Cotton Candy. Ernie Gehr dislikes labels. Whether it's being called a “structuralist,” a “filmmaker,” or even an “artist,” he would simply prefer to avoid all of that. “It’s too precious,” he tells me with characteristic humility on the eve of his historic six-part retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in March. “At the end of the day, I'm just a human being. These labels may be useful to some but meaningless to others. While I am concerned about how things might be perceived, it's ultimately subjective. Like vision.”It’s a fitting statement, considering that few others have explored the subjectivity of vision as thoroughly as Gehr has over his five-plus decades of output, all while employing the most minimal of means. Once described as a “master of reduction” by Peter Tscherkassky, Gehr distills a visual experience into its purest form. His carefully considered 16mm films aren’t...
- 5/22/2024
- MUBI
Peter Tscherkassky's Train Again is showing exclusively on Mubi in most countries starting March 3, 2022 in the series Brief Encounters.Again A TRAINIt all began with a wonderful piece of found footage—as is so often the case with my films. Train Again was inspired by a 5-minute roll of 35mm film that a friend had discovered at a flea market and thoughtfully passed my way. It consisted of commercial rushes for our state-owned railway, presenting ten to twelve takes of a train emerging from a tunnel in the distance, gradually approaching and finally reaching the camera which in turn pans with the train as it speeds past and disappears into the distance—at the opposite end of the frame.Aside from the pan, the takes bear an unmistakable similarity to the Lumière brothers' L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat: What begins as a long shot of a...
- 2/28/2022
- MUBI
Next month’s Mubi lineup for the U.S. has been unveiled, with a major highlight being their recent release Lingui, The Sacred Bonds and more films from director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (read our recent chat with him). Matías Piñeiro’s Isabella and Kazik Radwanski’s Anne at 13,000 Ft., two of last year’s highlights, will also arrive.
Two recent Cannes premieres, the Adèle Exarchopoulos-led Zero Fucks Given and Peter Tscherkassky’s Train Again will also finally come to the U.S. courtesy of Mubi. In terms of older highlights, Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark, Hong Sang-soo’s The Power of the Kangwon Province, Jafar Panahi’s Crimson Gold, Jean Renoir’s Grand Illusion, and more will arrive.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
March 1 | The Willmar 8 | Lee Grant | Down and Out in America: Lee Grant’s Documentaries
March 2 | Train Again | Peter Tscherkassky | Brief Encounters
March...
Two recent Cannes premieres, the Adèle Exarchopoulos-led Zero Fucks Given and Peter Tscherkassky’s Train Again will also finally come to the U.S. courtesy of Mubi. In terms of older highlights, Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark, Hong Sang-soo’s The Power of the Kangwon Province, Jafar Panahi’s Crimson Gold, Jean Renoir’s Grand Illusion, and more will arrive.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
March 1 | The Willmar 8 | Lee Grant | Down and Out in America: Lee Grant’s Documentaries
March 2 | Train Again | Peter Tscherkassky | Brief Encounters
March...
- 2/18/2022
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Our annual tradition of Fantasy Double Features asks the year's Notebook contributors to pair something new with something old, with the only requirement being the films have to have been freshly seen this year.Part diary of memorable viewing during 2021, part creative prompt to think about how cinema's present speaks to its past (and vice versa), the 14th edition of our end of year poll weaves between theater-going and home-viewing so seamlessly as to suggest that early pandemic impediments from last year are now quite normal. Yet clearly that hasn't stopped us from watching, being delighted by, and thinking about movies, and the wonderful combinations below are testaments to the dynamic, idiosyncratic, and interactive vitality of moviegoing wherever and however its being practiced.CONTRIBUTORSJett Allen | Paul Attard | Jennifer Lynde Barker | Susana Bessa | Michael M. Bilandic | Ela Bittencourt | Johannes Black | Joshua Bogatin | Alex Broadwell | Celluloid Liberation Front | Lillian Crawford | Adrian Curry...
- 1/13/2022
- MUBI
Revisiting last year's introduction when putting together 2021's favorites, it is with a shock to realize how little has changed in the wildly disrupted world of cinema under the shroud of the pandemic. The urge to copy-and-paste the whole shebang is quite tempting indeed.What can we say about this year, 2021? We got a little more used to long-term instability. Cinemas and festivals re-opened, only for some to close again. We, like many, ventured carefully out into the world to finally see films again with audiences, all kinds: nervous ones, uproarious ones, spartan ones, and delighted ones. It was an experience both anxious and joyous. We also doubled down on the challenges, but also the pleasures, of home viewing: of virtual cinemas and virtual festivals, of straight to streaming premieres, of trying to capture a social joy in semi-isolation by connecting with others over experiences shared and disparate.The long...
- 12/27/2021
- MUBI
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSDario Argento's Dark GlassesFollowing his appearance in Gaspar Noé's Vortex, Dario Argento returns to directing with Dark Glasses, his first feature since Dracula 3D (2012). Starring Asia Argento and Andrea Zhang, the thriller follows a serial killer, a blind sex worker, and a 10-year-old Chinese boy in Rome's Chinese community. John Woo is also set to make a return to Hollywood with Silent Night, a "no dialogue" action film about a father (played by Joel Kinnaman) who seeks to avenge his son's death. Film Labs, a "worldwide network of artist-run film laboratories," now has a new website! The website includes more than 500 films made at artist-run film labs from Vancouver to South Korea, as well as technical resources and distribution information. Dancer, choreographer, theatrical director, and filmmaker Wakefield Poole has died. A pioneer of the gay pornography industry,...
