The prototype [TEST TYPE • 154] is a highly sophisticated artificial intelligence, which is capable of autonomously acquiring notions from its surroundings and - eventually - developing autonomy of thought. Given the nearly human nature of its learning capabilities, the laboratory that programmed it hires a kindergarten teacher, asking him to instruct the machine as if it were a newborn child. The learning process - which spans 7 days - becomes increasingly insidious in the long run, posing a peculiar yet crucial problem: can there be a form of autonomous thinking that excludes emotions?
A mother feeds her son to the point of possessing him.
The mental unraveling of Rowen, a religious leader faced with questions of identity and meaning as a prophesied revelation approaches.
Juan Méndez Bernal leaves his house on the 9th of april of 1936 to fight in the imminent Spanish Civil War. 83 years later, his body is still one of the Grass Dwellers. The only thing that he leaves from those years on the front is a collection of 28 letters in his own writing.
Host Scott Forrest presents a curated compilation of eight independent short films in this rapid-fire science-fiction feature. Genres collide, narratives twist, aesthetics clash, and even humor, both campy and dystopian, showcase the vast creative possibilities of each story's individual world, offering the viewer a brief glimpse into the lives of every character's attempt to survive the otherworldly chaos around them. Released in 2001, the selected shorts span original creation dates of 1997 to 2001; most of the featured filmmakers also appear as themselves in short video interviews to talk about their inspirations, creative process and motivations while working on their individual shorts.
Hunter, a bride-to-be, feels overworked and unappreciated. Her artistic spirit is squelched by the shallow corporate world she’s in and she has had enough. Unfortunately, she feels as if she can’t turn to Ian, her commercial executive fiancé, for solace. As her wedding day approaches, Hunter and her three bridesmaids embark on a road trip to Las Vegas for one last hoorah together. As the girls venture from the city, they decompress and let their personal barriers fall. An impromptu sightseeing excursion into the desert leads to a clash of anxieties and attitudes between Hunter, the bridesmaids, and her fiancé as Hunter searches for the road that’s right for her.
Anna comes from a violent past that has left her a recluse in her solitude.When a man knocks at the door her infancy returns....Will Anna open the door to the universe that she has created for herself to let life enter?
A young couple with conflicting desires for intimacy attempt to navigate the emotional complexities of what should be a joyful one-year anniversary.
A nuclear family sits in front of the television. The phone rings.
The Third Rule
A washed up actor performs night after night in a grimy theater to a nearly empty audience. However, everything changes when a clueless dog jumps on stage.
A man attempts to operate a mysterious device, but with each attempt comes a new set of problems.
A perspective on everyday things.
Upon becoming aware of an ancestor guilty of several cruel acts who bore a striking resemblance to himself, a man begins to fear he too could be capable of similar sadistic deeds.
A couple, Vlad and Sophy, navigate their relationship as well as their own struggles with mental health in the context of a highly connected, politically uncertain modern world while on a trip to a remote Canadian island in this avant-garde feature film. PREFACE TO A HISTORY, created with a tiny crew of four people, represents an experiment in using minimalist tools to create an overwhelming aesthetic experience in service of a simple, but specifically contemporary, story about two people attempting to navigate a fraying relationship amid all the anxieties and external pressures of modern adulthood in a technologically-interconnected and politically unstable era.
A phone sex operator loses her grip on reality, caught in a hypnotic relationship with a caller making disturbing confessions.
An experimental film revolving around how an artist perceives a man and a woman.
First film by Julio Bressane shot in exile, "Memoirs" is a film about a man who repeatedly kills the same type of woman in same places, the same way. Filmed on the streets of London.
Quinn is a grade school teacher who is exploited by a group of memoryless individuals who reeducate his long-term partner Amy.
The night before her eighteenth birthday recital, an overworked and undertalented pianist is abducted by three ghouls.