Mark Rappaport completed his concise portrait of the legendary John Garfield in 2002, comprised (like much of his filmed essays) from existing film footage of the actor. Exceptionally engaging, Rappaport’s extraordinary short contains more insightful observations of its subject than many feature-length biographical documentaries.
Category: Short
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This film is a visual diary of Nedeljko Dragic’s visit to the United States, for which he has transformed his impressions into a rapidly flowing, semi-abstract series of images. He has created a nightmarish vision, with certain ideas, such as the pace and superficiality of life, technological and economic power and ostentatious advertising, predominating. In his somewhat sardonic comment on American values the more innocent images of the past, like the love-sick mouse chasing a cat and the small figure of Chaplin’s little tramp, are few and far between.
Sam Phelps, a New York State farmer takes a stand against the possible destruction of a nearby watershed, pointing out the need for thoughtful planning and careful land management.
A pictorial history of Washington D.C. through old prints, daguerreotypes and photographs as well as contemporary footage to depict the turbulent history the U.S. capital and the building of the Capitol.
Made as a tribute to the poet-painter Henri Michaux who died in 1985, this animated short film is inspired by one of his books, Mouvements (Gallimard, 1951), and offers an unusual rapprochement between an exceptional practice of writing and painting and the art of animation and cinema. Techniques: real shots and engraving on film.
An interpretation of The Confessions of Saint Augustine, featuring an ordinary middle-aged man who undergoes a conversion experience while watching an experimental film. The film is by Al Rutcurts (think about it) and Earl is so bored that his mind starts to wander.
A little manikin (made of a few twists of stubby wire) juggles balls around him, always preferring the biggest and brightest and overlooking a plain white one, the oddball. It is only when the other balls turn fickle and elude his grasp that he discovers the worth of the little white ball.
Using rear-screen process plates from classic Warner Bros. film noirs, a young man (in color) searches for his past through black-and-white scenes from classic Hollywood movies like “The Big Sleep,” “Mildred Pierce,” and “Strangers on a Train”. Filmmaker Mark Rappaport evocatively plays with the themes of noir while contemporizing the stakes involved by utilizing extensive rear projection to remarkable effect (actors — in color — against black-and-white backgrounds photographed in high definition).