Inertia

Time Stood Still

April 1956 •English

Time Stood Still is a 1956 Warner Brothers Scope Gem travelogue, filmed the previous year in Dinkelsbühl, and presented in the wide-screen format of CinemaScope, directed by André de la Varre. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film at the 29th Academy Awards.

The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat

June 1896 •French

A group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.

Return

February 2023 •Spanish

Documentary about emigration between the Canary Islands and Cuba during the late 19th century and early 20th century.

Sicko

May 2007 •English

A documentary about the corrupt health care system in The United States who's main goal is to make profit even if it means losing people’s lives. "The more people you deny health insurance the more money we make" is the business model for health care providers in America.

Cavalcade of Dance

October 1943 •English

Ballroom dancers Veloz and Yolanda perform the various dance fads of the first half of the twentieth century.

Cuban Serenade

January 1997 •English

Finnish documentary about Cuba.

Hotel Nueva Isla

October 2014 •Spanish

In the early twentieth century, the Hotel Nueva Isla was an emblematic luxury hotel. After the Cuban Revolution, it was confiscated by the State and became a shelter for homeless people. Located in Old Havana, today it is an imposing ruin. Jorge de los Rios, a retired clerk, is one of the few residents who remain there, along with La Flaca, his lover, and Waldo, a young itinerant. As the rest leave for safer places, Jorge clings to his dilapidated home and its buried treasures, slowly digging his way through its debris. The film speaks poignantly to a lost generation who fought in the Cuban Revolution and dreamed of a better society.

The White Pass Journey

April 2017 •English

Includes all new footage which captures the WP&YR experience and history from Skagway, Alaska to Fraser, B.C. and from Fraser, B.C. to Carcross, Yukon. Fully narrated with insights and historical context.

Good and Evil

May 1975 •Danish

Jørgen Leth can squeeze poetry from a stone and wit from dust, and he can find love where the milk of human kindness runs dry. In a series of tableaux of Life in Denmark, he carries absurdism to a happy extreme. To act out his minuscule non-dramas, he uses a motley crew of professional actors like Ghita Nørby and Claus Nissen, writer Dan Turéll plus a snake charmer, a bicycle racer and a circus queen.

Gare du Nord : La Plus Grande Gare d'Europe

July 2018 •French

Buena Vista Social Club

June 1999 •English

In this fascinating Oscar-nominated documentary, American guitarist Ry Cooder brings together a group of legendary Cuban folk musicians (some in their 90s) to record a Grammy-winning CD in their native city of Havana. The result is a spectacular compilation of concert footage from the group's gigs in Amsterdam and New York City's famed Carnegie Hall, with director Wim Wenders capturing not only the music -- but also the musicians' life stories.

Cavalcade of San Francisco

September 1940 •English

This Traveltalk series short celebrates San Francisco, past and present.

Investigation Into the Invisible World

October 2002 •French

A feature length documentary shot in Iceland on mediums and the relationship between humans and invisible beings such as elves ghosts, angels, water monsters and extra-terrestrials. The film is a journey to the frontiers of life questioning the scope of our existence. Are we alone in the universe? If life exists in other dimensions, it's worth knowing more.

1912, Breaking the Silence

August 2010 •Spanish

Afro-Cubans played a leading role in the fight to free Cuba from Spanish domination; as part of that struggle, slavery was abolished. Nevertheless, as African descendants began to achieve a semblance of social and economic parity, the plantocracy, backed up by the US army, sought to undo their gains. Determined to resist, veterans of the Mambi army formed the Party of Independents of Color, gaining wide popular support and ultimately threatening the domination of the white Cuban rulers. Their response was savage, and 6,000 Afro-Cubans were massacred; until this film, these events have been shrouded in silence.

How Animated Cartoons Are Made

September 1919 •English

Wallace Carlson walks viewers through the production of an animated short at Bray Studios.

Elizabethan Express

January 1954 •English

Originally intended as an advertising short, this film follows The Elizabethan, a non-stop British Railways service from London to Edinburgh along the East Coast Main Line. A nostalgic record of the halcyon years of steam on British Railways and the ex-LNER Class A4.

Train Time

January 1952 •English

A short documentary about the transportation of goods and livestock by train around the UK.

Trains: Two Centuries of Innovation

February 2017 •French

Nearly 200 years ago, the train revolutionized our lives. It redrew the maps of states and nations, and changed concepts of distance and time like no other invention before. What visionaries imagined the development of the railroad? How did we get from the first chugging locomotives to the smooth giants of speed we see today? How does France's extensive rail network keep running smoothly, 24/7?

Model Citizens

January 2016 •English

Somewhere in the world right now--much closer than you think--people are playing with trains. You might not see them at first, but they're there. In basements. In garages. In converted Army barracks. They're among the world's most compelling underground communities.

Mystery of the Nile

February 2005 •English

Filmed in IMAX, a team of explorers led by Pasquale Scaturro and Gordon Brown face seemingly insurmountable challenges as they make their way along all 3,260 miles of the world's longest and deadliest river to become the first in history to complete a full descent of the Blue Nile from source to sea.