A Collection of Images from the Point of View of Lightness of Being

A collection of images taken on 35mm film with a point-and-click Holga135BC during the year after I dropped out of school.

The Road To Podestaria

On the military road construction site, on the pastures of Lessinia, writer Carlo Stuparic wrote to his brother Giani. The film celebrates his memory.

Eclogues

Landscapes are permeable, impermanent. They are hallucinations of literature, manifestations of human manipulation. Like the pixel, they are degraded, rearranged, forgotten. “Eclogues” is an expression of landscape in the purest principles of digital image-making: duration, practicality, limitation. Shot in 2020 in Strafford, Vermont.

BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions

Adapted from Kahlil Joseph’s renowned video art installation, BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions is a distinctive cinematic experience that mirrors the sonic textures of a record album, weaving fiction and history in an immersive journey where the fictionalized figures of W. E. B Du Bois and Marcus Garvey join artists, musicians, Joseph’s family, and even Twitter chats, in a vision for black consciousness.

MARKS/MARKS

MARKS/MARKS examines the relationship between the mark making of optical lens technologies (writing with light) and the mark making of painting within the context of digital technology and mass data. The film maps the movement of painter Dr Harrison Waed See in the studio painting to generate the tempo and trigger audio and visual effects. Similarly digital image sonification and digital data sonifcation of still and moving images of Dr See were used to generate further noise and visual effects. Alongside this, the soundtrack also includes amplifcations of the sound of his movements and paint brush.

Midnight Kids

Utquiagvik is the northernmost city in Alaska, located 555 km beyond the Arctic Circle. This meditative documentary follows its young Inuit inhabitants, who explore the desolate snowy landscape under the midnight sun and transform their home into a vast playground full of melting glaciers and abandoned ships.

Uróboro

The COVID-19 pandemic scars the citizens of Mexico City.

Bumpa

This documentary will explore the Afro-Caribbean dance, ‘whining’ alongside the practice of twerking to analyze respectability politics, pressures to accommodate whiteness, and gendered criticism of sexual expression within the Black diaspora. Using archival footage of West African dance, expert opinion from dancing and gender studies professors, and the active participation of partygoers in a dance experiment, Watkins will paint the picture of the defiance, autonomy, and ancestral veneration intrinsic to these traditional movement styles.

The Man Card

For years, right-wing politicians and pundits have repeatedly criticized the left for playing “the race card” and “the woman card.” This new film turns the tables and takes dead aim at the right’s own longstanding – but rarely discussed – deployment of white-male identity politics in American presidential elections. Ranging from Richard Nixon’s tough-talking, law-and-order campaign in 1968 to Donald Trump’s hyper-macho revival of the same fear-based appeals in 2020, "The Man Card" shows how the right has mobilized dominant ideas about manhood and enacted a deliberate strategy to frame Democrats and liberals as soft, brand the Republican Party as the party of “real men,” and position conservatives as defenders of white male power and authority in the face of transformative demographic change and ongoing struggles for racial, gender, and sexual equality.

Dark Eyes

Arguably Russia’s most famous folk song, Dark Eyes has captured hearts around the world for the past 100 years. This portrait explores the song’s somewhat controversial history, its musical versatility and its cultural relevance. Performances by Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Liberace, a 13-piece orchestra and a Russian folk group make it clear why Dark Eyes has stood the test of time.

La Panadella

La Panadella, an emblematic small road town in decline located in Catalonia, is awaiting the arrival of visitors from a mysterious tower. While its inhabitants and passersby follow their monotonous routines, a strange signal manifests itself.

Vampir Cuadecuc

An atmospheric essay, which is an alternative version of Count Dracula, a film directed by Jess Franco in 1970; a ghostly narration between fiction and reality.

Ecopoiesis

Cosmic horror explores the elements and matter of so-called inanimate nature, which become actors and form a new ecosystem. A stream of depictions of fluid materials embedded into each other is accompanied by an unsettling soundtrack that reinforces the uncertainty of whether we are watching a cosmogonic or eschatological vision.

Café au Lait

Bubble

A tropical fish shop in the East End of London, the last of what used to be many. Tiny, watery dramas inside fish tanks accompany the thoughts of local fish-keepers, while father and son Big Tel and Little Tel work to keep the shop alive.

