No Leaders, Please(2021)

Autumn(en)

Jay, Mia, and Pitar were three friends who loved exploring the beauty of nature, especially during the autumn season. Their story unfolds over three special journeys, each capturing the warmth of friendship and the beauty of autumn. Their first journey took Jay and Mia to Frensham Great Pond, a beloved spot surrounded by vibrant autumn trees. As they walked along the water's edge, the cool breeze and golden leaves filled them with joy. They laughed, skipped stones, and admired the reflections of amber and red across the pond. For their second adventure, Pitar joined Jay and Mia at Sandy Hill in Aldershot, one of the highest points in the area. From the top, they could see all of Aldershot and even Farnborough in the distance. Standing above it all, they felt a deep sense of freedom and awe as they looked out at the rolling autumn landscape below. Their third journey led them to Tice's Meadow Nature Reserve in Surrey. Known for its peaceful trails and abundant wildlife,

J.R.R. Tolkien and the Birth of "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit"(en)

In a house in Oxford lived a remarkable man called J.R.R. Tolkien who told stories that thrilled the world. To this very day readers and film audiences are enjoying his magnificent epics “THE LORD OF THE RINGS” and “The Hobbit” – adapted to the big screen by producer, Peter Jackson. Although everybody has heard of Tolkien’s writing, very few people could tell you much about the man responsible for creating the best loved magical creatures that have become household names. This program will give you a real insight into the man behind the legends of “THE LORD OF THE RINGS,” and the people and places that shaped his unique literary genius. From the rolling English countryside to the sooty streets of Industrial Birmingham, the dreaming spires of Oxford to the World War I trenches of the blood soaked Somme; this is the story of the quintessential English College Professor who made epic mythology and legend accessible to one and all.

The Curse of Kazuo Umezu(ja)

"Do not toy with the supernatural." Two stories of the consequences that descend upon humans who venture beyond the safe confines of their ordinary worlds.

Thirty Two(zh)

December 1944, 24-year-old Wei Shaolan and her 1-year-old daughter were seized and sent to a Japanese camp, where Wei was forced to work as a 'comfort woman' -- a woman forced into prostitution for Japanese servicemen during World War II. Despite being physically and mentally abused, Wei unbelievably escaped the heavily guarded 'Comfort Station' pregnant, shamed, and unsure of what fate awaited her return home. This documentary presents the true legendary story of Wei Shaolan and follows her traumatic and courageous journey from forced prostitution to life today with her Japanese son. 'Real Heroes' are people who can face life bravely even after a tormented life, and Wei's story offers inspiration to those faced with seemingly hopeless adversity.

Me & You, Us, Forever(en)

A 47 year old Christian man on the other side of an unwanted divorce thinks back on his first love from high school and wants to see her again.

Chu and Blossom(en)

A militant performance-artist and a tall Korean foreign-exchange student become trapped in a small Southern town.

Harder Than the Rock: The Cimarons Story(en)

Reggae exploded in the 1970s and Cimarons, the UK's first reggae band, formed in 1967, were at its heart. Thousands of miles from Jamaica, they brought excitement, experimentation and sheer anticipation to a new generation of Black British youth, putting them in touch with their roots. Harder Than The Rock celebrates Cimaron's storied history and explores the band's overlooked impact and influence as they persevere against all odds and dream of playing to live audiences again, one last time...

A Love of Blueness(zh)

Rookie policeman Tai Lin yearned to be an artist before he failed an examination and followed in his father's footsteps. One day he interrupts an apparent suicide attempt by a woman standing on the edge of a bridge.

Lovers Blades(cn)

Meng Yuen Man and Hui Ying Hung (My Young Auntie) team up in a mixture of comedy and great sword play. Wang lung Wai plays the natorious White Haired Fox vilian as usual.

Return with Honor(en)

Rowe McDonald is a headstrong missionary who has life after his mission all figured out. When a fatal car crash interrupts his plans, he is given sixty days to return to life and finish his work. Now he must choose whether to lead the life he planned, or reach beyond himself to change the lives of others. What will he do? Who will he touch? How will he prepare to leave it all behind?

Return(en)

After reading an article about hypnotic regression, a woman whose maternal grandfather died when she was only three years old contacts the hypnotic subject named in the article believing that he is the reincarnation of her grandfather, and hoping that she can learn the truth about how he died.

George Nakashima, Woodworker(en)

For many who know him through his works and ideas, admirers of George Nakashima may think his definitive documentary would break down the design elements and trace the techniques that added up to his works. They'd be only correct in small ways, but his influences were hardly trending concepts. They were more a result of a complex collection of experiences of a lone "seeker" looking for real answers. During the Great Depression, George set out on an around-the-world voyage with a $250 open-ended steamship ticket. His goal was to find a purpose for creating.

