T.G.: Psychic Rally in Heaven

A man talks about heroin abuse and withdrawal.

Arthur Lipsett's first film is an avant-garde blend of photography and sound. It looks behind the business-as-usual face we put on life and shows anxieties we want to forget. It is made of dozens of pictures that seem familiar, with fragments of speech heard in passing and, between times, a voice saying, "Very nice, very nice." The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film.

Though best known for his collage films, Lawrence Jordan here makes exquisite study of the different aspects of light lilting through the early morning fog of California winter. Painterly gradations of color and juxtapositions in scale are beautifully arranged to music by Antonio Vivaldi.

While reconstruction of L’Atalante as a major feature has captured critical attention and debate, we also know that in 1933 even contemporary audiences, critics and politicians grasped the dangerous messages of Vigo’s mini-epic of school rebellion and took their scissors to it while keeping it from the public for more than a decade. Still, alternative versions reached other countries – including a different, early version in Italy – and pieces remain. Together with the rushes, outtakes and on location footage of Vigo during the shoot, Young Devils in School helps us to better understand Vigo’s original vision.

Storyboard showcase of Anno's ghibli museum short.

A lyrical portrait of Amsterdam and its changing appearance during a rain-shower.

The filmmaker's father and uncle, Norm and Stan, are third generation Japanese Americans. They are "all American" guys who love bowling, cards and pinball. Placed in the Amache internment camp as children during World War II, they don't think the experience affected them that much. But in the course of navigating the maze of her father's and uncle's pursuits while simultaneously trying to inquire about their past, the filmmaker is able to find connections between their lives now and the history that was left behind.

The Puppeteer is a powerful, moving glimpse into the art of puppetry and the passion of a brilliant artist. The film treats viewers to Igor's street corner magic and following a dramatic turn of events, leaves us to reflect on life, art and the pursuit of dreams.

In the darkness of a cave, one man who had never seen even his own figure found a hollow flooded with light. An expression of a chaotic world. This experimental graduation film is a mixture of different animation techniques

In this extraordinary short animation, Evelyn Lambart and Norman McLaren painted colours, shapes, and transformations directly onto their filmstrip. The result is a vivid interpretation, in fluid lines and colour, of jazz music played by the Oscar Peterson Trio.

The problem of slum dwellings in the 1930s.

Sonny Bono appears onscreen to tell kids that marijuana is a "bummer" that turns you into a "weedhead" and will make you "trip out" (the fact that, based upon his performance, Sonny appears to have ingested unknown substances before the cameras started rolling tends to limit the film's crediblity somewhat).

Produced for the "Little Nicky" Special Edition DVD.

Some time not far from now, it was decided that adolescents were detrimental to a well-functioning society. Upon turning thirteen, teenagers were quarantined onto an island within the city, colloquially known as Teenland. At the age of 18, the inhabitants of Teen-land are forced to join adulthood. The memories of their childhood are erased and they start a new life In this slightly dystopian scape, lives a band, The Nuclear Toads. After being rounded up to be processed for adulthood, they manage to escape and buy themselves one last night of adolescence in which they will perform their final show. This film is the story of that night.

Two ballet dancers perform a dance enhanced with surreal after-image visuals.

An experimental meditation on Times Square's marquees and iconic advertising that captures the concurrently seedy and dazzling aspects of New York's Great White Way.

One of Lawrence Jordan's earliest animated films, PINK SWINE is an energetic and playful mix of various animation styles. Described as "an anti-art dada collage film," this free-form short presents cut-out images animated across old photos (a style picked up by Terry Gilliam a few years later) and found objects that dance to the beat of the rock-and-roll soundtrack. He produced this short during a summer spent with Joseph Cornell and Jordan edited the film entirely in camera, making the upbeat visual rhythm of this delightful lark even more impressive. –Sean Axmaker

How does a machine learn to read the world? Testimonies and screen recordings introduce the experience of online micro-workers from the Global South: their job is to teach the AI of self-driving cars to navigate the streets of the Global North.

In What Makes a Woman, Munroe Bergdorf sets out to explore the changing world of gender and identity by way of her very own, very personal journey. Showing her in quiet, intimate, and extremely vulnerable moments. An honest insight into gender identity, Bergdorf prepares for a life-changing facial surgery, helping her finally picture herself as a woman.

In this powerful abstract film with a soundtrack of African drum music, Lye scratched "white ziggle-zag-splutter scratches" on to black leader, using a variety of tools from saw teeth to arrow heads. The first version of the film won a major award at the International Experimental Film Festival Held in Brussels in 1958 in association with the World's Fair. Stan Brakhage described the film as "an almost unbelievably immense masterpiece".