All Films

That Will Do

1981 • 10 min • Soviet Union

About a braggart bunny who thought that all things can be done hastily without much effort.

Women's Hands

1981 • 23 min • Hungary

A man becomes acquainted with the mystery of female hands during a trip.

Exercises

1981 • 10 min • East Germany

The Pol Pot regime wanted to erase the 2000 year-old culture of Cambodia. Schools were destroyed, teachers and pupils kidnapped, tortured and killed. In September 1980, the School of Fine Arts reopens in Phnom Penh, in March 1981, there are 110 pupils, among them many orphans.

Erection

1981 • 5 min • Italy

Comic animation film by Guido Manuli.

Rough Justice

1981 • 40 min • United Kingdom

Portrait of a fractious Welsh village near Merthyr Tydfil. Life in the valley isn't what it was, there's no pit in Deri now, but the humour survives, and it's amazingly peaceful considering.

Songs for Swinging Larvae

1981 • 6 min • United States of America

The film, based on a true story, concerns a kidnapped child, and "poses ancient questions regarding home and heart".

Deafman Glance

1981 • 27 min • United States of America

A somber, menacing woman washes white dishes and a gleaming carving knife, pours milk into a glass, and then slowly attacks first one young boy and then another. Not a word of dialogue is uttered.

Circle & Square

1981 • 12 min • Japan, United States of America

The 1981 performance Circle & Square by Takahiko Iimura, New York-based Japanese film and video pioneer, evolved from the artist's interest in exposing the apparatus of projection and the materiality of image and light, which began in the mid-60s. The work commences with the projection of a long loop of black 16mm film leader suspended from the ceiling. The artist punches a hole on the film's surface and as it loops through the projector's gate, a single white circle of light pierces the darkness. With each subsequent punch the film builds before the viewer’s eyes into a cascade of white circles before reaching its abrupt and revelatory conclusion.

America Lost and Found

1981 • 58 min • United States of America

Composed entirely of archival material and narrated by actor Pat Hingle, this hour-long film documents the run-up to the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression that followed. Made in the 1970s, the film carefully lays out major historical events, as with the stunning footage of the German Zeppelin Hindenburg bursting into flames over New Jersey in 1937. Powerful images such as this are both literal and metaphoric documents of the tragedies of the age. By relying on the old newsreels alone to depict the events, the filmmakers immerse us in the period in a way that would not have been possible had they interviewed a team of experts. Compared to some of the more freely associated assemblages presented in the series—and especially to Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?—this film seems stoic, contemplative. When left to speak for themselves, archival images can be most illuminating.

Hinterland

1981 • 25 min

The relationship between an embittered farm woman and her orphaned niece reaches a breaking point in this dark, psychological pastoral.

The Magic Garden Christmas Special

1981 • 49 min • United States of America

This once-lost 1981 holiday special has now become a WPIX holiday tradition!

Bugs Bunny: All American Hero

1981 • 24 min • United States of America

Bugs Bunny explains about the history of America to his nephew Clyde.

Canada Vignettes: Countdown

1981 • 1 min • Canada

This vignette illustrates the variety of professions, people and technical procedures required by the filmmaking process.

On Yer Bike!

1981 • 30 min

Four friends fancy a cycle trip to the country. It's unknown territory for them and Benny in particular looks forward to impressing the 'natives' with a new racing bike. But the experience affects the group in ways they hadn't foreseen.

Home on the Range

1981 • 54 min • Australia

Australian independent political documentary about the US installations in Australia at Pine Gap near Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.

Ema Sagawa and Anna Tsukasa: Peeping and Orgy Party

1981 • 30 min • Japan

BDSM erotic-drama distributed by Nikkatsu for home video.

The Nine-Colored Deer

1981 • 25 min • China

In ancient times, a Persian merchant gets lost in a windstorm. Suddenly a spiritual deer of nine colors appears to guide the man. Later on, the deer rescues a man drowning in a river. In exchange, the man promises not to reveal the deer's whereabouts. The man reaches an imperial palace. The king insists on hunting down the spiritual deer down to make clothes out of the deer skin. The man gives in to his greed and leads an army of warriors to the spot. He falls into the river again, hoping the deer will show up to rescue him. This time, all the warriors' arrows turn into dust and the man is drowned

Essence of Absinthe

1981 • 15 min • Italy

This montage, based on a 1920s pornographic film from the Pathé-Nathan company, uses old prints worn and scratched by generations of projection.

Ingrid Bergman at the National Film Theatre

1981 • 39 min • United Kingdom

An interview with actress Ingrid Bergman at London's National Film Theatre in 1981.

Grandmother's Birthday

1981 • 10 min • Soviet Union

A boy and a puppy choose a gift for their grandmother.

A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog

1981 • 10 min • United States of America

A young boy and his dog spend an afternoon trying to capture a playful frog at a nearby pond.

Dick Cavett Meets ABBA

1981 • 50 min

This 1981 television special features the pop icons ABBA being interviewed by American television legend Dick Cavett. ABBA also took to the stage, performing nine songs in a so-called "mini-concert" at SVT Studios, Stockholm.

The Song of Stockholm

1981 • 5 min • United States of America

Filmed during Jonas Mekas’s travels in 1981, this short captures scenes from Stockholm. The footage was later included in his 2003 compilation film Travel Songs (1967–1981).

POSERS - The New Romantics

1981 • 24 min

Shot in a single day, POSERS captures a thriving subculture in Kings Road, London: the style, music, and expression of the New Romantics.