Bill Morrison Movies

Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Iceland, July 9, 2016. The surprising discovery of a canister —containing four reels of The Village Detective...

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...

This documentary focuses on the artistry of director Bill Morrison, who leverages decaying film stock from years past to tell new stories that are...

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

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...

A short film made during lockdown.

The ill-fated coal mining communities in North East England are the subject of this inspired documentary by multi-media artist Bill Morrison. Their...

A scene from The Bells (1926) is optically reprinted and edited to Michael Gordon's 7 minute composition. A meditation on the fleeting nature of life...

In 1899, a photographer at American Mutoscope & Biograph mounted his camera on the front of a trolley traveling over the Brooklyn Bridge. The three...

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 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...

a serene and endearing cat-cam video, made during lockdown and scored by Bill Frisell.

On March 17, 1930, a crowd assembled outside Philadelphia's Eastern State Penitentiary in hopes of witnessing Al Capone's release from prison....

An English translation of ‘Kol Nidre’, the incantation that begins the Yom Kippur service and which pre-emptively nullifies any future...

A city symphony inspired by New York

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

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...

A short film made during lockdown.

Originally produced for the opera "The Death Train of Baron Von Frankenstein". The opera was conceived and written by John Moran, directed for the...

This found-footage piece is based on an early study of the effects of cocaine by the filmmaker’s great-grandfather Carl Koller and Sigmund...