Portrait Of My Mother

Solving the mysteries of Leonardo DA Vinci's first known portrait, the first of only three women he ever painted.

Leonardo da Vinci is not just the most famous and most admired of all painters - he is an icon, a superstar. Yet, the man himself remains elusive. Accounts during his lifetime describe a man too handsome, too strong, too perfect to be accurate. But in 2009, the chance discovery in the South of Italy of an ancient portrait with strangely familiar features takes the art world by storm. Could this be an unknown self-portrait by Leonardo da Vinci? Controversy erupts among the experts. The implications of such a discovery have far-reaching consequences for our understanding of the work of this great Renaissance master.

A labor of love documentary, in which a daughter, with the help of various talking heads, looks back on the life work of her father.

In this film, Humbert is on the trail of his own history. Wolfsgrub is the name of the house where Humbert's mother lives, and though she is getting on in years, she becomes young again as she answers her son's questions. Humbert allows his mother the space and time to tell her story, portraying he everyday life through the use of concentrated images. From the bits and pieces of these narrative fragments, a stunning portrait of a freethinking woman emerges.

Juan Ignacio Fernández Hoppe was just eight years old when his father’s body was found on a beach. His mother, a psychiatrist, decided an autopsy was unnecessary, even though his father had been depressed and had psychiatric medication among his belongings. Thirty years later, the filmmaker tries to find out what happened, who his father was and how his mother arrived at her decision.

A magician produces a living portrait of himself.

Portrait of the filmmaker’s mother in her garden. Part of the Portrait Series by Maria Klonaris & Katerina Thomadaki, the film was initially presented as an interlude during the multi-projection performance of Unheimlich III: Les Mères at Centre Pompidou in 1981.

A love song.

Interview film with German director Werner Herzog revisiting the films he made up to ca. 1977.

The Colours of My Father: A Portrait of Sam Borenstein is a 1992 short animated documentary directed by Joyce Borenstein about her father, the Canadian painter Sam Borenstein. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short. In Canada, it was named best short documentary at the 12th Genie Awards.

In 1960s Romania, the perfect summery friendship of two young girls is put to the test by a friend engaging in communism.

Portrait of my Mother is an ethereal and stylized short documentary about the inner strength [Sophia Nahli Allison's] mother found to continue moving forward in life despite certain hardships. Inspired by portraiture photography and reminiscent of Rembrandt paintings, Portrait of my Mother uses diptychs to create a poetic and intimate story.

Loving couple Miguel and Monay lay victims after a group of gunmen shot them. While Miguel is in a coma, Monay's ghost wanders off to find justice for the both of them.

Omri is trying to reenact the day his dog died, on the beach when he was 13 years old, but things gets complicated when he discovers that his father remembers events differently.

Jazz is my Native Language: A Portrait of Toshiko Akiyoshi is a 1983 documentary film by Renee Cho about the jazz pianist, composer, arranger and big band leader Toshiko Akiyoshi.

Maria Reidelbach's life passions focus on mushroom foraging and teaching about sustainable eating.

A mother confesses to her son what she remembers about the experience of being raped as a child. By painfully recalling this traumatic event, she reflects on the sexual abuse of children and the scars it leaves on a person’s life.

Hands (For the Eye, the Hand of My Body Draws My Portrait) 1977 is a black and white silent film lasting 7 minutes and 30 seconds. The work exists in an edition of 5, of which this copy is number 2, and 2 artist’s proofs. It was originally shot on 8mm film and transferred to DVD more recently. The camera was operated by fellow Romanian artist Ion Grigorescu (born 1945), with whom Bratescu frequently collaborated. In the film the artist’s hands, filmed from her eye level, are performing various movements and activities above her drawing board. The sequence starts with her playing with different objects on the desk, holding a cigarette, removing a wedding ring. The artist subsequently switches to drawing lines on her palms with a black marker and finally tracing the contours of both her hands on a piece of paper.

Born to a family of established court painters, seven-year-old Yoon-jeong is a young girl gifted at painting. However, the pressure is on her brother to carry on the proud family tradition, as women aren’t allowed to become professional painters. While her brother trains to take his place in the court, Yoon-jeong helps him out by secretly painting for him. The little girl’s life is turned upside down when her brother kills himself. In order to preserve the family honor, she is forced to take her brother’s name and lives as a man. Yun-bok’s genius and talent captures the heart of another great master of the time, Kim Hong-do. But her daring depictions of women are condemned by the royal institute as obscene. Yun-bok meets Kang-mu and falls deeply in love. For the first time, she feels the strong desire to abandon everything she has built and simply be a woman in front of the man she loves. Kang-moo sacrifices all for his love as well.

Blues and folk singer Karen Dalton was a prominent figure in 1960s New York. Idolized by Bob Dylan and Nick Cave, Karen discarded the traditional trappings of success and led an unconventional life until her early death. Since most images of Karen have been lost or destroyed, the film uses Karen's dulcet melodies and interviews with loved ones to build a rich portrait of this singular woman and her hauntingly beautiful voice.