Bill Morrison

Alan is a musician who leaves a busted-up band for New York, and a new musical voyage. He tries to stay focused and fends off all manner of distractions, including the attraction to his good friend's girlfriend.

Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Iceland, July 9, 2016. The surprising discovery of a canister —containing four reels of The Village Detective (Деревенский детектив), a 1969 Soviet film—, caught in the nets of an Icelandic trawler, is the first step in a fascinating journey through the artistic life of film and stage actor Mikhail Ivanovich Zharov (1899-1981), icon and star of an entire era of Russian cinema.

The true history of a collection of some 500 films dating from 1910s to 1920s, which were lost for over 50 years until being discovered buried in a sub-arctic swimming pool deep in the Yukon Territory, in Dawson City, located about 350 miles south of the Arctic Circle.

A short film made during lockdown.

'Just Ancient Loops' employs high resolution scans of ancient nitrate footage, as well as newly created CGI renderings of space to depict different views of heaven.

Walter Francis and Jerry Peoples, two characters from "Mutual Appreciation", share a visit at the Peoples' home in the countryside.

Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Iceland, July 9, 2016. The surprising discovery of a canister —containing four reels of The Village Detective (Деревенский детектив), a 1969 Soviet film—, caught in the nets of an Icelandic trawler, is the first step in a fascinating journey through the artistic life of film and stage actor Mikhail Ivanovich Zharov (1899-1981), icon and star of an entire era of Russian cinema.

Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Iceland, July 9, 2016. The surprising discovery of a canister —containing four reels of The Village Detective (Деревенский детектив), a 1969 Soviet film—, caught in the nets of an Icelandic trawler, is the first step in a fascinating journey through the artistic life of film and stage actor Mikhail Ivanovich Zharov (1899-1981), icon and star of an entire era of Russian cinema.

Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Iceland, July 9, 2016. The surprising discovery of a canister —containing four reels of The Village Detective (Деревенский детектив), a 1969 Soviet film—, caught in the nets of an Icelandic trawler, is the first step in a fascinating journey through the artistic life of film and stage actor Mikhail Ivanovich Zharov (1899-1981), icon and star of an entire era of Russian cinema.

The true history of a collection of some 500 films dating from 1910s to 1920s, which were lost for over 50 years until being discovered buried in a sub-arctic swimming pool deep in the Yukon Territory, in Dawson City, located about 350 miles south of the Arctic Circle.

The true history of a collection of some 500 films dating from 1910s to 1920s, which were lost for over 50 years until being discovered buried in a sub-arctic swimming pool deep in the Yukon Territory, in Dawson City, located about 350 miles south of the Arctic Circle.

The true history of a collection of some 500 films dating from 1910s to 1920s, which were lost for over 50 years until being discovered buried in a sub-arctic swimming pool deep in the Yukon Territory, in Dawson City, located about 350 miles south of the Arctic Circle.

A short film made during lockdown.

'Just Ancient Loops' employs high resolution scans of ancient nitrate footage, as well as newly created CGI renderings of space to depict different views of heaven.

A city symphony inspired by New York

Based on the story of Howard Walls, A clerk at the Library of Congress who saved a collection of early paper reel films from the incinerator, director Bill Morrison embellishes the tale a bit in this inspired short work. Here, the vision of a woman in an early porno film has been engrained in the mind of a man working at the Library of Congress and his search for the film of her has an unexpected consequence, as he saves a collection of historically significant films from being destroyed.

Based on the story of Howard Walls, A clerk at the Library of Congress who saved a collection of early paper reel films from the incinerator, director Bill Morrison embellishes the tale a bit in this inspired short work. Here, the vision of a woman in an early porno film has been engrained in the mind of a man working at the Library of Congress and his search for the film of her has an unexpected consequence, as he saves a collection of historically significant films from being destroyed.

Based on the story of Howard Walls, A clerk at the Library of Congress who saved a collection of early paper reel films from the incinerator, director Bill Morrison embellishes the tale a bit in this inspired short work. Here, the vision of a woman in an early porno film has been engrained in the mind of a man working at the Library of Congress and his search for the film of her has an unexpected consequence, as he saves a collection of historically significant films from being destroyed.

A meditation on the human quest to transcend physicality, constructed from decaying archival footage and set to an original symphonic score.

A meditation on the human quest to transcend physicality, constructed from decaying archival footage and set to an original symphonic score.

A meditation on the human quest to transcend physicality, constructed from decaying archival footage and set to an original symphonic score.

October 12, 2025: masked and unidentified agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) seize a man without a warrant on a residential street in Chicago. After the Oscar-nominated Incident (VdR 2023), Bill Morrison uses footage from phones and body cameras to dissect and reconstruct a neighbourhood’s struggle against impunity within a brutal administration.

October 12, 2025: masked and unidentified agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) seize a man without a warrant on a residential street in Chicago. After the Oscar-nominated Incident (VdR 2023), Bill Morrison uses footage from phones and body cameras to dissect and reconstruct a neighbourhood’s struggle against impunity within a brutal administration.

A collection of films from an eclectic array of contributors commissioned to raise funds for the Bristol independent cinema The Cube.

