
24 Nov 2023

Against the Grain
A glimpse at how genre film-focused home video companies have taken the charge in preserving, restoring, and releasing so many works which otherwise might have been lost to time.
Apostles of Cinema follows Frank, DJ Black, and Rehema — three devoted film workers in Tanzania — as they reintroduce a classic piece of the country’s film history to their audiences of working class cinephiles. We join them, alongside Maangamizi: The Ancient One (2001), on a journey through the labyrinth of informal libraries, studios, and cinemas that exist to keep film and film culture alive. A testament to the profound cultural value of film when made truly accessible.
24 Nov 2023
A glimpse at how genre film-focused home video companies have taken the charge in preserving, restoring, and releasing so many works which otherwise might have been lost to time.
13 Feb 2017
Your War (I'm One Of You) chronicles the life and career of Chicago's Tim Kinsella, frontman of ever-shifting band Joan of Arc and '90's pioneers Cap'n Jazz. With appearances from Tim's friends, family, and admirers, we learn what has made his legacy so unique and enduring for more than 20 years.
01 Jan 2019
The passionate advocates of the ‘Cigar Box Guitar Revolution’ express their love of making unique instruments and the democratic, re-cycling ethos of the movement. Many are from the UK’s northern, post-industrial towns, recreating self-identity through hand-made guitars. Their emotional connection with their instruments creates a unique sound which is quite magical. A cinematic short, subsequently commissioned by the BBC as Cigar Box Blues. Festivals include: Woodstock, Nashville, Albuquerque (Honourable Mention)
01 Feb 1960
A man named Walt who has recently completed building a fallout shelter in his home, a project initiated due to the threat of nuclear war during the Cold War era. Walt demonstrates to his friends the multi-functionality of the shelter, which can also serve as a darkroom, an extra bedroom, or a safe space during tornadoes. He explains the construction process in detail, emphasizing the need for precise measurements, proper leveling, and the use of concrete blocks for radiation protection. The shelter includes a stock of essentials like a radio, batteries, and a fire extinguisher. Walt’s narrative is interspersed with advice on obtaining official bulletins for guidance and the importance of building shelters correctly. The film concludes with a message from the Director of the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization, advocating for the construction of family fallout shelters across America as a means of personal safety and national security in the nuclear age.
06 Apr 2024
Hacking at Leaves documents artist and hazmat-suit aficionado Johannes Grenzfurthner as he attempts to come to terms with the United States' colonial past, Navajo tribal history, and the hacker movement. The story hones in on a small tinker space in Durango, Colorado, that made significant contributions to worldwide COVID relief efforts. But things go awry when Uncle Sam interferes with the film's production.
12 Aug 2022
Why are we still able, today, to view images that were captured over 125 years ago? As we enter the digital age, audiovisual heritage seems to be a sure and obvious fact. However, much of cinema and our filmed history has been lost forever. Archivists, technicians and filmmakers from different parts of the world explain what audiovisual preservation is and why it is necessary. The documentary is a tribute to all these professionals and their important work.
03 Apr 2011
Among the pieces featured in Fragments are the final reel of John Ford's The Village Blacksmith (1922) and a glimpse at Emil Jannings in The Way of All Flesh (1927), the only Oscar®-winning performance in a lost film. Fragments also features clips from such lost films as Cleopatra (1917), starring Theda Bara; The Miracle Man (1919), with Lon Chaney; He Comes Up Smiling (1918), starring Douglas Fairbanks; an early lost sound film, Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929), filmed in early Technicolor, and the only color footage of silent star Clara Bow, Red Hair (1928). The program is rounded out with interviews of film preservationists involved in identifying and restoring these films. Also featured is a new interview with Diana Serra Cary, best known as "Baby Peggy", one of the major American child stars of the silent era, who discusses one of the featured fragments, Darling of New York (1923).
13 Feb 2010
Argentinian film historians find a complete print of Fritz Lang's “Metropolis” (1927) at Buenos Aires Film Museum and take it to Germany for its restoration.
29 Nov 2018
When a group of young DIY artists in Santa Fe can’t find a door into the art world, they blow open an entirely new portal with their grit, passion, and tenacity. Within just a few short years – and with a little help from George R.R. Martin – this group called Meow Wolf ultimately hits a cultural nerve and garners massive, unexpected success with their exhibit, House of Eternal Return.
24 Jul 1943
This John Nesbitt's Passing Parade series short highlights the film preservation efforts of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Several scenes from early newsreels are shown.
25 Feb 2023
Thierno Souleymane Diallo sets out with his camera in search of the birth of filmmaking in Guinea. Charming and determined, he traces his country’s film heritage and history and reveals the importance of film archives.
31 Dec 2021
A comprehensive and fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the restoration process of restoring 3-strip Cinerama for the 1962 film "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm".
12 Nov 2015
In late eighties, in Ceausescu's Romania, a black market VHS bootlegger and a courageous female translator brought the magic of Western films to the Romanian people and sowed the seeds of a revolution.
31 Oct 1942
In this John Nesbitt's Passing Parade short, a look is taken at the problems of film preservation efforts in the 1930s and early 1940s.
01 Jan 2001
Friends Forever (the band) never plays inside any rock clubs. Instead, they play inside their van outside the club to stunned bystanders. Nate (drums), Josh (guitar), Jen (their lighting girl) and three dogs don't think twice about travelling hundreds of miles across the country to play one 15-minute show in a loading zone. Friends Forever (the documentary) captures their smoke-spewing, generator-powered rock world, and the tour that has them crisscrossing the U.S. in search of the perfect parking spot. No audience is too small, or too baffled, to skimp on the performance when you're on "a mission to save rock."
22 Jan 2011
Tells the history and importance of The National Film Registry, a roll call of American cinema treasures that reflects the diversity of film, and indeed the American experience itself.
06 Jun 2024
This documentary short-film follows the story of The White Bus Cinema based in Southend-on-Sea. They keep the process of projecting real celluloid film alive by showing films from their archive of over 3,000 films, ranging from Super 8, 16mm, and 35mm prints. The film argues why it's important to continue the shooting and projection process of film in our current age of digital shooting and projection in modern Hollywood, amidst the chaos of studios removing films from their streaming services.
05 Apr 1960
On the first hot day of summer, an old farmer goes fishing just as he has done for many years on the West Branch of the Delaware River. A young boy, his frequent fishing companion, eagerly takes him to see the first giant bulldozers, which are to begin construction on the Cannonsville Reservoir. In order to provide more water for the cities, the vast project will flood the valley. The old man goes to the general store and walks the length of the valley to talk about his concerns, but most people do not support him. The young people of the valley celebrate at a barn dance. The old man resists eviction with his unloaded flintlock. The next day, he watches as the houses and farms are burned to clear the way. His friend, the fiddler, picks him up and takes him and his few belongings away.
30 Jun 2015
A documentary on Cosme Alves Netto (1937-1996), former head of the Cinematheque of the Museum of Modern Arts at Rio de Janeiro.
26 Jun 2012
Indian documentary about Indian film history and P. K. Nair, the founder of the National Film Archive of India and guardian of Indian cinema. He built the archive can by can in a country where the archiving of cinema was considered unimportant.