All Films

A Pretty British Affair

1981 • 60 min • United Kingdom

Detailed interview with Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger looking back at their long career as influential British film-makers and their unusual partnership. Includes clips from many of their films.

Electric Blue Special: Nude Jello Wrestling

1981 • 51 min

Nude Jello Wrestlers.

Track 125

1981 • 20 min • United Kingdom

The complex technology of modern rail track is shown, covering component manufacturers, current methods of laying track and its maintenance.

Arabic Numeral Series 2

1981 • 7 min

“With some exceptions, the Arabics take the idea of the void as their ground. That is, the light we do see almost always seems to be set against darkness, or occasionally against white, these momentary flickers that materialize tenuously out of emptiness. But the darkness is not ‘night,’ or even simply some more abstract absence of light, but a more profound vacuum: it represents a world stripped of all the coordinates of the known, an unmeasurable absence. […] These lushly sensual, pleasurable-to-view films are also terrifying: their unpredictability, continually enacting new dramas of surprise, alternatively swamps the viewer in light and leaves him adrift in darkness. ”

Living Music for Golden Mountains

1981 • 27 min • United States of America

In 1936, Leo Lew immigrated to America, the “land of golden mountains,” from his native southern China. He came seeking fortune but discovered instead a mission closer to his heart — passing on the deep-rooted traditions of Cantonese folk music to new generations of Chinese Americans.

The Treasure of the Cat Leopold

1981 • 4 min • Soviet Union

The mice received a treasure map in the mail. In the place indicated on the map, a chest really turned out to be buried, but it also turned out to be something that the mice did not expect.

Arabic Numeral Series 1

1981 • 6 min

"With some exceptions, the Arabics take the idea of the void as their ground. That is, the light we do see almost always seems to be set against darkness, or occasionally against white, these momentary flickers that materialize tenuously out of emptiness. But the darkness is not 'night,' or even simply some more abstract absence of light, but a more profound vacuum: it represents a world stripped of all the coordinates of the known, an unmeasurable absence. [...] These lushly sensual, pleasurable-to-view films are also terrifying: their unpredictability, continually enacting new dramas of surprise, alternatively swamps the viewer in light and leaves him adrift in darkness. "

Conversation

1981 • 7 min

Multiple overlapping images combine with still-frames of an amorous Puerto Rican filmmaker's telephone conversation with a repairman, coincidentally also interested in film. Written by Lee Breuer and performed by Ruth Maleczeck, both of Mabou Mines theatre company. Music by Bob Telson.

An Event at the Port

1981 • 55 min • Albania

Someone falsifies the lab data regarding the quality of imported goods. This results in the contract with a foreign company eing broken. The suspect is a specialist who handles the contracts. With these acts, saboteurs are trying to spread doubt and insecurity.

With Frozen Wings

1981 • 10 min • Japan

P.q. 17

1981 • 50 min

"That order to scatter was as good as a death sentence to those merchant ships. And there isn't one officer or rating who doesn't agree with me." A British Allied convoy designated for the Soviet Union comes under attack from German forces during World War II.

The Colonel Comes to Japan

1981 • 28 min • United States of America

It seems highly unlikely that Colonel Sanders ever thought that he would be selling his Kentucky Fried Chicken to the Japanese, but Kentucky Fried Chicken, Japan, Inc. is doing just that, and doing it successfully. The company, headed by an American director and staffed by the Japanese, has raised the business of fast-food retailing to an art. Here West meets East as the Japanese are shown how to prepare the product and the Americans are introduced to the fine art of Japanese business. –cte.uw.edu

Arabic Numeral Series 3

1981 • 11 min

“With some exceptions, the Arabics take the idea of the void as their ground. That is, the light we do see almost always seems to be set against darkness, or occasionally against white, these momentary flickers that materialize tenuously out of emptiness. But the darkness is not ‘night,’ or even simply some more abstract absence of light, but a more profound vacuum: it represents a world stripped of all the coordinates of the known, an unmeasurable absence. […] These lushly sensual, pleasurable-to-view films are also terrifying: their unpredictability, continually enacting new dramas of surprise, alternatively swamps the viewer in light and leaves him adrift in darkness.”

Beyond Oil

1981 • 19 min • France

Documentary on industrial lubrification.

Arabic Numeral Series 12

1981 • 18 min • United States of America

This is the twelfth film in the twenty-part Arabics series. Brakhage creates blurry visual fields that are profoundly without ground, worlds of unidentifiable, ever-shifting shapes, and oceans of light and darkness.

The Venus of Ille

1981 • 60 min • Italy

A wealthy landowner uncovers a bronze statue of Venus on his property. He asks an antique expert to examine the statue and confirm its wealth. Upon arrival, the expert is striken with love by the landowner’s daughter-in-law who bears an uncanny resemblance to the statue.

Tsaar Muhha

1981 • 3 min • Soviet Union

A film experiment by the legendary punk group Päratrust, satirizing Soviet power.

In the Train

1981 • 50 min • Soviet Union

The events take place in the train. Some passengers show great respect for Mr. Dadashov, but who is Mr. Dadashov?

Kluane

1981 • 57 min • Canada

Kluane National Park is situated in the Yukon area of northern Canada and is a research paradise for glaciologists, geologists and other scientists. Mountaineers come to scale the impressive heights. Animals are free to roam, protected by stringent legislation. This film reveals many facets of this beautiful park, which has been declared a protected zone by UNESCO.

In the Shadow of the Sun

1981 • 54 min • United Kingdom

'The Shadow of the Sun' draws upon Derek Jarman’s interest with alchemical processes as a metaphor for reprocessing Super-8 film. Jarman once described film’s union of light and matter as “an alchemical conjunction” and experimented throughout his career with creating dream symbolism through the superimposition of image and action. Originally called English Apocalypse, the film’s final title is derived from a 17th Century alchemical text that used the phrase as a synonym for the philosopher’s stone – the highly sought substance that turns base metals into gold and silver. The film was intended as a step toward the idea of an ambient video, that like its musical counterpart, was designed to enhance an environment.

Iggy Pop: Live San Fran 1981

1981 • 60 min • United States of America

While this film may look rough and raw to 21st Century eyes, it is also the best representation of Iggy live during an otherwise pitifully undocumented era of his career. Fronting a crack band featuring Blondie drummer Clem Burke and future David Bowie guitarist Carlos Alomar, Pop is as unpredictable and dominant as ever (no small feat since he is sporting a mini skirt, garters and stockings for most of the show). Filmed on November 25 1981 near the end of their tour supporting his 1981 album Party, Iggy and co. are raw and ready for business. Iggy Pop Live 1981 provides a snapshot of a hungry artist at the top of his game in front of an adoring crowd.

Once Upon a Mouse

1981 • 27 min • United States of America

Once Upon a Mouse is a theatrical featurette highlighting Disney's animated legacy starting with Steamboat Willie in 1928.

The First National Kidisc

1981 • 30 min • United States of America

The First National Kidisc, an original program especially produced for your LaserVision system, brings a new world of meaningful entertainment, creative play and fascinating discovery to children of all ages. This truly unique program calls into use all the special features of your LaserVision system—such as still frame, step viewing, slow motion, random access and chapter stops—to provide hour after hour, day after day, of enriching and engaging experiences.

Have You Seen The Mona Lisa...?

1981 • 45 min

Arena looks behind the Gioconda smile. The Mona Lisa hangs in the Louvre behind plate glass - an unsigned, undated portrait of a smiling woman. She is the most idolised and abused woman in the history of art.