Do Rocks Dream of Flying ? (2025)

Grand Canyon - Un voyage au centre de la Terre

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Celebrating the Rice Media Center

Through the Fondren Fellows program, the Rice Media Center Archive Project has spent the past few months sifting through material stored at the now-defunct Rice Media Center. The team has identified several films as especially notable and will be presenting them in conjunction with documentary footage the team shot of people involved with the films. From lectures featuring Roberto Rossellini and Werner Herzog to films from former Rice students and faculty, the film presentation will tell the narrative of the Rice Media Center through the films and filmmakers that passed through its corridors.

The Black Scorpion

Volcanic activity frees giant scorpions from the earth who wreak havoc in the rural countryside and eventually threaten Mexico City.

The Living Stones of Sacsayhuamán

Sacsayhuamán, an ancient citadel amidst the Peruvian Andes, is an architectural marvel. It was built more than 900 years ago, and no living person knows how such large rocks were fitted so perfectly into walls. This documentary takes us on a tour of Sacsayhuamán, offering a brief history of the site, and clues that may help to its understand how it was made. It was edited from photos and video taken in July 2012, when Russian geophysicists conducted soil research there, at the request of Peru's Ministry of Culture.

The Monolith Monsters

Rocks from a meteor which grow when in contact with water threaten a sleepy Southwestern desert community.

Annihilation

A biologist signs up for a dangerous, secret expedition into a mysterious zone where the laws of nature don't apply.

Big Bang in Tunguska

At 7:14 am on 30 June 1908, the largest explosion recorded in human history to date reverberated throughout our planet. The force of the explosion was two thousand times that of the Hiroshima bomb. A woodland area the size of Luxembourg was eradicated in the Siberian taiga. This incident is recorded in history books as the Tunguska catastrophe. To this day, internationally renowned scientists of various disciplines argue about the causes of this disastrous explosion. The documentary discusses the latest and most controversial insights of these leading scientists. It identifies the reasons why Tunguska has evolved into a phenomenon and points out the curious results produced by this mythical event in culture and economy.

Behemoth

Scientists discover a giant creature under the Earth that is wrapped around the entire planet. When the creature wakes all grumpy, it causes worldwide destruction.

Voyages au centre de la Terre : Dans les pas de Jules Verne

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Alice's Birthday

Adapted from a novel from sci-fi series by Kyr Bulychev about a little girl Alice. It's Alice's birthday and as a present she is invited by an old alien friend archaeologist Gromozeka to join him on an expedition to an alien planet Coleida which population was destroyed by a space plague a hundred years ago. Arriving at the planet they decide that Alice, using a time-traveling device, will go back in time to the day when the plague was brought in by their space expedition to try and save the planet from destruction by spraying the astronauts with a vaccine. To achieve that, she and another alien scientist professor Rrrr, who looks just like a cat, must make a long and perilous journey to the planet's spaceport.

Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer

With exclusive behind-the-scenes access into Herzog’s everyday life, rare archive material and in-depth interviews with celebrated collaborators – including Christian Bale, Nicole Kidman, and Robert Pattinson, we are given an exciting glimpse into the work and personal life of the iconic artist.

Iceland: The Quest for Origins

The fascinating landscape formations of Iceland in the North Atlantic bear witness to the beauty and primal power of nature. They were created through the interaction of powerful volcanic, geological and biological processes that have been changing the face of the earth for billions of years. This is what the Earth might have looked like four billion years ago. Iceland is the realm of ice and fire. Nowhere else is there such a high density of volcanoes. The landscapes, which are continually reshaped by eruptions, make the island a natural laboratory full of clues about the formation and development of the earth. The documentary follows a group of scientists through the most active areas of Iceland, along a mountain range that has emerged from the ocean. On the slopes of the volcanoes, in the fog of the fumaroles and on streams and rivers, the three researchers explore how the first forms of life populated the earth's surface and in what evolutionary steps they took over the earth.

Supervolcan Yellowstone : Menace sur la planète ?

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Mission Méditerranée, le musée des Abysses

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Baie de Naples, la colère des volcans

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Rocks: Where They Come From

Follows Don as he sees different kinds of rocks at a granite quarry, sandstone cliff and museum. Demonstrates the effects of water, heat and pressure in the formation of rocks.

The Life of a Rock Smasher

The inspiring story about the professional rock smasher Clive Tapps. A devoted man who plans to fulfill his dream, to smash the biggest rock he has ever faced.

