Ramparts of Clay

ARGILEUX(fr)

Mati Manas(hi)

In a poetic hour and a half, director Mani Kaul looks at the ancient art of making pottery from a wide variety of perspectives.

Clay(en)

A killer on the run is found lying flat on his face in a wet clay bank. He is rescued by potters who shelter him within their community. There he falls in love with a woman. Unfortunately, another man who has been calling upon the woman gets jealous and turns the fugitive in to the cops. The woman gets revenge.

Con las manos de ella(es)

After her mother's death, Martina is unable to move on with her life. So she decides to preserve and honor her mother's memory by giving ceramic plates with meaningful illustrations to each of the town's inhabitants, thus continuing the family legacy.

Clayface(en)

After his face is disfigured, struggling actor Matt Hagen undergoes a scientific transformation that turns his body entirely into clay.

The Polizzi Project(it)

When Australian artist Eolo Bottaro revives the lost Triform Goddess Isis, Polizzi's forgotten history revives. This gripping documentary captures the statue's creation, the town's awe, and the artist's unexpected bond with the Sicilian town.

Rivers and Tides(en)

Portrait of Andy Goldsworthy, an artist whose specialty is ephemeral sculptures made from elements of nature.

Transfiguration(fr)

Olivier de Sagazan disfigures his face into various creatures, human and nonhuman, to explore the strangeness of life and the body.

The Missing Picture(fr)

Rithy Panh uses clay figures, archival footage, and his narration to recreate the atrocities Cambodia's Khmer Rouge committed between 1975 and 1979.

Look Closer: The Rise and Fall of Robert Benfer(en)

In 2013, online clay animator Robert Benfer scammed hundreds of fans out of thousands of dollars and has continued to become less of the independent film icon he used to be, though his unique influence on video creators remains to this day. This film not only sheds light on how Benfer's films impacted young filmmakers, but also how a talented independent artist can fall from grace no matter how obscure they are.

Roxanne(en)

an overly dramatic romance between a pet rock named Roxanne and a handsome action figure named Dwayne. But things get complicated when Roxanne's husband gets in the way of their relationship.

Ident(en)

Explores the nature of man, not only with feet of clay, but with a face of clay as well. Within a colourless city of walls, corridors, and small rooms, a man makes his way from home to work, then to a bar, and then, by a stroke of luck, into an outdoors of space, fresh air, and colour. Along the way, he changes his face to fit his surroundings, interacts with his dog, argues with co-workers, and gossips at a bar. His altering of his visage suggests a two-faced nature, and his stepping into the outdoors provides the ultimate test of his real identity.

The Great Cognito(en)

The film tells of a music hall impressionist who caricatures personalities from the second world war. Animated by Barry Bruce at Will Vinton Productions. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.

Canhead(en)

Jay Clay and Blue are wanderers in the wilderness. Blue vanishes and Jay is lost and alone. The anxiety in his mind and soul manifest in the form of the mighty giant, Canhead. Jay must overpower the giant if he is to live on and be reunited with Blue.

Venus(da)

An erotic comedy in claymation.

Tengers(en)

Whilst working on "the great South African novel," an unemployed writer gets caught up in the harsh realities of life in the city of Johannesburg.

Jimmy the C(en)

President Jimmy Carter "sings" Ray Charles' "Georgia on my Mind", while thinking about his home state. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2009.

Claymation: Three Dimensional Clay Animation(en)

A look inside the Will Vinton Studio, with specializes in stop-motion animations with clay. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2013.

Galician Caress (of Clay)(es)

This film was reconstructed and completed in 1995 by Javier Codesal for the Filmoteca de Andalucia, from the montage and the sound that Val del Omar had outlined before his death, after having returned to a project abandoned twenty years before with the incorporation of significant additions (above all in the soundtrack). Val del Omar's notes show that, as he typically did, he had other alternative titles in mind, such as "Acariño de la Terra Meiga" (Caress of the Magic Land), "Acariño a nosa terra" (Caress of Our Land), or "Barro de ánimas" (Clay of Souls), and that in the final phase of the unfinished project he wanted to add a second sound channel – following the diaphonic principle, and using electro-acoustic techniques – consisting of ambient material that he intended to record at the first screenings of the film in the very places and to the very people that were its origin: its "clay".

