Cinematic Era: 1978 Vintage

Cardboard cut-outs explode, twirl, disintegrate and form shapes in a delightful, airy film that describes the journey through life, its inevitable ups and downs, and the final triumph of the person.

A day at Basel's Rhine harbor during a time when the city was still characterized by industry. Changing light, reflections, moving shadows, and the undulating surface of the water dominate the film; images alternate between panoramic views of the port with its industrial plants and ships and close-up shots of bollards, quays, and individual parts of buildings. The calm images and the silence (the film lacks sound) convey a peaceful atmosphere that contrasts with the usually noisy industrial harbor.

An experimental animation about four people at a beach, three men and one woman.

In an inquiry into the relation between the corporation, the state and the family, Domination and the Everyday presents a fractured barrage of simultaneous sound tracks, film stills and a crawling text. Questioning the privatized existence of a woman and child, and the role of media information in daily life, this non-narrative tape is structured around the sounds of a woman feeding her small son and readying him for bed, while a radio interview with an art dealer plays in the background. Photographs of family life and corporate ads are juxtaposed with a written text that crawls across the screen, comparing life in Chile with life in the United States. Rosler refers to this layered juxtaposition of fragmented sound, images and text as an "artist-mother's This Is Your Life."

UNREACHABLE HOMELESS is particularly lost on the eye, at times changing color, focal length, or focus with every other frame. Its staccato rhythms are not unlike those of Paul Sharit's flicker films, though the use of continually recognizable imagery creates compelling effects within the picture's deep space as well. Wyborny's shots are brief but filled with interior motion. He varies his exposure so that background areas suddenly materialize, or uses single framing to scurry occasional cars or barges across the screen.

Yeong-ah falls in love with Hyeong-jun after picking his pocket and the two have a child together. However, his justifiably suspicious wife in Hong Kong begins having Hyeong-jun followed. Yeong-ah kills the private eye but not before her secrets are revealed

1978 Linda Christanell experimental short

Howie, a 70-year-old alcoholic and ex-sailor, sums up his life in the following terms: "Travel and drink, drink and travel, that's all I've ever done." The film Howie redefines its subject in terms of the present, documenting Howie's two-year hiatus in a small college town, his confrontations with the townspeople, and his relationship with the filmmaker.

1978 Spanish experimental short

Official entry to the first Metro Manila Film Festival in 1978 directed by Romy Suzara and starred Rudy Fernandez, George Estregan, Trixia Gomez, Ruel Vernal, Raul Aragon, Dencio Padilla, Amy Austria, Rodolfo 'Boy' Garcia, Jose Romulo, and Veronica Jones

Official entry to the first Metro Manila Film Festival in 1978 directed by Artemio Marquez and starred Rey Malonzo and Tina Monasterio

The play is about a man who manages the business of a family that consists of a boy and girl. An accountant that works for him falls in love with his daughter, which makes him stay quiet about the fraud that the father-in-law commits.

Ready for some rockin' retro refrains? Then check out one of the 1970s' most riveting groups, captured in a live performance for the popular German music-TV show "Rockpalast." Tunes included in Little Feat's 12-song set are "Fat Man in the Bathtub," "Oh Atlanta," "Skin It Back," "Cold, Cold, Cold," "Feats Don't Fail Me Now" and their humorous hit "Dixie Chicken." Also contains commentary from the sextet.

Indian film directed by M.S. Mani.

1978 film from Anant Mane

Pat & Mat (Czech: A je to!, Pat a Mat) is a Czech stop-motion animated series featuring two handymen: Pat and Mat (Czech for "stalemate" and "checkmate", respectively). It was created by Lubomír Beneš and Vladimír Jiránek.

by Cheung Yan-Git