The Really Big Family

A languid, beautifully shot collection of landscapes, edited into a whimsical and touching film.

The International Ox Pull, highlight of the Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, annual fair, is a holdover from the pioneer past when oxen cleared the land and tilled the soil. These beasts of burden have lost none of their pulling power, as demonstrated when they drag tons of weight loaded on sleds (the winner pulls up to 6 tons!). Competing teams come from various parts of the Maritimes and the Northeastern United States.

A mockumentary about four people and their idiosyncratic ways of saving the planet.

Released on October 4, 1896 in Lyon ( France ) under the title “ Fêtes de l'inauguration du monument de Guillaume Ier à Breslau : II. - Le voile tombe (Lyon républicain, 4 octobre 1896)”. (catalogue-lumiere.com)

Panorama of Nice from the deck of a ship.

An impression of the funeral parade for Victoria, Queen of England, filmed in London (via https://catalogue-lumiere.com/le-char-funebre/)

Young people dive into the sea by jumping off a manmade wooden raft, while a small boat loaded with passengers passes by.

A military horseback riding event from 1897.

American Indians dancing.

Shot of Venice from the Canal.

African men dance, sing and play instruments.

General Electric sponsors this explanation of atomic energy, detailing some of its uses besides the bomb. Using animation and an off-screen narrator, the film describes the atom, elements and isotopes, the discovery of transmutation, experiments in artificial transmutation, and the reasons for the power of nuclear fission. The film argues that now, besides war, the atomic age holds promise for energy, farming, medicine, and research. The promise of the atomic age will depend on human wisdom.

The life story of Daniel Balimá, a horticulturist with a disability in Burkina Faso.

A previously unseen short by the Japanese avant-garde titan, Toshio Matsumoto's 1986 Summer locates faces and bodies within superimpositions, zooms, a lightning-fast montage of brick structures and verdant trees.

This 2010 interview with writer-director Guillermo del Toro, conducted by Javier Soto, explores the influence of the Spanish Gothic genre on 'The Devil's Backbone' and del Toro's 2006 Academy Award-winning feature, 'Pan's Labyrinth'.

Orson Welles — with contributions from scientists George Wald, Carl Sagan, and others — examines the possibility and implications of extraterrestrial life. In examining our perceptions of alien 'martians' from his "War of the Worlds" broadcast, to then-modern explorations of Mars, this film from NASA provides a unique glimpse at life on earth, and elsewhere in the universe.

The magic island of Fogo, seen from the eyes of the kids and the reason why its inhabitants will never leave it.

Jardins du Luxembourg

A batch of mushy sourdough. Two radioactive lizards. Three cans of Campbell’s tomato soup. When COVID-19 lockdowns began in 2020, people around the world began reporting more vivid dreams.

A short film about a small town where the past and the present are difficult to tell apart.