French Roast

France, 2008, 9 minutes

In a fancy Parisian Café, a man discovers that he forgot to bring his wallet and thus cannot pay for his coffee. He bides his time by ordering more and more and more and more coffee. This Oscar nominated short film nicely illustrates how a small act of kindness can make a huge difference.

Bearings Glocken

Japan, 2007, 3 minutes

Artist KAWASE Kohske created Bearings Glocken in 2007. It is a musical instrument that automatically performs a glockenspiel using steel ball bearings, said to be the world’s most perfect sphere on earth. KAWASE Kohske composed the music after calculating the relationship with the tracks of the bouncing balls. With just a single octave, it is possible to re-create a multi-hued performance.

Zen & The Art of Landscaping

USA, 2001, 17 minutes

All manner of family secrets are out when the lawnmower man is invited inside one fateful day.

Bike Ride

USA, 2001, 7 minutes

Using Thurber-like pen and ink, Tom Schroeder illustrates the real-life audio testimony of a lovesick fool who rode his bike for five hours to visit a woman he thought loved him back. Drawn in thick, sensuously rounded white lines set against a black background, this is a most inventive seven minutes of film.

Day & Night

USA, 2010, 6 minutes

When Day, a sunny fellow, encounters Night, a stranger of distinctly darker moods, sparks fly! Day and Night are frightened and suspicious of each other at first, and quickly get off on the wrong foot. But as they discover each other’s unique qualities — and come to realize that each of them offers a different window onto the same world — the friendship helps both to gain a new perspective.

Spitfire 944

USA, 2006, 15 minutes

Filmmaker William Lorton inherited two suitcases of 16mm home movies which his great uncle, James R. Savage, MD., shot while serving as a Flight Surgeon for the US Army Air Corps during World War II. The most compelling shot in the three hours of war footage was the crash landing of a Spitfire Mk XI fighter plane in Great Britain. The filmmaker was able to ascertain the date of the crash, the location of the crash and the name of the pilot: John S. Blyth.

Blyth agreed to an interview about his World War II exploits. At the end of the interview, the filmmaker surprised the pilot by asking him to review "about one minute" of footage. Blyth was quite surprised to suddenly be watching his death-defying landing of 61 years earlier.

Intermission

Untitled 003: Embryo

USA, 2002, 27 minutes

A reclusive man unexpectedly receives a dream-stealing device in the mail and his once orderly life derails into madness in this edge-of-your-seat mini-blockbuster.

The Lady and the Reaper

Spain, 2009, 9 minutes

A sweet old lady is living alone on her farm, waiting for the arrival of death in order to meet her beloved husband again. One night, while sleeping, her life fades out and she is invited to cross death’s door. But when she is about to do so, the old lady wakes up inside a hospital’s ward: an arrogant doctor has taken her back to life and he will fight hard against death to recover the old lady’s life at any cost.

Time Piece

USA, 1965, 9 minutes

Dislocation in time, time signatures, time as a philosophical concept, and slavery to time are some of the themes touched upon in this experimental film, which was written, directed, and produced by Jim Henson (The creator of the Muppets). Jim Henson is also the star of the show! Screened for the first time at the Museum of Modern Art in May of 1965, Time Piece enjoyed an eighteen-month run at one Manhattan movie theater and was nominated for an Academy Award for outstanding short subject.