- 11/3/2021
- MUBI
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSAbove: Fox Maxy's Maat Means Land (2020) MoMA has announced the lineup and schedule for “To The Lighthouse,” a thrilling carte blanche program by curator Mark McElhatten featuring new films by Nathaniel Dorsky, Ernie Gehr, Jodie Mack, Dani and Sheilah ReStack, and more, along with older films by Rivette, Joseph H. Lewis, Claire Denis, and Marguerite Duras.An essential annual list, Filmmaker Magazine's 25 new faces of film for 2021 includes Kate Gondwe (the founder of Dezda Films), filmmaker Fox Maxy, Omnes Films (the collective behind Tyler Taormina's Ham on Rye), and others. A24 and Emma Stone’s production company, Fruit Tree Banner, have come together to back Jane Schoenbrun's I Saw The TV Glow. The film, a follow-up to Schoenbrun's debut from this year, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, follows...
- 10/13/2021
- MUBI
Toronto Film Festival Adds Docs and Midnight Titles Including ‘Titane,’ ‘Attica’ and ‘Neptune Frost’
The Toronto International Film Festival announced which films will fill the TIFF Docs, Midnight Madness, and Wavelength sections at this year’s edition of the event, which runs from Sept. 9-18. The festival also added new titles to the Special Presentation and Contemporary World Cinema programs.
Opening TIFF Docs is the world premiere of “Attica” by Stanley Nelson, which tells the story of the 1971 Attica prison riot. Coming about as a result of the prisoners’ fight for more humane living conditions and lasting for five days, it remains the deadliest prison rebellion in U.S. history.
Wavelengths will open with “Neptune Frost” from directors and married couple Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman. The film is billed a sci-fi musical romance between an intersex hacker and a coltan miner that will follow the “virtual marvel born as a result of their union.” This marks the North American premiere of the film,...
Opening TIFF Docs is the world premiere of “Attica” by Stanley Nelson, which tells the story of the 1971 Attica prison riot. Coming about as a result of the prisoners’ fight for more humane living conditions and lasting for five days, it remains the deadliest prison rebellion in U.S. history.
Wavelengths will open with “Neptune Frost” from directors and married couple Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman. The film is billed a sci-fi musical romance between an intersex hacker and a coltan miner that will follow the “virtual marvel born as a result of their union.” This marks the North American premiere of the film,...
- 8/4/2021
- by Selome Hailu
- Variety Film + TV
BenedictionThe lineup has been unveiled for the 2021 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, which will take place over 10 days (September 9-18) both in-person and physically in Toronto, and digitally across Canada. Wavelengths - FEATURESFutura (Pietro Marcello, Francesco Munzi, Alice Rohrwacher)The Girl and the Spider (Ramon Zürcher, Silvan Zürcher)Neptune Frost (Saul Williams, Anisia Uzeyman)A Night of Knowing Nothing (Payal Kapadia)Ste. Anne (Rhayne Vermette)The Tsugua Diaries (Maureen Fazendeiro, Miguel Gomes)Wavelengths - SHORTSThe Capacity for Adequate Anger (Vika Kirchenbauer)Dear Chantal (Querida Chantal) (Nicolás Pereda)earthearthearth (Daïchi Saïto)Inner Outer Space (Laida Lertxundi)Polycephaly in D (Michael Robinson)“The red filter is withdrawn.” (Minjung Kim)Train Again (Peter Tscherkassky)Midnight Madness After Blue (Dirty Paradise) (Bertrand Mandico)Dashcam (Rob Savage)Saloum (Jean Luc Herbulot)Titane (Julia Ducournau)You Are Not My Mother (Kate Dolan)Zalava (Arsalan Amiri)TIFF DOCSAttica (Stanley Nelson)Beba (Rebeca Huntt)Becoming Cousteau...
- 8/4/2021
- MUBI
The analog comeback continues for cinematography, as this week’s Cannes Film Festival boasts 19 titles shot on Kodak film, with eight competing for the Palme D’Or, highlighted by Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch” (Searchlight Pictures). The multi-layered ode to journalism, with an ensemble cast consisting ofTilda Swinton, Bill Murray, Timothee Chalamet, Lea Seydoux, Benicio del Toro, Elisabeth Moss, Owen Wilson, and Frances McDormand, was shot in both 35mm color and black-and-white by go-to cinematographer Robert Yeoman.
The other Palme D’Or entries shot on film include Sean Baker’s “Red Rocket” (Dp Drew Daniels), Ildikó Enyedi’s “The Story of My Wife,” (Dp Marcell Rév), Mia Hansen-Løve’s “Bergman Island” (Dp Denis Lenoir), Juho Kuosmanen’s “Compartment No. 6” (Dp Jani-Petteri Passi), Sean Penn’s “Flag Day” (Dp Daniel Moder), Joachim Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World” (Dp Kasper Tuxen), and Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s “Memoria” (Dp Sayombhu Mukdeeprom).
