Freiheit
Director:
George Lucas
1965, 3
mins
Freiheit (the German word for freedom) was George Lucas’
senior film project while at the University of Southern California. The
three-minute film depicts a student, played by classmate Randal Kleiser (who
went on to direct GREASE) escaping across the border from East to West Germany.
A chance to see the early work of a director whose impact on modern filmmaking
is nothing short of astounding - starting in 1971 with THX 1138, and continuing
on through AMERICAN GRAFFITI, the INDIANA JONES trilogy and, of course, the
STAR WARS series.
Appearing Courtesy of Cinema 16.
Have you
seen this man?
Directors:
Ryan Fleck, Anna Boden
2003, 18
mins
Have You
Seen This Man? introduces us to New York conceptual artist Geoff Lupo, who uses
telephone-pole ads to peddle individual toothpicks and crackers (to strangely
enthusiastic buyers/collectors). In this documentary short, filmmakers Anna
Boden and Ryan Fleck capture the candid humor and poignancy of Lupo's seemingly
absurd interactions. Boden and Fleck recently co-wrote and co-directed the
Oscar nominated feature Half Nelson.
The Drift
Director: Kelly Sears
2007, 8 mins
A mysterious disappearance and a space journey gone awry launches the counter-cultural revolution at the end of the 1960s. Obsessively collected images found in thrift stores and flea markets are animated to create an alternate American aeronautical and cultural history. Through the gaps in these isolated moments of time, The Drift collages together a history of expansion and the desire to push too far, too fast.
Kelly Sears is an animator and filmmaker living in Los Angeles. Her work has been shown at SFMOMA, the Museum of Contemporary Arts, San Diego, the Hammer Museum, Anathology Film Archives and in galleries and film festivals internationally.
All
American Dinner
Director:
Jenny Perlin
2003, 3
mins
Menus and lists of foods culled from research describe the “typical All-American Dinner.” The lists range from the banal to the elite to what might be called “the extremely unappetizing.” Ironies appear in the use of non-American terms, and the repetition of a surprising number of foods reworked from their “foreign” roots and presented as “typically American.” The film points at the way “All-American” reinforces the stereotype of the U.S. as a mono-cultural entity. The film is a humorous and pointed look at one so-called “classic” trait of American culture.
Frank Film
Directors:
Frank and Caroline Mouris
1973, 9
mins
This 1973 classic short is an animated autobiography of its author, Frank Mouris. The film received an Academy Award and was selected in 1996 for inclusion in the National Film Registry. Because of its innovative and energetic use of collage, the film has exerted an influence on succeeding generations of animators.
Happiness
Director:
Sophie Barthes
2006, 11
mins
What if happiness was for sale? One evening, after work, Iwona buys a box of happiness in a strange discount store and has to decide what to do with it. A straight-faced comedy with Polish-american screen legend Elzbieta Czyzewska shot in Boston and New York City. The film has screened at Sundance and 40 other festivals worldwide.
Forgetting
Betty
Directors:
James Anderson, Robert Postrozny
2006, 10
mins
Forgetting Betty is an affecting short drama that weighs the joys of living life against the fears of aging when a 96-year-old widow spends a fleeting day with her grandson. Forgetting Betty was the winner of the award for best short film at the Chicago international Film Festival 2006, and also screened at Rotterdam International Film Festival.
Feelings
Director: Todd Solondz
1984
Todd Solondz is one of the most singular voices in American
cinema. Over the past 10 years his films WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE, HAPPINESS,
STORYTELLING and PALINDROMES have marked him out as a provocative and maverick
talent.
Amongst the shorts he made while studying film at NYU is
FEELINGS. Solondz himself takes the lead role in the film where a sensitive
young man finds he can no longer endure life without his beloved.