Uneven Steps

Cameraman Claude Gabriëls, well known for his work with Henri Storck and Paul Meyer, has made this beautiful evocation of a snowy day in Brussels.

In the 60's and into the 70's, Kazuo Ohno himself produced three 16mm films. His many performances at the "Teatro Fonte" in Yokohama have been preserved with high quality Beta cameras. In addition, the television station NHK has made recordings of many of his theater performances since the premiere of "The Dead Sea" in 1985. Together, the Kazuo Ohno Dance Studio and NHK own over one hundred hours of footage. This is complemented by a 1994 film by Daniel Schmid and new 16mm footage of Kazuo Ohno filmed especially for this project in October of 2000. From these resources, this 111 minute Video/DVD was assembled. "Beauty and Strength" includes dance performances, film excerpts and interviews, examples of Ohno's drawings and writings, as well as biographical information, creating a comprehensive look into the world of Kazuo Ohno's dance.

Comprising historic archive footage and texts this DVD box enlightens us greatly about Yoshito Ohno's here and now. Butoh has a distinct starting point, namely, in 1959, with Kinjiki , a duet featuring Tatsumi Hijikata and Yoshito Ohno. His father, the legendary Kazuo Ohno created another epoch-making opus in 1977 Admiring La Argentina, with Yoshito Ohno as production manager. These links are no mere coincidence. To date, we've tended to overlook Yoshito Ohno, barely granting him the recognition he merits. Just as dance requires a lengthy gestation period in which to evolve, his dance has finally come into our field of vision, in all its freshness and stark-nakedness, linking Butoh's origins to its zenith, to a point where he now stands at a crossroads.

A woman washes up on a beach and embarks on a surreal journey, encountering others and fragmented versions of herself in a quest for identity.

When the US Navy fleet docks at San Francisco, sailor Bake Baker tries to rekindle the flame with his old dancing partner, Sherry Martin, while Bake's buddy Bilge Smith romances Sherry's sister, Connie. But it's not all smooth sailing—Bake has a habit of losing Sherry's jobs for her and, despite Connie's dreams, Bilge is not ready to settle down.

A young boy creates a make believe world to escape his truth, a world where, at the water's edge, beneath the shade of an ancient tree, a mother forms a perimeter to protect herself and her child from an unspeakable darkness.

Featuring a stellar cast and a breathtaking score, "VOLCANO" ignites the screen with its explosive performances and emotional depth. Will West returns to play the lead and delivers a mesmerising portrayal, capturing the essence of a conflicted artist torn between loyalty, ambition, and his ongoing romantic narrative with ‘Julia’, played by Mette Linturi. We find them disconnected and on opposing sides of an ongoing dance competition between two groups within our TV Show. The chemistry between the rival dancers crackles with intensity, revealing the complexities of human connection in the face of fierce competition.

All We Sheep Have Gone Astray is an experimental film that shows the internal struggles of a person who is frustrated with the function and structure of the world. The film sets a surreal portrayal of the person's mind as he talks to himself about his personal critique on humanity, individualism, and the idea of free will. The cinematic elements within the film guide the protagonist through his quest as he strives to retain his deepest thoughts from the outside world.

After escaping from an insane asylum, a medical student assumes the identity of a mysterious dead man, who appears to be his doppelganger, and gets lured to a sinister island ruled by a mad scientist and his malformed men.

1977 Czech experimental short by Petr Skala

A comfortable rhythm composed of light and shadow. Director Ogino-style absolute movie which freely manipulates geometric figures.

One night, a supernatural figure emerges from the darkness to find a human who is grieving the death of his mother. As the figure watches closely, it soon discovers the value of human love and its strength to bring people together.

Gudrun has modeled her amateur German terrorist group after the 1970s Red Army Faction (Baader-Meinhof Gang). She attempts to imitate her heroes by kidnapping the son of a wealthy industrialist and hopes to negotiate leftist demands from the father. When Gudrun’s not spouting leftist verses (including during a hilariously brilliant fuck session), she’s trying to convince her all-male gang to abandon their heterosexuality, which she believes is the result of mass delusion.

The routine of a motel housekeeper quickly disintegrates upon losing her cleaning glove. Now trapped in a surreal purgatory, she sets out to vanquish the perilous forces that haunt each room.

An anthology film consisting of four segments based on literary works by Edogawa Ranpo.

The surrealist film shows repetitive imagery involving a string fashioned in a bizarre, almost spiderweb-like pattern over the hands of several individuals, most notably an unnamed young woman and an elderly gentleman. The film also shows a shadowy darkness and people filmed at odd angles, an exposed human heart, and other occult symbols and ritualistic imagery which evokes an unsettling and dream-like aura. Considered an unfinished film.

A selection of seemingly unconnected scenes featuring Nick Cave, Blixa Bargeld, Nina Hagen and Lene Lovich. Losely based on Voltaire's satire "Candide".

After concluding the now-legendary public access TV series, The Pain Factory, Michael Nine embarked on a new and more subversive public access endeavor: a collaboration with Scott Arford called Fuck TV. Whereas The Pain Factory predominantly revolved around experimental music performances, Fuck TV was a comprehensive and experiential audio-visual presentation. Aired to a passive and unsuspecting audience on San Francisco’s public access channel from 1997 to 1998, each episode of Fuck TV was dedicated to a specific topic, combining video collage and cut-up techniques set to a harsh electronic soundtrack. The resultant overload of processed imagery and visceral sound was unlike anything presented on television before or since. EPISODES: Yule Bible, Cults, Riots, Animals, Executions, Static, Media, Haterella (edited version), Self Annihilation Live, Electricity.

Dislocation in time, time signatures, time as a philosophical concept, and slavery to time are some of the themes touched upon in this 9-minute experimental film, which was written, directed, and produced by Jim Henson. Screened for the first time at the Museum of Modern Art in May of 1965, "Time Piece" enjoyed an eighteen-month run at one Manhattan movie theater and was nominated for an Academy Award for Outstanding Short Subject.

This work has been long-awaited as a masterpiece which is not performed in public since it was staged 31 years ago in 1989. This valuable video will be recorded in full and will be released for the first time. The story of a seed that fell to one point on the stage, and a tree that grew bravely and dignifiedly there. Amid the sounds of Tomoe Shizune’s exquisitely beautiful Guitar piece, the dancers’ bodies overflow with life and love of nature.