Notes about identity

Serene Siam

This travelogue begins at Bangkok's rail depot, a center of Indo-Chinese commerce. Next the narrator talks about Buddhism as the camera shows us some of Bangkok's many temples. Then, the narrator introduces us to the importance of traditional dance, with emphasis on the way that delicate wrist movements tell stories. It's on to the system of waterways in Bangkok, where more than 1,000,000 people live or conduct commerce. We take a ride down the Menam River, the country's most important commercial and social road. From our boat, we pass Wat Arun and other colorful signs of life typical in serene Siam.

Glimpses of Peru

This Traveltalk series short brings us to Lima, Peru where we see a modern city.

Rocky Mountain Grandeur

This Traveltalk short visits Rocky Mountain National Park and a nearby dude ranch in Colorado.

Copenhagen

This Traveltalk series short visits Copenhagen.

The Zodiac

The history of the infamous serial killer known as the ‘zodiac’ in the late 1960s. It takes you through his kill rampage and to the case that still to this day has not been cracked.

Nanook of the North

This pioneering documentary film depicts the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of Canada's northern Quebec region. Although the production contains some fictional elements, it vividly shows how its resourceful subjects survive in such a harsh climate, revealing how they construct their igloo homes and find food by hunting and fishing. The film also captures the beautiful, if unforgiving, frozen landscape of the Great White North, far removed from conventional civilization.

La Sortie de l'usine Lumière à Lyon

Working men and women leave through the main gate of the Lumière factory in Lyon, France. Filmed on 22 March 1895, it is often referred to as the first real motion picture ever made, although Louis Le Prince's 1888 Roundhay Garden Scene pre-dated it by seven years. Three separate versions of this film exist, which differ from one another in numerous ways. The first version features a carriage drawn by one horse, while in the second version the carriage is drawn by two horses, and there is no carriage at all in the third version. The clothing style is also different between the three versions, demonstrating the different seasons in which each was filmed. This film was made in the 35 mm format with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and at a speed of 16 frames per second. At that rate, the 17 meters of film length provided a duration of 46 seconds, holding a total of 800 frames.

Folie douce, folie dure

This walk in the daily life of several psychiatric institutions, allows us to meet extraordinary people who let us enter their privacy.

One Second in Montreal

A silent succession of black-and-white photographs of the city of Montreal.

47 Days, Sound-less

47 Days, Sound-less by Vietnamese artist Nguyễn Trinh Thi is a film that explores the relationships between sound and silence, vision, language, colours and their absence. Nguyễn identifies “peripheries”—including natural landscapes used as backdrops, uncredited characters and soundtracks from American and Vietnamese movies—that reveal more-than-human perspectives. Offering new ways of looking and listening, 47 Days, Sound-less invites audiences to reflect on the inextricable relationship between a place and its inhabitants.

To Kill a Mockingbird: All Points of View

A 60th anniversary retrospective documentary on the influence and context of the 1962 film, To Kill a Mockingbird.

Song 5

SONG 5: A childbirth song (the Songs are a cycle of silent color 8mm films by the American experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage produced from 1964 to 1969).

Nuit et Brouillard

Filmmaker Alain Resnais documents the atrocities behind the walls of Hitler's concentration camps.

The Talk

“The Talk” showcases the experiences of three LGBTQ+ youth learning about sex health under an inadequate Canadian sex-ed curriculum. Each subject opens up about their knowledge surrounding sexual health, gender identity, the not so honest information they were taught in their classrooms and its impact on their self-image.

Bowling for Columbine

This is not a film about gun control. It is a film about the fearful heart and soul of the United States, and the 280 million Americans lucky enough to have the right to a constitutionally protected Uzi. From a look at the Columbine High School security camera tapes to the home of Oscar-winning NRA President Charlton Heston, from a young man who makes homemade napalm with The Anarchist's Cookbook to the murder of a six-year-old girl by another six-year-old. Bowling for Columbine is a journey through the US, through our past, hoping to discover why our pursuit of happiness is so riddled with violence.

Berliner Ballade

Some months after the fall of the Berlin wall, during the time of federal elections in Germany in 1990, Chris Marker shot this passionate documentary, reflecting the state of the place and its spirit with remarkable acuity.

Liminaali & Communitas

After the sunset, a man wonders between the edges of the highways gathering edible roadkill animals.

Paparazzi

Paparazzi explores the relationship between Brigitte Bardot and groups of invasive photographers attempting to photograph her while she works on the set of Jean-Luc Godard's film Le Mépris (Contempt). Through video footage of Bardot, interviews with the paparazzi, and still photos of Bardot from magazine covers and elsewhere, director Rozier investigates some of the ramifications of international movie stardom, specifically the loss of privacy to the paparazzi. The film explains the shooting of the film on the island of Capri, and the photographers' valiant, even foolishly dangerous, attempts to get a photograph of Bardot.

The Romance of Celluloid

Several behind the scenes aspects of the movie-making business, which results in the enjoyment the movie going public has in going to the theater, are presented. They include: the production of celluloid aka film stock, the materials used in the production of which include cotton and silver; construction crews who build sets including those to look like cities, towns and villages around the world; a visit with Jack Dawn who demonstrates the process of creating a makeup design; the screen testing process, where many an acting hopeful gets his/her start; the work of the candid camera man, the prying eyes behind the movie camera; a visit with Adrian, who designs the clothes worn by many of the stars on screen; and a visit with Herbert Stothart as he conducts his musical score for Conquest (1937). These behind the scenes looks provide the opportunity to get acquainted with the cavalcade of MGM stars and their productions that will grace the silver screen in the 1937/38 movie season.