The 1st Volume of Characters in Motion introduces a new wealth of cutting edge character visuals to the established world of animation. The DVD compiles over 90 stylistically outstanding films by 60 international studios, artists and designers in curated programs such as Characters in Narration, Characters in Rhythm and Characters in Motion. Additionally, a special selection menu allows to sort the 180+ minutes of animation by creator, character or style.

With darker, Bill Morrison takes inspiration from David Lang’s restrained and highly detailed score to create what he describes as a slowly lilting depiction of the sublime, in which actors, dancers, and acrobats reappear and disappear back into a bubbling morass of time. Morrison’s films often incorporate imagery from decomposing nitrate films, creating a haunting photochemical effect.

Bill Morrison’s experimental short features decayed film reels from the lost, German silent film Pawns of Passion (1928).

Bill Morrison’s experimental short features decayed film reels from the lost, German silent film Pawns of Passion (1928).

An early Bill Morrison short, in this work he traverses an urban landscape utilizing high contrast black and white footage. The bustling nature of the setting is complimented by the energetic music by Michael Gordon.

Originally planned as part of Michael Kanieckis play, «Howard Hughes: The World Is Round», the film follows the internal monologue of billionaire Hughes as he navigates between Earth and The Screening Room. James Godwin is featured in the voice-over. The performance was presented at The Kitchen, NYC, March 1994.

Originally planned as part of Michael Kanieckis play, «Howard Hughes: The World Is Round», the film follows the internal monologue of billionaire Hughes as he navigates between Earth and The Screening Room. James Godwin is featured in the voice-over. The performance was presented at The Kitchen, NYC, March 1994.

Drawing from a passage from the Rosh Hashana Service, “Who shall live, who shall die… who by water, who by fire,” this short film deals with that which has been preordained—a future history that will in time unfold before us as the faces of passengers on a ship forces us to contemplate our own fate.

Made by re-editing a deteriorated nitrate print of The Bells (1926), starring Lionel Barrymore and Boris Karloff, this work shows the fragility of the film image while foreshadowing the Holocaust.

Made by re-editing a deteriorated nitrate print of The Bells (1926), starring Lionel Barrymore and Boris Karloff, this work shows the fragility of the film image while foreshadowing the Holocaust.

Made by re-editing a deteriorated nitrate print of The Bells (1926), starring Lionel Barrymore and Boris Karloff, this work shows the fragility of the film image while foreshadowing the Holocaust.

Original Super 8 footage shot by Dr. Oliver Sacks of his patients at Beth Abraham Hospital, Bronx, NY, who were administered the drug L-Dopa in the summer of 1969 and “awakened” after decades of inactivity is featured in this cine-poem that combines archival footage with a score for solo saxophone composed by Philip Glass.

Chicago, 2018. A man is killed by police on the street. Through a composite montage of images from surveillance and security footage as well as police body-cams, Incident recreates the event and its consequences, featuring vain justifications, altercations and attempts to avoid blame. Bill Morrison delivers a chilling political investigation in search of the truth.

Chicago, 2018. A man is killed by police on the street. Through a composite montage of images from surveillance and security footage as well as police body-cams, Incident recreates the event and its consequences, featuring vain justifications, altercations and attempts to avoid blame. Bill Morrison delivers a chilling political investigation in search of the truth.

A series of conversations and monologues captured in the kitchen of the famous Vanguard jazz club in New York’s Greenwich Village in 1994- 95 by the director, who was working at the club at the time as a dishwasher.

A brief glimpse of Manhattan's skin. Music by Michael Gordon.

A woman attends a party where she is observed by and finally meets a mysterious guest.

The ill-fated coal mining communities in North East England are the subject of this inspired documentary by multi-media artist Bill Morrison. Their story is told entirely without words, yet the film is far from silent: it features a remarkable original score by the Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson.

A self-explanatory film by Bill Morrison, with music by Michael Gordon, performed by the Young People’s Chorus of New York City.

The Mississippi River Flood of 1927 was the most destructive river flood in American history. In the spring of 1927, the river broke out of its banks in 145 places and inundated 27,000 square miles to a depth of up to 30 feet. Part of it enduring legacy was the mass exodus of displaced sharecroppers. Musically, the Great Migration of rural southern blacks to Northern cities saw the Delta Blues electrified and reinterpreted as the Chicago Blues, Rhythm and Blues, and Rock and Roll. Using minimal text and no spoken dialog, filmmaker Bill Morrison and composer - guitarist Bill Frisell have created a powerful portrait of a seminal moment in American history through a collection of silent images matched to a searing original soundtrack.

Drawing from Portugal’s rich heritage of shipping, trade, and exploration, “The Dockworker's Dream” takes the viewer on a journey downriver, into port, into factories, towns, and families, and out into the great unknown. Different ports of call are framed by the solitary sojourn of a dockworker, perhaps remembering his own past, or dreaming of another's. Like the hunters in his dream, the film seeks to recover ancient and seldom viewed images from the recesses of our collective memory.

In 1924, Jewish tradesmen in the newly-formed Soviet Union relocated to the Ukraine, Belarus and Crimea to form farming colonies. The film is of a tour to survey the so-called “Agro-Joint colonies” by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, shot during one week in May 1927 by Bill Morrison’s grandfather, James H. Becker.