Nour
Close-Up: an oddyssey
Aspiring writer Lucy Simon embarks on a psychedelic road trip to the planet Mars with her brash, unnamed drug dealer behind the wheel in this music-driven space adventure presented entirely through the use of close-up photography.
Kandinsky
Colour, form, area - this is the formula of the greatest pioneer of abstract painting. Kandinsky came to art late in life, but his impact through Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) and Bauhaus paved the way for modern art. In 1913, he created one of the first abstract pictures, the theoretical basis of which was inspired by his essay Uber das Geistige in der Kunst (On the Spiritual in Art). Accompanied by Mussorgsky's Pictures From An Exhibition Labarthe goes on a sensual journey which makes the soul resound with colours and forms. "A picture has to resound and must be bathed in an inner glow." Kandinsky
O Concerto de Ontem
Protagonist is faced with an internalized feeling that emerges in a moment in memory
Rothko: Pictures Must Be Miraculous
Mark Rothko, a master of abstract expressionism, created 835 paintings during his five-decade career.
Earth Red
Sean Scully: Art Comes from Need
The documentary accompanies Irish-born artist Sean Scully as he works on his piece “Grey Wolf”.
Artist in Montreal
This short film introduces us to the "automatistes," followers of an abstract art form that developed in Montreal. The movement, initiated by Paul-Émile Borduas, is explained by the artists themselves when narrator Bruce Ruddick drops in at their cooperative studio. The film also captures painter Paterson Ewen at his home and joins the crowd at L'Échouerie, the artists' rendezvous spot. Dr. Robert Hubbard, chief curator of the National Gallery of Canada, comments on non-objective art in general and automatism in particular.
Snares
Experimental short film by Rainer Kohlberger
Am I Still On Time?
This expressive and experimental short film by Iain Delavan features two distinct emotionally significant videos, broken up by an ethereal synthetic universe. Quoted by Delavan as "the best thing [they] have ever made", this film has many layers hidden underneath the seemingly simplistic surface.
Gerhard Richter Painting
Gerhard Richter has spent over half a century experimenting with a tremendous range of techniques and ideas, addressing historical crises and mass media representation alongside explorations of chance procedures. This first glimpse inside his studio in decades is exactly that: a thrilling document of the 79-year-old's creative process, juxtaposed with rare archival footage and intimate conversations with his critics and collaborators.
Occurrences of Questionable Significance
When forest animals invade our cities, the world is in disarray. Office vixen Fiona struggles with her banana phone addiction. Will she succumb to it? Temperamental bunny Barbara only gives her stag sugar daddy Nestor his special massage, after he dines her and plays the big spender. This obscure short film pinpoints postmodern tropes of consumerism, eroticism, and art with an homage to the theater stage and references to literature. This work uses a fantasy language and needs no subtitles.
Taroman Expo Explosion
Osaka was the the site of Expo ’70, and among the most memorable elements of the event, standing to this day, is the "Tower of the Sun", a 70-metre-tall sculpture/building envisioned and designed by renowned artist Taro Okamoto, who some call “the Japanese Picasso”. This film is a theatrical adaptation of "TAROMAN", a tokusatsu series re-envisioning Okamoto's most famous pieces as surrealist superheroes and villains, with Ultraman-like TAROMAN, based on the Tower itself, at the forefront of it all.
Heaven and Earth Magic
The first part depicts the heroine's toothache consequent to the loss of a very valuable watermelon, her dentistry and transportation to heaven. Next follows an elaborate exposition of the heavenly land, in terms of Israel and Montreal. The second part depicts the return to Earth from being eaten by Max Müller on the day Edward VII dedicated the Great Sewer of London.
Hand of Art
An abstract artist promises to deliver twenty five paintings to an art gallery. As he fights for his creative spark and deadlines loom, he feels his world around him crumble away.
Rivers and Tides
Portrait of Andy Goldsworthy, an artist whose specialty is ephemeral sculptures made from elements of nature.
Strength Trilogy
An abstract documentary, in three parts, about the gradual process of an Ayahuasca ritual performed by the Shawãdawa "enchanted macaw" indigenous family.
Lifeline: Clyfford Still
Jackson Pollock said, “he makes the rest of us look academic,” Mark Rothko acknowledged him as a “myth-maker” and Clement Greenberg called him “a highly influential maverick and an independent genius.” Clyfford Still, one of the strongest, most original contributors to abstract expressionism, walked away from the commercial art world at the height of his career. Extremely disciplined, principled, and prolific, Still left behind a treasure trove of works like no other major artist in history. With a wonderful mosaic of archival material, found footage and audio recorded by the artist himself, Lifeline paints a picture of a modern icon, his uncompromising creative journey and the price of independence.
"Don't Scream Now"
"We follow Detective Rodriguez on a case that will take him to new and abstract places and feelings"
Quando Tudo Acabar
A childlike soul runs through their lives, all bound together by the same root trauma.