BOMBAY BEACH

A new film by ALMA HAR'EL, who got her start making music videos for the band BEIRUT, follows a handful of people in a decaying small town in California on the Salton Sea.

The strange lifestyles of an isolated community are captured with vision and empathy, and dedicated to the simple poetry that emerges from all pursuits. Featuring plenty of real talk, real emotions, and real dancing (music by BEIRUT).

One the best films of 2011, documentary or otherwise.

BEAUTY PLUS PITY

DUKE & BATTERSBY are filmmaking duo, working mainly within the gallery world. Their short video pieces are self-described as "episodic," and take the collaged form of short-form children's programming, or sketch comedy.

The work itself is essayist, and usually combines raw imagery with a sweet innocence, with a distinct humanist appraoch. In this video, entitled BEAUTY PLUS PITY, most of the artists' usual techniques are on display: documentary, cartoons, & emotive balladry.

William Eggleston's Movie

In 1974, photographer WILLIAM EGGLESTON started using a Sony Portapak video camera, modified with his own prime lens. The technology was very new, and it is suggested that the people being shot didn't really know what it was and because of that their characters are that much more vibrant.

Whether that is the case or not, the footage she shot that year was edited into the film STRANDED IN CANTON, and it stands as one of the most enchanting "movies" I've ever seen. Mostly portraits around his small town in Tennessee, HARMONY KORINE has cited it as an influence on his recent TRASH HUMPERS, shot in the same area.