The Treehouse (2012)

Carne

After a dreadful incident coupled with an ungovernable paroxysm of violence, a butcher will fall into a downward spiral that will burn to the ground whatever dignity still remained in him.

Journey to Mars

Journey to Mars (Viaje a Marte) is an animated stop motion short film. This independent production, which was made in Argentina, is the result of two years hard work. Since then, it has won 50 awards in different festivals around the world, competing in many cases against real action productions. The short tells the story of Antonio, a boy from the 60s, who is a great fan of science fiction tv serials and space trips. In view of the child's passion, his grandfather decides to take him to Mars in his tow truck.

Puce Moment

This film resulted from the unfinished short film Puce Women. The film opens with a camera watching 1920s style flapper gowns being taken off a dress rack. The dresses are removed and danced off the rack to music. (The original soundtrack was Verdi opera music; in the 1960s, Anger re-released the film with a new psychedelic folk-rock soundtrack performed by Jonathan Halper.) A long-lashed woman, Yvonne Marquis, dresses in the purple puce gown and walks to her vanity to apply perfume. She lies on a chaise lounge which then begins to move around the room and eventually out to a patio. Borzois appear and she prepares to take them for a walk.

Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life

Franz Kafka has been stricken with a serious case of writer's block on Christmas Eve. He's trying to get started on his latest short story, "The Metamorphosis", but he isn't sure what his protagonist Gregor Samsa should become. As Kafka struggles with indecision, he has to contend with a loud holiday party downstairs, several unexpected guests, and a sinister knife salesman who has a bone to pick with him.

Aventure Malgache

Backstage before a performance, a French actor recalls his time in Madagascar during World War II, when he secretly ran a Resistance radio station under the watch of a collaborationist police chief. His story unfolds in flashback, revealing espionage, deception, and divided loyalties within the French ranks. Made for Britain’s Ministry of Information, this 1944 French-language propaganda short satirizes Vichy opportunism and wartime hypocrisy, and was shelved for decades before its release in 1993.

Empty

A young intellectual, Mati, engineers himself into a situation where he has to spend a weekend with his wife Helina and her lover Eduard. The trio goes to Eduard's summer house, surrounded by the majestic scenery of big forests and an empty beach. Mati, either out of jealousy or pride, has decided to win back his wife and will do anything his introverted and inert mind can come up with.

The Two Mouseketeers

Tom, a castle soldier in 16th century France, is assigned to guard the food laid out on a banquet table. Jerry and a smaller mouse companion, two wandering "mouseketeers", make the situation miserable for Tom as they abscond with (and occasionally eat) all the food they can.

The Cat with Hands

The story of a cat who, legend has it, longs to become human.

There Will Be No Leave Today

Soldiers undertake the perilous task of removing a stockpile of World War II bombshells discovered during roadworks under the ground of a small village.

Film

A man attempts to evade observation by an all-seeing eye.

Sintel

A wandering warrior finds an unlikely friend in the form of a young dragon. The two develop a close bond, until one day the dragon is snatched away. She then sets out on a relentless quest to reclaim her friend, finding in the end that her quest exacts a far greater price than she had ever imagined.

Lord of the Jungle

The film starts off with a woman and a baby on a plane. The plane, for no apparent reason, fails and crashes into a jungle. The baby survives and is adopted and brought home by a gorilla named Shina. She brings him to her troop, where he is ridiculed for being different from the rest of them. The yet to be named baby is allowed to stay on the condition that he is to go if he causes any trouble. Shina names him Lord and he quickly adjusts to life as a gorilla.

The King is Born

The King is Born is a video classic about the birth of Jesus based on the Bible. Beginning with Gabriel announcing God's blessed plan for Mary, this video brings all the elements of this timeless store to life. Journey with Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem and witness the humble birth of our Savior together with the shepherds.

