21. Documentary and Experimental Short Films
List activity
7 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
50 titles
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsPierre BatcheffSimone MareuilLuis BuñuelLuis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí present 16 minutes of bizarre, surreal imagery.
- DirectorBoris KaufmanJean VigoWhat starts off as a conventional travelogue turns into a satirical portrait of the town of Nice on the French Cote d'Azur, especially its wealthy inhabitants.
- DirectorJean VigoStarsJean DastéRobert le FlonLouis LefebvreIn a repressive boarding school with rigid rules of behavior, four boys decide to rebel against the direction on a celebration day.
- DirectorHarry WattBasil WrightStarsArthur ClarkJohn GriersonStuart LeggShows the special train on which mail is sorted, dropped and collected on the run, and delivered in Scotland overnight.
- DirectorHumphrey JenningsStewart McAllisterStarsLeonard BrockingtonJoseph MacleodBud FlanaganA depiction of life in wartime England during the Second World War. Director Humphrey Jennings visits many aspects of civilian life and of the turmoil and privation caused by the war, all without narration.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsHenry FondaJane DarwellLogan RamseyThe Japanese attack on Midway in June 1942, filmed as it happened.
- DirectorFrank CapraAnatole LitvakStarsEduard BenesNeville ChamberlainClementine ChurchillThe official World War II US government account of Nazi international aggression leading up to the British and French declarations of war.
- DirectorHumphrey JenningsStarsVillagers of CwmgieddArwel MichaelThe true story of the massacre of a small Czech village by the Nazis is retold as if it happened in Wales.
- DirectorMaya DerenAlexander HammidStarsMaya DerenAlexander HammidA woman returning home falls asleep and has vivid dreams that may or may not be happening in reality. Through repetitive images and complete mismatching of the objective view of time and space, her dark inner desires play out on-screen.
- DirectorStuart HeislerStarsClyde TurnerCarlton MossWilliam BroadusDocumentary focusing on the contributions to the American war effort of African-American soldiers.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsMark W. ClarkJohn HustonDirector John Huston documents the Battle of San Pietro Infine in December 1943.
- DirectorFrank LloydStarsReed HadleyArthur KennedyJack KlockDocumentary of the planning and delivery of the last great bomber attack on the city of Tokyo by the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II.
- DirectorHans BurgerBilly WilderStarsAnton ReimerOriginally made with a German soundtrack for screening in occupied Germany and Austria, this film was the first documentary to show what the Allies found when they liberated the Nazi extermination camps: the survivors, the conditions, and the evidence of mass murder. The film includes accounts of the economic aspects of the camps' operation, the interrogation of captured camp personnel, and the enforced visits of the inhabitants of neighboring towns, who, along with the rest of their compatriots, are blamed for complicity in the Nazi crimes - one of the few such condemnations in the Allied war records.
- DirectorHumphrey JenningsStarsWilliam HartnellMost of the footage for this film was shot in September and October of 1945 mainly in the ruined cities of Hamburg, Dusseldorf and Essen. The people (mainly women and children) huddled in the unheated cellars of ruined houses without gas or any water save that from stand-pipes in the street.
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsClaude DauphinThe biography of Dutch artist Van Gogh, illustrated only with images of his paintings and drawings, or details of those, and according dramatic musical score.
- DirectorJames AlgarStarsWinston HiblerThe first of the True-Life Adventure featurettes. Fur seals arrive on the Pribilof Islands for the purpose of mating. The older seals are known as bulls and have "harems" of females which they protect very seriously. The younger male seals get together, train themselves to fight, and then help each other overthrow the bulls to become the new masters of the harems.
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsJean Servais
- DirectorJames AlgarStarsWinston HiblerMogens LindGet a glimpse of "nature's own engineer" hard at work. A young male beaver must defend his new family against hungry predators, mischievous river otters and the ever-impending threat of winter.
- DirectorRobert HessensAlain ResnaisStarsMaría CasaresJacques PruvostOn April 26 1937 the small Basque town of Guernica was bombed without warning by the German aviation. Two thousand people, all civilians, got killed. Like millions all over the world, Pablo Picasso was shocked and he translated his emotion into a magnificent but terrifying picture bearing the name of the martyred city. This film does not only comment on the painting, it also gives it a new life through frantic camera and sound effects.
- DirectorJames AlgarStarsWinston HiblerMogens LindThe strange and wonderful world that lies beneath our feet, under leaf, log and rock, peopled by millions of weird and fascinating creatures.
- DirectorAnthony SimmonsIn 1951, Southend On Sea was a popular day out for trippers from London, who are seen here enjoying a very British day at the seaside. The film has no dialogue and is set to music hall songs.
- DirectorFrank StauffacherStarsVincent PriceExperimental, impressionistic documentary of San Francisco with narration based on a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson and narrated by Vincent Price.
- DirectorNorman McLarenStarsGrant MunroJean Paul LadouceurA surreal story of two neighbours' destructive feud over a flower.
