America America

Postpartum A good mother would never hurt her children, at least not intentionally.

Charlemagne 3 : Pastrami... Charlemagne Palestine, New York musician in Brussels, and Pip Chodorov, film-maker from New York in Paris, evoke their home town through images filmed in 16 mm, sounds taken over the years, songs, electronic music, as well as a new composition of Charlemagne Palestine: The Pastrami Recordings.

Missa of Zen In Missa of Zen, a TV screen, filmed from an extremely oblique angle, appears as a ghostly, flickering sliver at the side of a darkened frame. The images playing across its surface are rendered abstract by the perspective: we witness the transmission of information, but at a great distance. Isolated in silence and darkness, the television set slips into the realm of the unheimlich — an uncanny object, at once familiar and unfamiliar. Situating mediated America at the crossroads of missa — Latin for the Christian mass — and Zen Buddhism, Paik highlights the connections between mass culture and the transcendental.

P+A-I(k) 1966, 16mm film on video, black-and-white and color; 10 minutes

Beard, Hair & Stache Afonsinho, Paulo Cézar Caju and Nei Conceição started their careers in the mid-1960s, a time of strong political repression in Brazil. Originally teammates of a celebrated generation of the Botafogo football team superstars, they did not give up their freedom when the military dictatorship decided to take control of the field.

Cinema Metaphysique No. ... This early work belongs in the company of Paik and Yalkut's classic collaborative "video-films," including Video Tape Study No. 3, Beatles Electronique, and Missa of Zen. To the accompaniment of the abrupt sonic interjections of Fluxus-affiliated composer Takehisa Kosugi, Yalkut's black and white film records brief, masked actions: an arm with clenching fist; a pair of faces, visible only about the eyes, which squint, gaze, and rest; Paik eating a slice of bread. Reminiscent of Beckett's theater, as well as the minimal movements of 1960s avant-garde dance, Cinéma Metaphysique is a study in gesture and stillness, noise and silence.

The Hot Pursuit Comedy about a businessman who hires killers to kill himself when he goes bankrupt.

World of Darkness A newspaper sportswriter has a special connection to the supernatural.

My Ex-Wife's Wedding Divorcé Ma Yong is in love with his new girlfriend Zhao Hui. However, he has a hang-up about his ex-wife, Xiaohong who puts obstacles in the way of him and his girlfriend. So he decides to introduce his best friend to his ex-wife.

Clowntergeist Emma, a college student with a crippling fear of clowns, must come face to face with her worst fear when an evil spirit in the body of a clown is summoned terrorizing the town she calls home.