Bert Van Bork

A Boy Creates

Color 16mm 9 mins 1971

The Gift of the Magi

A romantic tale of a young married couple who have little money to buy each other Christmas presents. And so she cuts off and sells her beautiful hair.

Eyewitness

Eyewitness is a 1999 American short documentary film directed by Bert Van Bork. The film explores the lives of three artists forced to work in secret while living in Nazi death camps: Jan Komski, Dinah Gottliebova, and Felix Nussbaum, and who all witnessed and painted the horrors of the Holocaust. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short.

Games for Married Men

A distinctly Chicago tale of marital infidelity made by Central Cinematographers, a Chicago cine-club made up of “advanced amateurs” who met once a week to produce short narrative films. Chuck and Mary Ann, both married, are having an affair. Chuck gives Mary Ann a fancy necklace, giving her a key and telling her that he will put the necklace in the corresponding locker in Union Station. Mary Ann is to give the key to her husband claiming she found it, and he will presumably get the necklace and give it to her. She does this, but her husband brings her back the box with a cheap pocket watch in it instead. Mary Ann blames Chuck and calls him angrily, claiming she knows his game—meanwhile, Mary Ann’s husband has given the necklace to a woman he’s having an affair with, along with the key to fool her husband. Locations include establishing shots of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Marina Towers, as well as one short scene shot presumably in Union Station.