- DirectorJames AlgarStarsWinston HiblerJoin the majestic Olympic elk as they traverse the alpine path from their winter home in the lowland shadow of Washington's Mount Olympus, to the fertile grazing grounds of its towering peaks.
- DirectorBen SharpsteenStarsWinston HiblerFrom the still waters of lagoons and marshes to the wild blue wilderness of the vast oceans, experience the beauty and variety of these majestic birds, each perfectly designed for its habitat.
- DirectorJames AlgarStarsWinston HiblerKjeld JacobsenThe lives of black bears in Yellowstone National Park.
- DirectorGhislain CloquetChris MarkerAlain ResnaisStarsJean NégroniFrançois MitterrandPope Pius XIIA documentary of black art.
- DirectorJames AlgarStarsWinston HiblerWatch as the alligator, the unquestioned apex predator of the Everglades, follows its cycle of life much the same as it did in prehistoric times.
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsMichel BouquetReinhard HeydrichHeinrich HimmlerThe history of Nazi Germany's death camps of the Final Solution and the hellish world of dehumanization and death contained inside.
- DirectorTony ThompsonStarsStephen MurrayA documentary showing aspects of long-disappeared rural life in Northumberland in 1953.
- DirectorKarel ReiszTony RichardsonStarsChris BarberRon BowdenJim BrayA night at the Wood Green Jazz Club - an example of 'Free Cinema'
- DirectorAlbert LamorisseStarsPascal LamorisseSabine LamorisseGeorges SellierA red balloon with a mind of its own follows a little boy around the streets of Paris.
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsJacques DumesnilThis documentary explores the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, its priceless treasures, and how humanity remembers itself.
- DirectorLindsay AndersonStarsAlun OwenA day in the working class market at Covent Garden in London, where fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers are sold.
- DirectorLarry LansburghStarsRex AllenMarvin GlennWarner GlennPaco, a hound of exceptional heritage, is easily distracted by other animals while on the hunt.
- DirectorFrancis ThompsonA day in the life of the city and citizens of New York as seen through the fantastic eye, and the incredibly distorted optic lenses, of filmmaker Francis Thompson.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsJakub GoldbergHenryk KlubaAndrzej KondratiukTwo men emerge from the sea onto the beach carrying a large wooden wardrobe with a mirror on its front. After the two men clean up and rejoice being in this new environment, they proceed to enter the nearby town, they carrying the wardrobe wherever they go. They just want to meet people and experience their new surroundings, but are largely shunned or ignored. In some instances, they are shunned even when their presence helps the situation. And in other instances of being shunned, they are beaten. And when they are ignored, the world just keeps going without them, often at the detriment of humankind. Ultimately, the two men, with their wardrobe, make a decision about what to do in light of their experiences.
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsPierre DuxSacha ViernyPoetic and aesthetic visit of a large polystyrene factory.
- DirectorJames AlgarScenes from the Grand Canyon set to Ferde Grofé's "Grand Canyon Suite."
- StarsWinston HiblerIn this Oscar®-nominated short, a submerged reef is the home of many strange creatures. We see mating, birth, and development of the young into adults, with the laws of nature being fulfilled as the battle for survival goes continually on.
- DirectorShirley ClarkeWheaton GalentineIrving JacobyA documentary short subject about the construction of a new skyscraper in late 1950s Manhattan, the Tishman building on prestigious Fifth Avenue.
- DirectorChris MarkerStarsÉtienne BeckerJean NégroniHélène ChatelainThe story of a man forced to explore his memories in the wake of World War III's devastation, told through still images.
- DirectorRobert VasFocus on the Jewish community in a dying part of Britain's capital.
- DirectorKenneth AngerStarsErnie AlloBruce ByronFrank CarifiA gang of Nazi bikers prepares for a race as sexual, sadistic, and occult images are cut together.
- DirectorShirley ClarkeStarsRobert FrostJohn F. KennedyLyndon B. JohnsonAcclaimed poet Robert Frost reminisces on his career. He is also seen giving lectures at Amherst and Sarah Lawrence Colleges, in daily life at his rural Vermont home, and receiving the Congressional Gold Medal from President Kennedy.
- DirectorJohn KrishStarsBessie LoveJohn Cartner RonsonVictor SpinettiA day in the life of John, an elderly, widowed, childless, world war veteran living all alone.
- DirectorAndy WarholStarsSalvador DalíNicoLou ReedThe reunion of two art geniuses: the Pop Art master Andy Warhol directs the master of Surrealism Salvador Dalí in this short film where the Spanish artist pays a visit to The Factory where he gets the chance to meet rock group The Velvet Underground.
- DirectorDerek WilliamsDocumenting the pollution of natural resources and the misuse of technology.
- DirectorRon FrickeCarefully picked scenes of nature and civilization are viewed at high speed using time-lapse cinematography in an effort to demonstrate the history of various regions.
- DirectorThierry FrémauxStarsThierry FrémauxMartin ScorsesePierre BellingardA collection of restored prints from the Lumière Brothers.