Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
The audience for institutional training films is generally limited to those forced to endure them to collect a salary. However, as Everything You Wanted to Know About Sudden Birth (But Were Afraid to Ask) explores, there is a niche audience to whom the shoddy filmmaking, stiff acting and clinical dialogue of vintage training videos is a small thrill. The latest archival short from the US director Scott Calonico tells the story of a California police training video called Sudden Birth (1966), which has gone on to become something of a cult classic of the genre – in part due to its juxtaposition of clinical, amateurish production with the high human drama of an actual on-screen birth. Exploring the lives of the team behind Sudden Birth, Calonico untangles a web of personal stories that more than rivals the intrigue of the film at its centre, and in doing so builds a surprisingly heartfelt narrative to accompany the campy fun.
Director: Scott Calonico
Producers: Skip Elsheimer, Harmon Leon
video
Making
On the Norwegian coast, a tree is transformed into a boat the old-fashioned way
6 minutes
video
Animals and humans
One man’s quest to save an orphaned squirrel, as narrated by David Attenborough
14 minutes
video
Computing and artificial intelligence
A future in which ‘artificial scientists’ make discoveries may not be far away
9 minutes
video
History
Hags, seductresses, feminist icons – how gender dynamics manifest in witches
13 minutes
video
Earth science and climate
Images carved into film form a haunting elegy for a disappearing slice of Earth
3 minutes
video
Biology
Butterflies become unrecognisable landscapes when viewed under electron microscopes
4 minutes
video
War and peace
Two Ukrainian boys’ summer unfolds just miles from the frontlines
22 minutes
video
Nature and landscape
California’s landscapes provide endless inspiration for a woodcut printmaker
10 minutes
video
Love and friendship
Never marry a man you love too much, and other views on romance in Sierra Leone
5 minutes