the post-feminist dissonance project (2013)

Gjama

“Gjama” is a rarely practiced mourning ritual that was performed by Albanian men throughout the centuries. By shouting specific phrases and acting out a strict choreography, it is a way of paying respect to the deceased but also overcoming grief and pain over the loss of a loved one. Through the documentation of the re-enactment of the ritual, Zgjim Elshani seeks to recover fragments of the practice in the communities where this form of collective grieving is still a way of overcoming loss. By doing so, the project intends to rethink collective grieving and what it means to publicly display emotions in a male-headed society.

White Peril

This RKO Pathé Screenliner show members of the 'snow patrol' at work in the Cascade Mountains of Washington state. At designated places, they measure snowfall and take core samples of the snow and measure its weight and density. They also measure river currents in relation to the snowfall. The data is used by the U.S. Geological Survey to help determine how the water runoff in the spring will translate into supplies of fresh water.

Fragments

Images, voices, and interrupted silences that evoke the intangible losses caused by COVID-19.

With Love from Truman

At his Long Island beach house, and on the occasion of the publication of his masterful nonfiction novel In Cold Blood, reporter Karen Dennison interviews celebrated writer Truman Capote, who displays his exuberant personality, makes witty jokes, shares his thoughts on writing, reflects on various aspects of the book and, in a sweet and endearing voice, reads and explains some of its highlights.

Jane Fonda in Five Acts

Girl next door, activist, so-called traitor, fitness tycoon, Oscar winner: Jane Fonda has lived a life of controversy, tragedy and transformation – and she’s done it all in the public eye. An intimate look at one woman’s singular journey.

Flares

After a near-death experience, a person floats in a mysterious space, gradually being reborn by reconnecting with the sensations of their body.

The Alps - Climb of Your Life

In 1966, John Harlin II died while attempting Europe's most difficult climb, the North Face of the Eiger in Switzerland. 40 years later, his son John Harlin III, an expert mountaineer and the editor of the American Alpine Journal, returns to attempt the same climb.

Crushed

Through a powerful visual metaphor, Camille Vigny gives a first-person account of the domestic violence she suffered. The images and text interact with remarkable precision to convey the devastating impact of the cataclysm. It's a political gesture, brimming with courage, an icy cry that takes your breath away.

Moonwalk

This short documentary film captures the natural movement of the moon mixed with an experimental musical track that accompanies the rhythm of the "walk" on the stage that the protagonist occupies, the sky.

Russian Yeti: The Killer Lives

In 1959, the mutilated bodies of nine hikers were found in the Ural Mountains. Fifty years on, speculation surrounding the story endures.

The Study Of Groundhogs: A Real Life Look At Marmots

The short documentary visits the groundhog research center in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. It was made for Sony Home Entertainment's 15th anniversary edition DVD release of the 1993 film, "Groundhog Day." It was filmed on location at the silver mining ghost town of Gothic, Colorado, near Crested Butte. The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory has been located there since its founding in 1928.

Notes on a True Story

On the evening of March 11, 1950, Annabella Bracci, a 12-year-old girl, was brutally killed and thrown into a pit on the outskirts of Rome, near the village of Primavalle. A brief and poetic account of the events and their impact on an impoverished community. A handful of wild flowers and a painful catch in the voices.

A Baffin Vacation

Most summer holidays don’t involve skiing hundreds of kilometres over a frozen fjord in the Arctic Circle, but adventurers Erik Boomer and Sarah McNair-Landry are not most people. On a romantic getaway with a difference, the duo set off on a 45-day expedition through the remote landscape of Baffin Island in Canada, in search of stunning cliffs to climb and unexplored rivers to white-water kayak.

Swimming Stone

Fluidity of stone. Subatomic motion asserting a surface. Mind loop wandering. Visitation of sound matrix. Liquid solid. Nature transforms a planetary cycle. Relations of a timeless void.

My Body, My Rules

Far from the dictates of current female beauty, MBMR focuses on these other bodies, those who take up space, those that stain, biters, those who devour, those who enjoy as they wish, those age and those who are self-transformed, those who are free and wild. Eight people will reveal the magic,cruel, sensuel, powerful relationship they have with their own bodies.The adventure of the film is multiple: the objective is to give voice and images to women whose body or sexuality is seen as non-standard, unseen or without speaking. The film will highlight possible resistance through an intimate portrait gallery, collective experimentations, tantra, exchange of fluids and knowledge, rituals… A strong political and feminist manifest about body politics, female sexuality and its representation, as well as about diversity and various forms of sexual desire.

Autism

A short documentary essay revolving around the phrase "The individual is in the past and the community is the future" done during the 100 hour challenge organized by DocsMx.

Red & Blue Make Purple

A Local Reno Artist and DJ discusses the many inspirations behind her work and how it impacts herself and others.

Shutter Shooter

Etienne-Jules Marey, a French inventor who turned a gun into a camera. A hand-drawn hunter whose weapon, instead of firing ammunition, shoots photographs. Carlos, a Mexican wildlife photographer who used to be a real life hunter until he chose to get rid of all his guns. All come together in this poetic yet approachable animated documentary short film.

Raja Rammohan Roy

A documentary short about the life and work of social reformer and the Father of the Bengali Renaissance, Raja Ram Mohun Roy

Traffic Stop

Breaion King, a 26 year-old African-American school teacher from Austin, Texas - is pulled over for a routine traffic stop that escalates into a violent arrest. Dashcam clips intercut with verite scenes tell a story of racism in law enforcement through the eyes of one of its victims.

Men Boxing

Experimental film fragment made with the Edison-Dickson-Heise experimental horizontal-feed kinetograph camera and viewer, using 3/4-inch wide film.

Winter's End

A short film shot on Super 8 which captures the last days of winter.

Ram Dass, Going Home

Ram Dass is one of the most important cultural figures from the 1960s and 70s. A pyschedelic pioneer, author of Be Here Now, beloved spiritual teacher, and outspoken advocate for death-and-dying awareness, Ram Dass is now himself approaching the end of life. Since suffering a life-changing stroke twenty years ago, he has been living at his home on Maui and deepening his spiritual practice — which is centered on love and his idea of merging with his surroundings and all living things. Shot in a nuanced cinematic style, the film is an intimate summary of his life learning and awareness, and is ultimately a poetic meditation on life, death, and the soul’s journey home.