Jørgen Leth's experimental take on Ophelia's madness scene in Shakespeare's Hamlet.
Social & External
The people behind it
Lene Adler Petersen
Ophelia
Although Gainsbourg and Birkin had appeared in a string of films since their magnetic collision in Pierre Grimblat’s Slogan, Melody was a bit of diversion from their collaborations since it’s a series of interwoven videos inspired by the Gainsbourgalbum. For '71 it’s a novel concept to bring visual life to an LP, but even more surprising are the short film’s amazing visuals that director Averty crafted using a wealth of video filters, overlays, camera movements and chroma key effects. Averty applies these in tandem with the increasing tone of Gainsbourg’s songs, which more or less chronicle an older man's affair with a young girl. Each song is comprised of steady, sometimes brooding poetic delivery, with refrains timed to the phrase repeats of each song, while Alan Parker’s buzzing guitar accompanies and wiggles around Gainsbourg’s resonant voice. The bass is fat and groovy, the drums easy but steady, and the periodic use of strings or rich vibrato makes this short a sultry little gem.
Abstract video short about a nameless "Diver"
This films fractures homogeneous conceptions of white masculinity through exploring the ways class produces different valences of whiteness. To do this, Andrea Slane presents a barrage of tabloid television stories of "real-life" violence and tragedy as she works through her own expressions of grief, guilt, anger and regret around the circumstances of her 20-year-old brother's suicide.
A memory-using location film of a stay with a uranium mining community. Using a kaleidoscopic array of experimental techniques, this film explores uranium mining in Canada and its destructive effects on both the environment and the women working in the mines. A plethora of images ranging from the women at work to spine-chilling representations of cancerous bodies are accompanied by unnerving industrial sounds and straightforward information from some of the women.
"Adrift" is shot on the arctic island of Spitzbergen and in Norway. It combines time-lapse photography with stop-motion animation of the landscape. Through camera-angles and framing the film gradually dislocates the viewer from a stable base where one loses the sense of scale and grounding.
Eight-year old Aaron is dead set on winning the Grand Prize in his 2nd Grade declamation contest. He is determined to win despite his obvious “f” and “p” speech defect, a proclivity common amongst some Filipinos to interchange the pronunciation of English words with the letters “f” and “p”. His mother takes an active albeit humorous role in preparing him for the competition. This is a story of perseverance, family unity and the real meaning of triumph and possibly the “Rocky” of all declamation contests!
A mother who writes children’s storybooks, ironically, doesn’t have enough time to create stories for her own son. The restless child finds a chance to create his own stories when his grandfather, comes up with a game. They fill an old milk can with pieces of paper, each containing a word which will be a “story-starter”. Tales of heroes and villains, magic and places fill up the child’s imagination. But the child’s made-up story is in need of a happy ending. Now, it depends on the storyteller mother to create the greatest ending of them all.
In a Copenhagen motel, a politician's hookup doesn't go to plan. Meanwhile at a nightclub, a mother and son are connected via song. Whereas in the suburbs, a football team prepares for the big outing - of one of its players. The 5 short films are: Hotel Boy (2018); Poz (2016); Young Man's Dance [Ung mands dans] (2014); Swans [Svans] (2016); Ladyboy (2011).
In a village of Cuba devastated after trying to imitate the north american suburb model, a sound recorder tries to tape sounds for an incoming blockbuster about a giant monster that destroys a whole town.
A Hollywood actor grows tired of making the same corporate movies, so he moves to Argentina to find more experimental and meaningful work.
This film is depicts early lesbian sexuality, using reenacted scenes from the experience of a 12-year old girl as the platform for a meditation on forbidden desire, transgression, and Lacanian psychoanalytic concepts of identity formation. Raw adolescent memories counterpoint staged scenes, exploring mechanisms of power and submission.
"Africa Light" - as white local citizens call Namibia. The name suggests romance, the beauty of nature and promises a life without any problems in a country where the difference between rich and poor could hardly be greater. Namibia does not give that impression of it. If you look at its surface it seems like Africa in its most innocent and civilized form. It is a country that is so inviting to dream by its spectacular landscape, stunning scenery and fascinating wildlife. It has a very strong tourism structure and the government gets a lot of money with its magical attraction. But despite its grandiose splendor it is an endless gray zone as well. It oscillates between tradition and modernity, between the cattle in the country and the slums in the city. It shuttles from colonial times, land property reform to minimum wage for everyone. It fluctuates between socialism and cold calculated market economy.
Evolution and change are usually observed within a positive sphere, nevertheless and according to the history of humanity, we are stubborn beings reluctant to change and the unknown. I wrote this short with that thought in my mind. Mardi Darkness shows a small glance in the life of a recent graduate that resists to change, the possibility of happiness and above all the acceptance of his new life. Far away from his family, from what he once called home and his youth. The short film was made in an experimental fashion. It was initially framed as a sequence shot but it was just evoking melancholy and the chaos went too unperceived. For this reason, I decided to use a split screen technique to tell the story in a more chaotic and voyeuristic manner. It is as though it was seen through monitors that loop the life of a man who refuses to change, remaining so until it merges with the darkness of the screen and the unexplored.
Aliens have come from the planet Uranus to steal Earth's resources. Its up to a group of Go-Go dancing Private eyes to stop them!
Dealing with life's troubles is never easy. Many people find comfort in the soothing words of their trusted therapist. Mr. Talbot does not. His therapist, has a tough love approach. Not convinced of Talbot's assertion that he's a werewolf, she invites him to her office the evening of the full moon. Talbot insists that he's really dangerous. As the doctor insists Talbot's delusional, suddenly he begins to change. Prepared, Dr. Steiner has no trouble curing her patient. For good.
