On The Level (Experimental Visions)

Share
  • Meshes of the After

    A woman returns home to a constantly shifting domestic and mental landscape in this retelling of “Meshes of the Afternoon,” Maya Deren’s landmark avant-garde film. Meg Case and Brad Porter direct “Meshes of the After,” swapping 1940’s Hollywood for Brooklyn current day, and grainy black and white...

  • Eyeballs

    A young man with vision problems deals with his caustic friends and a bizarrely ominous influence. “Eyeballs,” directed by Cooper Herzog Olson, is an experimental oddity, a stream-of-consciousness DIY tone poem about learning to see, but not too much. Wandering around a small beach town, Dennis e...

  • TriKE

    A stylish exploration of movement and attitude that reflects a spirited response to a chaotic world. “TriKE,” directed by Giselle Bonilla and performed by Brianna Mims, is an experimental portrait, wonderfully expressive and attuned to texture, color, and mood. A woman dances on a roof; she poses...

  • Cold Bull

    A group of Alaskan fishermen do everything it takes to stay awake and not crash their boat. “Cold Bull,” directed by Ben Gordon, is a deranged commercial for Red Bull (not really), or a loopy experimental documentary about “living the sweet life” (also not really). It’s the summer and the fishing...

  • Remission

    Three creatures travel great distances on a lonely pilgrimage. “Remission,” directed by John Charter, is a mixed-media experimental film loaded with stunning visuals and potent abstract imagery. According to the film's logline, the figures are manifestations of an unknown solider’s war trauma — w...

  • The Meteor

    An alternate history, or impending future, that imagines a catastrophic meteor strike in Kansas triggering odd disorders for those who breathe in a mysterious green mist. We're given three such stories, one of a Texas man who finds himself with superhuman strength, another, of a Brooklyn photogra...

  • Flora Borealis

    Two gay men struggle with depression in a ruined environment, and a botanical glassblower mourns his wife. “Flora Borealis,” directed by Casey Friedman, is a striking animated film that uses a post-apocalyptic setting to explore themes of destruction and perseverance. The young couple survives in...

  • The Inconceivable Mountain

    A musicologist and her dog climb a mountain in search of an indecipherable song hoping to understand its meaning. Daniel Witkin directs “The Inconceivable Mountain,” which registers both as an homage and a satire of black and white silent films of the 1930’s, particularly a type of German film co...

  • Ouchiemongo

    A slapstick comedy in super slow motion. An unnamed tourist with a leg injury searches for physical and spiritual healing on a week long Carnival cruise vacation from Baltimore to the Bahamas. Floating between narrative, documentary, and experimental tendencies the film creates an atmosphere simi...

  • My Expanded View

    A YouTube Yoga tutorial. A collapsed body. “My Expanded View,” the latest experimental oddity from NoBudge favorite Corey Hughes presents a peaceful instructional video that derails into a meta deconstruction on digital realms and cultural trends. | Directed by Corey Hughes.

  • Discontinuity

    A woman returns after an extended trip to find things have drastically changed in her home. A film about what can get lost in the edits of life -- understanding, clarity, details -- deadpan humor merges with a surreal haziness as strange occurrences and miscommunications pile up. Written, Directe...

  • The Escape

    Three airport employees face the camera to tell the specifics of their job. As their confessions progress, their behavior slowly gets affected. | Written and directed by Camille Dumond. Starring: Tarren Johnson, Salber Williams, Kaspar Locher.

  • Abbygail Was Here

    A young woman is left stranded at an abandoned house in apocalyptic rural America to search for a mysterious object. | Directed by Keaton Smith. Co-writer: Zakk Pollard. Starring Madeleine Knight.

  • A Bitter Fruit

    Sisters Wren and Eileen are orphans living in the secluded desert home where their parents killed each other. | Directed by Ryan Weatrowski. Starring Clare Gillies, Andreja Pejic, Lorraine Farris, Steve Rizzo.

  • Knickknacks

    An attempted e-commerce transaction goes awry. | Director: Ryan McGlade. Cast: Edy Modica, Tynan DeLong.

  • Date

    wormgirl does yoga.

    wormgirl was inspired by the time-bending isolation that came out of lockdown. with nothing to do and no one to see, the scope of the day shrank from a full life of work commitments and relationships to a lonely, worm-like crawl. wormgirl shows the highs and lows of worming: ...

  • Dirt

    A woman tries to clean her apartment, but her unkempt lover won't let her. Sara Silva directs and stars in “Dirt,” an experimental portrait of a messy relationship built with layers of spontaneous energy and complex threads of dissatisfaction. The two women wake up on the couch to find a dirty ap...

  • 808

    In a near-future saturated by technology, Mars introduces Jay to a world outside their company’s confines. “808,” directed by Athina Wilson, is a gritty dystopian vision (shot on 16mm) reckoning with a world lacking in empathy and human touch. Mars is new to the job, a content moderator in a depr...

  • Boiler

    A young couple heads home for the holidays to find themselves trapped at a family dinner where awkward tension boils into rage. Avant-garde filmmaking based on a poem by Bob Holman, “Boiler” marches to its own beat, a weirdo vision directed by Nicholas Motyka. This isn’t your average meal — for s...

  • Fucked Like a Star

    A poetic meditation on women's work and the dream life of ants, set to the words of Toni Morrison. Directed by Stefani Saintonge, “Fucked Like a Star” is a lovely translation and a profound rumination on the natural world. Told in four parts, the film is rendered with all the complexity of the so...