Witch's Cradle

The surrealist film shows repetitive imagery involving a string fashioned in a bizarre, almost spiderweb-like pattern over the hands of several individuals, most notably an unnamed young woman and an elderly gentleman. The film also shows a shadowy darkness and people filmed at odd angles, an exposed human heart, and other occult symbols and ritualistic imagery which evokes an unsettling and dream-like aura. Considered an unfinished film.

Talk

Birger is old and retired from work, but he still goes back to work since he has nothing else to do. Back home he gets a rare visitor: a girl from Hare Krishna recruiting new members.

The Absolution of Anthony

A 16-year-old gay boy lives with his Catholic grandfather in the Bronx.

Time Piece

Dislocation in time, time signatures, time as a philosophical concept, and slavery to time are some of the themes touched upon in this 9-minute experimental film, which was written, directed, and produced by Jim Henson. Screened for the first time at the Museum of Modern Art in May of 1965, "Time Piece" enjoyed an eighteen-month run at one Manhattan movie theater and was nominated for an Academy Award for Outstanding Short Subject.

Bunny

Bunny, an elderly rabbit who uses a walker, is in her kitchen one night baking a cake. A photograph from her wedding day is on her wall. A pesky and persistent moth bangs about the kitchen. She shoos it outside, turns off the porch light, and returns to her baking. The moth finds its way back into the kitchen, she bats it with a wooden spoon, and it falls into the mix. She stirs it up, pours the batter into a pan, and pops it into the oven. But the moth isn't done: it has a different mission, turning the oven into a portal, and inviting Bunny on a voyage of reunion.

The Big Shave

A young man walks into a meticulously clean and sterile bathroom and proceeds to shave away hair, then skin, in an increasingly bloody and graphic bathroom scene.

The Killers

The Killers is a 1956 student film by the Soviet and Russian film director Andrei Tarkovsky and his fellow students Marika Beiku and Aleksandr Gordon. The film is based on the short story "The Killers" by Ernest Hemingway, written in 1927. It was Tarkovsky's first film, produced when he was a student at the State Institute of Cinematography.

Legend of the BoneKnapper Dragon

Hiccup and friends accompany their mentor, Gobber, on a quest to kill the legendary Boneknapper Dragon.

Hoshizora Kiseki

Kozue loves to stargaze and does so regularly. On a trip to view a meteorite, she happens to meet a boy named Ginga. He has a mysterious ability to discover more information about the stars, which he uses to help scientists with astronomical research. Unfortunately, his life is mostly dictated for him, and when carrying out missions, he must always wear a protective suit. Kozue helps Ginga to gradually take control of his life by encouraging him to make his own decisions.

Glumov's Diary

Filmic insert to Eisenstein's modernized, free adaptation of Ostrovskiy's 19th-century Russian stage play, "The Wise Man" ("Na vsyakogo mudretsa dovolno prostoty"). The anti-hero Glumov tries to escape exposure in the midst of acrobatics, derring-do, and farcical clowning. Several members of Eisenstein's troupe at the legendary "Proletkult" stage theatre in Moscow briefly appear in this little film.

Ghost Train

Once a year, estranged brothers Michael and Peter make a reluctant pilgrimage to the old fairground yard where their friend Sam went missing when they were boys. Both men's' lives are colored by what happened the day their friend was sucked inside the Ghost Train, never to return. This year, Michael has something to tell Peter that will cast fresh light on the incident, something that will change their lives even more than that fateful day 30 years ago...

Mônica e Cebolinha no Mundo de Romeu e Julieta

Montéquio Cebolinha and Julieta Monicapuleto find themselves in a passionate love affair, but unfortunately, their families vehemently oppose their relationship. Amagali and Friar Lourenço Cascão, ever the allies, come to the aid of the young couple, determined to support them through the challenges. However, just when they thought things couldn't get more complicated, Prince Xaveco of Verona unexpectedly enters the picture, adding another layer of complexity to the already tangled situation.

Two Men and a Wardrobe

The film features two men who emerge from the sea carrying a large wardrobe, which they proceed to carry into a town.