Additionally,...
The other Palme D’Or entries shot on film include Sean Baker’s “Red Rocket” (Dp Drew Daniels), Ildikó Enyedi’s “The Story of My Wife,” (Dp Marcell Rév), Mia Hansen-Løve’s “Bergman Island” (Dp Denis Lenoir), Juho Kuosmanen’s “Compartment No. 6” (Dp Jani-Petteri Passi), Sean Penn’s “Flag Day” (Dp Daniel Moder), Joachim Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World” (Dp Kasper Tuxen), and Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s “Memoria” (Dp Sayombhu Mukdeeprom).
Additionally,...
- 7/6/2021
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
The lineup for the 2021 Directors' Fortnight (Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) at Cannes has been announced. See also the full lineups of the Official Selection and Critics’ Week.Our MenFEATURE Films A Chiara (Jonas Carpignano): The story of 15-year-old Chiara whose close-knit family falls apart after her father abandons them in Calabria. Chiara starts to investigate to understand why her father disappeared and as she gets closer to the truth, she is forced to decide what kind of future she wants for herself.Ali & Ava (Clio Barnard): Both lonely for different reasons, Ali and Ava meet through their shared affection for Sofia—the child of Ali’s Slovakian tenants, whom Ava teaches. Over a lunar month, sparks fly and a deep connection begins to grow.Between Two Worlds (Emmanuel Carrère)The Braves (Anaïs Volpé)A Brighter Tomorrow (Yassine Qnia)Clara Sola (Nathalie Álvarez Mesen)The Employer and the Employee (Manuel...
- 6/9/2021
- MUBI
The lineup for the Cannes Directors Fortnight was revealed on Tuesday, featuring new films by Clio Barnard, Joanna Hogg and Alice Rohrwacher. Of the 24 films selected for the lineup, exactly half have at least one woman director.
The 12 of 24 films in the Cannes Directors Fortnight, which is the independent arm of the Cannes Film Festival kicking off next month, dwarfs the number of female directors in the Cannes main competition lineup, in which only four of the 24 selected movies were directed by women. However, some of the movies for the Directors Fortnight feature women as co-directors, so 12 of 29 of the total directors are women.
The Directors Fortnight will host a special screening of Hogg’s “The Souvenir Part 1,” as “Part 2” will be playing in competition. Other notable films include “A Night of Knowing Nothing,” the first feature by actress Payal Kapadia, and “Hit the Road,” another debut feature by Panah Panahi,...
The 12 of 24 films in the Cannes Directors Fortnight, which is the independent arm of the Cannes Film Festival kicking off next month, dwarfs the number of female directors in the Cannes main competition lineup, in which only four of the 24 selected movies were directed by women. However, some of the movies for the Directors Fortnight feature women as co-directors, so 12 of 29 of the total directors are women.
The Directors Fortnight will host a special screening of Hogg’s “The Souvenir Part 1,” as “Part 2” will be playing in competition. Other notable films include “A Night of Knowing Nothing,” the first feature by actress Payal Kapadia, and “Hit the Road,” another debut feature by Panah Panahi,...
- 6/8/2021
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
A full picture of the Cannes Film Festival is now coming into focus with the unveiling of the Directors’ Fortnight lineup. Following the Official Selection and the Critics’ Week lineups, this sidebar features Joanna Hogg’s highly-anticipated sequel The Souvenir Part II, as well as new films by Miguel Gomes, Jonas Carpignano, Clio Barnard, Pietro Marcello, Alice Rohrwacher, Matías Piñeiro, and more.
See below.
Features
A Chiara (Jonas Carpignano)
Ali & Ava (Clio Barnard)
Between Two Worlds (Emmanuel Carrère)
The Braves (Anaïs Volpé)
A Brighter Tomorrow (Yassine Qnia)
Clara Sola (Nathalie Álvarez Mesen)
The Employer and the Employee (Manuel Nieto)
Europa (Haider Rashid)
Futura
Întregalde (Radu Muntean)
The Hill where Lionesses Roar (Luàna Bajrami)
Hit the Road (Panah Panahi)
Magnetic Beats (Vincent Cardona)
Medusa (Anita Rocha da Silveira)
Murina (Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović)
Neptune Frost
A Night of Knowing Nothing (Payal Kapadia)
Our Men (Rachel Lang)
Returning to Reims (Fragments) (Jean-Gabriel Périot...
See below.
Features
A Chiara (Jonas Carpignano)
Ali & Ava (Clio Barnard)
Between Two Worlds (Emmanuel Carrère)
The Braves (Anaïs Volpé)
A Brighter Tomorrow (Yassine Qnia)
Clara Sola (Nathalie Álvarez Mesen)
The Employer and the Employee (Manuel Nieto)
Europa (Haider Rashid)
Futura
Întregalde (Radu Muntean)
The Hill where Lionesses Roar (Luàna Bajrami)
Hit the Road (Panah Panahi)
Magnetic Beats (Vincent Cardona)
Medusa (Anita Rocha da Silveira)
Murina (Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović)
Neptune Frost
A Night of Knowing Nothing (Payal Kapadia)
Our Men (Rachel Lang)
Returning to Reims (Fragments) (Jean-Gabriel Périot...
