Popular Movies
Meshes of the Afternoon is a surreal and experimental short film that follows a woman as she navigates through dream-like sequences and encounters alternate realities. The film explores themes of identity, perception, and the unconscious mind. It uses various symbols and visual motifs such as flowers, knives, stairs, and mirrors to create a sense of unease and mystery. The protagonist's encounters with a doppelganger and a hooded figure add to the surreal atmosphere of the film.
The Private Life of a Cat is a groundbreaking documentary that explores the intimate moments and behaviors of a pair of cats, from their courtship to the birth and care of their kittens.
Alexander Hammid's sensitive narrative of how a pre-adolescent boy is helped by a psychiatrist to come to terms with his feelings.
The collected shorts of Maya Deren the "Mother of the trance film" who worked completely outside the commercial film industry and made her own inner experience the center of her films.The collected shorts of Maya Deren the "Mother of the trance film" who worked completely outside the commercial film industry and made her own inner experience the center of her films.
Night Journey, the dance, had its premiere only two and a half years after Appalachian Spring, and it is a close cousin. It too has a stream-of-consciousness narration: Jocasta, as she is about to kill herself, remembering what has happened to her. It too contains soul-delving solos, broken up by ensemble dances. Here, however, the ensemble is a darker element. As the story was taken from Greek tragedy, so the corps is the equivalent of Greek tragedy’s chorus. They tell us how to feel: afraid mostly. In this piece Graham pushed her habitual economy to its limits.
Documentary examining the conflicts between the coming of modernization and the traditional culture of a small Mexican village.
Hymn of the Nations, originally titled Arturo Toscanini: Hymn of the Nations, is a 1944 film directed by Alexander Hammid, which features the "Inno delle nazioni," a patriotic work for tenor soloist, chorus, and orchestra, composed by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi in the early 1860s. (For this musical work, Verdi utilized the national anthems of several European nations.) In December 1943, Arturo Toscanini filmed a performance of this music for inclusion in an Office of War Information documentary about the role of Italian-Americans in aiding the Allies during World War II. Toscanini added a bridge passage to include arrangements of "The Star-Spangled Banner" for the United States and "The Internationale" for the Soviet Union and the Italian partisans. Joining Toscanini in the filmed performance in NBC Studio 8-H, were tenor Jan Peerce, the Westminster Choir, and the NBC Symphony Orchestra. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2010.
A documentary about the conquest of Czechoslovakia by the Nazis just prior to World War 2.
Of Men and Music is a 1951 documentary film that takes a deep dive into the history and impact of music on society. Through interviews, archival footage, and performances, the film presents a comprehensive look at the power of music in shaping culture and connecting people.
A Better Tomorrow (1945) is a documentary short that focuses on New York City progressive public schools.
Four episodes on the theme of human hope and survival set in Santambrogio, Italy; Fermathe, Haiti; British Columbia and Kjeller in Norway.
Youth in Canada learning to come to terms with the world in which they have to live. A picture of the journey to adulthood - a composite of many children's journeys. The production utilized 340 teenagers, 65 adults, and 50 children, none of whom had any previous acting experience.
Husband and wife struggle to attain a balance of power in their marriage in this neorealist social guidance film.
Analysis of personality cited as an important step in choosing the right partner for marriage. Emphasis is placed on choosing marriage partners with care and on accepting the other for what he or she is.
Dramatization of the experience of a young married couple whose quarrels undermine their happiness and prevent the development of adult love based on mutual understanding.
A 1945 Oscar nominated short documentary about the Library of Congress. It is one of 26 documentary shorts produced between 1942 and 1945 by the U.S. Overseas Film Bureau, and intended to show foreign viewers something about America and it's values, this one focuses on the important institution in Washington D.C. which preserves written and other works that have been copyrighted, as part of the country's heritage.
Probably the best-known advertising film for Bata, where joke and irony meet commercial purposes. Tires are sent from rural countryside to the turmoil of the city to serve progress.
"To Be Alive!" was designed to celebrate the common ground between different cultures by tracing how children in various parts of the world mature into adulthood.
Alexander Hammid
Alexander Hammid born Alexandr Hackenschmied (17 December 1907, Linz – 26 July 2004, New York City) was a leading photographer, film director, cinematographer and editor in Czechoslovakia between the two world wars. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1938 and became involved in American avant-garde cinema. He is best known known for his film, Crisis (1939), Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) and To Be Alive!(1964). He made Meshes of the Afternoon, with his wife Maya Deren—to whom he was married from 1942 to 1947. He won the 1965 Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) for To Be Alive! (1964), which he co-directed with Francis Thompson.
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