Stone Fruit

My great-grandmother, Frieda Riesenfeld, recounts moving into her first apartment in the United States after escaping from Germany in 1938.

The Forgotten

An exploration of memory after death.

Formosa

A girl from Hainan recounts her youth in a seaside village she couldn't leave.

Pet Shop

Pet Shop works as an experiment on regret and suffering. A juxtaposition of a dog in a pet shop and a window. Narrated from the perspective of God, or the Devil, the text recounts discussions a person has had with Him. The person accuses Him of destroying his life. This could be for a sin, a murder, or for falling in love with a person of the same sex.

around around around & down

a raw descent, billowing fast & spun 'til the time we'll force the soil to swallow ourselves: too far gone, & no backwards to safety. only spirals of wasted water down dirty, half-clogged drains, razed by fates written for us in cold ash by the bones of ancient smokestacks.

John Candy: I Like Me

Those who knew iconic funnyman John Candy best share his story, in their own words, through never-before-seen archival footage, imagery, and interviews.

Maria by Callas

Told through performances, TV interviews, home movies, family photographs, private letters and unpublished memoirs, the film reveals the essence of an extraordinary woman who rose from humble beginnings in New York City to become a glamorous international superstar and one of the greatest artists of all time.

Seven Up!

A group of British children aged 7 from widely ranging backgrounds are interviewed about a range of subjects. The filmmakers plan to re-interview them at 7 year intervals to track how their lives and attitudes change as they age.

My Mom Jayne

Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.

One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5

An inside look at the years of effort and craft that went into the final installment of the Duffer Brothers' generation-defining series.

Fuck

A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.

42 Up

Director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born adults after a 7 year wait. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.

Stories We Tell

Canadian actress and filmmaker Sarah Polley investigates certain secrets related to her mother, interviewing a group of family members and friends whose reliability varies depending on their implication in the events, which are remembered in different ways; so a trail of questions remains to be answered, because memory is always changing and the discovery of truth often depends on who is telling the tale.

WHAM!

Through archival interviews and footage, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley relive the arc of their Wham! career, from 70s best buds to 80s pop icons.

The Sparks Brothers

Take a musical odyssey through five weird and wonderful decades with brothers Ron & Russell Mael, celebrating the inspiring legacy of Sparks: your favorite band’s favorite band.

35 Up

Director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born adults after a 7 year wait. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.

28 Up

Just two years away from turning 30, participants in Michael Apted's documentary series are facing serious questions of identity and purpose, wondering whether they've found their place in the world.

21 Up

After another 7 year wait, director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born children from Seven Up! and 7 Plus Seven. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.

Who Are You, Charlie Brown?

Lupita Nyong'o narrates a documentary about Peanuts and its creator, Charles M. Schulz. Famous fans—including Drew Barrymore, Kevin Smith, and Al Roker—share its influence on them, and a new animated story finds Charlie Brown on a quest.

Beyond Infinity: Buzz and the Journey to Lightyear

Explore the evolution of Buzz Lightyear from toy to human in the making of Pixar’s Lightyear. Dive into the origin and cultural impact of everyone’s favorite Space Ranger, the art of designing a new “human Buzz,” and the challenges faced by the Lightyear crew along the way.

Piece by Piece

A unique cinematic experience that invites audiences on a vibrant journey through the life of cultural icon Pharrell Williams. Told through the lens of LEGO® animation, turn up the volume on your imagination and witness the evolution of one of music's most innovative minds.

Supersonic

Supersonic charts the meteoric rise of Oasis from the council estates of Manchester to some of the biggest concerts of all time in just three short years. This palpable, raw and moving film shines a light on one of the most genre and generation-defining British bands that has ever existed and features candid new interviews with Noel and Liam Gallagher, their mother, and members of the band and road crew.

Baraka

A paralysingly beautiful documentary with a global vision—an odyssey through landscape and time—that attempts to capture the essence of life.

Being James Bond

Daniel Craig candidly reflects on his 15 year adventure as James Bond. Including never-before-seen archival footage from Casino Royale to the upcoming 25th film No Time To Die, Craig shares his personal memories in conversation with 007 producers, Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.

Stan Lee

Celebrate the legacy of Stan Lee as the co-creator of such legendary characters as Fantastic Four, Iron Man, the X-Men, The Avengers, and hundreds more.