Secrets of the Unknown: Dreams and Nightmares

Documentary about the making of ’Spring Break Zombie Massacre.’

In India, in the region of Gujarat, a man whose face is never shown travels through the large city of Vadodara by night and distributes a mysterious illustrated newspaper. It provokes an irresistable desire in all the street merchants and craftsmen to tell stories of ghosts and ghouls.

Little kids, big dreams and smashingly good music – Dixieland follows the amazing progress of four members of a Ukrainian children’s brass band from Kherson. Through steady practice under the wildest of conditions, Roman (12, trumpet), Polina (10, trombone, drums and many other instruments), Nikita (12, drums) and Nikita (14, piano) produce magical music with ancient, wobbly instruments. Not least due to their wit and good humor, they persevere together, helped along by their 80+-year-old conductor and a young teacher. These children of the post-Soviet provinces use American tunes to achieve their dream – to become someone in the world and make something of their lives, no matter how dire the circumstances. From the authors of an awards winning documentary film Ukrainian Sheriffs.

Enduring 28 days of relentless construction labor, Frank struggles to prep a house for painting amidst Phoenix's scorching pandemic summer.

Can the dream world be a fully functional parallel reality? Joseph Gordon-Levitt and leading scientists take you to the cutting edge of dream research in this documentary produced for Christopher Nolan's "Inception."

A short doco following the mundane flow of Melburnians as they go about their day, recounting their most recent dream.

Reflections of Nature is an experimental short film, touching on the relationship man has with mother nature, and how they coexist in this ever changing modern world.

A small town ice hockey team fights through their first season in an upper division. The players' dreams might have changed from childhood but their love for the sport does not fade.

Leonie’s dream is to become a pig farmer, just like her parents. She wanders happily around the farm, helping out in any way possible. She tends to the pigs, and is present from the fertilisation of the sows to the moment the truck leaves for the slaughterhouse. The family farm teaches her about the circle of life. However, new laws on nitrogen emissions have undermined the economic viability of the farm, and bankruptcy looms. Together with her cat Skeet, Leonie watches the last pigs disappear from the farm, and she realises that her dream of becoming a pig farmer might not come true.

On a Summer afternoon, Pedro packs the last few boxes before having to leave his apartment in New York. 12 years ago, Pedro and Ana had arrived in America from Portugal, in search of a dream. Now, Ana's voice describes, from the other side of the ocean, that same country to which they are returning. As the rooms are emptied, Pedro bids farewell to one life, welcoming another. But the dream that brought him will remain forever in the city that never sleeps, awaiting his return.

Incredible optical illusions in a story in a story in a story helps the surprised viewer finally to find out that he has been watching himself all along.

A narrative/documentary/experimental hybrid about a man who buys a new technology to record his dreams. Created in December 2023 for the FILMMAKING 1: FUNDAMENTALS final at the University of Pittsburgh.

A young accountant finally pursues her dreams of becoming a painter.

The latest work from Australian political satirist, cartoonist and filmmaker Bruce Petty contemplates our efforts to imagine the future using animated and live-action sequences, fiction and reality. An accident takes place during the filming of a documentary on the future and the film’s presenter (Rhys Muldoon) slips into unconsciousness. The actor’s muddled neurons recall fragments of his script, and he begins to consider humankind’s past and present imaginings of Utopia – an ideal and perfect state.

After getting caught in a fight, Vahid needs to sell one of his kidneys to avoid a prison sentence of many years. While waiting for the liberating call from a buyer, a wish for a better life starts to grow within him.

In September 1957, the philosopher Carl Gustav Jung was interviewed in Houston. Part of that interview was filmed in 16mm. After reviewing the images obtained, the footage was censored in many countries, ending up in oblivion, lost in a warehouse in Central America. Just 50 years later, after several years of searching for images around the world and a difficult reconstruction and restoration, the director Shang Solomon offers us on the big screen almost all of the interview with Jung, known as the main opponent to the theories of Freud and an eminence of the Philosophy and the History of Psychology.

Christopher Kerr is a hospice doctor. All of his patients die. Yet he has cared for thousands of patients who, in the face of death, speak of love and grace. Beyond the physical realities of dying are unseen processes that are remarkably life-affirming. These include dreams that are unlike any regular dream. Described as "more real than real," these end-of-life experiences resurrect past relationships, meaningful events and themes of love and forgiveness; they restore life's meaning and mark the transition from distress to comfort and acceptance.

The small Turkish town of Gaziantep. 16-year-old Mustafa is one of many young boys who study the complex art of making baklava, the Turkish desert renowned across the world. Under the strict eye of the master Baklava makers, Mustafa’s life is one of hard work and dedication to his chosen craft. But Mustafa dreams of a life beyond the confines of the workshop. He still wants to be a baklava master: he just wants to do it on his terms. Soon, against the advice of his friends and family, Mustafa makes a move towards the big city. Will his dreams be realised or will they crumble before him? A film about the impetuousness of youth and the importance of reaching for the stars, Angelos Abazoglou’s innnovative documentary is a moving and joyful coming-of-age tale which will speak to anyone who has ever wanted to fullfill their dreams.

This documentary interweaves celluloid and voice recordings by Maya Deren, and colleagues who knew her firsthand: Jean Rouch, Jonas Mekas, Alexander Hammid, Cecile Starr etc. Maya Deren (1917-1961) was an experimental filmmaker. In the 1940s and 1950s she made several influential avant-garde films, such as Meshes of the Afternoon (1943). Images from this and her other work are used in this documentary. You can also hear her voice, as well as accounts by contemporaries such as Jean Rouch and Jonas Mekas.

Dance for All