North Bergen, North Bergen

RECONQUEST OF THE USELESS, a documentary film which follows the adventures of three young men as they journey nearly 5000 miles through the Peruvian Amazon, searching for inspiration and the legacy of Werner Herzog's classic film Fitzcarraldo & Les Blank's Burden of Dreams thirty years after they were made.

Unveiling Yasujiro Ozu’s legacy through his personal diaries, letters, and interviews, the documentary delves into his life, creative process, and lasting impact on filmmaking.

Through the Fondren Fellows program, the Rice Media Center Archive Project has spent the past few months sifting through material stored at the now-defunct Rice Media Center. The team has identified several films as especially notable and will be presenting them in conjunction with documentary footage the team shot of people involved with the films. From lectures featuring Roberto Rossellini and Werner Herzog to films from former Rice students and faculty, the film presentation will tell the narrative of the Rice Media Center through the films and filmmakers that passed through its corridors.

Two young documentarists travel around a forsaken island in the aftermath of a cataclysmic volcanic eruption. Their wanders lead them to the encounter of Professor Pereda, an acoustic geologist, conducting researches on geo-acoustics.

An extremely lovely tribute to Ozu, on the 20th anniversary of his death. It uses a combination of footage from vintage films and new material (both interviews and Ozu-related locations) shot by Ozu's long-time camera-man (who came out of retirement to work on this). Surprisingly (or perhaps not), it focuses less on Ozu's accomplishments as a film-maker than on his impact on the lives of the people he worked with..

Created from material developed during "The Thoughts That Once We Had," this short film presents an anthology of 26 scenes from films made between 1904 and 2015, each depicting trains arriving at stations. The sequences are arranged in a serial structure, with black-and-white scenes in the first half paired with corresponding color sequences in the second half, forming a symmetrical visual progression.

With exclusive behind-the-scenes access into Herzog’s everyday life, rare archive material and in-depth interviews with celebrated collaborators – including Christian Bale, Nicole Kidman, and Robert Pattinson, we are given an exciting glimpse into the work and personal life of the iconic artist.

It seemed like a typically quiet night... but the most unexpected encounter leads Chris to a difficult choice.

A pre-fame Werner Herzog (Adam Ezagouri) is asked to share a flat with a strange new actor only known as Klaus Kinski. Herzog agrees but soon regrets his generous decision as Kinski proves to be one uncanny flatmate. Despite their disagreements, both decide to try and shoot Herzog's own version of Don Quixote, with disastrous consequences.

It all begins with western riders coming down the main street of a town that looks a lot more urban than the usual town you see in western movies, with building facades of stone, even though the streets are dirt.

Nice looking Travelogue takes us to the Northeast corner of Wyoming as we visit Yellowstone National Park.

Toronto-based, award-winning dancer, teacher, and choreographer Joanna De Souza takes us through her journey as a non-South Asian dancer in the classical dance form of Kathak.

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Filmmaker Peep Puks has directed 61 documentaries and created almost 40 programmes for television. In this film, he looks back on a lost time, the films that have accompanied him, and the colleagues without whom this all wouldn’t have happened. It’s also the story of the first post-war generation of Estonia and the birth of the Estonian documentary.

Click for full movie details & trailers.

Click for full movie details & trailers.

Click for full movie details & trailers.

Click for full movie details & trailers.

An inspirational conversation between David Bowie and director Thomas Vinterberg. Topics of discussion: Bowie’s new album ‘Heathen’, Vinterberg’s Dogma-style filmmaking, numbness of life, living in America and the mind of a fool.