Japanese Story

Sandy, a geologist, finds herself stuck on a field trip to the Pilbara desert with a Japanese man she finds inscrutable, annoying and decidedly arrogant. Hiromitsu's view of her is not much better. Things go from bad to worse when they become stranded in one of the most remote regions on Earth.

What's Up, Doc?

The accidental mix-up of four identical plaid overnight bags leads to a series of increasingly wild and wacky situations.

Where the Green Ants Dream

The Australian Aborigines (in this film anyway) believe that this is the place where the green ants go to dream, and that if their dreams are disturbed, it will bring down disaster on us all. The Aborigines' belief is not shared by a giant mining company, which wants to tear open the soil and search for uranium.

A Place in the World

Mario and Ana, in voluntary exile from Buenos Aires, live in a remote Argentine valley with their 12-year-old son Ernesto. Mario runs a school and a wool cooperative; Ana, a doctor, heads a clinic with Nelda, a progressive nun. Into this idealistic family comes Hans, a jaded Spanish geological engineer -- surveying the land for the local patron, to see if it can be dammed for hydro-electric power, which would drive the peasants from the land into the cities.

Nine Miles Down

In the Sahara desert, a sandstorm batters a deserted drilling station. A security patrolman battles through the high winds to investigate why all contact with the station has been lost. Originally built for gas exploration, and then abandoned, the site had recently been taken over by a multi-national research team intent on drilling deeper into the earth’s crust than ever before.

Walkabout

Under the pretense of having a picnic, a geologist takes his teenage daughter and 6-year-old son into the Australian outback and attempts to shoot them. When he fails, he turns the gun on himself, and the two city-bred children must contend with harsh wilderness alone. They are saved by a chance encounter with an Aboriginal boy who shows them how to survive, and in the process underscores the disharmony between nature and modern life.

Rocks

The stone-people Hew and Kew have seen a lot in their everlasting lives on top of their mountain. Therefore they're only mildly amazed by the ongoings in the valley below, they've got their own little problems to deal with - But all of a sudden, Mankind is discovering and inventing, instead of just woozeling, and this new behavior starts to threaten Hew's and Kew's stoic peacefulness...

Focusing on the Turquoise Mountain

It tells about the collaboration of Mongolian-Czech geologists who are discovering treasure deposits in Mongolia, and shows the events that happen to them in a humorous tone.

Roaring Ranch

Cowboy fights to keep his ranch after oil is discovered on it.

Magma: Volcanic Disaster

When a volcano expert becomes convinced that a cataclysmic natural disaster is about to unfold, a volcanologist Professor John Shepherd and his graduate students believes that recent unexplainable volcanic activity as all of the volcanoes in the world are going to erupt and kill every living thing on the planet! They try to convince the government that their theory is true not a joke while also trying to figure out how to stop it before time runs out!

The Wave

Although theorised, no one is really ready when a mountain pass above the scenic and narrow Geiranger fjord in Norway collapses and creates a tsunami over 300 feet high. A geologist is one of those caught in the middle of it.

Papaya: Love Goddess of the Cannibals

A team of geologists attempt to remove a native population from an island to perform atomic research. But their female Cannibal leader disposes of them one by one.

Letter Never Sent

Four geologists are searching for diamonds in the wilderness of Siberia. After a long and tiresome journey they manage to find their luck and put the diamond mine on the map. The map must be delivered back to Moscow. But on the day of their departure a terrible forest fire wreaks havoc, and the geologists get trapped in the woods.

The Money Jungle

When four geologists who form a combine of five industrial companies turn up dead, the race is on to determine whether the culprit is a group of high-powered industrial interests or the government. A trouble-shooter is hired to find a net of deadly intrigue and treachery. The prize: a field to be leased to private industry by the state.

Leadville Gunslinger

Arriving in Leadville, Marshal Rocky Lane finds that his friend Nugget is in financial trouble. Nugget thinks there is oil on his land but the geologist says no. Suspecting a conspiracy, Rocky poses as a crook himself to infiltrate the gang, nab the ringleader and make sure justice takes the day. Harry Keller directs this B Western.

Journey into Fear

U.S geologist discovers something about Oil that proves VERY threatening to the Turkish and Arab business people.

Silver Night

It seemed like a typically quiet night... but the most unexpected encounter leads Chris to a difficult choice.

The Quake

A geologist races against time to save his estranged wife and two children when a devastating earthquake strikes Oslo, Norway.

Astronaut

A lonely widower battles his family, ill health and time to win a competition for a golden ticket to space.

