The endearing observation Spaghetti Aza paints not only the portrait of a sleepy boy but also, indirectly, of two doting parents. A one-minute home movie by Ken Jacobs, a pioneer of the American avant-garde film of the 1960s and ’70s.

Long still frames, text, and sound are woven together to unfold the narrative of an anonymous group that fills its time by plotting distances. Innocent measurements give way to political ones, examining how image and sound communicate history.

In the dressing room of Cabaret Mademoiselle, Brussels’ hotspot for drag queens, four queer performers are getting ready in front of the mirror. It’s the perfect moment to talk and open up: an intergenerational conversation about coming out and a mother’s love.

This avant-garde work exposes how we hide behind a façade in times of crisis, as if nothing is wrong. Arthur Lipsett’s first collage film mixes dozens of black-and-white photographs with audio fragments. The film’s subtle criticism of the 1960s zeitgeist in the United States earned it an Oscar nomination.

The dream of an Iran post-Islamic Republic is not only part of the online discourse, but also of the protests on the streets. This is precisely what Iranian visual artist Saleh Kashefi depicts in their award-winning video And How Miserable is the Home of Evil: Iran’s Supreme Leader (finally) falls.