The Pink Auto

Commissioned by the journal Présence Africaine, this short documentary examines how African art is devalued and alienated through colonial and museum contexts. Beginning with the question of why African works are confined to ethnographic displays while Greek or Egyptian art is celebrated, the film became a landmark of anti-colonial cinema and was banned in France for eight years.

Image by Carlos Casas. Double screen projection with live soundtrack. Images and sound captured on location. Somewhere in the tundra, Chukotka Region, Northeastern Siberia, Russian Federation. Music by Prurient. Published by Von Archives. N 66° 37’ 916, W 172° 40’ 353, Sept 2006.

An odyssey through Beethoven’s lasting presence and influence in our modern world – viewed through the eyes of the composer himself.

Tasha Grant, at age 17, goes to a party and gets drunk, not even realizing the potential consequences of her actions. This film introduces the danger of alcohol to youth.

A political quarrel between two men that ends in laughter.

A 8-chapter ("tableaux") short film that tells the story of a gambler who ends his life on the guillotine.

During a strike, several workers are killed in a confrontation. The wife of one of them kills the factory owner. At her trial, the owner's son asks for mercy, knowing that his father was wrong. Because of that the wife is freed.

At an island penal institution, new prisoners are brought in one-by-one, and introduced to the harsh realities of prison life. They are put in fetters, sent to perform hard physical labor, and treated brutally. One convict manages to cut through the bars on his cell window. He climbs out, steals a boat, and begins a desperate attempt to escape from the island.

A man awakes to find himself trapped in a dirty, confined crawlspace. He barely has enough room to move. He also has no memory of why he's there, or why he's bleeding from a stomach wound. Apparently drugged, he occasionally 'zones out' of his surroundings as he tries to edge towards his way to freedom. But the more he explores, the more pain he has to endure, and the more frightening his predicament becomes.

Two hunters discover a dead young woman in a cabin in the woods.One of them being the sheriff, he proceeds to press the wealthy owner for an explanation. At first it looks like his son has killed his unfaithful wife, but the wife's lover and the family butler are acting suspiciously enough to be followed.

Ill-tempered Billy proves troublesome for fellow taxi drivers Franklin and Clyde.

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.

Outside, the first sun rays break the dawn. Sixteen years old Catarina can't fall asleep. Inconsequently, in the big city adults are moved by desire... Catarina found she is HIV positive. She wants to drag everyone else along.

After returning from the circus, Bout-de-Zan starts doing acrobatic tricks.

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...

Bout-de-Zan and his family are around the dinner table, awaiting the visit of his millionaire uncle. But the uncle is not what he was...

Nick Winter solves the mystery of theft commited in a rentier's house.

The story of a how a love-struck young man eventually wins over an initially reluctant woman, charmingly told in shots that depict only their hands and feet.

This silent French film begins with Georges feeling miserable, as he has ambitions of being a great musician but is forced to eke out a living giving lessons. So, he writes a friend to ask his advice. The friend tries to remake Georges and make him a bit of a playboy. However, when it comes to wooing a rich American, the advice is not exactly perfect.

Lulu, a high class prostitute, receives constant visits from her neighbor Julian. He believes that she is his missing ex-girlfriend Mei Mei and begs her for a chance to start over again. Lulu rejects him, thinking that he is just making up stories to win her over. She tells him she never wants to see him again, but soon she misses him. It may be too late as she discovers that Julian is with somebody that looks exactly like her.