Film Categories: Sound Art + Music

  • Adagio

    Music as sensuous and longing as a fragrance. Phrases that rise and fall slowly at first, then more and more passionately. A love poem. And also a study of the relation between film phrases and musical phrases. As in the music, the film uses only fades and dissolves between statements. Based on Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings.”

  • Puamana

    Aloha! This gentle portrait of Auntie Irmgard Farden Aluli, one of Hawaii’s best-loved composers, focuses on Hawaiian women’s contributions to family structure, art, music and dance. An intimate glimpse into the real culture of the islands.

  • Reflections (Lipskis)

    Multi-layered imagery of natural forms and textures. Synthesizer music by Ron Smulevici.

  • RSVP

    “RSVP” is a lyrical piece which explores the emotions felt by a group of people, some who knew, and some who did not know, a man who has just died. Its approach, however, is unusual: there is almost no dialogue, but rather a central piece of music – “Le Spectre de la Rose” from Berlioz’ Les Nuits d’Eté, performed by Jessye Norman. This piece was requested by the man several weeks before his death; it plays on the radio, ironically, as his lover, Sid, returns home from the funeral. The music forms a link between various people listening to it…

  • Shadows

    “Shadows” is a marriage of dance, music, and digital visual effects. The choreography and the visual effects work integrally together to create a piece that could only exist in this medium. Images of a dancer and of a solo harpist are manipulated and combined electronically, so that they pass through each other, transform one into the other, and bend and ripple to the music, as the harpist plays one of John Weinzweig’s haunting “Fifteen Pieces for Solo Harp.”

  • Spend It All

    A rich portrayal of the lives and music of the French-speaking Cajuns of Louisiana, featuring the Balfa Brothers, Marc Savoy and Nathan Abshire.

  • Sprout Wings and Fly

    This touching tribute to Appalachian culture profiles legendary, old-time fiddler Tommy Jarrell. His unpretentious folk wisdom is interlaced with family scenes and reminiscences, plus plenty of old-time music.

  • Steam Ballet

    Those sensual machines, steam tractors, reveal a remarkable ability to perform to music.

  • Submission

    A personal exploratory portrayal of the omnipotence of the Church. Employing both the form and the structure of the music video, “Submission” creates a montage in which the seduction and servility of organized religion are intrinsically fused. Music: The The, Love & Rockets, Nine Inch Nails.

  • Big Key, The

    A comedy about a piano player who vents his creative frustrations in various ways, causing havoc. With Phil Shreibman, Len Udow and Mary Jane Card.