Daily activities of the Metropolitan Hospital in New York City, with emphasis on the emergency ward and outpatient clinics. The cases depicted illustrate how medical expertise, availability of resources, organizational considerations and the nature of communication among the staff and patients affect the delivery of health care.
Bob Dylan is captured on-screen as he never would be again in this groundbreaking film from D. A. Pennebaker. The legendary documentarian finds Dylan in England during his 1965 tour, which would be his last as an acoustic artist. In this wildly entertaining vision of one of the twentieth century's greatest artists, Dylan is surrounded by teen fans, gets into heated philosophical jousts with journalists, and kicks back with fellow musicians Joan Baez, Donovan, and Alan Price. Featuring some of Dylan's most famous songs, including “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” “The Times They Are A-Changin',” and “It's All Over Now, Baby Blue,” Dont Look Back is a radically conceived portrait of an American icon that has influenced decades of vérité behind-the-scenes documentaries.
For Pride Month, The Prince Charles Cinema and Funeral Parade are proud to present Paris is Burning, Jennie Livingston’s invaluable document of NYC’s drag scene during the 1980s.
This landmark documentary provides a vibrant snapshot of Black and Latine queer life in Reagan’s America. Made over seven years, the film follows rival fashion “houses” and examines the drag community’s rituals of balls and “voguing” – flamboyant acts of resistance in the face of the AIDS crisis and rampant homophobia. Featuring ballroom legends such as Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey, and Venus Xtravaganza, Paris is Burning remains a classic of both documentary and queer cinema.
With an introduction from film curator Sarah Cleary.
A singular artist and activist, Godfrey Reggio is best known for the galvanizing films of The Qatsi Trilogy. Astonishingly photographed, and featuring unforgettable, cascading scores by Philip Glass, these are immersive sensory experiences that meditate on the havoc humankind’s obsession with technological advancement has wreaked on our world. From 1983’s Koyaanisqatsi to 1988’s Powaqqatsi to 2002’s Naqoyqatsi, Reggio takes us on a journey from the ancient to the contemporary, from nature to industry, exploring life out of balance, in transformation, and as war, all the while keeping our eyes wide with wonder.
KOYAANSQATSI (1982): Drawing its title from the Hopi word meaning "life out of balance," this renowned documentary reveals how humanity has grown apart from nature. Featuring extensive footage of natural landscapes and elemental forces, the film gives way to many scenes of modern civilization and technology. Given its lack of narration and dialogue, the production makes its points solely through imagery and music, with many scenes either slowed down or sped up for dramatic effect.
POWAQQATSI (1988): Five years after Godfrey Reggio stunned audiences with Koyaanisqatsi, he again joined forces with composer Philip Glass and other collaborators for a second chapter. Here, Reggio turns his sights on third-world nations in the Southern Hemisphere. Forgoing the sped-up aesthetic of the first film, Powaqqatsi employs a meditative slow motion in order to reveal the beauty of the traditional ways of life in those parts of the planet, and to show how cultures there are being eroded as their environments are taken over by industry. This is the most intensely spiritual segment of Reggio’s philosophical and visually remarkable Qatsi Trilogy.
NAQOYQATSI (2002): Godfrey Reggio takes on the digital revolution in the final chapter of his Qatsi Trilogy. Through a variety of cinematic techniques, including slow motion, time-lapse, computer- generated imagery, and found footage, the film tells of a world that has completed the transition from the natural to the artificial. Globalization has been accomplished, all of our interactions are technologically mediated, and all images are manipulated. From this (virtual) reality, Reggio sculpts a frenetic yet ruminative portrait of an era in which the cacophony of “communication” has rendered humankind effectively postlanguage.
Created to commemorate the 20 years that have passed since DC-based post-hardcore band Fugazi’s last live appearance (November 4, 2002, at The Forum in London), We Are Fugazi from Washington, D.C. is a 96-minute movie comprising crowd sourced, fan recorded live shows and rare archive footage of Fugazi curated by Joe Gross, Joseph Pattisall and Jeff Krulik.
Explicitly billed as a nondocumentary (tHISiSNOTaFUGAZIdOCUMENTARY,) the film pays tribute to Fugazi’s prowess as a live act — for old fans to remember and for a new generation to discover what they missed. This unique archival assemblage celebrates the fans and their cameras, as much as the band itself — a collision/ collusion of the ephemeral moment on stage, and the moments captured on camera.