Kansas Cyclone

The irrepressible Donald Barry is twice falsely accused of murder in this typical low-budget but well-mounted Republic Western. Barry plays Jim Randall, a lawman assigned to investigate a series of gold shipment robberies. Arriving in the middle of a hold-up, Randall finds himself accused of killing the driver (Yakima Canutt). Wells Fargo agent Cal Chambers (Milton Kibbee) vouches for his innocence, however, claiming him to be a noted geologist. Along with several of the prospectors, Jim devises a plan to prove that Jud Parker (Harry Worth) is using his dummy mine as a cover for stealing ore.

A Tale of Momentum & Inertia

In this original CG short, a Rock Giant literally holds in his hands the fate of a small coastal village. Can he forgive and forget?

Mineral Bar

Mineral Bar is a meditative short film shot on location along the North Fork of the American River in Colfax, California. The film focuses on the natural interplay between rocks and rushing mountain runoff, capturing the hypnotic dance of crystal-clear water as it flows, ripples, and reflects light in ever-changing patterns. Through lingering shots and immersive sound design, the film highlights how the cold Sierra Nevada waters sculpt and animate the riverbed, creating a quiet yet dynamic visual experience.

Beyond

A suspenseful sci-fi journey tracking the turbulent relationship of Cole and Maya as they struggle to survive in a world where the human population has been left decimated after an extra-terrestrial attack.

Almost Ablaze

Awarded "Film Of The Year" at the 2014 International Freeski Film Festival, TGR's Almost Ablaze is a global odyssey combining state-of-the-art cinematography and the most progressive riding on The Planet. Experience a new level of sensory overload as each athlete is wired for sound, immersing the audience completely in the moment. Watch as athletes push the edge to realize a heightened state.

Hindi Sila Tatanda

A group of friends, prompted by the frequent sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects or U.F.O.'s in Zambales in the mid-nineties, decide to take a trip to the province to retrace the legend of the sightings. They then befriend a local, who they presume is their age group, not knowing exactly who or what he is. Little do they know that the local will become the spark that would threaten to ruin the friendship that has already been strained with many things that have been left unsaid.

Eat Your Catfish

New Yorker Kathryn has the deadly disease ALS and is completely paralyzed. She can only communicate by pointing out letters with her eyes on a special keyboard and she needs 24-hour care. It’s a horrific situation that Kathryn puts into words incisively and pragmatically. The only reason she hasn’t asked to be taken off life support yet, she says, is that she isn’t ready to say goodbye to her children. She wants at least to experience her daughter Minou’s wedding day.

Founders

Under the leadership of its first and only president, Sinte Gleska University on South Dakota’s Rosebud Reservation has been a model for Indian-controlled education for 50 years, paving the way for other tribal colleges with a series of historic accomplishments and an eye towards continued innovation.

The Shapeshifters

An art collective experiments with ways to breach time and space and enter the infinity within the possible. But the instant is fleeting, and these moments quickly vanish. They must return to the political reality to which they are chained – bills to pay, a home to keep, jobs to hold, a possible play to produce.

Yamborghini Dream

Exclusive DVD relaunch featuring and in loving memory of the legendary cozy God - Steven "A$AP YAMS" Rodriguez. Strictly for day ones , "RNT "and "Dicey" Tumblr heads and still raw like sushi, this DVD is resurrected from the streets of Tokyo and serves as a testament to the unstoppable tsunami that has made A$AP Yams an immortal inspiration to a generation of artists, producers, and hustlers around the world. Eternally flee!

Boolean Vivarium

In a remote location, Léo and Nicolas are creating Vivarium, a video game that strangely mirrors the environment where they struggle to live together. The game depicts the decay of a house that unsettlingly resembles their own. As they grapple with the scale of the task, cohabitation becomes increasingly strained. The challenging creative process heightens tensions, putting their partnership to the test.

The Garden Cadences

Jone is ready to fly. She finds herself at the beginning of something new, but before she moves on, there needs to be a closure. Jone is one of Mollies, the queer-feminist collective that had been living for a decade at a trailer park next to Ostkreuz, Berlin.

Dying for Everest

On 15 May, 2006, double amputee Mark Inglis reached the summit of Mt Everest. It was a remarkable achievement and Inglis was feted by press and public alike. But only a few days later he was plunged into a storm of controversy when it was learned that he had passed an incapacitated climber, Englishman David Sharp, leaving him to a lonely end high in the Death Zone.