- 6/8/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The Directors’ Fortnight parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival has unveiled its lineup for the 2021 edition which runs from July 7-17. Scroll down for the full list.
Fortnight chief Paolo Moretti, who took over the reins in 2019, presented the roster from the Forum des Images in Paris, saying, “After a very painful year for everyone, we are happy to present a selection of discovery.” Out of 24 features, 22 filmmakers are showing their films for first time at Cannes. Half of the films this year are directed or co-directed by women including Clio Barnard’s Ali & Ava; documentary Futura from Alice Rohrwacher, Pietro Marcello and Francesco Munzi; and Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir: Part II with Tilda Swinton and Richard Ayoade.
There are eight debut features in the lineup, including Jadde Khaki (Hit the Road), the first film from Jafar Panahi’s son Panah Panahi, and Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović’s Murina...
Fortnight chief Paolo Moretti, who took over the reins in 2019, presented the roster from the Forum des Images in Paris, saying, “After a very painful year for everyone, we are happy to present a selection of discovery.” Out of 24 features, 22 filmmakers are showing their films for first time at Cannes. Half of the films this year are directed or co-directed by women including Clio Barnard’s Ali & Ava; documentary Futura from Alice Rohrwacher, Pietro Marcello and Francesco Munzi; and Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir: Part II with Tilda Swinton and Richard Ayoade.
There are eight debut features in the lineup, including Jadde Khaki (Hit the Road), the first film from Jafar Panahi’s son Panah Panahi, and Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović’s Murina...
- 6/8/2021
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Today through April 30, the website This Long Century, which describes itself as “an ever-evolving collection of personal insights from artists, authors, filmmakers, musicians and cultural icons the world over,” is hosting two programs of experimental short work, with 30 shorts in total. The Outside program includes Lucile Hadžihalilović’s 2017 De Natura, Carlos Reygadas’s 2011 Este es mi Reino, and Deborah Stratman’s 1997 medium-length From Hetty to Nancy. The equally strong Inside program includes Jodie Mack’s 2012 Blanket Statement #1: Home is Where the Heart is, Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s 2018 Blue, Peter Tscherkassky’s legendary 1999 Outer Space and David Lowery’s 2011 Pioneer. Streaming is free, though This Long […]...
- 4/9/2020
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Today through April 30, the website This Long Century, which describes itself as “an ever-evolving collection of personal insights from artists, authors, filmmakers, musicians and cultural icons the world over,” is hosting two programs of experimental short work, with 30 shorts in total. The Outside program includes Lucile Hadžihalilović’s 2017 De Natura, Carlos Reygadas’s 2011 Este es mi Reino, and Deborah Stratman’s 1997 medium-length From Hetty to Nancy. The equally strong Inside program includes Jodie Mack’s 2012 Blanket Statement #1: Home is Where the Heart is, Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s 2018 Blue, Peter Tscherkassky’s legendary 1999 Outer Space and David Lowery’s 2011 Pioneer. Streaming is free, though This Long […]...
- 4/9/2020
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Lee Ranaldo had an epiphany about his new album while wandering through a neighborhood in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Each street on his journey was named after a woman — just their first names — and as he walked by Lydia, Kate, Dagmar, Harriett and Juno, Ranaldo wrote those names down. He was fascinated by the fact that the names seemed to come from nowhere, with no explanation as to why each street bore that title.
“Somehow it became an impetus for the lyrics in terms of the people that drift in and out of one’s life,...
“Somehow it became an impetus for the lyrics in terms of the people that drift in and out of one’s life,...
- 11/13/2019
- by Brenna Ehrlich
- Rollingstone.com
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSAvant-garde filmmaker Peter Tscherkassky has provided a new ident for Mubi that displays his "sensory and tactile view on cinema." The ident features strips of film negative overlapping and whirring to the sounds of a passing train. Recommended VIEWINGThe official trailer for Clint Eastwood's Richard Jewell, based on the true story of a security guard falsely accused of planting a bomb at the 1996 Olympics. An investigation into the "real fake cameras" used to create Toy Story 4, which emulates a variety of camera lenses, from anamorphic to spherical. The elusive Roger Avary, co-writer of Pulp Fiction and director of The Rules of Attraction, returns from a long hiatus with what looks to be a delightful crime romp complete with Crispin Glover as a fake Frenchman-assassin.Mati Diop's Atlantics, which follows a woman...
- 10/9/2019
- MUBI
Jaume Collett-Serra, the mathematician, the physicist, the secret philosopher, works better with infinite space in which to perform equations. His ‘bottle’ movies, where Liam Neeson is trapped in a small location with an Agatha Christie conspiracy to ferret out, show off his formal capabilities and fixations, but not his strengths. A fight scene and a train crash can no longer use Liam Neeson as anything other than a kind of stop-motion blur. So it’s probably a head-banging conundrum for Collet-Serra agnostics why a handful of critics consider his work so irresistible and satisfying. They see the movies he appears to be making, instead of the bone dry parody set in a blue screen netherworld that he’s placed just below the surface of our immediate perception. You need only watch the ending to The Commuter to understand precisely what he thinks of the subject matter he works with. At...
