Zeitgeist Shorts
Chazen Museum of Art 750 University Ave., Madison, Wisconsin 53706
media release: 16mm/35mm| 100 min.
Far more than most distributors, Zeitgeist Films goes to bat for visionary cinema that do not fit into the traditional two-hour theatrical runtime. Their eclectic collection includes the short film catalog of stop-motion masters Jan Švankmajer and The Brothers Quay, as well as the mind-bending early work of Peter Greenaway. Zeitgeist also celebrated new voices, including the fascinating shorts produced by Apparatus, a nonprofit founded by Todd Haynes and Christine Vachon to support emerging filmmakers. The program includes Food (Švankmajer, 1992, 17 min.), He Was Once (Mary Hestand, 1989, 16 min.), Street of Crocodiles (Quay, 1986, 21 min.), We’re Talking Vulva (Tracy Traeger & Shawna Dempsey, 1990, 5 min.), and A Walk Through H (Greenaway, 1978, 41 min.).
Admission is free, seating limited. No admission 15 minutes after scheduled start times.
The Spirit of Zeitgeist
Since 1988, New York-based distributor Zeitgeist Films has played a crucial role in the landscape of American arthouse cinema. Following the mantra “The Spirit of the Times,” Zeitgeist has introduced audiences to some of cinema’s most exciting new voices, releasing the first features of future masters Christopher Nolan, Todd Haynes, and Guy Maddin, while also championing long-running auteurs such as Abbas Kiarostami, Derek Jarman, Agnes Varda, and Peter Greenaway, as well as far-out animators like Jan Svankmajer and the Brothers Quay. Drawing on a collection donated by Zeitgeist co-founders Nancy Gerstman and Emily Russo to the Wisconsin Center for Film & Theater Research in 2024, our series showcases some of the most daring and enduring highlights from Zeitgeist’s catalog. And don’t miss Zeitgeist’s latest 2026 release, How to Divorce During the War, screening in our Premieres section.
