STANDBY PROGRAM ANNUAL SAMPLE REEL 2012
by The Standby Program

Each year The Standby Program puts together a sample reel to highlight some of the amazing work that has come through the program. Hundreds of works are completed each year through Standby from social issue documentaries to avant garde artwork.

Please enjoy a selection of the work we are proud to be a part of.

RFK in the Land of Apartheid: A Ripple of Hope
by Tami Gold & Larry Shore

Using never before seen archival footage and interviews in South Africa and the U.S. to tell the story of Robert Kennedy's 1966 visit to South Africa during the worst years of Apartheid, the film evokes the connections between the American Civil Rights Movement and the Anti-Apartheid Movement in South Africa. 

There was a Little Girl
by Ruth Peyser

An autobiographical film spanning 50 years, from 1959 to 2009, which examines how the passing of time impacts the lives of individuals, and contrasts this with major events occurring throughout the world. This humorous film is part animation, part documentary and part personal narrative.

Titan
by Klaus Lutz

A silent layered 16mm film reminiscent of the whimsical early films of Georges Méliès.  This is the last completed film of Klaus Lutz, a Swiss born, New York City resident who died the day before his trip to Toronto to present this work in person at the 2009 Toronto Film Festival.
Courtesy of The Estate of Klaus Lutz/Rotwand Gallery Zurich

Leads
by Jenny Perlin

From the Perlin Papers series, a cycle of films that examines issues of domestic espionage during the Cold War period in 1950's U.S. Live action and hand drawn stop motion animation replicates information the FBI wrote in surveillance notebooks on the daily life of Olga Pravida, who lived in New York City in the 1940's.

Make Them Jump
by Kelly Spivey

Optically printed from found footage of animals with children, with subliminal messages…Repetition, time and sound manipulation, and not least of all – humor, all reside within the film frames of this project.

The Last Happy Day
by Lynne Sachs

The Mist
by Maryam Habibian

Through a series of interviews with painters, poets, intellectuals, and students, Iranian-born ex-patriot filmmaker Maryam Habibian uncovers a very different reality in modern day Iran.

Dreams Deferred: The Sakia Gunn Film Project
by Charles Brack

On May 11th 2003, 15 year old Saki Gunn, a young African American Lesbian, was murdered; a hate crime was barely covered by the media.  This documentary explores not only the senseless murder of a promising young life, but also the societal reactions and implications of his hate crime in Newark, NJ.

Paper Factory
by James Nares

Artist and FilmMaker, James Nares, plays with sound, repetition, editing and action in this short video created from tossing various PVC tubing against the wall in an old Paper Factory.

From The Ground Up
by Su Friedrich

FREEHELD
by Cynthia Wade

Academy Award winning short subject documentary FREEHELD, chronicles NJ Police Officer Laurel Hester's struggle to transfer her earned pension to her domestic partner, Stacie Andree. With less than six months to live, Laurel refuses to back down when her elected officials, deny her request to leave her pension to her life partner, Stacie.

Wide Awake: Portrait of the Artist as Insomniac
by Alan Berliner

A deliriously intimate portrait of the artist, his obsessiveness and manias, and his inability to sleep, as he seeks counsel from various sleep experts and family members.

Associated
by Jenny Perlin

A short film of a day in the life of a corner store, a former Associated supermarket, owner Charles Leem reflects on the history of his small neighborhood business in Brooklyn, NY.

I Remember Now, We Never Danced, I Miss You, Good-bye
by Diane Bonder

Everyday movement, woven into a dance of memory and loss. This is the last film made by this longtime friend of Standby before her death in July of 2006.

Red Hook Justice
by Meema Spadola

Recently featured on P.O.V., this film documents the day-to-day workings of the Red Hook Community Justice Center, a pilot project in Brooklyn, NY. Before resorting to jail, the Red Hook judge mandates extensive drug treatment, job training and community service.

The Flooded Playground
by Lisa Crafts

A digital animation in which a child wanders deep into a fairy tale forest, encountering a variety of menacing creatures along the way.