Cinematic Era: 1989 Vintage

Umberto Eco's novel Il pendolo di Foucault (1988) is an immensely ambitious, multi-layered and allusive book. The film contains an initial account and examination of this new book, which is as contentious as it is controversial. Eco's publisher and prominent Italian critics have their say and, of course, the author. He talks about the eight years of work on the book, about the two central images that stand at the beginning of his novel, and about what this story of magic, occultism, and delusion has to do with us and our present.

A semi-fictional, semi-documentary study of suicides.

In the town of Eutin in northern Germany stands a magical oak tree that brings people together.

In The Thinker, Almy satirically envisions the evolution of human intellectual thought—from ape to yuppie—as a television event, with an emcee providing the play-by-play commentary of a sportscaster. Classical, Medieval and Renaissance theories flash by as catch-phrases. When this accelerated history leaps forward to arrive at contemporary man, accompanied by an animated explosion of media and consumer images, his contribution to the history of thought is a litany of advertising slogans and pop cliches that devolve, full-circle, into ape-like grunts.

Miklós Szentkuthy reports on his life, his works, the Holy Trinity, Karl Marx, and the time he became a cardinal.

Climber Patrick Edlinger visits various climbing areas in the American West, including Joshua Tree (routes and bouldering), Yosemite (bouldering), Hueco Tanks (bouldering), and Smith Rock (routes). He is seen climbing alongside Russ Clune, Ron Kauk, Jean-Paul Lemercier, and Todd Skinner in numerous sequences accompanied by Native American-inspired music composed by Benoît Fromanger. Less well-known than his two previous films, "La Vie au bout des doigts" and "Opéra Vertical," it remains a benchmark for all climbing enthusiasts and admirers of Edlinger, the world's most famous climber. His familiar voice provides narration throughout many sequences with iconic phrases that encapsulate the man, such as: "Climbing, this useless thing to which I dedicate my life."

Anthology of animated sketches from the Beijing Science Film Studio.

As the wheel turns, the religion of the body moves to and through the physical into the psychological. We see the feared, all is moved. There is a hint of seclusion, an idea from the past re-worked and still dangerous. The participants unsure choose a convent and are still revealed. Through a window there appears a tree, and then a forest. Too many options. The monastic life, safe and sure. We cluster for the cloister.

A boy makes a decision about how to dispose of a green glob he has concocted. What will happen if he dumps it into a stream? Where does water come from and where does it go? This film illustrates the water cycle and raises many questions about environmental responsibility and the consequences of our decisions.

New York City's preeminent performance-poet-philosopher brings his unique brand of improv-post-punk-psycho-delica behind the Iron Curtain to Prague's Praha Slavia Stadium in June of 1989.

After her mother and some others are slaughtered, Rani decides to investigate. She's aided by her two friends, Tina and Ika, Tina's policeman father Dewo and plantation owner Guntur, on whose property the massacre took place.

About the teacher of Cherkasy Music School No. 1, the head of the Ecology Society, S. Silkin, giving an interview at an environmental rally during a lesson.

When Alexis meets Elena, he agrees to play a game with her. He has to pretend to be her lover so that Elena can get rid of Tony. But Alexis, who is in love with her, takes his role seriously and things start to get complicated.

The rise of the Roman Empire towards world power is reconstructed with the help of cartographies and re-enactments. It also shows where traces of ancient Rome can still be found today.

Short film by the basque filmmaker Koldo Lasa

With no news of her companion Seif, a Palestinian fighter who disappeared in Beirut, Houria, a stewardess with an Arab airline, returns to Tunisia in search of Khélil, a war photographer who was the last to meet the missing man. But she finds herself trapped in an environment under siege, transported back several centuries to the era of Arab chivalric epics with their abducted heroines and vengeances of honor.

"Jason Still Lives!" tells the tale of Jason Myers who is a hockey masked killer on a cruise ship who comes ashore and starts killing people in Ohio.

This documentary short is a portrait of Canadian photographer William Notman. Photography was still in its infancy when he opened his first studio in Montreal in the late 1850s. He rapidly turned his art, and a budding technology, into a highly successful business. Within 5 years he was appointed Photographer to the Queen. Not content with doing mere portraiture, he saw photography as a means of documenting history. With the use of props in his studio, composite photographs, and calling on his background as a trained artist, Notman immortalized the people and places of Canada.

Set in the 15th century after the collapse of Genghis Khan's empire, and follows Mandoukhai from her youth when she's forced to marry the new ruler to her violent death after unifying the vast Mongolian empire.

Our National Parks takes you on a journey through the four seasons and the many faces of our scenic national parks. Experience an array of lands and waters from Alaska's glacier-clad Denali to the turquoise coves and coral reefs of the Virgin Islands; from the fire of Hawaii Volcanoes to the coolness of Kentucky's Mammoth Cave; from the moonscapes of South Dakota's Badlands to the granite shores of Maine's Acadia. With award-winning filmmaker Wolfgang Bayer you get an in-depth tour of nine of the most popular national parks plus a seasonal overview of many more.

The first woman's story in PNG media, about a local Mount Hagen woman's brief affair with a pharmacist.

Based on Lauri Viita's fairy tale. In Kukunor, two trolls, Kukunor and Kalahari, read books and travel the world in their dreams.

The film is inspired by Danuta Wawilow's poem of the same name.

As debut of the film series, video footage of the piece Palermo Palermo, which was taken shortly after the piece’s premiere in 1989, has been digitally restored. Thanks to a grant from the Arts Foundation of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Cultural Foundation of the German Federal States, the material produced by Metrovision was acquired from the publishing house L’Arche Éditeur and has now been cut into a film version by the Pina Bausch Foundation.

