1983
Directed by Jeff Peixoto

3 min - 2008 - USA - English

Made while an undergraduate at NYU, artist Jeff Peixoto's 1983 is a beautiful elegy of a short film. Set to The Langley Schools Music Project's haunting interpretation of Fleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon" and shot on grainy black-and-white 16mm, Peixoto's film takes a simple concept--filming teenagers in close-up staring into the camera--and turns it into an unexpectedly resonant experience. I forgot to include this in my "Best Films of the 21st Century" program in February, but it certainly belongs on that list.

Running Stumbled
Directed by John Maringouin

* NYC PREMIERE *
85 min - 2006 - USA - English

John Maringouin's documentary portrait of his estranged, drugged up father and his equally obliterated girlfriend is one of the most harrowing pill binges ever committed to videotape. Twenty-five years after his mother fled New Orleans with her son, Maringouin returned to the scene of the crime to reunite with his father.Yet instead of intervening and inserting himself into the narrative, Maringouin remained silent behind the camera to capture the train-wreck as it unfolded. This bold decision--a controversial one, to be sure--adds yet another unsettling layer to the already excruciating footage we're witnessing. Visually, Maringouin uses filters and other visual effects to further assault viewers. While Running Stumbled isn't for the faint of heart, it's one of the more fascinating works of non-fiction I've ever seen.