Video Essay/The Essay Film: Some Thoughts of Discontent

In a world bedazzled by intractable images, do we need the essay film now more than ever? Kevin B. Lee weighs up this distinctively self-aware, searching form of cinema through both video and text.

Straying home

Non-human animals have always been around us, shaping and being shaped by our shared worlds. Yet in the modern city, their presence is increasingly cast as a problem, and their ways of living as disruptions. By following their traces, this film essay points toward a different picture that questions the narratives we take for granted. Through more-than-human encounters filmed locally in Romania, and a critical detour from the official discourse, other ways of living begin to surface. Perhaps there’s more we can do to unmake the anthropocentric landscape. What would it take to coexist more justly with urban animals? This film strays with this question and its possible answers.

News from Taxi Driver

The New York of News from Home was filmed in 1976, while the one of Taxi Driver was filmed in the summer of 1975. Both works reflect the same decadent city. Two visions that shift from the everyday to the existential complement each other. A resignification of Akerman's images through the voice-over of Scorsese's work.

Two Bergmans

There are two Bergmans. One speaks English, the other Italian. They fall in love and set off impulsively to live together. But reality is far from easy. As the rift between their emotions deepens, what choice will they make? And what kind of ending awaits them?

Why Watch Yi Yi: A One and a Two...

A video essay on Edward Yang's 2000 film "Yi Yi: A One and a Two..."

Weird West: Bone Tomahawk's Genre Medley

A video essay made on S. Craig Zahler's 2015 film "Bone Tomahawk".

The Philosophy of Robin Hood

A video essay on the history and morality of the Robin Hood legend.

Visite banale du musée de l'oubli.

comment faire disparaître un corps.

Autobiography of My Diabetes

After the making of my previous film (PLAY DEAD!), some unfinished business remained on my desktop. Home movies and various body horror films from my childhood cluttered my computer screen. Part medical treatise, part self-anamnesis, and a mashup tinged with nostalgia, this video essay returns the images emanating from my computer screen to the everyday gaze of a diabetic.

nostomanie

Valera: Man-Mountain

An experimental short assembled from YouTube videos of the director’s former classmate, TV fragments, and a 2006 graduation interview recorded in Alchevsk. What starts as an ironic play with early-2000s home-video aesthetics slowly falls apart. Through montage of personal and online material, Chepelev tries to reconnect with a man he once loved – a man whom war and time have made almost unrecognisable. Laughter loses its protective function and gives way to the impossible wish to return to a place that no longer exists.

A Brave Engineer: Buster Keaton's Last Ride

From 1920 to 1965, the great Buster Keaton made spectacular use of locomotives in his films. This video essay charts the course of his iconic cinematic career across the many tracks he rode along on screen: as a young man in the surge of his silent movie ascent in Our Hospitality, while making his masterpiece The General, and traversing the width of Canada on a railway speeder car as an old man in The Railrodder.

Sentimental Structure

A video poem about a house. The home, or at least its foundations, are what evoke memories of that childhood, now lost in time.

Tales from the Black Forest

Video essay on Heart of Stone, folktales and gothic horror by film and literature scholar Mary Going. Included on the Eureka! Entertainment release of of the 1950 DEFA film "Heart of Stone," or "Das Kalte Herz", the original German title.

Dinner is ready !

Right to be Flawed

The film, grounded in the photo series titled "Right to be Flawed"—published on a-part.online, the official publishing platform of the Kadıköy-based aesthetic-modernist art collective apart Art Association—is a short videographic essay that aims, through a practice-based experiment, to test French thinker-sociologist Jean Baudrillard’s theory of simulation, the imperfection–perfection dichotomy within that theory, and the implications of this dichotomy in the context of art and image regimes.

Until You Stop Breathing

Surrounded by reflections of color, an ephemeral being explores the ethereal, sweet, and dangerous nature of sexual affection for another. It yearns to desire, but also to be desired.

Taking My Parents to Burning Man

Bry, a reckless party animal, decides to rip his retired parents from their all-American lives and throw them into the adventure of a lifetime. As Bry and his folks enjoy the Dionysian side of life, they will all learn a bit about themselves & each other.

El Salvador: Lost Archives of the Armed Conflict, Vol. 1

The military dictatorships, which held power in El Salvador, instituted a way of governing the country that became unsustainable. Electoral frauds were evident, and despite all this, the military continued to perpetuate themselves in power. Little by little, the gap between social classes began to widen, aggravating differences, while inequality grew disproportionally. Due to the lack of opportunity to improve the quality of life of Salvadorans via a political path, guerrilla organizations as well as an armed conflict emerged.

Avatar: The Deep Dive - A Special Edition of 20/20

An inside look at one of the most anticipated movie sequels ever with James Cameron and cast.

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.

McQueen

Alexander McQueen's rags-to-riches story is a modern-day fairy tale, laced with the gothic. Mirroring the savage beauty, boldness and vivacity of his design, this documentary is an intimate revelation of McQueen's own world, both tortured and inspired, which celebrates a radical and mesmerizing genius of profound influence.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Come See Me in the Good Light

In an intimate and joyful story of love in the face of loss, celebrated poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley find strength—and unexpected hilarity—in what might be their final year together.

Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return

This special explores the return of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker to the screen, as well as Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen to their classic roles. Director Deborah Chow leads the cast and crew as they create new heroes and villains that live alongside new incarnations of beloved Star Wars characters, and an epic story that dramatically bridges the saga films.

Love, Antosha

From a prolific career in film and television, Anton Yelchin left an indelible legacy as an actor. Through his journals and other writings, his photography, the original music he wrote, and interviews with his family, friends, and colleagues, this film looks not just at Anton's impressive career, but at a broader portrait of the man.

Sidney

This revealing documentary honors the legendary Sidney Poitier—iconic actor, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. Featuring interviews with Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Halle Berry, and more.

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.

Louis Theroux: Twilight of the Porn Stars

In 1997, Louis Theroux made a documentary about the world of male porn performers in Los Angeles. 15 years later, he returns to find a business struggling with the deluge of free porn on the internet. Louis revisits some of the original programme's contributors as well as meeting the latest crop of porn performers dreaming of porn stardom.

The Walking Dead: The Return

Stars of "The Walking Dead," Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira, walk down memory lane and visit iconic locations where pivotal moments between their characters, Rick and Michonne, were filmed.

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.

Katy Perry: Part of Me

Giving fans unprecedented access to the real life of the music sensation, Katy Perry: Part of Me exposes the hard work, dedication and phenomenal talent of a girl who remained true to herself and her vision in order to achieve her dreams. Featuring rare behind-the-scenes interviews, personal moments between Katy and her friends, and all-access footage of rehearsals, choreography, Katy’s signature style and more, Katy Perry: Part of Me reveals the singer’s unwavering belief that if you can be yourself, then you can be anything.

Aquaman: Heroines of Atlantis

Amber Heard and Nicole Kidman discuss their characters Mera and Atlanna.

I Am Heath Ledger

The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.

180° South

The film follows adventurer Jeff Johnson as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia.

Cameraperson

As a visually radical memoir, CAMERAPERSON draws on the remarkable footage that filmmaker Kirsten Johnson has shot and reframes it in ways that illuminate moments and situations that have personally affected her. What emerges is an elegant meditation on the relationship between truth and the camera frame, as Johnson transforms scenes that have been presented on Festival screens as one kind of truth into another kind of story—one about personal journey, craft, and direct human connection.