Bowser Makes a Movie(en)

After quitting school and being fired from every possible job Bowser shocks his parents with an unexpected News Flash. "Mom , Dad, I know what I am going to be, I want to be a porn director". Dad freaks out Mom freaks out and we are all off to a good start. Now all Bowser and his partner in crime need is a simple thing called money. No problem! After mortgaging his parents house, then losing the cash on the train, only to see it pop up on the evening news, the boys go to the mob as the last resort. This is a royal mess. A comedy with more twists and turns then a Chicago Pretzel.

Los Cocheros de Drácula(es)

Avatar(es)

Tension mounts between a quadraplegic man and his wife as she prepares a bath for him.

Serdtsa Tryokh(ru)

A young millionaire Francis Morgan along with his distant cousin, a cowboy Henry Morgan and Henry's bride Leoncia are searching for the Maya treasures.

Undress Me(en)

A new college student's life begins to have strange consequences after a hookup.

Afterimages(en)

A film-poem created for Counterclock Journal's 2023 Patchwork: Film x Poetry fellowship, featuring an original poem by Mackenzie Duan and animation by Evan Bode.

Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop(ja)

After meeting one day, a shy boy who expresses himself through haiku and a bubbly but self-conscious girl share a brief, magical summer.

The Boy in the Bubble(en)

Rupert, a ten year old boy, falls hopelessly in love for the first time. When it all goes terribly wrong, he wishes never to experience heartache again. Turning to a book of magic, he invokes a spell to shield him from emotion forever.

Dear Basketball(en)

An animated telling of Kobe Bryant's titular poem, signaling his retirement from the sport that made his name.

The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Original Poem(en)

Tim Burton's original poem narrated by Christopher Lee.

Two Children Are Threatened by a Nightingale(en)

An animated film based on the painting about Max Ernst of the same title, he said that a “fevervision” he had experienced when he was sick with measles as a child inspired him to compose the haunting scene that unfolds in Two Children Are Threatened by a Nightingale. Merging collage and painting, he affixed a wooden gate, parts of a toy house, and a knob to a dreamlike painted landscape. A blue sky dominates the composition, and in it a small nightingale hovers above two young girls. The painting features what would come to be identified as the defining preoccupations of Surrealism, a movement in which Ernst was a central figure: dreams and the unconscious; sexuality (as represented, for example, by the girl’s phallic knife); and incongruous juxtapositions.

Onion(en)

A short animation based on the poem "Onion" by Wislawa Szymborska.

Happy(en)

An animated poem about the fleeting nature of happiness.

Namoo(xx)

A narrative poem brought to life and an ode to a grandfather's passing, NAMOO—which translates to “tree” in Korean—follows the journey of a budding artist from beginning to end.

The ErlKing(en)

This animated short is a visual representation of Goethe's poem, The ErlKing that uses sand-on-glass animation set to the music of Franz Schubert. The moving images, resembling woodcuts, capture the haunting, nightmarish quality of the tale of the ErlKing who steals and kills a little boy.

Em direção à Ítaca(pt)

Apartment is as Quiet as Paper(ru)

A small film based on a poem by Osip Mandelstam. What the poet is thinking about, sitting in his apartment.

Pourvu qu'ils me laissent le temps(fr)

The bread which once was dough(en)

The main morality is the chronic desire for rest Within the historians, filmmakers, astronomers and the bread Which once was dough front to back Relationship stops along the way You are not a wax-work in a glass Become the concept of freedom Freedom exists and must bring fruit The universe glancing for purchase reasoned

I Would Like to Live on the Moon(en)

A young non-binary person feels overwhelmed and wants to escape - literally, to the moon.

Uncle Jake(it)

Kobzar 2015(uk)

In the adaptation of a poem by Taras Shevchenko in the last third of XVIII a small fraction of 300 Cossacks who were enslaving their own people for Turkey and were executed by other Zaporizhian Sich Cossacks are reanimated as living dead at one cold night.

No hay Eco en el Eco(en)

A visual interpretation of the poem "the girl / the scream" by Mahmud Darwish.

Jellyhead Goes on a Walk(en)

A poem about a person with jelly for a head.

Landscape of our Body(vi)

As queer trans and gender non-conforming children of the Vietnamese diaspora, we are fragmented at the crossroads of being displaced from not only a sense of belonging to our ancestral land, but also our own bodies which are conditioned by society to stray away from our most authentic existence. Yet these bodies of ours are the vessels we sail to embark on a lifetime voyage of return to our original selves. It is our bodies that navigate the treacherous tides of normative systems that impose themselves on our very being. And it is our bodies that act as community lighthouses for collective liberation. Ultimately, the landscape of our bodies is our blueprint to remembering, to healing, to blooming.