Microcinema DVDs - Manifest Destiny

Catalog Number: MC-250	Type: Shorts Compilation	Genre: Political / Social
Copyright: 2004	Length: 60 minutes	Format: DVD Region: All regions
TV System: NTSC	ISBN:	UPC:
Label:

This is a Microcinema Exclusive title.

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Exhibition: Program MC-250 may be licensed for Exhibition.

Films In Compilation

Current directed by Brian Doyle USA, Experimental, 2001, DV, Color, Magnetic Stereo, 00:03:00 In the vacated downtown of a metropolis a storm approaches and envelops – except this is no ordinary meteorological phenomenon. A digital wind blows the debris from an overflow of information – the city is now occupied by a rushing whirlwind carrying a tangled mass of communication. currentdocuments the path of this storm blowing through an abandoned city like tumbleweed through a ghost town. As devices of technology hovering in enclaves between the skyscrapers seem to monitor or perhaps even cause the storm, the city is consumed, erased by a blanket of information.
Bush for Peace directed by Jen Simmons USA, Political / Social, 2003, DV, Color, Magnetic Stereo, 00:02:00 It’s Bush as you’ve never heard him before in a re-mix of U.S. foreign policy, created from the Commander-in-Chief’s “Moment of Truth” speech delivered in March 2003.
Arrogance directed by Mark O'Connell USA, Experimental, 2004, DV, Color, Magnetic Stereo, 00:03:30 A finger touches an onscreen map and a city explodes. Samples of the arrogance implied in US media coverage of the Iraq invasion, and the arrogance implied by the assumptions of Bush, Cheney and Blair.
Right Road Lost directed by Victoria Gamburg USA, Documentary, 2001, 16mm, Color, Optical Stereo, 00:11:50 All Phil Rios wanted to be was an artist. His life, however, took another direction. The story of Phil Rios, a Vietnam and Gulf War veteran, and his attempt to cope with the memory of an unspeakable US military operation conducted in the Kuwaiti desert during the first Gulf War. Right Road Lost begins with a dreamlike image—the figure of Phil Rios descending a dark, heavily wooded hillside. In voiceover, we hear him reciting from Dante’s Inferno: “Midway on our life’s journey, I found myself in dark woods, the right road lost. To tell about those woods is hard—so tangled and rough and savage…” Phil Rios was born in Sacramento, California into a Mexican-American family of eleven children. Unlike his father and brothers who served in the US military, Phil never wanted to be a soldier. Instead, he dreamed of becoming an artist. His life took another direction in 1970 when he was shipped to Vietnam. After the Vietnam War, he joined the California National Guard as a part-time reservist. In 1991, his National Guard unit was federalized, and he found himself in the Persian Gulf. At first, his mission in the Gulf seemed simple: “We were going to go in there, kick out an evil person, and restore democracy,” he says. The reality of the war was anything but simple. In the film, Phil recalls the events that led to a routine military operation that would forever change his life. Right Road Lost combines evocative black and white 16mm footage with Phil’s personal color photographs from the first Persian Gulf War. The film paints a powerful portrait of a man living with the psychological demons of war.
General, The directed by Sietske Tjallingii Netherlands, Comedy / Satire, 2004, 35 mm, Color, Optical Stereo, 00:03:00 A biting satire on patriotism and military power in post-September 11 America. With the subversive wit of Chaplin's The Great Dictator, director Sietske Tjallingii cuts the Superpower down to size.
Armor of God directed by Jim Haverkamp USA, Documentary, 2001, 16mm, other, Optical Stereo, 00:12:45 Can ear-splitting improvisational noise be considered "Christian music"? North Carolina musician Scotty Irving certainly thinks so. He builds instruments out of hockey masks and crutches, bangs the ground with hammers, and in his one-man act Clang Quartet generally cranks it up for the Lord. Armor of God is a short documentary film that uses Irving's arresting performance to peer into his motivations for venturing so far out on musical and theological limbs.
What to Believe? directed by Mario Escobar USA, Experimental, 2002, DV/16mm, other, Optical Stereo, 00:03:30 “What To Believe” is a short film that combines 16mm found footage, Digital Video, and assorted sound samples in a fast-paced piece that challenges the viewer’s ideas about mass media and everyday iconography. By taking these images out of their pop culture created context, What To Believe challenges the notion of a passive viewer and an impartial media.
Gulf directed by Matthew Radune USA, Experimental, 2002, DV, Color, Magnetic Stereo, 00:05:47 A car, a generator, and a projector: a casual drive through Houston and a day at the beach manifest into Houston’s alter-ego.
Vision Test directed by Wes Kim USA, Documentary, 2002, DV, Color, 00:06:00 What begins as a routing eye exam turns into a troubling dramatization of attitudes towards minorities in the United States.
Free Speech Zone directed by Kasumi USA, Experimental, 2004, DV, Color, Magnetic Stereo, 00:18:02 A fusion of multi-layered polyphonic sampling, heavy, relentless beats, and scorching satire, The Free Speech Zone, a psychedelic Dada/techno opera, is a scathing condemnation of the American government’s quest for world domination. Street protesters wishing to demonstrate against the maniacal zealotry of the Church of Bush Rove Cheney, Inc, are confined – literally - to caged areas, euphemistically named "free speech zones" safely out of sight and earshot. Also see "Patriot Act".