Worldwide roughly 10,000 people were born disabled due to the disastrous side-effects of the drug Thalidomide. Around half of them have survived. In present-day Germany there are around 2,800 Thalidomiders still living. Most need care and it can be very expensive. Physical disabilities include shortened or deformed arms and legs and missing thumbs. Many are [...]

FLicKeR screens at the New Museum Thursday August 12 at 7pm and Sautrday August 14 August at 3pm. Free with museum admission. Read more about the screening, and the Brion Gysin: Dreaming Machine exhibit here.
The New Museum will present “Brion Gysin: Dream Machine,” the first US retrospective of the work of the [...]

Scottish filmmaker Amy Hardie built a career on making science documentaries, reflecting her staunchly rational mind. Then one evening she had a haunting dream of her horse dying, waking to discover that her beloved horse had passed away that same night. Shaken, she tried to pass it off as mere coincidence. But then she had [...]

Robert Frank’s The Americans (1958) transformed the landscape of contemporary photography. An exile from Europe, Frank criss-crossed the United States with his camera, searching for the uncomfortable truths of his adopted home. The resulting book was the defining work of photographic art in the 20th century. Fifty years later, French director Philippe Séclier decided to [...]

In the late 1950s and early 60s, more than 10,000 children were born with deformities due to the use of Thalidomide, a drug used in sedatives. Filmmaker Niko von Glasow was one of the victims, and in Nobody’s Perfect he tracks down 11 others who suffered the disastrous side-effects.
Niko is recruiting them to pose nude [...]

North Korea is one of the world’s most isolated nations. For sixty years, North Koreans have been governed by a totalitarian regime. A cult of personality surrounds its two recent leaders: first, Kim Il Sung, and now, his son, Kim Jong Il. For Kim Jong Il’s 46th birthday, a hybrid begonia named kimjongilia was created, [...]

In her debut film, director Emma Franz captures the creative odyssey of Australian drummer Simon Barker in search of his muse, Korean Shaman Kim Seok-Chul — a Grand Master in his seventies who plays with immense energy and complex technique. After hearing a rare recording of Kim Seok-Chul’s music, Barker knew right away that he [...]

The daily life of the Dalai Lama is brought home with remarkable intimacy in Sunrise/Sunset. Granted total access to His Holiness for 24 hours, this is a day in the life of the Dalai Lama from when he wakes up at 3AM until his bedtime at dusk. Starting with his morning fitness routine and continuing [...]