The Human Condition (2018)

60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero

An anthology of one-minute films created by 51 international filmmakers on the theme of the death of cinema. Intended as an ode to 35mm, the film was screened one time only on a purpose-built 20x12 meter public cinema screen in the Port of Tallinn, Estonia, on 22 December 2011. A special projector was constructed for the event which allowed the actual filmstrip to be burnt at the same time as the film was shown.

New York Stories

Three tales of love, ambition, and neurosis unfold in the city that never sleeps. In "Life Lessons" (Martin Scorsese), a tormented painter channels heartbreak into his art. In "Life Without Zoë" (Francis Ford Coppola), a precocious 12-year-old navigates privilege and loneliness in a Manhattan hotel. And in "Oedipus Wrecks" (Woody Allen), a man’s domineering mother literally becomes a looming presence over New York.

The Bible: In the Beginning...

Covering only the first 22 chapters of the Book of Genesis, vignettes include: Adam and Eve frolicking in the Garden of Eden until their indulgence in the forbidden fruit sees them driven out; Cain murdering his brother Abel; Noah building an ark to preserve the animals of the world from the coming flood; and Abraham making a covenant with God.

Queen for a Day

Adapted from the TV and radio series of the same name, the producer of said show reads letters from three woman providing the framing story for this melodrama anthology film. The tales focus on parenting and family struggles.

The Doors

A young man sits in a surreal space between two doors, each representing a life-altering choice. Behind one lies the darkness of his drug addiction, and behind the other, the hope of happiness with friends and family—but which path will he take?

The Year of the Everlasting Storm

Featuring seven stories from seven auteurs from around the world, the film chronicles this unprecedented moment in time, and is a true love letter to the power of cinema and its storytellers.

The Fate of Two Queens

Anthology film in which Hedy Lamarr plays 2 queens during 2 different time periods. Ulmer directed the Genoveffa di Brabante part whereas Allégret was responsible for the empress Josephine section after he left due to artistic differences with Lamarr.

Homicide Sonata

First, the tale of a doctor who hides the accidental death of his son. Second, the story of a sculptress who kills and makes a sculpture out of a habitual sex offender who breaks into her home. Third, the story of a detective who administers euthanasia to satisfy the wishes of a terminally ill younger brother. Last, the tale of a young girl who develops psychological problems after her mother is killed by her abusive father

An Encyclopedia of Unconventional Women

This is an omnibus of six short films by six different directors, whose lead characters are unconventional women. They are "Hijoshi," females who live true to themselves and their desires.

Wild Flowers

Seven seemingly unconnected fairy tales - glued together only by folklore, mood, color and light - make up this Czech collection of visual poetry. The original piece of literature, written by Karel Jaromír Erben in 1853, contained twelve tales.

Aria

Ten short pieces directed by ten different directors, including Ken Russell, Jean-Luc Godard, Robert Altman, Bruce Beresford, and Nicolas Roeg. Each short uses an aria as soundtrack/sound, and is an interpretation of the particular aria.

Tales of Manhattan

Ten screenwriters collaborated on this series of tales concerning the effect a tailcoat cursed by its tailor has on those who wear it. The video release features a W.C. Fields segment not included in the original theatrical release.

Mundane

A group of teenagers, three cleaning staff, and a young married couple confront a social contract when they meet in the elevator queue of a middle-class apartment building.

Paris Je T'aime

Olivier Assayas, Gus Van Sant, Wes Craven and Alfonso Cuaron are among the 20 distinguished directors who contribute to this collection of 18 stories, each exploring a different aspect of Parisian life. The colourful characters in this drama include a pair of mimes, a husband trying to chose between his wife and his lover, and a married man who turns to a prostitute for advice.

Songs of Love from Hawaii

Embark on a mesmerizing musical journey through the multi-faceted history of Korean American immigrants in Hawaiʻi with SONGS OF LOVE, a captivating reverie of song and history.

Wild Tales

Injustice and the demands of the world can cause stress for many people. Some of them, however, explode. This includes a waitress serving a grouchy loan shark, an altercation between two motorists, an ill-fated wedding reception, and a wealthy businessman who tries to buy his family out of trouble.

The Death King

Seven episodes, each taking place on a different day of the week, on the theme of suicide and violent death.

Tryst With Destiny

A billionaire learns there is something money can't buy, a lower-caste couple attempts to build a new life, a corrupt city cop finds himself far outside of the law and a man, who takes law into his own hands as he embarks on revenge in an anthology on class divide in contemporary India.

O. Henry's Full House

Five O. Henry stories, each separate. The primary one from the critics' acclaim was "The Cop and the Anthem". Soapy tells fellow bum Horace that he is going to get arrested so he can spend the winter in a nice jail cell. He fails. He can't even accost a woman; she turns out to be a streetwalker. The other stories are "The Clarion Call", "The Last Leaf", "The Ransom of Red Chief", and "The Gift of the Magi".

