Manakamana

In exploring the lives of two wandering Nepali musicians, an uncle and nephew who share the same name and are featured in filmmaker Stephanie Spray's and Pacho Velez's acclaimed documentary Manakamana, Kāle and Kāle (pronounced kah-lay) exposes the rootless occupation of the Gaine caste and communicates both its joys and pitfalls - domestic, economic and spiritual - in their daily lives. Rejecting didacticism as a means of ethnographical observation, the film consists of distinct episodes that value the quality of the genuine moment. Spray couples both meaningful and disconcerting human interactions with the sights and sounds of natural familiarities such as grass, smoke, insects, animals, and traditional Nepalese folk music, opening up an evocative new world that the viewer is invited to slowly and deliberately experience.

A revealing one-shot portrait of two Nepali newlyweds in a moment of rest and playful interaction, Stephanie Spray's Untitled challenges our perception of two themes at the very core of ethnographic filmmaking: human relationships and the ways in which they can be experienced by the viewer. Only fourteen minutes long, Untitled is uncut, rejecting the implications of edited sequences and also purposefully excluding subtitles over the couple's conversation. The style of the film confronts the history of ethnography as a controversial study of the "other" by refusing us any clear messages or meanings behind what is being presented, challenging the viewer to come up with their own answers to any questions that may arise.

An intimate video work depicting a Nepali family’s struggles for cohesion, despite everyday travails and the absence of a beloved son.

A deeply felt reflection on labor, gender, and fleeting pleasures in rural Nepal, filmmaker Stephanie Spray's short but powerful documentary on two strong-willed female field hands captures the monotonous and arduous nature of their work during Monsoon season. Spray's close friendships with the women (who were also passengers in Spray and Velez' monumental film Manakamana) allows for an intimacy and honesty rarely seen in anthropological works.

Amid the aftershocks of socialism's failure, a skeptical American watches three Croatian anarchists fight to create a new leftism.

This film uses the Reagan administration's internal documentation to capture the surreal spectacle of American might at its apex.

Yoni Brook and Pacho Velez's Mr. Yellow Sweatshirt presents New York City in a single-shot (from above) microcosm as an everyman struggles to enter the subway, a droll take on human-versus-machine.

A documentary about the concrete sections of the Berlin Wall that have been acquired by institutions or individuals since 1989 and are now scattered across the USA. Cherished or abandoned, they have become silent witnesses to recent history.

Comprised entirely of archival footage taken during those pre-reality-television years, The Reagan Show looks at how Ronald Reagan redefined the look and feel of what it means to be the POTUS.

Drivers, mechanics and drag racing fans stare at the objects they love.

The Starting Line captures the rhythms of a day at the Tijuana border crossing. But it’s not just any day: as people go through their routines, they listen to the local news report on Donald Trump’s inauguration. By taking the usual viewpoint—American broadcasters talking about life on the Mexican border—and flipping it on its head, The Starting Line presents an unexpected view of America’s capitol, as it appears from just over the border.

Drawing on over seventy-five encounters with New Yorkers of different ages, races, genders, and sexual interests, The Browsers is a portrait of The Big Apple as seen through the eyes of lovers, searching the web for their special someone.