Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
Treb Heining’s work is centred on making life’s big moments feel even bigger. After starting his career tying balloons at Disneyland at the age of 15, he became a master of the celebratory sciences – the go-to guy for grand balloon and confetti releases across the US. And while, from the vantage of our environmentally conscious times, it’s perhaps easy to be cynical about the impact of, for instance, releasing 1.5 million balloons into the sky at once, it’s an attitude that’s difficult to maintain once you’ve heard Heining discuss his craft.
This short documentary follows Heining at the end of 2021 in the days leading up to his most iconic annual job: the release of 3,000 pounds of confetti over Times Square in New York City as the clock strikes on the start of a new year. It’s a days-long operation, culminating in teams of volunteers tossing the colourful, biodegradable paper by hand for maximal effect. In his endearing portrait, the US director Joshua Charow captures the complex logistics and emotional exuberance of the event on Heining’s 30th year working the job – a task made all the more challenging and meaningful by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Director: Joshua Charow
Website: LimeLight
video
Technology and the self
A filmmaker finds a tactile beauty in the creation of her prosthetic leg
11 minutes
video
Knowledge
An Indigenous myth and a geological survey elicit two ways of knowing one place
4 minutes
video
War and peace
A war meteorologist’s riveting account of how the Allies averted a D-Day disaster
6 minutes
video
Technology and the self
How the magic of photography brought Victorian England closer to the spirit realm
16 minutes
video
Neuroscience
Dog vision is a trendy topic, but what can we really know about how they see?
11 minutes
video
Home
An artist endeavours to bring the Moon down to Earth in a ritual of yearning
5 minutes
video
Information and communication
An animation built from road signs is a whirlwind study of flash communication
2 minutes
video
Art
Creating art that was aware of itself – and the viewer – made Manet the first modernist
15 minutes
video
Biotechnology
It’s our responsibility to engineer corals that can weather the world we’ve created
11 minutes