There Is No Evil

Set against the backdrop of Iran's strict and oppressive legal system, this anthology film tells the stories of four men who each face a moral crisis when having to deal with death penalties.

Beyond the Clouds

Four tales, each centered on a woman, journey inward to explore the enigmatic reality of their lives, connecting through a single narrative thread.

The Decameron

A young Sicilian is swindled twice, but ends up rich; a man poses as a deaf-mute in a convent of curious nuns; a woman must hide her lover when her husband comes home early; a scoundrel fools a priest on his deathbed; three brothers take revenge on their sister's lover; a young girl sleeps on the roof to meet her boyfriend at night; a group of painters wait for inspiration; a crafty priest attempts to seduce his friend's wife; and two friends make a pact to find out what happens after death.

Tasty Ending

An anthology of three short films by Kim Jeong-in, Jung So-young, and Hwang Seul-gi. It uses food and people to capture the warmth of everyday life that everyone can relate to.

Three Nights of Love

Omnibus film with individual segments directed by Renato Castellani, Luigi Comencini and Franco Rossi; all of them starring the radiant Catherine Spaak as "out of place" women longing for love, in a Sicillian village, a monastery, and a modern Italian urban setting, respectively.

The Sentimental Teaser

A young and excentric radio DJ airs a successful program in which diverse calls come in from anonymous listeners, who reveal their love stories, all charged with mix-ups, disputes and passion.

To Each His Own Cinema

Commissioned to mark the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, "To Each His Own Cinema" brought together 33 of the world's pre-eminent filmmakers to produce short pieces exploring the multifarious facets of cinema and their perspective on the state of their chosen artform in the early 21st century.

Kaos

Five stories center on a werewolf, a feudal landlord, peasants, a ghost, and a mother and her sons.

Haunting Tales: A Horror Anthology

Emmy is babysitting Rhian and Sophie on Halloween night when Rhian demands a scary bedtime story. Sophie, Rhian's teenage sister, joins them for a story after some playful goading by Emmy. After each tale, the girls request another until they find out that sometimes you should be careful what you wish for. Haunting Tales is a Thriller/Horror anthology that explores different stylistic stories from Avant-garde and Hitchcockian Black Comedy to the tried and true Psychological Thriller.

L'amore

L'Amore ('Love') is a 1948 Italian drama anthology film that consists of two parts, The Human Voice (Una voce umana), based on Jean Cocteau's 1929 play of the same title, and The Miracle (Il miracolo), based on Ramón del Valle-Inclán's 1904 novel Flor de santidad.

Bits of Life

This film combines four short films under the title Bits Of Life. The Bad Samaritan is taken from a story in Popular Magazine in which the son of a Chinese father and a white mother is sold into slavery by his father. The boy becomes a criminal and a cunning but cruel thief. The one time he stops to help a lady in distress he is thrown in jail. Wesley Barry is the young boy and Lon Chaney the grown-up criminal.

Boys Life

Each of the three short films in this collection presents a young gay man at the threshold of adulthood. In "Pool Days," Justin is a 17-year old Bethesda lad, hired as the evening life guard at a fitness center. In the course of the summer, he realizes and embraces that he's gay. In "A Friend of Dorothy," Winston arrives from upstate for his freshman year at NYU. He has to figure out, with some help from Anne, a hometown friend, how to build a social life as a young gay man in the city. In "The Disco Years," Tom looks back on 1978, the year in high school that he came out of the closet after one joyful and several painful encounters

Plaza Suite

Film version of the Neil Simon play has three separate acts set in the same hotel suite in New York's Plaza Hotel with Walter Matthau in a triple role. In the first, Karen Nash tries to get her inattentive husband Sam's attention and help save their failing marriage. In the second, brash film producer Jesse Kiplinger tries to seduce his former one-time flame Muriel. In the third, Roy Hubley and his wife Norma try and persuade their daughter, a bride to-be with cold feet, out of the bathroom before her approaching wedding ceremony.

Eros

A three-part anthology about love and sexuality: it features three different tales of passion. In "The Hand," young tailor Zhang (Chen Chang) is attracted to high-priced prostitute Miss Hua (Gong Li). Next is "Equilibrium," in which stressed businessman Nick (Robert Downey Jr.) explains his problems to unhelpful therapist Dr. Pearl (Alan Arkin). Finally, "The Dangerous Thread of Things" examines the relationship problems of Christopher (Christopher Buchholz) and Chloe (Regina Nemni), a couple on vacation in Tuscany.

Erotic Stories

A modest film of three independent parts showing sad couple stories.

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.

Rain

Story of six interwoven narratives in Mexico City, exploring the human condition against intermittent rain. With each encounter, the characters experience a moment of absurdity, brightness, or strangeness that reveals their true selves.