This film is part of Rentals
Tower
An emotionally gripping and visually stunning account of the first American mass school shooting, in Texas in 1966, blending archive, animation and contemporary interviews.
Documentary 2016 82 mins Not rated
Director: Keith Maitland
Overview
Mass campus shootings have become a tragically familiar occurrence in American life. But this wasn’t always the case. This lethal narrative can be traced back to an infamous act that took place in Austin on 1 August 1966. On that sweltering day, a sniper at the top of the University of Texas Tower opened fire on anonymous passers-by, holding the campus hostage for 96 deadly minutes. The carnage left 16 dead, over 30 wounded and a nation traumatised.
Director Keith Maitland masterfully combines archival footage with dynamic rotoscopic animation and personal testimony to depict the experiences and emotions of eyewitnesses and survivors with gripping immediacy, intercutting multiple perspectives to construct a richly engaging ensemble piece that blends suspense with journalistic enquiry. The result is an award-winning film that marvels at how the worst in one human being can bring out the best in so many others.
Accessibility
Related
Documentary
Polio
Documentary 1958 13 mins Director: Rollo Gamble
Daniel Farson meets people affected by polio in a series of studio interviews and a filmed report with a man paralysed after contracting the disease.
Behindert
Documentary 1974 98 mins Director: Stephen Dwoskin
The account of a close, personal relationship as experienced by a disabled man.
No Future
Documentary 1958 13 mins Director: Rollo Gamble
Despite the bleak title, there is some hope in this film about disabled schoolchildren.
Epileptics
Documentary 1958 14 mins Director: Rollo Gamble
Daniel Farson interviews people affected by epilepsy and discusses the social stigma attached to the condition.
Disabled
Documentary 1967 14 mins Director: Vic Hughes
Paul Hunt, the Rosa Parks of the UK disability rights movement, talks about living in a disabling society.
RBG
Documentary 2018 99 mins Director: Julie Cohen
Revelatory documentary on an unexpected hero - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Discoveries
Self Made
Documentary 2010 84 mins Director: Gillian Wearing
Artist Gillian Wearing’s ‘documentary’ observes seven people creating (fantasy?) identities in collaboration with a drama teacher. Raw and revealing.
Eastern Boys
Drama 2012 124 mins Director: Robin Campillo
A gay pick-up turns into a dangerous game of betrayal and violence in this slyly subversive and compelling thriller.
Light Years
Drama 2015 89 mins Director: Esther May Campbell
Beth Orton stars in a fragile and subtly nuanced drama that explores the toll of physical and mental illness on a fractured family.
The Sky Trembles and the Earth Is Afraid and the Two Eyes Are Not Brothers
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2015 95 mins Director: Ben Rivers
Britain’s brilliant experimental filmmaker Ben Rivers (Two Years at Sea) presents this haunting desert parable which follows a filmmaker’s abduction and ritual humiliation.
The Space in Between – Marina Abramović and Brazil
Documentary 2016 88 mins Director: Marco Del Fiol
A bold and unsettling mystical voyage in the company of the fearless Serbian artist, as she travels Brazil in search of spiritual healing.
Hitchcock/Truffaut
Documentary 2015 80 mins Director: Kent Jones
Kent Jones’ excellent documentary about a historic encounter between two cinema greats.
New
Monsters and Men
Drama 2018 96 mins Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green
Unravelling the aftermath of a police killing of a black man - and how it affects the lives of three separate individuals. With John David Washington (BlacKkKlansman).
Outcasts
Drama 2008 25 mins Director: Ian Clark
A girl in love, a pop star in peril and a gang on the run - watch it play out!
Walter
Drama 1982 73 mins Director: Stephen Frears
Ian McKellen stars in Stephen Frears' TV play as Walter, a man with learning difficulties who's put in an institution after the death of his mother.
Polio
Documentary 1958 13 mins Director: Rollo Gamble
Daniel Farson meets people affected by polio in a series of studio interviews and a filmed report with a man paralysed after contracting the disease.
Behindert
Documentary 1974 98 mins Director: Stephen Dwoskin
The account of a close, personal relationship as experienced by a disabled man.
No Future
Documentary 1958 13 mins Director: Rollo Gamble
Despite the bleak title, there is some hope in this film about disabled schoolchildren.