Keyword Sound

This short documentary, presented and directed by MGM sound engineer Douglas Shearer, goes behind the scenes to look at how the sound portion of a talking picture is created.

The film follows five people who lost their sight in armed conflicts, gathering fragments of their present-day lives. Through an enveloping sound composition, veiled archival material, footage shot by the protagonists themselves, and a sensitive visual approach, the film explores memory, perception, and our relationship to the visible. Steering away from spectacle, it invites us to hear what often goes unheard, and to feel differently. In an age saturated with images, this documentary offers a sensory experience where listening becomes a gesture of resistance and human reconnection.

Acoustic Ocean is an artistic exploration of the sonic ecology of marine life in the North Atlantic. Located on the Lofoten Islands in Northern Norway, the video centers on the performance of a marine-biologist diver who is using a life-size model of a submersible equipped with all sorts of hydrophones and recording devices. In this science-fictional quest, her task is to sense the submarine space for acoustic and bioluminescent forms of expression.

William K.L. Dickson plays the violin while two men dance. This is the oldest surviving sound film where sound is recorded on the phonograph.

A film featuring architect, sculptor, and musician Nobuo Kubota in a sound-sculpture performance. From within a cage-like structure filled with traditional musical instruments and sound-making devices fashioned from ordinary objects and toys, Kubota creates an aural/visual montage of musical notes and noises. Praised by music educators as a valuable tool for teaching creativity in sound exploration and musical innovation, the film reveals the infinite percussion possibilities of simple objects and presents a portrait of a versatile performer whose imagination has led him far beyond the confines of conventional music. Directed by Jonny Silver - 1982 | 20 min

A documentary that invites the viewer to immerse themselves in a intimate and thoughtful walk through Poblenou Cemetery in Barcelona, better know as "El Santet", to see what is happening at its surrounding areas and, especially, inside: work, buildings, people watching over those who are no longer here, cemetery workers... A trip through a space that is closer than we think.

I am sitting in a room is a sound art piece by American composer and sound artist Alvin Lucier composed in 1969. The first performance of the work was in 1970 at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. In collaboration with his partner Mary Lucier. The piece features Lucier recording himself narrating a text, and then playing the tape recording back into the room while re-recording it. The new recording is then played back and re-recorded, and this process is repeated. Due to the room's particular size and geometry, certain resonant frequencies are emphasized while others are attenuated. Eventually the words become unintelligible, replaced by the characteristic resonance of the room.

Knucklebones follows the course of hysterical outburst to instances of alienation and isolation. From a 1903 newspaper, "While fifteen hundred persons looked on in breathless excitement, an electric bolt sent the man-killing elephant staggering to the ground. With her own life, she paid for the lives of the three men she had killed." The film combines archival with Super8 and 16mm original footage and intertext in an experiential exploration of gender, sexuality and identity. Featuring Katherine Crockett, prior to becoming a Martha Graham Dance Company soloist. "A haunting evocation of the body under stress."-Kathy Geritz, Pacific Film Archive

Fragments of time quietly slipping away. Nothing is preserved, only noticed.

After a period of time where her hearing begins to overtake her sight, Casandra searches for the cause of her problem, isolating herself from society. She starts having visions that remind her of the past and promise an apocalyptic future.

We went back into The Doors' footage vault and restored the original concert film of their legendary Hollywood Bowl performance to high-definition video with a 5.1 stereo surround mix! Get a glimpse into the process of restoring the picture and sound.

After waking up with amnesia on the beach, the protagonist is pursued by the police to face the consequences of an unknown past. This soundscape uses tension as a tool to explore how uncertainty, anguish and urgency mobilize a body that would otherwise remain paralyzed in time.

At the Saarland Modern Galerie in Saarbrücken, Germany, songs from Unfurl, Asaf Avidan's new album, blend with masterpieces from a contemporary art collection that is as socially conscious as it is inspiring.

A personal reflection on hands, the word "tear," and caring for oneself that experiments with sound, silence, and definitions.

Strange places take shape in a torch’s beam of light and the sound of water droplets hitting the ground punctuates our footsteps. In the distance, we hear muffled music, where does it come from?

A couple of sound engineers have stopped paying attention to each other. During a film shooting they see themselves in the actors who play the scene, which makes them understand the importance of listening to one another.

A captivating journey through sound, science and story.

Alex Jaffray, music columnist for Télématin, shares his passion for music, which allowed him, as a child, to communicate with notes rather than words. He is a sampler packed with music and jokes that allow him to travel from prehistory to Gilbert Montagné, from Daft Punk to Booba, via the Eagles, Ennio Morricone, and Maître Gims. Recorded on June 26, 2025, at the Théâtre des Sources in Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, in the Hauts-de-France region.

An English teacher begins to hear a low humming sound that no one else around her can hear.

Teenager Asumu Adachi is at a crossroads. He's about to start high school and unsure of what he wants to do with his life. And as if puberty & homework weren't bad enough, he stumbles upon a huge secret: his new friend Hibiki is secretly an oni! Hibiki & his oni comrades are the only thing stopping the monstrous Makamou from devouring mankind. As Asumu is pulled into a secret war, Hibiki & his allies teach the teenager what it means to be an adult in a uncertain world.