
17 Mar 1979

Asparagus
A symbolic reflection on issues of female sexuality, art and identity constructs.
The surviving print of Mules and Gob Talk (the original introduction is missing) begins with spectacular vistas of Yellowstone National Park and majestic herds of buffalo (“a snooty lot” in the intertitles) and ends with “wild” deer being fed by tourists and foraging in garbage cans. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with the National Film Preservation Foundation, New Zealand Project, in 2012.

17 Mar 1979

A symbolic reflection on issues of female sexuality, art and identity constructs.

20 May 1920

A stranger (Leo Willis) turns out to be a revenue agent and Texas' brother, Tom, turns him out. But when a gang of moonshiners captures the stranger, Texas takes matters into her own hands. There is a climactic shootout between the moonshiners and the "revenoo" agents, during which Texas is wounded. When the smoke settles, the agent proposes to his guardian angel and she accepts. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2011.

19 Sep 1975

This Oscar-winning documentary tells the story behind Japanese daredevil Yuichiro Miura's 1970 effort to ski down the world's tallest mountain.

23 Jan 1977

This film documents the coal miners' strike against the Brookside Mine of the Eastover Mining Company in Harlan County, Kentucky in June, 1973. Eastover's refusal to sign a contract (when the miners joined with the United Mine Workers of America) led to the strike, which lasted more than a year and included violent battles between gun-toting company thugs/scabs and the picketing miners and their supportive women-folk. Director Barbara Kopple puts the strike into perspective by giving us some background on the historical plight of the miners and some history of the UMWA. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with New York Women in Film & Television in 2004.

24 Jul 1972

Part documentary, part expose, this film follows one-time child evangelist Marjoe Gortner on the "church tent" Revivalist circuit, commenting on the showmanship of Evangelism and "the religion business", prior to the start of "televangelism". Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2005.

07 Oct 1998

Raymond Joshua, a young black performance poet, is arrested and imprisoned for a petty marijuana charge in a Washington, D.C. jail. Although the confining prison walls do little to shield him from danger, it is within those walls that Raymond establishes his identity, strength, and voice and meets a prison gang leader and a prison writing teacher, Lauren Bell. Bell inspires Raymond to use the power of creative expression to free himself from the struggles and demise of the Black male as another victim of the judicial system.

17 Apr 1964

In 1870s India, Charulata is an isolated, artistically inclined woman who sees little of her busy journalist husband, Bhupati. Realizing that his wife is alienated and unhappy, he convinces his cousin, Amal, to spend time with Charulata and nourish her creative impulses. Amal is a fledgling poet himself, and he and Charulata bond over their shared love of art.

01 Jan 1960

Les Blank's first student film, made while at USC, starring Gail Blank, Pieter Van Deusen and Les himself. This short pays homage to Ingmar Bergman's Seventh Seal, the film that inspired Blank to become a filmmaker. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2013.

01 Jan 1944

Documentary examining the steel industry in Youngstown, Ohio during World War II. Focuses on steel production, including the smelting process, slagging and the blast furnace. Workers reflect upon their lives and the importance of their jobs. Emphasizes the importance of teamwork in the mills and on the plant's labor relations committee to help win the war. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.

24 Aug 1963

Follows a crusading lawyer as he embarks on a campaign to save an African-American man, Paul Crump, from the electric chair. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation in 2007.

13 Jun 1976

Regrettably, the labour of projectionists is usually only considered by the audience when they ‘screw up’. This film offers an alternative opportunity. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2014.

09 Nov 1971

A truly major work, I Don’t Know observes the relationship between a lesbian and a transgender person who prefers to be identified somewhere in between male and female, in an expression of personal ambiguity suggested by the film’s title. This nonfiction film – an unusual, partly staged work of semi-verité – is the first of Spheeris’s films to fully embrace what would become her characteristic documentary style: probing, intimate, uncompromising. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2014.
01 Jan 1950
The cartoon is one of the Marshall Plan's most popular films. A clash between a shoemaker and a hat maker illustrates the contrasts between protectionism and free trade. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2003.

20 Dec 1974

Many times during his presidency, Lyndon B. Johnson said that ultimate victory in the Vietnam War depended upon the U.S. military winning the "hearts and minds" of the Vietnamese people. Filmmaker Peter Davis uses Johnson's phrase in an ironic context in this anti-war documentary, filmed and released while the Vietnam War was still under way, juxtaposing interviews with military figures like U.S. Army Chief of Staff William C. Westmoreland with shocking scenes of violence and brutality.

28 Oct 1941

Huw Morgan, the academically inclined youngest son in a proud family of Welsh coal miners, witnesses the tumultuous events of his young life during a period of rapid social change. At the dawn of the 20th-century, a miners' strike divides the Morgans: the sons demand improvements, and the father doesn't want to rock the boat.

05 May 1961

Three stories with three central female characters linking the stories together. The first one concerns an orphan girl who grows attached to the postmaster she is caring for after he teaches her to read and write. The second one is a supernatural tale about a woman obsessed with the jewels her husband buys for her. The final one follows a young man who falls for an unconventional girl from his new village instead of his arranged bride, the daughter of a respectable family.

19 Feb 1960

A devout upper-class Hindu has a vision in a dream that his daughter-in-law is the human incarnation of the Goddess Kali and begins worshipping her.

07 Mar 1934

Jury foreman Edward Weldon's questioning leads to the death sentence for Ethel Saxon. His daughter Stella claims to have killed her lover, the gangster Garboni, just as Saxon was to sit in the electric chair.

03 Jan 1945

A teenage girl from a traditional family goes on a date with a pilot and ends up having sex with him. After the pilot dies in a plane crash, the girl discovers she is pregnant with his child.

27 Aug 1964

Robert Drew shows the sights and sounds from the funeral of President John F. Kennedy in November, 1963. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2002.