Arts & Entertainment

Indonesia, where the national motto is “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika” or “Unity in Diversity,” is home to both the world’s largest Muslim majority as well as six additional religions. The country has had a difficult history under the 32-­year dictatorship of General Suharto whose repressive and corrupt militarized rule led to the deaths of hundred thousand.

"Connectivity" features music videos from folk musicians Steve Gunn & Mike Cooper, NYC audiovisual duo Georgia, UK producer Quantic, Los Angeles-based blues rocker Hanni El Khatib, and British producer Lapalux.

"Visions" features music videos from Spanish garage rockers The Parrots, Cuban jazz singer Daymé Arocena, L.A. singer Nite Jewel, New Zealand-based rapper Raiza Biza, Chilean techno artist Sanfuentes, and Japanese artist Chihei Hatakeyama.

Playlist

Daymé Arocena - Eleggua

NIte Jewel - Kiss the Screen

Oumou Sangaré - Yere Faga

Sanfuentes - Visiones

The Parrots - No Me Gustas Te Quiero

Chihei Hatakeyama - Starlight and the Black Echo

In East Los Angeles during the late 1960s and 1970s, a group of young activists used creative tools like writing and photography as a means for community organizing, providing a platform for the Chicano Movement in the form of the bilingual newspaper/magazine La Raza. In the process, the young activists became artists themselves and articulated a visual language that shed light on the daily life, concerns and struggles of the Mexican-American experience in Southern California and provided a voice to the Chicano Rights Movement.

The 18th annual Fine Cut Festival of Films is a collection of short films from student and emerging filmmakers. In this episode, "Spaceman" from the U.S. (Comedy), "Blue" from the U.S. (Animation), "You, Me, US" from the U.S. (Experimental), and "Itch" from the U.K. (Suspense).

"Spaceman"

A young man with big aspirations sets out on a very curious and unique path to realize his dream of becoming an astronaut. Unemployed and living with his single mother, Rupert Madurski must find a nice balance in a world without spacemen.

"Blue"

"Synesthetics" features music videos from Japanese indie band Mitsume, German group Lali Puna, French artist Magic Island, Cuban rapper el tipo este, Congolese group Konono No. 1, Argentine singer Juana Molina, and US artist Visible Cloaks.

Playlist

Mitsume - Akogare

Lali Puna - The Bucket

Magic Island - Like Water

El Tipo Este - Regla

Konono N°1 - Yambadi Mama

Juana Molina - In the Lassa

Visible Cloaks - Neume

Chicago is a city that ranks as one of the richest and most productive in the United States, yet it has a deeply segregated urban landscape and a high murder rate. In its south and west sides, impoverished housing blocks sit beside affluent homes, universities and city stadiums. The year 2016 was the city’s most violent in over two decades with a record of 762 homicides, an increase of 58 percent since 2015.

Resolution features music videos from Sudanese-American songstress Alsarah and the Nubatones, Swedish "antinational cabaret" group Europa Europa and the Knife, Los Angeles producer The Gaslamp Killer, U.K. beatmaker Commodo, Nigerian band Tal National, and Polish chamber musical duo Sza/Za.

Throughout its history, the natural beauty of California has inspired artists from around the world from 19th-century plein air painting of pastoral valleys and coasts to early 20th-century photography of the wilderness (embodied famously in the work of Ansel Adams) and the birth of the light and space movement in the 1960s. Today, as artists continue to engage with California’s environment, they echo and critique earlier art practices that represent nature in “The Golden State” in a particular way. Featuring artists Richard Misrach and Hillary Mushkin.

The 18th annual Fine Cut Festival of Films is a collection of short films from student and emerging filmmakers. In this episode, "Good Old Times" from Slovakia (Comedy), "Call Unknown" from the U.S. (Suspense), "Remain Rain" from Iran (Emerging), "Recast: The Story of Pune's Tambat Ali (Copper Alley)" from India (Documentary), and "The Door to Freedom" from Germany (Drama).

"Good Old Times"

"Call Unknown"

A young woman abandons technology for 7 days and goes off-grid in a house where she confronts her darkest fear.

"Until Later" features music videos from Mali’s Songhoy Blues, New Zealand artist Nadia Reid, Colombia's Meridian Brothers, Lebanese artist Yasmine Hamda, South Africa's DJ Lag, and Austrian group Radian.

Playlist

Songhoy Blues - Bamako

Nadia Reid - Richard

Meridian Brothers - ¿Dónde Estás María?

