ESSENTIEL — A Portrait

Produced by MUBI, The Rising of the Moon is a video essay which explores the struggle for independence as it has been portrayed throughout the history of Irish cinema, from the rebellion of 1798 through to the 1920s war of independence and the Troubles in Northern Ireland. https://vimeo.com/473986546

A film essay investigating the question of what “the West” means beyond the cardinal direction: a model of society inscribed itself in the Federal Republic of Germany’s postwar history and architecture. The narrator shifts among reflections on modern architecture and property relations, detailed scenes from childhood, and a passed-down memory of a “hemmed-in West Germany,” recalling the years of her parents’ membership in a 1970s communist splinter group.

First-time feature filmmakers Heretu Tetahiotupa, Christophe Cordier delve into the ritual art of Marquesan tattoo, sharing its cultural and historical significance by reenacting the past and challenging the present.

Joe Kenda's investigation into the brutal rape and murder of 24 year old wife and mother Mary Lynn Vialpando goes cold until DNA technology leads cold-case detectives to the most unlikely of killers 30 years later.

A cinematic essay interweaving private archive images and a mixture of reflective, speculative and poetic intertitles that, like “an old movie from the 20th century”, invites us to meditate on what Des Pallières once liked to call “our old homeland”.

A girl mixes fiction with reality while writing a letter to her grandmother.

What is it about Speedos? Well here Australian director Tim Hunter is on a mission to find the answer to the question of why so many gay men can't seem to get enough of hunks in tight fitting trunks? Although somehow I think the answer can be found in the question! Anyway in a bid to discover the truth, Hunter has carried out a series of interviews with men who have more than a passing interest in this briefest of garment, including that of Speedo designer Peter Travis, who here relates his part in the history of 'the male equivalent of the Wonder Bra.'

An intimate window into one of the great movements in film history that brought about an evolution in the art of cinema. The documentary portrays the movement with insight on the lives and works of Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut and other principal players in the New Wave.

Eldest son Lance, of the Loud family profiled on PBS in 1973, became the first openly gay man on television and a gay icon for his generation. When Lance entered hospice in 2001 with a terminal HIV and hepatitis C co-infection, he asked original filmmakers Susan and Alan Raymond to film a final episode of the series. Lance reflects upon his days with Andy Warhol, his band The Mumps, a career as a writer and the experience of being the first reality TV star. It is a celebration of life and a cautionary tale.

At the end of WWI, the treaty of Versailles established the conditions for peace in Europe. The aim for the victorious powers was to make Germany pay reparations, and to guarantee a future without war. Yet a decade later, the denunciation of 'Versailles' became a powerful lever for the nazis to obtain power as these reparations would mark the beginning of the humiliation of the German people, and nurture a feeling of having been bestowed a hopeless future. In the 20 years that follow the end of WWI, the issue of reparations and responsibility will effectively poison international relationship. The treaty negative impact goes well beyond WWII as the new European borders it implemented led to many conflicts during the twentieth century. This documentary shines a light on the causality between the decisions taken with the treaty of Versailles, and the ensuing events of the century.