1. The Halt (Полустанок)
Trains travel through the night without stopping. The clatter of the carriages quickly disappears, along with the wail of the locomotive. The people at the station are all asleep. But why are they so exhausted ? And what are they waiting for? Set inside an isolated train depot, The Train Station is one of Sergei Loznitsa's most haunting films. It is also one of his most pointed social critiques. In this film, we are brought to a remote train station deep in the Russian woods. It's nighttime. In the distance, we hear the clatter of locomotives. The station, a small wooden building, sits silently, surrounded only by snow and train tracks.
It has an average vote of 4.9 on TMDB.
2. Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory (La Sortie de l'Usine Lumière à Lyon)
Working men and women leave through the main gate of the Lumière factory in Lyon, France. Filmed on 22 March 1895, it is often referred to as the first real motion picture ever made, although Louis Le Prince's 1888 Roundhay Garden Scene pre-dated it by seven years. Three separate versions of this film exist, which differ from one another in numerous ways. The first version features a carriage drawn by one horse, while in the second version the carriage is drawn by two horses, and there is no carriage at all in the third version. The clothing style is also different between the three versions, demonstrating the different seasons in which each was filmed. This film was made in the 35 mm format with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and at a speed of 16 frames per second. At that rate, the 17 meters of film length provided a duration of 46 seconds, holding a total of 800 frames.
It has an average vote of 6.696 on TMDB.
3. The Most Holy Brotherhood (Los santísimos hermanos)
The High Holy Brothers is a documentary on a mysterious Messianic cult formed by peasants who fled the violence of the forties/fifties in Colombia and are admitted to live in the mountains of southern Tolima. Its members dress in sacks, they have their own dialect and regard everything as “Blessed”, minus the right side of the body, which castrated covering it with the “holy coat”. This group rejects all elements of the consumer society, established institutions, the state, church and political parties.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
4. Sea Countrymen (Contadini del mare)
Sicily, Granitola, 1955. At the first light of dawn, the fishermen set out in their boats for open water, timing the rhythm of their oars to murmured chants. They set their nets in the sea, regulate the cords, organize the boats in a square. The men’s work becomes increasingly harder as the tuna are hoisted onto the boats, wriggling, beating their tails until death arrives and the water is tinged with blood.
It has an average vote of 5.7 on TMDB.
5. Wave Form
Psychedelic animated short capturing the spirit of surfing
6. Two Travellers to a River (Two Travellers to a River)
When asked a question on politics, late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish once answered: “I write about love to expose the conditions that don’t allow me to write about love.” In TWO TRAVELERS TO A RIVER Palestinian actress Manal Khader recites such a poem by Mahmoud Darwish: a concise reflection on how things could have been.
It has an average vote of 5 on TMDB.
7. Correspondence (Correspondencia)
In the form of a filmed epistolary conversation, two young, experienced filmmakers discuss film, present and past family, heritage and maternity. The personal and profound reflections—which are embodied in the graceful images taken day-to-day—are suddenly echoed by the political emergency of a country.
It has an average vote of 6.9 on TMDB.
8. The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat (L'arrivée d'un train à La Ciotat)
Likely in June 1897, a group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.
It has an average vote of 7.106 on TMDB.
9. Daybreak Express
Set to a classic Duke Ellington recording "Daybreak Express", this is a five-minute short of the soon-to-be-demolished Third Avenue elevated subway station in New York City.
It has an average vote of 7.267 on TMDB.
10. Pajarito (Pajarito)
Manuel Andrade, after designing the Pumas logo, was forgotten in the history of the club. Today in the midst of poverty and his health problems, he decides to question the meaning of life.
11. Noventa y dos lágrimas (Noventa y dos lágrimas)
Maru is experiencing a strong grieving process. The image of her, which she had built over the years, of laughter and good times, now turns to tears. Luci, her cousin and her best friend, serves as her listener and advisor, she has always been like that.
12. Frank's Cock
A gay man reminisces about his deceased lover, a victim of AIDS.
It has an average vote of 5 on TMDB.
13. Rebel Menopause
An intimate portrait of a strong independent feminist who has witnessed the gradual emancipation of women. Now a pillar of support in her community, 85-year-old Terese is savouring every moment of living, and being a liberated woman.
14. Corrida Interdite (Corrida Interdite)
Denys Colomb de Daunant is a writer, poet, photographer and filmmaker known for being the author and co-writer of the film Crin-Blanc directed by Albert Lamorisse. Highly symbolic character of the Camargue, aristocrat and dandy, he was also a manager and hotelier. He would lead the immemorial life of an animal herder if he did not have another passion: images. The photographic apparatus and the camera are like sensitive antennas that he spreads over his world and which seek the truth beyond appearances. Since Crin Blanc his photographs have appeared in illustrated books on five continents. Among his many films, Corrida Interdite and Le Rêve des Chevaux Sauvages are global short film successes. The animals, the images... a single passion: that of a free life in one of the rare countries where you can still live freely: the Camargue.
It has an average vote of 10 on TMDB.
15. Little Egypt
"A well-known character, in a dance that created considerable excitement when first introduced in America."
It has an average vote of 2.3 on TMDB.
16. Land Without Bread (Las Hurdes)
An exploration —manipulated and staged— of life in Las Hurdes, in the province of Cáceres, in Extremadura, Spain, as it was in 1932. Insalubrity, misery and lack of opportunities provoke the emigration of young people and the solitude of those who remain in the desolation of one of the poorest and least developed Spanish regions at that time.
It has an average vote of 7.1 on TMDB.
17. Expiration (L'expiration)
In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Steeve Day has been suffering from ALS for eight years and decides to call for assistance in dying. At the same time, however, visits to hospitals are suspended. Steeve then rents a hotel room in which to spend his last days and receive his loved ones.
18. Mia (Mia)
Mia recounts her most intimate confessions, uncensored, in her first approach to a totally new world of domination and submission.
It has an average vote of 6.3 on TMDB.
19. Justice for Batman: The Mark Racop Case
Mark Racop, a batmobile maker from Indiana, is unjustly accused and raided by California police while being forced into a criminal court case.
It has an average vote of 10 on TMDB.
20. Intimate Interviews: Bela Lugosi
Actor Bela Lugosi discusses his career, his social life, and his feelings about his most famous role, Count Dracula.
It has an average vote of 6.8 on TMDB.