Yasmine Hamdan - La Ba'den

DJ Lag - Ice Drop

Radian - Scary Objects

Target killings, terrorist attacks and a skyrocketing crime rate: these are the words usually used to describe Pakistan’s megalopolis Karachi. And up until recently it was considered a lawless land, taken over by gangsters and terrorist groups like the Taliban who assassinated intellectuals and artists.

One of the most significant target killings was the assassination of Sabeen Mahmuud, a feminist and intellectual who founded T2F, one of the few spaces dedicated to creation in Karachi. The case of her assassination remains unsolved.

Refraction features music videos from South African producer Nozinja, New York City musician Ziemba, Los Angeles multi-instrumentalist Dexter Story, U.S. band Bitchin' Bajas & Bonnie Prince Billy, Belgian producer debruit, Los Angeles musician Def Sound, and German/Japanese duo Masayoshi Fujita & Jan Jelinek.

This episode profiles four California artists who make motherhood a part of their art: Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle, Andrea Chung, Rebecca Campbell and Tanya Aguiñiga. There's a persisting assumption in contemporary art circles that you can't be a good artist and good mother both. But these artists are working to shatter this cliché, juggling demands of career and family and finding inspiring ways to explore the maternal in their art.

The 18th annual Fine Cut Festival of Films is a collection of short films from student and emerging filmmakers. In this episode, "The Outcast" from the U.S. (Drama), "Scraps" from New Zealand (Animation), "Champagne" from the U.S. (Drama), "Bobo" from Pakistan (Suspense), and "The Autumn of Zao" from France (Fantasy).

"The Outcast"

Rhythmic Rituals features music videos from L.A. violinist and vocalist Sudan Archives, Puerto Rico-based artist ÌFÉ, Mexico City sextet La ReDaDa, Swedish band Junip, visionary Brazilian musician Arto Lindsay and U.S.-based soul man Doug Hream Blunt.

Playlist

Sudan Archives - Come Meh Way

ÌFÉ - House of Love (Ogbe Yekun)

La ReDaDa  - Abrete Sesamo

Junip - Always

Arto Lindsay - Seu Pai

Doug Hream Blunt - Gentle Persuasion

Since the democratic election of the Law and Justice Party in 2015, Poland is divided between liberals and ultra-­conservatives. The country is moving away from the orbit of Western Europe and returning to a past defined by family, church and home.

In some instances, it is also moving towards a future that echoes elements of its dark history. Antisemitism on the rise and a wave of ultranationalism is sweeping the country.

Multiplicity features music videos from Ghanian/Swiss group OY, Spanish indie pop duo Single, Japanese artist Oorutaichi, New York avant-gardist Oneohtrix Point Never, German psychedelic pop group Fenster, and Los Angeles musician Entrance.

Native American basketry has long been viewed as a community craft, yet the artistic quality and value of these baskets are on par with other fine art. Now Native peoples across the country are revitalizing basketry traditions and the country looks to California as a leader in basket weaving revitalization.

The 18th annual Fine Cut Festival of Films is a collection of short films from student and emerging filmmakers. In this episode, "Respectfully, Tony" from the U.S. (Documentary), "Waiting in the Wings" from the U.S. (Comedy), "What if" from France (War), "Dad" from the U.S. (Drama), and "Kaska" from Germany (Animation/Expermental).

"Respectfully, Tony"

A convicted murderer re-enters society after spending 12 years on death row and 39 years in prison.

"Waiting in the Wings"

Beirut is a battle-­scarred city that has survived military invasions and civil war. Currently it struggles with a Muslim and Christian divide, the influx of hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees and has Isis looming over their country’s northern border. Still, Beirut is considered the cultural hub of the Middle East. Reverberating with the sounds of musicians, performers and activists as well as hosting one of the best nightlife scenes in the world, Beirut is an enigma. 

Balance features music videos from Brooklyn musician Helado Negro, Belgian duo Véronique Vincent & Aksak Maboul, L.A. artist Vex Ruffin and hip hop legend Fab 5 Freddy, Dutch/Ukrainian producer Antenna, UK musician Never, and Japanese group Networks.

During his time spent in Southern California in the late 1910s and early 1920s, Frank Lloyd Wright accelerated the search for an authentic L.A. architecture that was suitable to the city's culture and landscape. Writer/Director Christopher Hawthorne, architecture critic for the Los Angeles Times, explores the houses the legendary architect built in Los Angeles. The documentary also delves into the critic's provocative theory that these homes were also a means of artistic catharsis for Wright, who was recovering from a violent tragic episode in his life.