- 1/13/2018
- MUBI
Malaise (Don Levy). Courtesy of the artist, The Don Levy Project, and Academy Film Archive.This is the second year in a row that filmmaker / programmer Mónica Savirón has organized a screening of experimental films for the First Look series. Last year’s program, “A Matter of Visibility,” focused on women’s cinema from around the world. This is a subject about which the U.S.-based, Spanish-born Savirón is uniquely suited to illuminate us. Last year’s show was gratifyingly diverse in both style and national origin, the program anchored by a rarely-screened work by then-recently deceased Chantal Akerman, and including other artists whose work is all too seldom seen on these shores. Some, like Lis Rhodes and Cécile Fontaine, are reasonably canonical, whereas others showcased by Savirón were up-and-coming filmmakers such as Nazli Dinçel and Klara Ravat. While I don’t know of any experimental film programmers for...
- 1/14/2017
- MUBI
Mubi is presenting the global online premiere of Peter Tscherkassky's short film, The Exquisite Corpus, running June 11 - July 10, 2016. The film will play at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York on July 1 and 3, and at Cinefamily in Los Angeles on July 1, 2 and 6.While Peter Tscherkassky was arranging pornographic film strips into his latest found-footage phantasmagoria, The Exquisite Corpus, Eve Heller reminded him, "Don't you forget about men! I want to have my fun too, not just watch women." This is advice from one experimental filmmaker to another, but also a request from one spouse to another (the two are married). The Exquisite Corpus premiered at the 2015 Quinzaine des réalisateurs, but the film's raw materials come from disreputable, disposable skin flicks and stag films. While Tscherkassky continues his working method he calls "manufracture" (named after his 1985 film) that pulverizes and reconfigures just about every assumption of cinematic...
- 7/1/2016
- MUBI
Since any New York cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.
Metrograph
It’s a French New Wave take on America’s worst era — what else could you want? The great Far from Vietnam plays as part of “Welcome to Metrograph: A-z” on Saturday, along with Varda‘s Lion’s Love and Tsai‘s The Hole.
“Summer In the City” brings Dog Day Afternoon and Spike Lee...
Metrograph
It’s a French New Wave take on America’s worst era — what else could you want? The great Far from Vietnam plays as part of “Welcome to Metrograph: A-z” on Saturday, along with Varda‘s Lion’s Love and Tsai‘s The Hole.
“Summer In the City” brings Dog Day Afternoon and Spike Lee...
- 7/1/2016
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
How would you program this year's newest, most interesting films into double features with movies of the past you saw in 2015?Looking back over the year at what films moved and impressed us, it is clear that watching old films is a crucial part of making new films meaningful. Thus, the annual tradition of our end of year poll, which calls upon our writers to pick both a new and an old film: they were challenged to choose a new film they saw in 2015—in theatres or at a festival—and creatively pair it with an old film they also saw in 2015 to create a unique double feature.All the contributors were given the option to write some text explaining their 2015 fantasy double feature. What's more, each writer was given the option to list more pairings, with or without explanation, as further imaginative film programming we'd be lucky to catch...
- 1/4/2016
- by Notebook
- MUBI
Special Mention: Spirits Of The Dead (Histoires extraordinaires)
Written and directed by Federico Fellini (segment “Toby Dammit”), Louis Malle (segment “William Wilson”), Roger Vadim (segment “Metzengerstein”)
France, 1968
The first thing you should notice is the three directors: Federico Fellini, Louis Malle, and Roger Vadim. Secondly, take notice of the cast, which includes Brigitte Bardot, Jane Fonda, Peter Fonda, Alain Delon, Terence Stamp, Salvo Randone, James Robertson Justice, Françoise Prévost and Marlène Alexandre. Spirits Of The Dead is an adaptation of three Edgar Allan Poe stories, one of which demands to be seen.
The first segment of the film, Vadim’s “Metzgengerstein”, is unfortunately the least impressive, but is still great in its own right, and features a marvelous performance by Jane Fonda. Malle’s segment, which is the second of the three, turns Edgar Allan Poe’s 1839 story into an engrossing study in cruelty and sadism. This episode is an engaging enough entry,...
Written and directed by Federico Fellini (segment “Toby Dammit”), Louis Malle (segment “William Wilson”), Roger Vadim (segment “Metzengerstein”)
France, 1968
The first thing you should notice is the three directors: Federico Fellini, Louis Malle, and Roger Vadim. Secondly, take notice of the cast, which includes Brigitte Bardot, Jane Fonda, Peter Fonda, Alain Delon, Terence Stamp, Salvo Randone, James Robertson Justice, Françoise Prévost and Marlène Alexandre. Spirits Of The Dead is an adaptation of three Edgar Allan Poe stories, one of which demands to be seen.
The first segment of the film, Vadim’s “Metzgengerstein”, is unfortunately the least impressive, but is still great in its own right, and features a marvelous performance by Jane Fonda. Malle’s segment, which is the second of the three, turns Edgar Allan Poe’s 1839 story into an engrossing study in cruelty and sadism. This episode is an engaging enough entry,...
