Her First Kiss

Proposed by the President of the United States to fill the post of Secretary of State, Robert Leffingwell appears before a Senate committee, chaired by the idealistic Senator Brig Anderson, which must decide whether he is the right person for the job.

Early 'visual music' film by John Whitney. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 1999.

"The quote is Joseph Conrad answering a critic who found his books too long. Conrad replied that he could write a novel on the inside of a match-book cover, thus (as above), but that he "preferred to elaborate." The "Life" of the film is scratched on black leader. The "elaboration" of color tonalities is as the mind's eye responds to hieroglyph." - S.B. (Note: it seems possible that Brakhage misattributed this quote, which appears to be from William Faulkner and/or W. Somerset Maugham). Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2006.

«CODES OF CONDUCT playfully upends the moral order by which man has historically seen fit to measure so called correct behaviour - by ironically re-positioning the rules, Rimmer uncovers their arbitrariness.» Osnabrück Media Arts Festival 1997. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2013.

"The Open Track" is a short action film from the action series of short films "The Hazards of Helen". This is episode 63 from a total of 119 weekly one reel films produced by Kalem. Helen's cleverness exposes a band of counterfeiters who later succeed in turning the tables on the railroad detectives and tying the two men to the cowcatcher of a train which they then start off down the grade. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2010.

A short educational Claymation film about dinosaurs. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2013.

Strand spent over twenty years documenting her friend Anselmo Aguascalientes’ life, eventually creating a stunning trilogy of films—Anselmo, Cosas de mi vida, and Anselmo and the Women—tender portraits that are also glimpses into poverty, resourcefulness, perseverance and patriarchy. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2016.

This hand-painted, step-printed film begins with several seconds of blank white (interrupted by red and brief electric yellow) and then proceeds to multiply flecked earth and rock shapes and root-like forms which seem to suck horizontally inward and upward midst phosphorescent greens and blues increasingly flecked with light-yellows giving way to tree-top branch likenesses taking oblique shape against a phosphor sky. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2016.

This, painted in the hospital while recovering from cancer surgery in 1996, is - it seems to me - very related to De Kooning's Alzheimer's paintings. The mind, here, is seeking a "blank" and/or holding fast to tendrils of meaning which are stripped so bare as to be purely reflective of flesh tissue and irregular strands of cells. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2016.

CRICKET REQUIEM is a hand-painted and elaborately step-printed film which juxtaposes bent, sometimes saw-tooth, scratch shapes multiply colored in pastels on a white field juxtaposed with emerging, and sometimes retreating, bi-pack imagery of the faintest imaginable lines (solarized lines) etched in brown-black. This interplay continues until the latter imagery begins to dominate with increasing recurrence. Then suddenly there's a vibrant mix of thick black lines (which is "echoed" once again near end of film) that alters the increasingly colored bent lines and their thin-stringy accompaniment, with rhythms which suggest a stately and emphatic end. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2016.

Background is a 1973 American short documentary film directed by Carmen D'Avino. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short. The original version was preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.

Climb is a 1974 short documentary directed by DeWitt Jones featuring Michael Farrell and Russell Mclean. It is about rock climbing that takes place in Washington Column. The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2013.

An Oscar-nominated film with no narration showing the Exploratorium (The Palace of Arts and Science) in San Francisco. It shows many of the exhibits and the reaction of visitors to many of these. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive.

Conquest of Light is a 1975 short documentary directed and produced by Louis Marcus. It is an examination of the processes used to make Waterford crystal in Ireland. The clear crystal shapes of glass created by the craftsmen of Waterford are designed to capture the iridescence of light. From the intense heat of the furnace at the glass works in the Irish city of Waterford comes the crystal, blown by mouth and cut by hand, that is treasured over most of the world. The camera follows the liquid glass as it is blown into the shape of bowls, goblets, vases and many other forms, then cut and etched with great deftness and precision, producing the splendid examples of glass art for which the craftsmen at Waterford are famous. The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2011.

Haunted by a mysterious super-pilot, a young glider pilot first flees, then confronts his challenger. Nominated for an Academy Award. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2013.

Doubletalk is a 1975 short film directed by Alan Beattie. The film follows a young man who picks his girlfriend up at her family home and meets her parents -- and the audience is privy to their private thoughts and impressions. The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.

"A sort of collage film, using images shot for other films that somehow never were finished. The sound comes from various sound gathering adventures. An Anglo woman's interpretation of magic realism." Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2013.

Brother and sister Enrique and Rosa flee persecution at home in Guatemala and journey north, through Mexico and on to the United States, with the dream of starting a new life. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with the Getty Foundation in 2017.

Brooklyn, U.S.A. is a 1947 English language short film directed by Arthur Cohen, starring Ted de Corsia. It was nominated for an Oscar in the category of Best Short Subject, One-Reel. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive.

United Nations, 1947 - In this film one crippled child learns to walk: first to move, then to stand, and finally to take his first steps. The film deals with modern techniques of physiotherapy, and the need to develop the whole child - his emotions and his mind as well as his muscles - is stressed. Skilled adult workers offer not only massage and therapy, but also love and understanding, and occupational therapy for children and takes the form of both play and work. Movements learned become part of the daily jobs of feeding and dressing. Early attempts to walk are made with the help of apparatus. Finally the initially hesitant steps on his own are taken. As the film ends the boy walks. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2005.