Sniffer

A man wakes on the ceiling of his bedroom and breaks a lamp to alert his wife to his predicament. She puts on her heavy boots, unstraps herself out of her bed and uses a hook on a pole to drag him back down. The next day he goes to his job where he works as a deodorant tester, sniffing the armpits of exercising test subjects. On this day though, he faces an event that will change his life forever.

Ah Pook Is Here.

A disturbingly organic-looking figure speaks to us of life, politics and death as the symbol of the common man toils away. Written and narrated by William S. Burroughs.

Tramway

A boy leaves a party and gets on a passenger tram. Aboard, he shyly watches a girl, who soon falls asleep.

The Diabolic Tenant

A man rents an apartment and furnishes it in remarkable fashion.

Bluebeard

A young woman becomes the eighth wife of the wealthy Bluebeard, whose first seven wives have died under mysterious circumstances.

The Hilarious Posters

A wall full of advertising posters comes to life.

Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk

A documentary about a 15-day river-rafting trip on the Colorado River aimed at highlighting water conservation issues.

Take a Chance

It's a classic boy-meets-girl story, boy-loses-girl, boy gets mistaken for an escaped convict and ruthlessly chased by armies of cops across the countryside in a thrill-packed stunt-addled climax.

Coven

An alcohol/drug abuser re-examines his life until he nearly dies from an overdose. Then a friend convinces him to join a self-help group which turns out to be demonic.

Mickey and the Beanstalk

A mysterious thief has stolen the prosperous Happy Valley's most prized possession: the musical Singing Harp. Can Mickey, Donald, and Goofy find the answer in the irritable Willie the Giant's magnificent castle up in the blue sky?

Alma

Alma, a little girl, skips through the snow covered streets of a small town. Her attention is caught by a strange doll in an antique toy shop window. Fascinated, Alma decides to enter.

The Adventurer

The daring convict no. 23, known as The Eel, escapes from prison and, after mocking his inept persecutors, saves the lives of three people in peril: a beautiful girl, her mother and an annoying suitor, only to get exhausted and almost drowned. Once he regains his strength at Judge Brown's home, he participates on an upper-class social party where he competes with the suitor for the favors of the charming Miss Brown. But prison guards are still after him…

Mr. Dentonn

On a cold winter night, Laura reads her brother David the story of a strange creature that attacks children. Suddenly, a shiver runs Laura's body, feeling a strange presence in the house. It's him.

Genius Party

The seven short films making up GENIUS PARTY couldn’t be more diverse, linked only by a high standard of quality and inspiration. Atsuko Fukushima’s intro piece is a fantastic abstraction to soak up with the eyes. Masaaki Yuasa, of MIND GAME and CAT SOUP fame, brings his distinctive and deceptively simple graphic style and dream-state logic to the table with “Happy Machine,” his spin on a child’s earliest year. Shinji Kimura’s spookier “Deathtic 4,” meanwhile, seems to tap into the creepier corners of a child’s imagination and open up a toybox full of dark delights. Hideki Futamura’s “Limit Cycle” conjures up a vision of virtual reality, while Yuji Fukuyama’s "Doorbell" and "Baby Blue" by Shinichiro Watanabe use understated realism for very surreal purposes. And Shoji Kawamori, with “Shanghai Dragon,” takes the tropes and conventions of traditional anime out for very fun joyride.

The Musketeers of Pig Alley

A man recognizes the thief who had previously robbed him as one of the men involved in an unrelated mob shootout.

The Employment

A man prepares and goes to work in a bizarre world, where the meaning of human workforce is taken to another level.

Pumzi

A sci-fi film about futuristic Africa, 35 years after World War III, 'The Water War'.

James

Young James struggles as an outsider at his school. His teacher, Mr. Sutherland, is the only person he feels he can connect with. When James finally puts a voice to his feelings, Mr. Sutherland's response isn't what James had hoped for.

Doubles with Slight Pepper

A complex and compelling Trinidadian tale about a father returning from Canada to a resentful family.