- 10/27/2015
- by Ricky Fernandes
- SoundOnSight
Chicago – The 2015 awards ceremony at the 51st Chicago International Festival took place on Friday, October 23rd, and Andrew Davis – International Competition Jury President – announced that the French film “A Childhood” was the recipient of the prestigious Gold Hugo Award for the festival’s top film.
The evening was also highlighted by the Founder’s Award, given by festival originator Michael Kutza. Director Michael Moore accepted the award in person for his new and provocative documentary, “Where to Invade Next.” Moore gave an impassioned acceptance speech, amplifying his optimism in his new film, which pleads for social change in America.
Michael Moore Accepts The Founder’s Award
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com
The awards event took place in the ballroom at Chicago’s Peninsula Hotel, and was hosted by festival Managing Director Vivian Teng. Presenters included Programming Director Mimi Plauché, programmers Anthony Kaufman and Camille Lugan, plus various jury...
The evening was also highlighted by the Founder’s Award, given by festival originator Michael Kutza. Director Michael Moore accepted the award in person for his new and provocative documentary, “Where to Invade Next.” Moore gave an impassioned acceptance speech, amplifying his optimism in his new film, which pleads for social change in America.
Michael Moore Accepts The Founder’s Award
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com
The awards event took place in the ballroom at Chicago’s Peninsula Hotel, and was hosted by festival Managing Director Vivian Teng. Presenters included Programming Director Mimi Plauché, programmers Anthony Kaufman and Camille Lugan, plus various jury...
- 10/25/2015
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
The American Film Institute announced today the films that will screen in the World Cinema, Breakthrough, Midnight, Shorts and Cinema’s Legacy programs at AFI Fest 2015 presented by Audi.
AFI Fest will take place November 5 – 12, 2015, in the heart of Hollywood. Screenings, Galas and events will be held at the historic Tcl Chinese Theatre, the Tcl Chinese 6 Theatres, Dolby Theatre, the Lloyd E. Rigler Theatre at the Egyptian, the El Capitan Theatre and The Hollywood Roosevelt.
World Cinema showcases the most acclaimed international films of the year; Breakthrough highlights true discoveries of the programming process; Midnight selections will grip audiences with terror; and Cinema’s Legacy highlights classic movies and films about cinema. World Cinema and Breakthrough selections are among the films eligible for Audience Awards. Shorts selections are eligible for the Grand Jury Prize, which qualifies the winner for Academy Award®consideration. This year’s Shorts jury features filmmaker Janicza Bravo,...
AFI Fest will take place November 5 – 12, 2015, in the heart of Hollywood. Screenings, Galas and events will be held at the historic Tcl Chinese Theatre, the Tcl Chinese 6 Theatres, Dolby Theatre, the Lloyd E. Rigler Theatre at the Egyptian, the El Capitan Theatre and The Hollywood Roosevelt.
World Cinema showcases the most acclaimed international films of the year; Breakthrough highlights true discoveries of the programming process; Midnight selections will grip audiences with terror; and Cinema’s Legacy highlights classic movies and films about cinema. World Cinema and Breakthrough selections are among the films eligible for Audience Awards. Shorts selections are eligible for the Grand Jury Prize, which qualifies the winner for Academy Award®consideration. This year’s Shorts jury features filmmaker Janicza Bravo,...
- 10/22/2015
- by Melissa Thompson
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
It's Projections weekend at the New York Film Festival and we're rounding reviews of, trailers for and clips from films by the likes of Ben Rivers, Ben Russell, Lewis Klahr, Peter Tscherkassky, Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel, Jodie Mack, Saul Levine, Chick Strand, Blake Williams, Wojciech Bakowski, Scott Stark, Jodie Mack, Ana Vaz, Jared Buckhiester and Dani Leventhal, Laida Lertxundi, Fern Silva, Jim Finn, Lois Patiño, Riccardo Giacconi, Alee Peoples, Cécile B. Evans and many more. » - David Hudson...
- 10/2/2015
- Keyframe
It's Projections weekend at the New York Film Festival and we're rounding reviews of, trailers for and clips from films by the likes of Ben Rivers, Ben Russell, Lewis Klahr, Peter Tscherkassky, Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel, Jodie Mack, Saul Levine, Chick Strand, Blake Williams, Wojciech Bakowski, Scott Stark, Jodie Mack, Ana Vaz, Jared Buckhiester and Dani Leventhal, Laida Lertxundi, Fern Silva, Jim Finn, Lois Patiño, Riccardo Giacconi, Alee Peoples, Cécile B. Evans and many more. » - David Hudson...
- 10/2/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
The New STYLEThis is the second year that the New York Film Festival has presented Projections, its extensive showcase of experimental film and video that for years had been called Views From the Avant-Garde. The name change (or "rebranding," in the parlance of our ugly times) corresponded, of course, to the departure of longtime programmer Mark McElhatten. Under his stewardship, Views became one of the premiere experimental film festivals in the world, a long weekend of high caliber dispatches from established masters, alongside bracing discoveries by up-and-coming makers whose work somehow caught Mark's eye. His programming partner, Film Comment's Gavin Smith, often brought along selections that complemented Mark's, even as they were out of his usual bailiwick.The Views era was not without its dissenters. Some complained that McElhatten rounded up the usual suspects year after year, sometimes without regard to the relative quality of their latest offerings. Others, most prominently Su Friedrich,...
