The 1920s saw a revolution in technology, the advent of the recording industry, that created the first class of African-American women to sing their way to fame and fortune. Blues divas such as Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Alberta Hunter created and promoted a working-class vision of blues life that provided an alternative to the Victorian gentility of middle-class manners. In their lives and music, blues women presented themselves as strong, independent women who lived hard lives and were unapologetic about their unconventional choices in clothes, recreational activities, and bed partners. Blues singers disseminated a Black feminism that celebrated emotional resilience and sexual pleasure, no matter the source.
A newly arrived guest of a Hollywood hotel charms and amazes the regulars, and they decide to invite him to their Christmas dinner.
A man and a woman have an awkward encounter at an indoor playground.
Two couples, in the same room, try to keep it together. The human couple fare differently to the pair of Goldfish in their fish tank. An artful piece exploring choice in life and love. The humour is derived from the wistful musings, in Cantonese, of the male fish and narrator.
One night, Bout-de-Zan finds a wanderer and shares his bed to him. The next morning there is a general panic among the servants...
Bernie Cates requests the services of the most absent-minded waiter he's ever seen, who pours water before setting the glasses, endlessly repeats questions, brings wrong orders, and ruins everything- but the bill.
Flubs and bloopers that occurred on the set of some of the major Warner Bros. pictures of 1942.
Flubs and bloopers that occurred on the set of some of the major Warner Bros. pictures of 1946.
A very short film about members of a community who one by one suffer murder and assassination by various methods. So much sadness, pain, suffering, by children, mates, couples separated, friends lost. Fear and horror are always present, watching their loved ones being murdered, some in a slow deliberate manner, that will horrify the sensitivities of the tenderest among you.
Translating History to Screen (2008) Video Short - 10 June 2008 (USA)
Short documentary commissioned by the magazine Présence Africaine. From the question "Why is the African in the anthropology museum while Greek or Egyptian art are in the Louvre?", the directors expose and criticize the lack of consideration for African art. The film was censored in France for eight years because of its anti-colonial perspective.
Four independent short films comprise this quirky anthology. "Coriolis Effect" (1994) is an offbeat love story involving storm chasers. In the Oscar-nominated "Solly's Diner" (1979), a homeless man (Larry Hankin, who also directs) witnesses a holdup. "Looping" (1991) satirizes independent moviemaking. And the dialogue-free "Joe" (1997) features David Aaron Baker as a psychiatric patient searching for enlightenment.
Boni, a little boy from the slums, squares off with the stark reality of drugs, petty crime and abuse armed with his own brand of hip hop and some divine intervention.
A team of inept undertakers attempt to get a coffin to a funeral on time. An undertaker is in charge of moving a coffin from a home to the church. The home is on the 26th floor of a skyscraper; the stairs are narrow; the lift is small and prone to stop working. Chaos ensues.
Franklin gets into a disagreement with a tough sea captain. However, he doesn't find out until later that the captain is his fiance's father.
A heartfelt exploration of the life of a small business owner.
Homer Bagwell (Harry Gribbon) is an incredibly talented, but reluctant college football player who is dating one of his teachers, Helen Dover (Geneva Mitchell). A jealous rival tries sabotaging Homer.
Jia Zhangke’s short for Modern Weekly’s special tenth anniversary issue.
This film features unreleased concert footage of Elvis Presley's afternoon performance at the 'Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show' held at the Fairgrounds in Tupelo, Mississippi on September 26, 1956. The professionally filmed black and white newsreel footage was synchronized with an amateur audio recording of the concert that had previously appeared on the 'Elvis Presley: A Golden Celebration' LP/CD box set.
A boat builder and his family attempt to set sail in his handmade boat, 'The Damfino'.