Tippeke began as an impulse by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and Thierry De Mey in 1996 to experiment with some leftover 16mm film. A nursery rhyme that De Keersmaeker used to recite to her son almost daily during the period formed the starting point, together with a movement sequence that she had recently worked out. The enthusiasm after the first film rushes ensured that the project gradually began to take more serious form. Tippeke was initially a part of the show Woud, three movements to the music of Schönberg, Berg & Wagner. The music was performed live in the show and some dancers from the company also danced synchronically in front of the screen. Tippeke was also released onto the market later as a short film.
Fearful that the Russians would continue their lead in the space race and be the first to put a man on the moon, NASA felt an enormous pressure to push the Apollo Program forward as quickly as possible, though they knew that pushing too hard could lead to the ultimate disaster.
Director Mohsen Makhmalbaf claims to have never seen a movie before making his first film. Doubtful as it sounds, this boast matches perfectly with the controversial artist's personae.
Teenager, Clare Steves, is kidnapped by an old boyfriend, Eddie Spencer, who demands $250,000. The ransom is paid and Clare is released, but when the kidnapers are caught, they claim that the whole scheme was Clare's idea as a way to punish her father.
Mari is a high school teacher who is earnest and somewhat cold. Tired of her monotonous days, she discovered a secret game: wandering around Roppongi at night and seducing men.
BEAUTIFUL FUNERALS is a hand-painted double-step-printed film composed of 1) dense blackness variously punctuated by brilliantly colored jewel/flower-like shapes AND 2) interruptive white sections which are fuzzily dotted with blurred whites and criss-crossed by black "brushstrokes" and hard-edge straight black and white lines.
