Primitive Man in a Modern World
1959
23 min
en
An exploration of the contrast between modern civilization and isolated groups of people, often referred to as “primitive”, whose way of life is largely untouched by technological progress.
Documentary
More Like This
Daybreak Express
Set to a classic Duke Ellington recording "Daybreak Express", this is a five-minute short of the soon-to-be-demolished Third Avenue elevated subway station in New York City.
Add to Watchlist
Paparazzi
Paparazzi explores the relationship between Brigitte Bardot and groups of invasive photographers attempting to photograph her while she works on the set of Jean-Luc Godard's film Le Mépris (Contempt). Through video footage of Bardot, interviews with the paparazzi, and still photos of Bardot from magazine covers and elsewhere, director Rozier investigates some of the ramifications of international movie stardom, specifically the loss of privacy to the paparazzi. The film explains the shooting of the film on the island of Capri, and the photographers' valiant, even foolishly dangerous, attempts to get a photograph of Bardot.
Hakob Hovnatanyan
Exploring the art of Armenian portraitist Hakob Hovnatanyan, Parajanov revives the culture of Tbilisi of the 19th century.
The Sixth Side of the Pentagon
On October 21, 1967, over 100,000 protestors gathered in Washington, D.C., for the Mobilization to End the War in Vietnam. It was the largest protest gathering yet, and it brought together a wide cross-section of liberals, radicals, hippies, and Yippies. Che Guevara had been killed in Bolivia only two weeks previously, and, for many, it was the transition from simply marching against the war, to taking direct action to try to stop the 'American war machine.' Norman Mailer wrote about the events in Armies of the Night. French filmmaker Chris Marker, leading a team of filmmakers, was also there.
Wigstock: The Movie
The original documentary on the Wigstock festival, back in the day when it was a much smaller affair in Thompkins Square Park. A full day of peace, love, and wigs…
When Darkness Came: The Making of 'The Mist'
Behind the scenes documentary on the making of the film.
La ruta de don Quijote
A poetic journey through the paths and places of old Castile that were traveled and visited by the melancholic knight Don Quixote of La Mancha and his judicious squire Sancho Panza, the immortal characters of Miguel de Cervantes, which offers a candid depiction of rural life in Spain in the early 1930s and illustrates the first sentence of the first article of the Spanish Constitution of 1931, which proclaims that Spain is a democratic republic of workers of all kind.
Hurricane on the Bayou
The film "Hurricane on the Bayou" is about the wetlands of Louisiana before and after Hurricane Katrina.
I Am an Old Smoking, Moving Indian Movie Star
A veiled Indian lady talks to the camera (silent). Her story is told in images.
Affirmations
A look at what it's like to be gay and black in America.
The Gratinated Brains of Pupilija Ferkeverk
Plotless and wordless, beautifully edited shots of young (often naked or semi-naked) people in various positions, illustrating different emotions, actions and situations, underlined by rock music.
Around the End of the World
A short silent documentary on the making of the 1931 Abel Gance directed film, "La Fin du Monde".
Antarctica: An Adventure of a Different Nature
This large format film explores the last great wilderness on earth. It takes you to the coldest, driest, windiest continent, Antarctica. The film explores the life in Antarctica, both for the animals that live their and the scientist that work there.
Steal This Film
Steal This Film focuses on Pirate Bay founders Gottfrid Svartholm, Fredrik Neij and Peter Sunde, prominent members of the Swedish filesharing community. The makers claimed that 'Old Media' documentary crews couldn't understand the internet culture that filesharers took part in, and that they saw peer-to-peer organization as a threat to their livelihoods. Because of that, they were determined to accurately represent the filesharing community from within. Notably, Steal This Film was released and distributed, free of charge, through the same filesharing networks that the film documents.
The Sun's Gonna Shine
A lyrical recreation of Lightnin’ Hopkins’ decision at age eight to stop chopping cotton and start singing for a living. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2013.
Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk
A documentary about a 15-day river-rafting trip on the Colorado River aimed at highlighting water conservation issues.
Destiny in Space
Travel alongside the astronauts as they deploy and repair the Hubble Space Telescope, soar above Venus and Mars, and find proof of new planets and the possibility of other life forming around distant stars.
Mission to Mir
This film shows how far we have come since the cold-war days of the 50s and 60s. Back then the Russians were our "enemies". And to them the Americans were their "enemies" who couldn't be trusted. Somewhere in all this a young girl in Oklahoma named Shannon set her sights on becoming one of those space explorers, even though she was told "girls can't do that." But she did.
Who Killed Eloá?
In 2008, a young man broke into his ex-girlfriend's apartment, holding her and her friend hostage at gunpoint for five days. The so-called "crime of passion" was covered live and rabidly followed like a perverse telenovela. This film's pointed analysis of the Brazilian police and media's sensationalization of violence against women sadly explains the country's elevated rate of femicide.
Australia: Land Beyond Time
Australia: Land Beyond Time takes viewers on a breathtaking journey back in time to witness the birth and evolution of a mysterious land that harbors remnants of Earth's earliest life and many of it's strangest creatures that exist nowhere else on the planet.
