Cinematic Era: 1977 Vintage

1977 saw The Grateful Dead at the height of their powers. The new songs were solid, the band was playing better than ever and the bootleg recordings from that year prove it. This video captures the second and third nights of a three-night stand at Passaic, New Jersey's Capitol Theater. Highlights include: "Estimated Prophet", "Eyes Of The World", "Sugar Magnolia", "Promised Land", "Loser" and many more.

Emmylou Harris and The Hot Band smoke the stage at the Beat Club, Radio Bremen on March 26th, 1977.

In Occupied France, a cultured civilised German ofi ccer is billeted out and stirs up conflicting emotions in the household.

An animated super-8 horror film made up of still photographs. "My friend Reynolds – also the painter in ‘Petit Mal’ – purposely cut her leg and we poured her blood onto the celluloid surface of ‘Screaming Susan’ to authenticate its horror status. I imagine the film’s surface must be very sticky now. It might not even be projectable!" (B.B)

Pink film directed by Genji Nakamura.

The comedy was written and played at the end of the 5th century BC, at the end of the Peloponnesian War, a time of decline of the Athenian Republic. Aristophanes, on the occasion of the political situation in his country, tries to help his fellow citizens by presenting this comedy. Dionysus and his slave Xanthias, with the instructions of Hercules, go down to Hades looking for a poet, who will bring his city out of the impasse in which it has reached. After the poetic struggle between Euripides and Aeschylus, Dionysus chooses the latter to save Athens and they leave Hades together.

Rare archive footage of British born young people in the mid 70s, discussing issues of school, police, parents and what it is like to be black in a white world.

In the crisis-ridden Germany of the 1920s, the desperate Frieda Hausmann pretends to be her deceased husband Wilhelm so that she can support her family by employing him as a porter.

Australia 1975. Gas station attendent Cosy Cool has had enough of his dead end job, his boss and living in a country town. He hooks up with his old biker buddy Gracious Grytt, leaves town and the straight life, and heads for a car show in the city. With their winnings they decide to hit the road, and look for kicks. However they don't realise that some sinister rednecks are on their trail and have a secret agenda that involves them.

The North End is a direct cinema observation of an Italian-American neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts.

After refusing to compromise at his job, a university professor leaves the city and returns to his native village for the first time in many years.

In Charleen, documentarian Ross McElwee looks at the life of a North Carolina poet and teacher who acts as a muse to a motley crew of artists and musicians.

Taiwan movie

Through interviews with store owners, customers, and a supermarket manager, gives insight into changing social values and increasing economic pressures that face small businesses.

Single crime writer Tom Clempner receives a delivery of goods that he did not order. Out of the box emerges a domestic robot called Graumer, whose pleasant female voice reveals it to be the latest ultra-de-luxe model. The sender's address, the agency for the placement and rental of domestic staff, does not mention delivery to Clempner, so the robot suggests that he should just keep it. As it costs him nothing, the writer quickly overcomes his reservations and makes diligent use of the unforeseen help, perfect in conversation and housework. However, it doesn't take long before the man of the house becomes annoyed by Graumer's all-encompassing care. The robot has already become indispensable, be it in the construction of Tom's new mystery plot or the preparation of the upcoming dinner for some acquaintances. But why does Graumer seem so disturbed when he learns that a police inspector will be among the guests?

Goddess Banashankari comes down to Earth in the form of a human and helps her ardent devotees deal with the difficulties in their lives.

The subject is the contrast between old and new Split. Journalist Duje lives in a new apartment in a large green skyscraper, but his heart is drawn to his childhood, where he meets old neighbors and for a short time experiences their sorrows and joys, witnesses their quarrels and misunderstandings, but also moments of togetherness and solidarity. Most of the action takes place in the common yard where the neighbors meet at every opportunity. The sudden illness of old Domina brings excitement into their lives and creates unusual complications that will bring changes to the peaceful everyday life of these good-natured people.

Those interned in a psychiatric establishment are involved in a police issue.

Works Orchestral Tour is live in Montreal on Aug. 26, 1977, where ELP became the first rock band to assemble and tour with a full 65 piece symphony orchestra before a sold-out audience of 70.000 enthusiastic fans. This is Emerson Lake And Palmer "Symphonic Live" recorded during the works tour on August 26th 1977 at the Montreal Olympic Stadium. The band was accompanied by the Royal Montreal Philharmonic 65 Piece Orchestra and a 12 person choir. This show, filmed before over 70,000 fans is considered to be Keith Emerson's Opus.

