In 2023, Sharon is eighty years old and still shines as much. A man questions her about her life in order to write on her. But memory is not linear. Sharon remembers the big moments and the little details but not always the before or the after. She takes her box of photos and plunges herself in the past.
What is the secret origin of this self-proclaimed 'real-life warrior, adventurer and musician'? How has he gained his tremendous cult following? Steel yourselves for a quest to explore how this enigmatic personality came to be and the powerful effect he has on all those he meets.
As the title suggests, this is a speculative biography of the artistic side of Walt Whitman. Starting out as an ordinary nine year old girl, young Walt is soon catapulted into the world with all her senses ablaze. Combining drama, dance, puppetry, and potato cannons, the film is a sometimes funny, sometimes sad rumination on growing up as a 'sensitive kid.'
German actor Conrad Veidt is best remembered for playing Nazi Major Strasser in Casablanca. In reality, he was an ardent anti-fascist who left Nazi Germany for Britain, falsely claiming to be Jewish in solidarity with his Jewish wife. Using clips from Veidt’s films, acclaimed director Mark Rappaport imagines the actor narrating his life and career from the silent era—including his leading roles in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and The Man Who Laughs through to his Hollywood years where he often played a Nazi.
An experimental and short compilation of rhythmic documents about the devolving state of entertainment and reactionaries in it's entirety. From the parodic controls between the obscure artifacts of media-consumed culture, to the real world consequences of how film discussion shapes the political and mental state in a society.
A tribute to actresses, approaching their presence in and out the screen, humanizing the icons. From the Ukrainian Anna Sten to the French Anna Karina, we can see some close-up faces that marked the history of the cinema, and whose demand is more relevant than ever.
In the 1920s, two names dominated the world's long-distance running rankings. Paavo Nurmi was a legend in his own lifetime, but Ville Ritola is remembered by only a few. These biggest rivals to each other were different in almost every way, but they both shared a passion for winning.
Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges overcame class and race prejudices in 18th century France to become a musical genius who would inspire Mozart.
Deceased but not forgotten. In 2017, Switzerland's most famous mountaineer, "Swiss Machine" Ueli Steck, fell to his death in the Himalayas when he was just 40 years old. Three close friends travel again to the Everest region where he died. His family in Emmental has to deal with premature death.
'Terror of Frankenstein' is an exercise in extreme meta-fictional tragicomedy. Presented as the commentary track of a rushed reissue of a forgotten (but 100% genuine) Frankenstein film's DVD (because of unspecified 'recent events'), this project transforms the film into an entirely new, very human horror story. Featuring Clu Gulager as the director of the 1977 original who is happily exploiting the unmentioned tragedy linked to the film, the recording session unravels a mystery as he clashes with the screenwriter (Zack Brown) and, ultimately, its star (Leon Vitali from Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut and Barry Lyndon, playing himself.) 'Terror of Frankenstein' is Mystery Science Theater 3000 by way of Sartre, an icy satire of the monsters onscreen, behind the camera, and in the audience.
When a junior high student in 1963 suspects his teacher of being a communist, he investigates the truth to gain approval from his father.
Joan Crawford's close-up in Humoresque. Michelangelo's David and Boticelli's "Birth of Venus". Stendhal was overwhelmed by the cultural overstimulation in Florence, which Graziella Magherini described scientifically in 1979 as Stendhal syndrome. Mark Rappaport describes his fascination for the Austrian actor Turhan Bey, who made a career in exotic roles in Hollywood in the 1940s. A very personal essay about the effect of close-ups, the canvas idols of the dream factory and the role of their admirers and fans.
Biopic of the Turkish poet Nâzim Hikmet.
A video essay where the author presumes motivations and insights in a fictionalized biography regarding Debra Paget, a contract player for 20th-Century Fox whom they groomed and coached for stardom.
Chris Elliot plays FDR in his live "One Man Show" about the life and times of the president, however, he looks and sounds nothing like the man and he re-enacts events from Roosevelt's life that never happened.
A fictional biography of Hollywood actors Martin Kosleck and Hans Heinrich von Twardowski, both of whom fled Hitler-era Germany to live a long-lasting relationship.
Story about five Rajinikanth fans and their journey.
This is a lonely New Year's Eve for Hank Williams as he spends it en route to a huge New Years Day concert in Ohio. Hank Williams died that night on the road. A fictional biography is shown in flashback.