Water and Power

Satyajit Ray's poetic documentary was commissioned by the Chogyal (King) of Sikkim at a time when he felt the sovereignty of Sikkim was under threat from both China and India. Ray's documentary is about the sovereignty of Sikkim. The film was banned by the government of India when Sikkim merged with India in 1975. The ban was finally lifted by the Ministry of External Affairs in September 2010. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2007.

Swim Sistas follows the swimming journeys of three very different Black girls/women as barriers are broken down in the water.

Bling Bling

Ridley Scott's cult film Blade Runner, based on a novel by Philip K. Dick and released in 1982, is one of the most influential science fiction films ever made. Its depiction of Los Angeles in the year 2019 is oppressively prophetic: climate catastrophe, increasing public surveillance, powerful monopolistic corporations, highly evolved artificial intelligence; a fantastic vision of the future world that has become a frightening reality.

Albert and David Maysles (Gimme Shelter) directed this 53-minute documentary about movie tycoon Joseph E. Levine (1963).

Mar Urbano Lisboa

Jonathan Stavleu explores, in a stream-of-consciousness video essay, the relationship people have with water and what happens when access to it is taken away. For this work, he examines anecdotal histories he has heard from Estonians, as well as stories from his own family history in the Netherlands, weaving them together into a journal-like narrative.

Many consider the 1971-72 World Champion Los Angeles Lakers one of the greatest teams in the history of the NBA. But despite a remarkable run to the title that included a record 33-game winning streak, this group was the unlikeliest of champions.

Mitrice Richardson, a lovely 24 year old African-American woman, was released late at night from the Malibu, California Sheriffs jail after having been detained for not paying her bill at an upscale restaurant. She was described as 'acting crazy' and, in fact, was having a mental crisis. She was released into the mountainous region with no cell, no purse, no ID, no car, no way home and vanished. Eleven months later her remains were found in a desolate Malibu canyon. 'Lost Compassion,' shot from ten days after Mitrice went missing, tells the complex, emotional inside story of the search for Mitrice and struggles with the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, whose deputies lied about her arrest and likely were involved with her disappearance and murder.

A lyrical recreation of Lightnin’ Hopkins’ decision at age eight to stop chopping cotton and start singing for a living. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2013.

I have been many times very ill in hospitals; and I drew on all that experience while making DEUX EX.

According to the director, "Gyromorphosis strives to bring into actuality the inherent kinetic qualities seen in the construction-sculpture of Constant Nieuwenhuys of Amsterdam. To realize this aim I have put into motion, one by one, pieces of this sculpture and, with colored lighting, filmed them in various detail, overlaying the images on the film as they appear and disappear. In this way, I have hoped to produce sensations of acceleration and suspension which are suggested to me by the sculpture itself."

"Water reflections are never static, its fluid form constantly plays with the light in new and totally unique ways. Trying to capture this process naturally leads to an imperfect representation. Embracing this, ‘a puddle of water held in shape by my thoughts’ plays with the materiality of the digital image with the border between digital grain and the movement of the water constantly blurring. This ongoing research project consists of clips recorded over the last two years. - During the Leaving Space exhibition (2024) the work was presented as an installation using an old LCD screen, a wash-stool and other spacial elements. The space where the screen was installed could only be observed from the outside through the glass doors but not entered.

An LA serial killer goes silent for decades – but he was just warming up.

Nice looking Travelogue takes us to the Northeast corner of Wyoming as we visit Yellowstone National Park.

Život stojatých vôd

A description and enactment of the discovery of gold by James Marshall, and the role played by John Sutter. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive.

In 2012 Dalya and her mother Rudayna fled Aleppo for Los Angeles as war took over. Months before, Rudayna learns a secret that destroys her marriage, leaving her single at midlife. Arriving in LA, Dalya enrolls as the only Muslim at Holy Family Catholic High School. Can mother and daughter remake themselves while holding on to their Islamic traditions?

“Set against the rattle of shopping carts and the white noise of L.A. traffic... “Disco’d” is an unvarnished, moving look at the lives affected by the rising crisis of homelessness.” —Los Angeles Times

An in-depth look at the culture of Los Angeles in the ten years leading up to the 1992 uprising that erupted after the verdict of police officers cleared of beating Rodney King.