A superstitious guy, Bien, seeks all sorts of “divine” signs that will determine his decision of asking the girl of his dreams out on a date. The fear of rejection swallows him whole, making him justify his cause to seek for more unfathomable signs. But when each sign he asks for materializes, he soon learns that he has to be careful with what he wishes.
An introduction to Kim-Trang's video series on metaphorical and physical blindness, ALETHEIA explores the interconnected issues of cosmetic surgical alteration of the eyelids, technology, language, race and gender. This video is a highly graphic examination of dominant notions of normalcy, beauty and their effects and impositions on the body. Part of the Blindness Series.
Letters from a Window is clearly structured. On the visual level it consists solely of paused film frames, hard cuts of different lengths. The stunning, rapidly changing images appear like brief impressions of a world that has been brought to its knees by a faceless power. The views of people, places, and objects constantly change. On the sound level, in counterpoint to the staccato of the dystopian flood of images, we hear a warm, calm woman’s voice, lovingly and wistfully addressing one “N.”, who might be a man or a woman, in a continuous flow of words. She refers directly to the images, as if she could see them at the cinematic window as she speaks.
A magical tale of friendship and loneliness, which tells the story of a little boy who one day finds a penguin on his doorstep. Although at first he is unsure what to do, the boy becomes determined to help the penguin find his way back home... even if that means rowing all the way to the South Pole!
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, returns home to find his father murdered and his mother now marrying the murderer... his uncle. Meanwhile, war is brewing.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, minor characters from the play 'Hamlet', find themselves on the road to Elsinore Castle at the behest of the King of Denmark. The duo encounter a band of players before arriving to find that they are needed to try to discern what troubles the prince Hamlet. Meanwhile, they ponder the meaning of their existence.
Ophelia comes of age as lady-in-waiting for Queen Gertrude, and her singular spirit captures Hamlet's affections. As lust and betrayal threaten the kingdom, Ophelia finds herself trapped between true love and controlling her own destiny.
A 6th-century Scandinavian warrior named Beowulf embarks on a mission to slay the man-like ogre, Grendel.
When Gerda Wegener asks her husband Einar to fill in as a portrait model, Einar discovers the person she's meant to be and begins living her life as Lili Elbe. Having realized her true self and with Gerda's love and support, Lili embarks on a groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.
Smilla Jaspersen attempts to understand the death of a small boy who falls from the roof of her apartment building. Suspecting wrongdoing, Smilla uncovers a trail of clues leading towards a secretive corporation that has made several mysterious expeditions to Greenland.
Believing they have left behind shadowy figures from their past, newlyweds Christian and Ana fully embrace an inextricable connection and shared life of luxury. But just as she steps into her role as Mrs. Grey and he relaxes into an unfamiliar stability, new threats could jeopardize their happy ending before it even begins.
Count Dracula, a 15th-century prince, is condemned to live off the blood of the living for eternity. Young lawyer Jonathan Harker is sent to Dracula's castle to finalise a land deal, but when the Count sees a photo of Harker's fiancée, Mina, the spitting image of his dead wife, he imprisons him and sets off for London to track her down.
As a country arms itself for war, a family tears itself apart. Forced to avenge his father's death but paralyzed by the task ahead, Hamlet rages against the impossibility of his predicament, threatening both his sanity and the security of the state.
In early 19th century England, Mr and Mrs Bennet's five unmarried daughters vie for the affections of rich and eligible Mr Bingley and his status-conscious friend, Mr Darcy, who have moved into their neighbourhood. While Bingley takes an immediate liking to eldest daughter Jane, Darcy has difficulty adapting to local society and repeatedly clashes with second-eldest Elizabeth.
In an English village, a reporter and a mechanic listen to a ratcatcher explain his clever plan to outwit his prey.
One night in his near-empty tower block in contemporary London, Adam has a chance encounter with a mysterious neighbor, which punctures the rhythm of his everyday life.
The powerful story of love and loss that inspired the creation of Shakespeare's timeless masterpiece, Hamlet.
Tells the life story of Danish author Karen Blixen, who at the beginning of the 20th century moved to Africa to build a new life for herself. The film is based on her 1937 autobiographical novel.
It tells of the events before the film, in which monster hunter Gabriel Van Helsing travels to London to investigate a series of horrific, and decidedly supernatural murders, being committed by the mad scientist Dr. Jekyll, in the form of his evil alter-ego, Mr. Hyde.
In post-apocalyptic England, an American volunteer and a British survivor team up to fight off a brood of fire-breathing dragons seeking to return to global dominance after centuries of rest underground. The Brit -- leading a clan of survivors to hunt down the King of the Dragons -- has much at stake: His mother was killed by a dragon, but his love is still alive.
Young Macy is abducted by a deranged, monstrous figure who wants to raise her as its child.
12-year-old Bailey lives with her single dad Bug and brother Hunter in a squat in North Kent. Bug doesn’t have much time for his kids, and Bailey, who is approaching puberty, seeks attention and adventure elsewhere.
When a wounded Christian Grey tries to entice a cautious Ana Steele back into his life, she demands a new arrangement before she will give him another chance. As the two begin to build trust and find stability, shadowy figures from Christian’s past start to circle the couple, determined to destroy their hopes for a future together.
The narrative unfolds in the 14th Century, when the European nations vie for supremacy within the Holy Roman Empire. The ambitious Austrian Empire, desiring more land, invades neighbouring Switzerland, a serene and pastoral nation. Protagonist William Tell, a formerly peaceful hunter, finds himself forced to take action as his family and homeland come under threat from the oppressive Austrian King and his ruthless warlords.
