted to work on her film (preferably for free). With the locations, she also found her story. She used the futuristic architecture of the football stadium being built - designed by the German bureau GMP Architects - not only as background for her film No Woman Born, but she also turned the anonymous labourers into characters in her film. Tan discovered the talents of the Zulu actor and singer Muzi Mhlanga, who developed during the shooting into a very special man of the future.

Grandma Moses

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

Gadgets Galore

This Warner Bros. short reviews in an often humorous way the impact of the automobile on the United States. By 1900, the horseless carriage was beginning to have an impact. Early adopters were often the object of attention by large curious crowds. There were many car manufacturers and the quality of their product varied considerably. Traffic jams, pollution and automobile racing were only a few of the outcomes.

3rd Ave. El

Impressionistic picture of the Third Avenue Elevated Railway in Manhattan, New York City, before it was demolished. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2010.

Please Hold

A young man’s life is suddenly and inexplicably derailed, as he finds himself at the mercy of automated ‘justice’.

Mourn

A grief counselor is visited by a very disturbed man.

Cradle of Genius

Longtime playwrights and performers of the Abbey Theatre share colourful reminiscences of the national institution founded by W.B. Yeats and Lady Gregory in 1904. Oscar Nominee: Best Documentary Short