iPod

A child's imagination clashes with his strict mother.

It's 1997. Distorted guitars rule the world. In an aging Chinese restaurant, a father and his punk-rock son struggle with their familial roles as they realize they each desperately need something from the other.

Equal parts punk and psychedelia, the Flaming Lips emerged from Oklahoma City as one of the most bracing bands of the late 1980s. The Fearless Freaks documents their rise from Butthole Surfers-imitating noisemakers to grand poobahs of orchestral pop masterpieces. Filmmaker Bradley Beesely had the good fortune of living in the same neighborhood as lead Lip Wayne Coyne, who quickly enlisted his buddy to document his band's many concerts and assorted exploits. The early footage is a riot, with tragic hair styles on proud display as the boys attempt to cover up their lack of natural talent with sheer volume. During one show, they even have a friend bring a motorcycle on stage, which is then miked for sound and revved throughout the performance, clearing the club with toxic levels of carbon monoxide. Great punk rock stuff. Interspersed among the live bits are interviews with the band's family and friends, revealing the often tragic circumstances of their childhoods and early career.

A man searching for his childhood best friend — a Polish violin prodigy orphaned in the Holocaust — who vanished decades before on the night of his first public performance.

On a sleepy summer night in 2004, eyes peer into the world-wide-web: traveling between conspiracy sites, malware, porn, and mp3 databases in an attempt to lose (find) themselves. Passing through blog graveyards, broken hyperlinks, and digital spirits, they begin to realize the Internet is so much more. Lost websites, anon forums, and inexplicable pixels singing to a prepubescent soul. An ode to the 2000s webpage and flash game culture.

Childhood sweethearts from opposing social standings are separated when one's family moves elsewhere, leaving behind only a watch as a token of their friendship. Years later, as adults, they strive to meet again.

A tragic portrait of mother and child exploring grief through music and lyrical imagery.

The story of a Finnish rap artist Cheek and his brother.

An unnamed passer-by is forced to trace a circular route inside an abandoned tram station, facing loss and time. The broken walls act as a channel, transmitting fragmentary, blurred and analogical memories. 

Ever since she was a little girl, Iris has wanted to be a filmmaker. For the last five years though, she's been trapped working in reality television, directing episodes for a series that's barely able to compete with Ghost Hunters. Iris sees her big chance to prove herself when she gets sent on assignment to her hometown of Black Falls, a small town harboring an abandoned insane asylum that has a dark history of excessive shock therapy. Filming inside the asylum brings back childhood memories for Iris, memories of sneaking into the asylum with her friends to shoot homemade horror movies. Little does Iris know, her life is about to imitate her art.

Fika is a presentation that explores what it means to appreciate the little things within our lives, demonstrated within the film throughout two perspectives, a stuffed bear, and his owner.