A selfless village teacher, Myint Htwe, strives to reform a proud and troubled palm picker, Tar Tee, whose love for the village girl Nyo Mya and ultimate redemption reveal the quiet power of patience and compassion.

Super-model Celia Hammond and her obsession with caring for unwanted, frightened and injured cats.

Poetry film based on "El regalo" by Honduran writer Clementina Suárez.

A child with albinism is often regarded in traditional societies as a curse on their family. Salif Keita, born from a noble lineage of Mali, lived in exclusion during his childhood. It is music that saved him. This film portrays Salif Keita, the man and musician. We follow him with his family, in the places of his childhood and during his concerts in Mali and in France.

The story of the film focuses on Ruza, a woman who returns to her hometown after a long absence. She faces challenges and conflicts related to her past and her relationships with the people around her.

A sexy comedy about two young black men coming of age in Jamaica.

A 1989 Filipino comedy film starring Redford White.

Hue battlefield in the 40s, when the boys aged 9 and 10, who were supposed to go to school, engaged in the war. Their innocence and patriotism had made many touching stories and characters that would stand the test of time.

Hunting for interesting elements for a play, a photographer meets an old man, who has just had a heart attack He tries to save the man's life. In an effort to determine the old man's identity, he is confronted with the old man nostalgic memories.

In this video you can follow Liverpool's entire First Division season for 1988/89, including every match, every goal and every exciting incident throughout the year.

A harbor illuminated by the setting sun in a city of Italian style. On the left, a small temple topped with a clock. In the background, a large Renaissance villa with its four corner towers. On the right, sheltered by a small fort, a large basin reveals a row of tartanes. In the foreground, a shore where two ships are anchored. All around the port, figures stroll, gather, and converse. Positioned high, the viewpoint suggests a spectator looking down over the scene. A perspective effect is created by the convergence of lines toward an area near the center. Colors, the spacing of objects, grazing light, and the perspective of the architecture all combine to produce a powerful illusion of depth. The low sun generates numerous color combinations and transforms the relationships between the usual tones of objects.

An urban middle-class woman accidentally discovers ancestral ways of understanding reality and life in a Guatemala that reveals magic and wonder.

In this “video play”, which was shown on WGBH/WNET’s series, “New Television”, playwright/director Richard Foreman explores his relationship with actors, and examines the impact of William Faulkner’s “The Sound and the Fury” – and in particular the character of Quentin Compson – on his work. — Anthology Film Archives

Based on Edgar Allen Poe's famous short story. This film delves into the dark recesses of the human pschye.

The Acropolis Rally provides some of the toughest special stages of any rally on the World Championship calendar. The 1989 event, round 6 of the drivers' championship, and round 5 of the manufacturers series, was going to be a make or break rally for the majority of the competing manufacturers - bar Lancia that is!

Educational short about the Bible

Combining animation with live action, this is an absurd, dark, slightly comic portrayal of a man who feels stuck and wonders how he got there. While it borrows images from Kafka's Metamorphosis and from Jack Arnold's Incredible Shrinking Man, it is not an interpretation of either. This is a film about logic that feeds on itself. In developing its own peculiar logic, the film plays with narrative form. A METAMORPHOSIS IN LOGIC is the meditation of a man who can't decide whether he has gone too far or not far enough.

A mother with a small bank account and a pessimistic view on the future of humanity. The desire for a nice funeral and a son "too" optimistic and interested in redeeming her. A priest to ask for help.

On the eve of World War II, Polish families are getting ready to defend the city.

Hermes is a conscientious, honest, and hardworking employee at a canning factory. He lives a calm and quiet family life. He will soon retire, which weighs heavily on him. On his last business trip to Mykonos, his friends will give him a strange gift. They will send him a beautiful and impressive woman who will radically change his life. She will make him feel and taste what he has been deprived of for so many years...

OBATALA "White is the summery of all colors in light „ this was the train I jumpep on, when I startet to treat my very colorfull 16mm material like a 3 dimensional timepackage. There is no sound for spectator`s ears, just visible sound.

During WW2 partisans try to hide from their enemies, while old villagers mourn the deceased of the war.

This film visualizes a child's delighted discovery of his five senses. Produced for the Children's Museum of Manhattan, "Who Am I?" empowers youngsters and stimulates learning.

As the filmmaker metaphorically represents the “romanticism as love towards mineral,” they are gathered through the act of shooting (the physical movements on camera) and they are a collection of images being put in the film; these meanings are to be interpreted by the audience.

Western and African cultures collide in Haiti resulting in religious conflict between Christianity and Voodoo. Despite centuries of vigilant opposition from the Christian Church, Voodoo has flourished in Haiti and continues to be one of the strongest elements underlying Haitian culture. This film dispels Hollywood stereotypes and presents Voodoo as a belief system that has been passed down from African ancestor to slave to present day Haitian. Traveling from the intensely overcrowded streets of Port-au-Prince to the serenity of the Haitian countryside, the viewer comes to see how the Haitian has accepted both the Christian and Voodoo mythology for use in daily life. The highly integrated Haitian culture is truthfully revealed.

Documentary about the avenue (Avenida Brasil) that is the main access to Rio de Janeiro, crossing very poor and violent suburbs.

An old man which have several children and grandchildren decides to marry an old woman.His desire have some compliants and some dissidents.

The film was made in a period of three weeks in the summer of 1989. It starts in a youth hostel somewhere in the mountains where Oki has a temporary job and continues in the outer suburbs of Osaka. A short silent film that Oki made in 1988 is included as a flashback in the film.