The need to speak openly about horrific events, to witness the beauty of the everyday, and to ponder the inexplicable are variously explored in these nine short works. The power of revelation-through testimony and confession or by the camera-make the possibility of transformation imaginable. Yet, the potential of an imminent breakdown colors many of the works.

Dos Hermanos (Juan Manuel Echavarría, Colombia, 2003). In this direct, expressive piece, two brothers give testimony, in song, about the massacre of their village. (5 mins.) Tabula Rasa (Vincent Grenier, U.S., 2004). The multilayered, eloquent Tabula Rasa records textures, fears and fantasies at a South Bronx high school. (8 mins.) Harmony (Jim Trainor, U.S., 2004). Felt-tip-drawn animals and humans urgently confess guilt for their misdeeds. (12 mins.) Chapel of the Bells Wedding Chapel Exposure: To have and to hold (Lynn Marie Kirby, U.S., 2004). Traces of light and celluloid exposed in a Nevada chapel are translated into riveting digital abstractions. (5 mins.) Let Me Count the Ways: Minus 10, Minus 9, Minus 8 (Leslie Thornton, U.S., 2004). An uneasy meditation on the bombing of Hiroshima that, through home movies and science and nature texts, looks at the costs of a nuclear age. (17 mins.) Trace Elements (Gunvor Grundel Nelson, Sweden, 2003). A searching camera, textured sound, and the shadows of a figure compose an enigmatic self-portrait of a master of the painterly image. (9 mins.) Come to See 'Ya (Eric Saks, U.S., 2004). Messages left on an answering machine and a changing skyline come together in an ode to loneliness. (16 mins.) Shape Shift (Scott Stark, U.S., 2004). In a digital age, exercise and angst take on a whole new shape. (10 mins.) Play (Matthias Müller, Christoph Girardet, Germany, 2003). In this deftly crafted homage to the narrative film and off-screen space, movie audiences from the history of cinema react, but to what? (7 mins).