The Secret of a Leader (2019)

End

Peleshian transforms footage from a train ride into a metaphor for the shape of a life. Early images of faces on the train give way to landscape, a journey through a black tunnel, and a final emergence into pure white light.

FILM

A boy walks through an abandoned building and films the interior. Suddenly his camera disappears.

Party Monster

Yearning for the confidence to give his crush a New Year's kiss, Riley takes pills with unpredictable side effects.

40 Days of Silence

This is a passage between two faces, each the same, yet different. Bibicha’s face first appears in the dark, her eyes open and expression impassive, only her heavy breathing betraying the strain she feels. She will withstand the strain and take the vow of silence, retreating to her grandmother’s house for the 40 days to pass. The house and the landscape outside at least offer Bibicha certain sensory distractions: the taste of honey, the texture of a wall, an eye-catching bedspread, the view out over a sea of cloud, water fizzling on the stove. But it is not just her under strain, as her aunt’s frantic text messaging, her grandmother’s rueful acknowledgement of the stories of marital strife on the radio and her little cousin’s illegitimate status bear witness to. Four generations of women in the complete absence of men, yet all marked by their presence, the similarity of their fates blurring together different times and customs.

Never Wave at a WAC

A divorced socialite decides to join the Army because she hopes it will enable her to see more of her boyfriend, a Colonel. She soon encounters many difficulties with the Army lifestyle. Moreover, her ex-husband is working as a consultant with the Army, and he uses his position to disrupt her romantic plans by making her join a group of WACs who are testing new equipment.

Film

"This piece, with the generic title Film, is a series of short videos built around one protocol: a snippet of news from a newspaper of the day, is rolled up and then placed on a black-inked surface. On making contact with the liquid, the roll opens and of Its own accord frees itself of the gesture that fashioned it. As it comes alive in this way, the sliver of paper reveals Its hitherto unexposed content; this unpredictable kinematics is evidence of the constant impermanence of news. As well as exploring a certain archaeology of cinema, the mechanism references the passage of time: the ink, whether it is poured or printed, is the ink of ongoing human history." –Ismaïl Bahri

Valentín de la Sierra

Confessions of a Newlywed

A timid young man marries the daughter of the entomologist he works for. On the train for their honeymoon, he takes his young wife in his arms when a customs officer suddenly enters the compartment. The groom is now inhibited.

La patria de todos los tarros de colores

Short by Maia Navas

The Hoaxters

A 1952 American documentary film written by Herman Hoffman, about the threat posed by communism to the American way of life.

Fast Trip, Long Drop

A gay jewish man speaks out about living with and dying from AIDS. He also discusses how being gay has affected his identity as a jew and his relationship with his parents.

Alice's Balloon Race

Alice and Julius, as a team, are one of four entrants in a $10,000 balloon race. The bad guy takes out one balloon quickly. It's not clear what kind of balloons these are, since they are sealed like hydrogen/helium balloons, but a good thwack on the top by the bad guy sends Alice and Julius plummeting to the ground, balloon still intact. Julius makes some attempts to re-launch, but they fail. He spots a hippo, smoking nearby, and has an idea: using some pepper, he creates a massive sneeze that re-launches them. But he wasn't onboard. Alice throws down a rope ladder, but it isn't anchored; Julius eventually pulls himself up with a rope. They are then immediately under attack by a lightning storm, which deflates the balloon. Julius makes substitutes from, first, a weiner dog and a couple of empty thought balloons, then, an elephant with extra air pumped in. He grabs a passing bird and catches up to the bad guy, then finds himself in another battle with lightning.

Four Bagatelles

Four part experimental film, with sequences concerning dance, Edweard Muybridge's studies of motion, and an addict discussing sobriety.

Par ici la monnaie

All the inhabitants of an old house are swindlers, dreaming only of the big score that will enable them to survive an announced eviction. They end up pulling it off together, by building a fake tollgate.

Mask the Kekkou: Reborn

Sparta Academy is the nation's top prep school, where students with poor grades undergo frightening torture under the school headmaster's direction. Kekko Kamen makes her appearance at the school in outrageous attire, completely naked except for her red mask, boots and gloves, and attacks the torturing teacher.