Release (2010)

Based on the story of Howard Walls, A clerk at the Library of Congress who saved a collection of early paper reel films from the incinerator, director Bill Morrison embellishes the tale a bit in this inspired short work. Here, the vision of a woman in an early porno film has been engrained in the mind of a man working at the Library of Congress and his search for the film of her has an unexpected consequence, as he saves a collection of historically significant films from being destroyed.

At a nightclub, the crowd demands Goopy Geer, and the lanky dog doesn't disappoint them. He gives a zany performance on the piano, but the employees and the customers are just as wacky. A gorilla waiter dances while serving. Three identical cats display a peculiar way of eating. A chicken has a nauseating way of making chicken soup. The nightclub singer tells corny jokes. Even the hat racks come to life and dance. A horse imbibing a too-strong drink provides the show-stopper.

Shot in four days during the 1968 National Rodeo Finals in Oklahoma City, this lyrical documentary takes you inside the arena atop a 2800 lb bull. Watch Freckles Brown, a legendary cowboy, conferring with a young Larry Mahan, the previous year's champion and see crowd favorite Myrtis Dightman trying to hold his own in a dramatic ride. "Rodeo" shows the classic struggle of man against beast, a matter of life and death. Dick Rosmini's hypnotizing folk-fusion soundtrack and an intricate sound mix add to the climatic result.

Following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, America was rife with rumors about the size of Japan's armed forces and how well-equipped they were to wage war against the U.S. Using animation, the first part of this film dispels these rumors by showing that the U.S. had more raw materials and more fighting ships. The narrator also cautions moviegoers against spreading rumors (which are often initiated by enemy infiltrators to create fear and dissention) and believing everything they read in the newspapers. Just because "they say" something, that doesn't make it true.

This short film portrays the story of Matthew Fontaine Maury (1806-1873), an American Naval officer who developed the first maps that charted the oceans' winds and currents.

A British District Officer in Nigeria in the 1930s rules his area strictly but justly. He struggles with gun-runners and slavers with the aid of a loyal native chief.

Boy trying to impress girl, gets chased by her father and the police right into an ongoing marathon.

Zou Zou tries to help her childhood friend prove his innocence after he's accused of murder.

Oscar nominated documentary about the largest man-made curtain in the world as "sculpture".

Lindsay Anderson's first feature, a documentary about the origin and processes of the Richard Sutcliffe Limited underground-conveyor company.

An early Bill Morrison short, in this work he traverses an urban landscape utilizing high contrast black and white footage. The bustling nature of the setting is complimented by the energetic music by Michael Gordon.

This short explores the possibility that Louis XVII, son of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, escaped death during the French Revolution and was raised by Indians in America.

Singer-songwriter Slink Moss plays the mysterious driver of a Cadillac hearse who journeys across America to pick up and drop off a hitchhiker to his (final?) destination. The nearly-wordless film stylishly re-imagines the open road as a state of Limbo.

This eleven-minute documentary from 1965 follows the daily lives of pigs on a farm.

Bernice, a shy young woman, leaves her safe home to go visit her flapper cousin. When her cousin tries to teach Bernice how to be much more modern, Bernice gives her much more than she bargained for.

Les Blank marries his passion for spicy, down home food and his love for Cajuns and Creoles in this mouth-watering, exploration of the cooking, and other enthusiasms, of French-speaking Louisiana. Features tangy music, and food by Marc Savoy, Paul Prudhomme, and other greats.

A documentary covering the 1984 Olympic Games in Sarajevo.

The cloud phenomena of Maloja are so well-known that some of them have names, such as the Maloja snake, a cloud bank that winds its way through the Alpine pass like a river. Clouds pass overhead, Fanck films them, just sufficiently to get the idea, among the crags of the Engadine, and gradually he connotes the wider scene, peopling the solitude and stillness below with a person or two, boating.

This is a brief bio of the life of Tati through his works. Begins with his silent period, then feature films, and shows many examples from the short films on this disc. For someone with such a limited output of work, his reach and genius was limitless.

Documentary short by Humphrey Jennings