Clay Town(fr)

The River(en)

Tom and Mae Garvey are a Tennessee farming couple battling violent floods to save their land. In addition to natural disasters, the Garveys fight to stop a selfish land developer and a local corporation from foreclosing on their farm. While Mae stays at home to care for their children and tend to the crops, Tom finds work as a scab at a steel mill to preserve his family's property.

The Divide(fr)

Raf and Julie, a couple on the verge of breaking up, find themselves in an emergency ward bordering on collapse on the evening of a Parisian Yellow Vest protest. Their encounter with Yann, an angry and injured demonstrator, will shatter each person's certainties and prejudices. Outside, the tension escalates.

Come Sunday(en)

Evangelist Carlton Pearson is ostracized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell.

The Dazzled(fr)

Camille, is the eldest of a large family. One day, her parents enter a religious community which gradually, regimentation becomes sectarian and Camille will have to fight to assert her freedom and save her brothers and sisters.

Bastard Out of Carolina(en)

A poor, struggling South Carolinian mother and daughter face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as her last chance.

TalhotBlond(en)

Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.

The Safety of Objects(en)

In a suburban landscape, the lives of several families interlace with loss, despair and personal crisis. Esther Gold has lost focus on all but caring for her comatose son, Paul, and neglects her daughter and husband. Lawyer Jim Train is devoted to his career, not his family. Helen Christianson wants to find a new spark in life, while Annette Jennings tries to rebuild hers.

DNA(fr)

A woman has a close bond with her beloved Algeriann grandfather, who protected her from a toxic home life as a child; his death triggers a deep identity crisis as tensions between her extended family members escalate, revealing new depths of resentment and bitterness.

Heaven Will Wait(fr)

Mélanie, 16 years old, lives with her mother. She likes going to school, her friends, playing the cello, and she wants to change the world. But when she meets a boy on the Internet and falls in love with him, her world changes as she is gradually recruited by Daesh. Sonia is 17 years old, and she almost did something irrevocable to “guarantee” her family a place in paradise. These teenage girls might be called Anaïs, Manon or Leila, and one day they all might go some way down the recruitment process. But can they ever come back from it?

Chaos(fr)

A bourgeois couple, modern yet conventional. One night by accident, a young prostitute barges into their lives. Hounded down, beaten up, threatened, she will continue to struggle, with the help of a well off lady, first for her survival-her resurrection-then for her dignity and freedom. Stormy encounters for everyone involved.

It All Starts Today(fr)

In a mining town which has been blighted by economic downturns, an elementary school headmaster struggles to obtain social services on behalf of his students.

Through the Fire(fr)

Franck is a firefighter in Paris. He saves people. He lives at the station with his wife, who is about to have twins. He’s happy. During a call out to a fire, he puts himself in danger, to save his men. He’s going to have to learn to live again and accept to be the one being saved, this time.

The Visit(en)

Carla Zachanassian had a child by Serge Miller as a teenager. When Serge refused to marry her, she was driven out of town. By her own wit and cunning, she has returned as a multi-millionaire for a visit. The town lays out the red carpet expecting big things from Carla, only to learn that her sole purpose is to see Serge Miller killed...

The Yellow Eyes of Crocodiles(fr)

Josephine and Iris, sisters with opposite personalities, have their relationship radically transformed while working on a book.

Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius(en)

The story of golf icon and legend, Bobby Jones, who retired from competition at the tender age of 28.

A Dry White Season(en)

During the 1976 Soweto uprising, a white school teacher's life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy who died in police custody.

Fast Girls(en)

A street smart runner develops an intense rivalry with an equally ambitious wealthy young athlete.

Promises(fr)

Clémence, the fearless mayor of a town near Paris, is completing the final term of her political career. With her faithful right-hand man Yazid, she has long fought for this town plagued by inequality, unemployment and slumlords. However, when Clémence is approached to become Minister, her ambition arises, questioning her devotion and commitment to her citizens. Will her political integrity and election promises survive her newly found ambition?

Electricity(en)

A woman leaves her seaside hometown to search for her long-lost brother, experiencing hallucinations brought on by her epilepsy during her trip.

The Girl in the Book(en)

The story of a young writer's transformation when her past invades her present.