A striptease artist is prosecuted for indecency. Meanwhile, his aunt wants him to visit her, before she dies.

Yazaki's characteristic relentless depiction of this and that, albeit with some technical problems, shows a fervour that tries to fit into a single, complete world. It is aimed at a spectacle. [This is a Lost Film]

The notorious Swedish criminal Clark Olofsson's activities from his first serious conviction in 1966 and ten years on of bank robberies and fraud.

Experimental short.

South African Film

Japanese pinku from 1977.

An improvisation recorded over the course of one day, starting at dawn and finishing after dusk. The film was edited in camera and shot from one camera position in the middle of one of the 112 football pitches that cover Hackney Marsh, a location chosen because of the similarities between the surrounding buildings and objects (identical blocks of flats, goalposts etc.). By cutting between precisely matched framings of similar objects, illusions of movement were produced, disrupting representational readings of the landscape. Unforeseen events occurring in the vicinity were also recorded, determining to some extent the subsequent filming. Through selection of shots and changes in cutting pace and speed of camera movement, the film fluctuates between record and abstraction.

An old frustrated bird who cannot fly tries to ventilate his anger by attacking a worm.

This Hungarian documentary explores the life and career of Olympic Pentathlon champion Andras Balczo. After winning five gold medals in the event, he retired at age 34. He was offered lucrative positions as a coach in many countries but elected to remain in Hungary, despite the fact that he was never permitted to train anyone there.

Grotesque about the meaning of ownership of real estate.

The film delves into Elizabeth Catlett's artistic process and her studio environment. "The Work of Elizabeth Catlett" is part of a series of films by Juan Mora Catlett that explore the lives and work of notable figures.

An adventurous love story of a veterinarian from Riga, a cheerful loser Andris.

When a young Australian hitchhiker, Judy (Peers), enters a prohibited forest area, she encounters Paul (Gil) whose job is spotting fires from a plane. She is invited to stay with him and his teen son, Billy. Later they go on a sightseeing flight in a "Tiger Moth" bi-plane, but having a forced landing, are accommodated by an odd elderly couple.

Oosh and Boosh, two pot smoking hicks, meet up with Big Jim, who flies in drugs from Cuba and Colombia. Our heroes unload the plane and drive off, the only problem being that within about ten seconds of doing so, the police are on their tail. You've never met two more unlucky drugs couriers, as the police are on to them every time they try something, the mafia have changed management and want money back for lost shipments, and they're about to get stiffed for their biggest heist.

Dialogue between a man from Earth and an alien about the advantages and darker sides of earthly civilization.

The story of Lucas, a young ear of corn, from his days in the cornfield with his mother to the moment he ultimately meets his fate as a meal for a young boy.

A turn of the 20th Century office block at Portage and Main. What was once Winnipeg's most prestigious commercial address has become a catch-all for the marginalized and history's leftovers. A snapshot of a fading era, now gone for good.

The argentinian soccer team is the victim of a strange sabotage, on the eve of the 1978 World Cup.

The story of a hired killer, a man he wants to kill, and two women.

Akbar and Aghdas plan to get married, but Akbar gets into a fight with a man named Qasim Siah, and is imprisoned.

A BAFTA award nominated animated fable in which the audience, while being entertained, may also learn eight Chinese characters.

A man in financial trouble is thinking of killing his wife to get back the money he has placed in her name.

Inem is now a rich lady, but gossip keeps following her. Inem accidentally meets her ex-husband and Brontoyudo becomes jealous upon seeing them still close. Mrs. Cokro pushes her husband to resolve the problem, by calling for job applicants to be hired as the new housemaid.

Produced for public television broadcast in Ontario, Pilot takes the form of a prime-time newsmagazine, with General Idea as the subject. As hosts, AA Bronson, Felix Partz, and Jorge Zontal describe their collective transformation from young strivers to "famous, glamorous artists," and the diversification of the General Idea media empire. Using a library of clips, they recount General Idea's public performances, films, and fashion designs (such as the "Venetian Blind Gown," modeled here by dancers, swimmers and snow skiers). They also discuss their print publication, FILE, and their decision to change the magazine's logo after Time-Life sued them for trademark infringement in June 1974. ("They didn't like our lifelike format," says Bronson.) A witty survey of the group's early work, Pilot is punctuated throughout by a voice-over manifesto on their continuing project, the Miss General Idea Pavilion of 1984.