- 10/2/2015
- by Michael Sicinski
- MUBI
Youth On The MARCHThere are 48 individual films screening in the Wavelengths section of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. The relative importance of this section, amidst the vast array of offerings in this relatively huge festival, depends on your taste in movies, of course, to say nothing of your specific objectives. If you’re coming to Toronto to try to score a hot tip in this year’s Oscar race, well . . . I feel sorry for you on a number of levels. But Wavelengths is unlikely to be your jam. Originally conceived exclusively as a showcase for experimental and non-narrative films (hence the section’s title, a direct tribute to avant-garde master and Toronto native son Michael Snow), Wavelengths now encompasses the edgier, less commercial side of art cinema. This is the first of two preview essays, and my aim is to cover everything in the section. These are the...
- 9/12/2015
- by Michael Sicinski
- MUBI
The eighth entry in an on-going series of audiovisual essays by Cristina Álvarez López and Adrian Martin.***Cinephilia—in the form in which it can be shared by spectators and filmmakers alike—has two extreme poles, and both of them are associated with fierce, intense drives. There is the cinephilia aligned with love in all its manifestations: romanticism, desire, tenderness, hope. And then there is the cinephilia aligned with aggression, violence, a death-drive. Neither, in an important sense, should be regarded entirely literally: many things on the face of this earth slip under and between love and aggressivity, and these metamorphosing states can stand for, or become attached to, every kind of social, political situation. Samuel Fuller knew the score, in his famous pronouncement for Pierrot le fou (1965): “Film is like a battleground. Love. Hate. Action. Violence. Death. In one word…emotion.” And emotion can be never constrained or...
- 9/5/2015
- by Cristina Álvarez López & Adrian Martin
- MUBI
The 59Th BFI London Film Festival Announces Full 2015 Programme
You can peruse the programme at your leisure here.
The programme for the 59th BFI London Film Festival in partnership launched today, with Festival Director Clare Stewart presenting this year’s rich and diverse selection of films and events. BFI London Film Festival is Britain’s leading film event and one of the world’s oldest film festivals. It introduces the finest new British and international films to an expanding London and UK-wide audience. The Festival provides an essential platform for films seeking global success; and promotes the careers of British and international filmmakers through its industry and awards programmes. With this year’s industry programme stronger than ever, offering international filmmakers and leaders a programme of insightful events covering every area of the film industry Lff positions London as the world’s leading creative city.
The Festival will screen a...
You can peruse the programme at your leisure here.
The programme for the 59th BFI London Film Festival in partnership launched today, with Festival Director Clare Stewart presenting this year’s rich and diverse selection of films and events. BFI London Film Festival is Britain’s leading film event and one of the world’s oldest film festivals. It introduces the finest new British and international films to an expanding London and UK-wide audience. The Festival provides an essential platform for films seeking global success; and promotes the careers of British and international filmmakers through its industry and awards programmes. With this year’s industry programme stronger than ever, offering international filmmakers and leaders a programme of insightful events covering every area of the film industry Lff positions London as the world’s leading creative city.
The Festival will screen a...
- 9/1/2015
- by John
- SoundOnSight
They won’t all be like this. Responding, after our inaugural dispatch, to the international vlogger community’s insistently histrionic cries that we get ourselves a cameraman, Neil acquired the skills of a friend’s friend who was also in town for the 16th edition of New Horizons, in Wrocław, Poland. We won’t always, it should be noted, have the luxury of such handy professional contacts. The location for this conversation was the roof of Wrocław’s Monopol Hotel, from which could be seen, not far away, a yellow Liebherr crane. Knowing the company has a branch in Sunderland, Neil speculated with much optimism that the crane might be from there—like him.Due to a technical mishap beyond our control, the published video concludes ten minutes sooner than the real-life conversation did. We have, though, an exchange covering Hou Hsiao-hsien’s The Assassin, Miguel Gomes’s Arabian Nights,...
- 8/25/2015
- by Michael Pattison
- MUBI
Potential awards season contenders Truth from James Vanderbilt and Marc Abraham’s I Saw The Light starring Tom Hiddleston as Hank Williams land world premiere slots, while Paco Cabezas’s Mr. Right will close the festival.
London is the subject of the seventh annual City To City programme that features world premieres of Tom Geens’ Couple In A Hole starring Paul Higgins and Kate Dickie and Michael Caton-Jones’ Urban Hymn with Letitia Wright and Shirley Henderson. Elaine Constantine’s Northern Soul gets a North American premiere.
The world premiere of Catherine Hardwicke’s Miss You Already is among five additions to the galas alongside Mr. Right, an action comedy starring Sam Rockwell and Anna Kendrick.
Matthew Cullen’s Martin Amis adaptation London Fields and David Gordon Green’s Our Brand Is Crisis get first public screenings in the Special Presentations roster with I Saw The Light.
Tiff top brass also unveiled the Contemporary World Cinema section, featuring...
London is the subject of the seventh annual City To City programme that features world premieres of Tom Geens’ Couple In A Hole starring Paul Higgins and Kate Dickie and Michael Caton-Jones’ Urban Hymn with Letitia Wright and Shirley Henderson. Elaine Constantine’s Northern Soul gets a North American premiere.
