Magnum Opus

Collection of tech-related short films marking the 30th anniversary in 2019 of the World Wide Web.

Pete Smith tells the story of 'Sparky', a German shepherd dog trained to lead his blind master, a country doctor who lost his sight in a fire, and now has to depend upon the dog to lead him in his daily rounds. 'Sparky" was the dog who was responsible for the Interstate Commerce Commission passing a special ruling allowing guide-dogs to travel first-class in Pullman cars to accompany their blind partner, and not as animals confined to the baggage car. Smith shows how 'Sparky' went to Washington D. C. with his master and helped sell the change to the legislators.

In the garden of Eden, Adam is attracted to Eve. Not knowing what is happening to him, he has to find a way to remedy it.

Sara reads a story to Victor at night, a story about a grieving princess and a brave prince. Gradually the story draws nearer to their lives until converge in a fatal outcome.

A very infertile husband is so desperate to have a baby that he actually treats the liposuction fat from his wife as his baby. Strangely enough this all does lead to a cure! Only in Joost Lieuwma's universe this is not just possible, but even logical.

An absent-minded traveler arrives at a Spanish beach where chaos is about to break out. (Followed by Mad in Xpain, 2020.)

Hybrid is the story about a mostly human, part alien, part other - being that escapes from an underground facility. Tracked by an assassin, the creature gets mixed up into the lives of the unsuspecting.

It's an afternoon in Versailles, during the reign of Louis XIV.

A young woman imagines a digitally controlled transhuman life.

In a playful collision of cultures, a hapless Irishman and his Parisian girlfriend get more than they bargained for when they encounter a particularly mischievous stranger in the spectacular Australian wilderness.

This technically quite well-made cartoon from pre-war Nazi Germany is a commercial (or propaganda piece) for Volksempfänger ("people's receiver"), inexpensive radios. First we see agricultural statistics: the far-away village of Miggershausen is quite below standards in milk and egg production. An anthropomorphic radio undertakes the long voyage by express train, steam train, hay carriage to Miggershausen to advertise its services. It is not well received. Then, it collects and leads an army of radios to try again. They flood all the farmhouses and seem to be more convincing that way - at day, they spread agricultural knowledge to bring milk and egg production up to standards; later, they just play music and illustrate how various people enjoy various kinds of music.

After her mother's death, Kim finds solace in wearing her mother's old sweater. However, the sweater begins to itch and even hurt her, but she still can't bring herself to take it off.

With a Boston cream pie reported eaten, self-proclaimed private detective Nick Crumbs decides to take the case.

Two stoner best friends, Owen and Norm, are absolutely zooted in a cemetary when the zombie apocolypse begins! Now, they must figure out how to get home while battling hoards of zombies, the struggles of friendship, and an insane high.

A woman battles to survive alone in a post-apocalyptic London wasteland.

When a hotshot public servant is sent to a remote Aboriginal community to prepare for the Prime Minister’s visit, he quickly learns the true meaning of Welcome to Country.

Alien creatures invade human bodies and turn them into cybernetic fighting machines.

Set in a parallel universe where the sexual bias favors homosexuals, Eric, a struggling heterosexual, admits himself into a straight conversion camp. What begins as a cure to his deviant lifestyle, becomes a journey of self acceptance.

An unhappily married couple makes a life-changing discovery in their kitchen in this sci-fi short.

A world famous conductor suffers while leading a mediocre orchestra.