Amitabha Roy is a Calcutta-based scriptwriter, driving around in the country to collect material for a film. His vehicle breaks down in a small town. A tea planter, Bimal Gupta, offers hospitality for the night. Amitabha is forced to accept the offer as he has no alternative.
Fischinger's abstract designs accompanied by Gitta Alpar singing. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2000.
Sausage City illustrates Beckett's additive cycle process. Constantly evolving rectangular shapes provide a foundation for an environment inhabited by mutating blobs (or sausages). Sounds and shapes create a moving space that teeters on the edge between control and chaos. The ending is somewhat mystifying, pulling us out of the surreal environment and revealing its origins. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2007.
Life in the Atom was never completed, but the existing version was digitally restored in 2009. The film depicts an ever-changing world inhabited by a man and woman engaged in surreal, erotic contortions. Their bodies are in a constant state of metamorphosis, as if to indicate psychological states or inner reflection as they contemplate their connection; they are being transported, transcending, merging and melting. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive, in partnership with iotaCenter, in 2009.
The animation referred to as Early Animations or Quacked Jokes is an anomaly among Beckett's films. It was probably not intended to be shown outside of his sphere of friends, being a collection of early experiments and directions. While lacking the sophistication and artistry that is found in his six finished works, this film provides invaluable insight into his first attempts at animation and clues to some of his later work. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with iotaCenter and National Film Preservation Foundation in 2007.
Stephen Sorrell, a decorated war hero, raises his son Kit alone after Kit's mother deserts husband and child in the boy's infancy. Sorrell loses a promising job offer and is forced to take work as a menial. Both his dignity and his health are damaged as he suffers under the exhausting labor and harsh treatment he receives as a hotel porter. But Sorrell thrives in the knowledge that his son will benefit from his labors. Sorrell has allowed the boy to believe his mother dead, but when the mother shows up, wanting to re-enter the young man's life, Sorrell must make hard decisions. Preserved and restored by the Academy Film Archive in 2004.
A comically ridiculously altered version of the classic tale, in which Don Quixote is victorious over his imaginary enemies and emits Tarzan-like yells of triumph. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation in 1998.
Everyone in Philip’s science class has a great idea for a report - everyone, that is, except Philip. That evening, he listens to a song playing on his boombox, and it provides him with inspiration: DINOSAURS! The next day at the museum, Philip discovers that the search for the truth about these magnificent animals and their astonishing 160-million-years success on the Earth is the most fascinating mystery tale he’s ever heard. What follows is an exciting collection of established theories and fascinating speculation. Philip’s report captivate viewers of all ages, just as it captivates Philip’s classmates. The Kingdom of the Dinosaurs comes to life through animation, live action, and a special Claymation feature by Will Vinton Productions. A short educational Claymation film about dinosaurs. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2013.
A prehistoric writer sells his masterpiece to a film company, which is butchered horribly in the process of getting made into a stone-age movie. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2010.
In 'Spirals' Oskar Fischinger designed visual patterns of extreme complexity which often develop in overlapping cycles, yet he interrupts these patterns with radical editing of single frames of contrasting imagery. 'Spirals' exists as a fragmentary unfinished experimental film. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2001.
Opening with a classic image of Chairman Mao spewing red star tears, this animation is a masterful example of Beckett’s distinctive technique as he continuously develops a cycle of six drawings, culminating in their transmutation via the optical printer. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with iotaCenter and National Film Preservation Foundation in 2007.
A woman's nightly domestic rituals—from putting her baby to bed to making love—unspool in a playful parade of surreal, straight-from-the-id images.
Short film by John Whitney. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 1999.
The Madam of a brothel satisfies the erotic fantasies of her customers, while a revolution is sweeping the nation.
A carousel barker falls in love with a young woman. Both are fired from their jobs, and when the young woman becomes pregnant, the carousel barker tries to help pull off a robbery, which goes wrong. Because of the robbery, he dies, and after spending time in hell, is sent back to earth for one day to try to make amends. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive.
Circa 1963 - 1975. This is possibly test footage or something for a beer commercial, or something for a variety show of some sort. Dennis Muren animated it with replacement animation. The same technique that was used with George Pal's Puppetoons and the animation of the title character with The Beast From Hollow Mountain (1956). In fact, this technique is used today from Tim Burton to Laika.
Kal Tumi Aleya’ is the story of rise of Dhirapada Chakroborty from his humble background to the post of general supervisor in Mr. Himanshu Mitra’s company. It’s his journey which shows his various relations with his neighbor whom he calls Sona boudi, Charu di who helps him get this job, Labanya Sarkar, the lady doctor of the company and Amit, Charu’s nephew. The film shows how he faces and handles different circumstances of life and business. It’s the story of Dhirpada’s journey in this delusionary world.
"A feature-length deluge of incessant, brilliant bursts of images (short takes and jump cuts, single frames in series, freeze-frames slightly altered between takes) it creates a Joyce-like dense and sombre mosaic of memory and sensory impressions, a texture instead of a plot, a dream-like flow of visually-induced associations often flashing by faster than they can be absorbed. Described by the director as an 'anxious allegory and chilling album of nostalgia,' its penetrating monomania is unexpectedly — subversively — realized to be a statement about American today: the alienation and atomization o technological consumer society is reflected in the very style of the film." - Amos Vogel, Film as a Subversive Art. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2010.
An anatomy of violence. Four young men and two young women are on a drive. There's a rivalry between two guys for one of the girls. On a remote road, the car stalls. The driver hitchhikes for help. Led by the intrepid girl, the others walk toward abandoned buildings, perhaps a mining operation. One of the three guys sits and reads. The intrepid one explores the building and sees something that scares her. She screams; the two rivals and the second girl run to find her. Something she says starts a fight between her two suitors. The one reading a book walks away in disgust. After stopping the fight, the two young women follow. How can this end? Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2005.
Bobby Yeah is a petty thug who lightens his miserable existence by brawling and stealing stuff. One day, he steals the favourite pet of some very dangerous individuals, and finds himself in deep trouble. He really should learn, but he just can't help it.