Return to Reason

On a winter's day, a woman stretches near a window then sits in a bathtub of water. She's happy. Her lover is nearby; there are close ups of her face, her pregnant belly, and his hands caressing her. She gives birth: we see the crowning of the baby's head, then the birth itself; we watch a pair of hands tie off and cut the umbilical cord. With the help of the attending hands, the mother expels the placenta. The infant, a baby girl, nurses. We return from time to time to the bath scene. By the end, dad's excited; mother and daughter rest.

Witch’s Cradle is an unfinished Maya Deren film made in the Guggenheim Gallery during a surrealist “Art of this Century” exhibit. It was assembled long after her death by staffers within the preservation department at Anthology Film Archives.

Michael Snow narrates a series of Hollis Frampton's photographs (speaking as Frampton, in the first person)—as each picture catches fire on a hot plate.

In this surreal cartoon that plays with the idea of sound effects, a near-deaf old man finds one of the devil's lost horns and tries to use it as an ear trumpet.

A social event choreographed in the manner of a dance, illuminated by concepts drawn from Greek legend; one of filmmaker Maya Deren’s most intriguing works.

Un Chien Andalou is an European avant-garde surrealist film, a collaboration between director Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali.

In this short film, a young man, a girl and a dog attempt to fly with wings more symbolic than practical.

Ballet Mécanique (1923-4) is a Dadaist, post-Cubist art film conceived, written, and co-directed by artist Fernand Léger and filmmaker Dudley Murphy (with cinematographic input from Man Ray). It has a musical score by the American composer George Antheil (However, the film premiered with no soundtrack, on September 24th, 1924 at the Internationale Ausstellung neuer Theatertechnik in Vienna). It is considered one of the masterpieces of early experimental filmmaking.

A creation myth realized in light, patterns, images superimposed, rapid cutting, and silence. A black screen, then streaks of light, then an explosion of color and squiggles and happenstance. Next, images of small circles emerge then of the Sun. Images of our Earth appear, woods, a part of a body, a nude woman perhaps giving birth. Imagery evokes movement across time. Part of the Dog Star Man series of experimental films.

Stop-motion photography blends with extreme slow-motion in Clair's first and most 'dada' film, composed of a series of zany, interconnected scenes. We witness a rooftop chess match between Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray, a hearse pulled by a camel (and chased by its pallbearers) and a dizzying roller coaster finale. A film of contradictions and agreements.

In a decaying castle surrounded by a dank, mirrored lake live the morbidly nervous Roderick Usher and his sickly twin sister, Madeline. Their tale is told and dimly comprehended by the unnamed narrator, a boyhood friend whom Roderick has summoned. When Madeline soon dies—or seems to die—they entomb her body. On a stormy night, "cracking and ripping" sounds and a "shriek" from below convince the panicky Roderick that "We have put her living into the tomb!" The shrouded, emaciated figure of Madeline appears at the door of Roderick's book-strewn study, falls upon him, "and in her violent and now final death-agonies, bore him to the floor a corpse."

A woman returning home falls asleep and has vivid dreams that may or may not be happening in reality. Through repetitive images and complete mismatching of the objective view of time and space, her dark inner desires play out on-screen.

What starts off as a conventional travelogue turns into a satirical portrait of the town of Nice on the French Côte d'Azur, especially its wealthy inhabitants.

Maya Deren’s shortest, two-minute A Study in Choreography for Camera seems like an exercise piece to capture a dancer’s movement on celluloid, which later on developed into her masterpieces such as Ritual in Transfigured Time and Meditation on Violence.

This hand-painted, step-printed film begins with streaks of light and vibrantly colored forms. There appears, frame center, the tapered shape of a tower-- An imposing silhouette against the backdrop of the flaring sky.

Wealth, lust, and betrayal set in the backdrop of Regency era England, seen through the eyes of the powerful Bridgerton family.

First broadcast on October 2, 1989, these 18 original 30-minute episodes provide a panorama of 2000 years of architecture, painting and sculpture, and studies the art masterpieces as reflections of the Western culture that produced them.

A super pure tragicomedy rosary of pious prayers bringing unity, joy, and excellent living to the people of all sizes, sexualities, and colors. World Peace will unlock your closeted bigoted imagination, toss your inherent racism into the burning trash, and cleanse your intolerant spirit with pure unapologetic American funny_com. Open your eyes or you'll get thumb goggles. For what naive slob expects hemlock medicine to taste of milkshake? For the record, none of us plan on killing ourselves and if we do it’s CIA_Mossad.

Adapted from the lauded feminist novel and set in a colorful academic community in Marfa, Texas, this is the story of a struggling married couple, Chris and Sylvere, and their obsession with a charismatic professor named Dick. Told in Rashomon-style shifts of POV, the series charts the unraveling of a marriage, the awakening of an artist and the deification of a reluctant messiah.

Helmed by the easily distracted Dr. Roberts, a psychotherapeutic facility treats patients with troubling dreams. Roberts employs a team of incompetent scientists to help analyze and record those thoughts plaguing the doctor's patients.

Step inside the minds of the most innovative designers in a variety of disciplines and learn how design impacts every aspect of life.

At a predominantly white Ivy League college, a diverse group of students navigate various forms of racial and other types of discrimination.

Fauna Hodel, who was given away by her teenage birth mother, begins to investigate the secrets to her past, following a sinister trail that swirls ever closer to an infamous Hollywood gynecologist connected to the legendary Black Dahlia murder.

Tim and Eric present a grotesquely surreal anthology of discarded sketches, found footage, musical numbers, and 3D animation.

In the Wild West in the 1860s and 1870s, Sarah and John have founded New Babylon, a city of outcasts of all backgrounds. Haunted by the murder of his family eight years earlier, Django is still looking for his daughter, believing she may have survived the killing. When Django shockingly finds her in Babylon, about to marry John, Sarah - now a grown woman - wants Django to leave fearing he'll put Babylon in jeopardy. But Django, believing the city is in danger, is adamant that he will not lose his daughter twice.

Elliot and Beverly Mantle are twins who share everything: drugs, lovers, and an unapologetic desire to do whatever it takes — including pushing the boundaries on medical ethics — in an effort to challenge antiquated practices and bring women’s healthcare to the forefront.

A look into Frida Kahlo's world, revealing an artist driven by politics, power, sex and identity, with her epic love affair with Diego Rivera at the heart of it all.

Paris, 2009. The true story of the scam of the century. Billions are going up in smoke on the new 'carbon quotas' market, invented to fight pollution. A gang of small-time crooks from Belleville partner with an upper-class trader to carry off an epic swindle.