One of the most profound themes coursing throughout Sonbert's work is that of love between couples in all its pitfalls and perfect moments. To express this theme between his protagonists onscreen as well as in the relationship between his ever-roving hand-held camera and the human subjects in his field of vision, Sonbert employed diverse cinematic strategies, including in-camera editing (in The Bad and the Beautiful), twin-screen effects (in Ted and Jessica), and montage of discrete shots filmed in distinct spaces (in Honor and Obey). -- Jon Gartenberg. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with the Estate Project for Artists with AIDS in 1998.
A film's art director is in charge of the set, from conception to construction to furnishing. This short film walks the viewer through art directors' responsibilities and the demands on their talents.
The hand-painting of this film is interrupted by, and interspersed with, a geometrically structured Mask of Death (one of those frightening human idea-shapes of dying) immediately caught-up in threads of streaming, polarized crystals of Light (elaborately step-printed, with simultaneous frame-to-frame dissolves and printer "pull-backs" creating an effect as if the room in which the film is being viewed was inhaling viscous strands of Life's chemical material).
Thomas Becket, Henry II's longtime advisor, finds his friendship with the debauched king corroding when he is unwillingly appointed as Archbishop of Canterbury in an attempt to gain absolute loyalty from the Church.
Short documentary extolling the virtues and necessity for women to participate in America's preparation for war, showing women working in scientific, industrial, and voluntary-services activities.
Documentary short about the government census of unemployed but employable workers. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive, Academy War Film Collection, in 2009.
"I think of Odalisque as my first film. It was completed after film school and I worked with just a graphite pencil, a small group of colored pencils and animation bond.
World War II is raging, and an American general has been captured and is being held hostage in the Schloss Adler, a Bavarian castle that's nearly impossible to breach.
Five criminals are arrested after a bank-robbery. One escapes, and the police officer in charge of transporting them arrests a new person at random to cover up for his negligence.
Humanity finds a mysterious object buried beneath the lunar surface and sets off to find its origins with the help of HAL 9000, the world's most advanced super computer.
Three identical prints of a single 100 foot fixed-camera take are shown from beginning to end-roll light-flare, with a few feet of blackness preceding/bridging/following the rolls.
