The Beauties of Billings

The Endless Summer

June 1966 •English

Bruce Brown's The Endless Summer is one of the first and most influential surf movies of all time. The film documents American surfers Mike Hynson and Robert August as they travel the world during California’s winter (which, back in 1965 was off-season for surfing) in search of the perfect wave and ultimately, an endless summer.

Land Without Bread

December 1933 •Spanish

An exploration —manipulated and staged— of life in Las Hurdes, in the province of Cáceres, in Extremadura, Spain, as it was in 1932. Insalubrity, misery and lack of opportunities provoke the emigration of young people and the solitude of those who remain in the desolation of one of the poorest and least developed Spanish regions at that time. (Silent short, voiced in 1937 and 1996.)

Megacities

August 1998 •English

Megacities is a documentary about the slums of five different metropolitan cities.

Biùtiful cauntri

March 2008 •Italian

Dallas Pashamende

February 2005 •Romanian

Italy's in Season

January 1967 •English

This short film presents a look at Italy's popular tourist spots.

Earth Crying

May 2002 •Thai

Set in Isaan, this is the story of a mother who struggles to lead her needy family through seemingly endless hardships and pressures. To help the family survive, the father endures greedy capitalists who heartlessly take advantage of him and his family, forcing him to slave at the harvest of an infertile field. That is until he loses both his arms. Then all the burdens fall on the mother: bread-winning, taking care of her crippled husband and raising the kids, all amid external pressures from drought to vile businessmen.

A Dream of Fortune

June 1961 •Korean

Son Hak-su (Kim Seung-ho) is a middle school teacher who barely gets by on his income because he's paying off a monthly mortgage for his welfare housing facility sold by the government. One day, Mr. Son and his wife make the acquaintance of a U.S. immigrant Charlie Hong (Heo Chang-kang) who is engaged in the smuggling business.

Paper Cannot Wrap Up Embers

March 2007 •English

During the last half-century, Cambodia has witnessed genocide, decades of war and the collapse of social order. Now, documentary filmmaker Rithy Panh looks at an irreparable tragedy that is less visible, yet no less pervasive: the spiritual death that results when young women are forced into prostitution. Angry and impassioned, PAPER CANNOT WRAP UP EMBERS presents the searing stories of poor Asian women whose lives were violated and their destinies destroyed when their bodies were turned into items of sexual commerce.

Renault 12

May 2018 •French

Shortly after his mother’s passing, playwright and stage director Mohamed El Khatib receives a phone call from his uncle in Bab Berred, the family’s village in the Moroccan Rif, instructing him to come as soon as possible to collect his inheritance – mysteriously insisting that he should make the trip in a Renault 12. Coaxed by his father, El Khatib decides to make the journey from Orléans to Tangier. Structured like a road movie, Renault 12 is also the filmmaker’s quest to discover his own origins, in which he both documents chance encounters and stages situations to bring social, political, and cultural landscapes to light.

The Airy Tomb

July 1963 •English

Can there be a bleaker portrait of a life half-lived? Cinematic treatment of poet R.S. Thomas's story of Twm, the "shy soul" who lives and dies alone in the "grim house nailed to the mountainside", oblivious to the interest shown in him by young girls in the village and to his own isolation as he scratches a living from the farm.

West Virginia, the State Beautiful

December 1929 •English

A travelogue showing the beauty of the state of West Virginia in 1929.

I Want to Be

June 2000 •Spanish

The short drama film follows the daily life of the Juan and Jorge, two brothers living on the streets of Mexico City. It won an Academy Award in 2001 for Best Live Action Short Film.

Champagne Safari

January 1954 •English

Travelogue/documentary follows newly married Rita Hayworth and Prince Aly Khan on their honeymoon trip through exotic locales.

Working But Poor - The Middle Class in Crisis

January 2023 •German

Citizens across Europe who used to belong to the lower middle class have fallen into poverty. An in-depth investigation into the precariat, a new social class of financially insecure citizens who, although they are employed, find it very difficult to make ends meet.

A Hero in His Slippers

November 1958 •Greek

A veteran general, living poorly but honestly with his wife and his daughter, is visited by his future son-in-law who informs him that he is going to immigrate to Australia. On the same day, his cousin Apostolos pays him a visit as well and tells him that the government intending to honor him has decided to construct his statue and place it at the small square in front of his house.

Five Stars

May 2021 •Spanish

Carlos and Toñi live in a tiny apartment in a marginal neighborhood. They have not been able to pay their rent for months, the power is cut off quite often and they survive by collecting scrap metal. Now the day has come when Henrik and Jens, two Danish tourists willing to spend a day with a poor family, come to meet them.

Im Reich Des Squatters

April 2020 •German

Sunshine in Soho

January 1956 •English

1950s Soho beats with far more energy than its 21st century counterpart in this vivid time capsule.

The Way Things Go

June 1987 •English

Artists Peter Fischli and David Weiss create the ultimate Rube Goldberg machine. The pair used found objects to construct a complex, interdependent contraption in an empty warehouse. When set in motion, a domino-like chain reaction ripples through the complex of imaginative devices. Fire, water, the laws of gravity, and chemistry determine the life-cycle of the objects. The process reveals a story concerning cause and effect, mechanism and art, and improbability and precision, in an extended science project that will mesmerize the mind.