Single Stream

Inspired by historian Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States,” filmmaker John Gianvito creates a portrait of American history by documenting grave sites and monuments that commemorate our nation’s activist heroes. A mesmerizing experimental documentary, “Profit motive and the whispering wind” offers a unique, minimalist travelogue through our nation’s past, taking stops to pay respects to figures like Cèsar Chàvez, Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Mother Jones, and Malcolm X, as well as some lesser-known activists. This perfectly paced, elegiac film stands as a poetic testament to the fallen radicals who helped shape our nation. Winner of the National Society of Film Critics’ Best Experimental Film Award, this film was on many Best 10 Films of the Year lists, including Cahiers du Cinema and Film Comment.

The experimental films that moved us most this year have been packed into this rich, deep collection. “Single Stream” takes us into the heart of a Boston recycling facility where hundreds of tons of refuse are sorted daily; “BIRDS” explores the life of birds in urban habitats; a two and a half year old boy revels in all things tiny and huge on and around a farm in “Strawberries in the Summertime;” and in “Mystery,” they say that if you put your ear to the back of his neck, you can hear the Virgin speak.

The experimental films that moved us most this year have been packed into this rich, deep collection. “Single Stream” takes us into the heart of a Boston recycling facility where hundreds of tons of refuse are sorted daily; “BIRDS” explores the life of birds in urban habitats; a two and a half year old boy revels in all things tiny and huge on and around a farm in “Strawberries in the Summertime;” and in “Mystery,” they say that if you put your ear to the back of his neck, you can hear the Virgin speak.

The experimental films that moved us most this year have been packed into this rich, deep collection. “Single Stream” takes us into the heart of a Boston recycling facility where hundreds of tons of refuse are sorted daily; “BIRDS” explores the life of birds in urban habitats; a two and a half year old boy revels in all things tiny and huge on and around a farm in “Strawberries in the Summertime;” and in “Mystery,” they say that if you put your ear to the back of his neck, you can hear the Virgin speak.