The world premiere of Catherine Hardwicke’s Miss You Already is among five additions to the galas alongside Mr. Right, an action comedy starring Sam Rockwell and Anna Kendrick.
Matthew Cullen’s Martin Amis adaptation London Fields and David Gordon Green’s Our Brand Is Crisis get first public screenings in the Special Presentations roster with I Saw The Light.
Tiff top brass also unveiled the Contemporary World Cinema section, featuring...
- 8/18/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
For two weeks Doc Alliance,an European online streaming platform for documentaries has been presenting many digital copies of Austrian avant-garde filmmaker Peter Tscherkassky's films for free. Tscherkassky, whose latest The Exquisite Corpus premiered a few days ago in Cannes, is simply put one of the most important avant-garde filmmakers worldwide. He is devoted to the materiality of film and to the re-cycling and re-copying of found footage. His films have a huge theoretical as well as technical dimension but they are also heavily sensual with a trembling flair of revolution that makes it hard to think while watching. Of course, it is not the best way to see his films on a digital screening platform online, but to get a first idea and to...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 6/2/2015
- Screen Anarchy
Below you will find our favorite films of the Festival de Cannes, as well as an index of our coverage, with more entries, including interviews, to come. We also have an index of the festival's awards.Daniel Kasmantop Picksi. Cemetery of Splendour, The AssassinII. Visit or Memoirs and Confessions, In the Shadow of Women, The Exquisite Corpus, The Lobster, Mad Max: Fury Road, The TreasureIII. Arabian Nights, Journey to the Shore, Mountains May Depart***COVERAGEDay 1: Our Little Sister (Hirokazu Kore-eda), Tale of Tales (Matteo Garrone)Day 2: In the Shadow of Women (Philippe Garrel), One Floor Below (Radu Muntean), Son of Saul (Lazlo Nemes)Day 3: The Lobster (Yorgos Lanthimos), My Golden Days (Arnaud Desplechin)Day 4: Arabian Nights Volume 1: The Restless One, Carol (Todd Haynes)Day 5: Journey to the Shore (Kiyoshi Kurosawa), Louder Than Bombs (Joachim Trier)Day 6: Arabian Nights Volume Two: The Desolate One...
- 5/29/2015
- by Notebook
- MUBI
Rushes collects news, articles, images, videos and more for a weekly roundup of essential items from the world of film.It's Nice That is featuring the design work of George Douglas, including the above poster for David Lynch's Inland Empire. The New York Times is changing its review policy, which may have industry-wide effects. Also at the Times, Manohla Dargis talks to Todd Haynes about his new film Carol, which garnered rave reviews and a Best Actress award in Cannes last week. Dargis also talked to Hou Hsiao-hsien, photographed above by Frédéric Stucin for Libération. Hou went on to win the Best Director award at the festival for this film The Assassin.Speaking of Cannes, Film Comment has posted the first part in its essential critics' roundtables recorded during the festival. Accompanying a new summer issue of Cineaste is a freshly re-designed website, where you can find several online exclusives,...
- 5/27/2015
- by Notebook
- MUBI
Trying to capture global trends in contemporary filmmaking by drawing thematic connections between films at the same festival has long been a hackneyed technique that little understands the variable pathways it takes for a film to get made and eventually programmed alongside another. Once one knows more of the tortuous route most filmmakers follow to finish their work and get it shown, the tendrils of affinity or dissonance snaking between theatres and screenings at a festival feel less like a glimpse of the zeitgeist and more the electric charge of coincidence—or fate.Such was the case in Cannes this year, where two films seemed to meet in a sensual, overlapping dream of flesh, caresses and orgasms. The first dream was formalist extremist Gaspar Noé's follow-up his untoppable Enter the Void (2009), a new provocation de jour: a 3D sex film. Or, to be more precise, a 3D relationship drama...
- 5/26/2015
- by Daniel Kasman
- MUBI
Other winners include Arnaud Desplechin’s My Golden Days and Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s Mustang.
Embrace Of The Serpent (El Abrazo de la Serpiente) picked up the Art Cinema Award at the 47th Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes this evening (May 22).
Review: Embrace Of The Serpent
Anticipation surrounded Guerra’s return to the Croisette after the Colombian director’s acclaimed 2009 Un Certain Regard entry The Wind Journeys.
His new film chronicles the friendship between an Amazonian shaman and two scientists and claims to be the first film to shoot in the Colombian jungle in three decades. Sales are handled by Films Boutique.
Screen Future Leader Cristina Gallego of Colombia’s Ciudad Lunar produced with Venezuela’s NorteSur and Mc Producciones and Buffalo.
Screen revealed last week that Gallego is to reunite with Guerra on Birds Of Passage (Pajaros de Verano), set in an arid region of Colombia where a rare rainstorm leaves a trail of devastation. Shooting is set...
Embrace Of The Serpent (El Abrazo de la Serpiente) picked up the Art Cinema Award at the 47th Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes this evening (May 22).
Review: Embrace Of The Serpent
Anticipation surrounded Guerra’s return to the Croisette after the Colombian director’s acclaimed 2009 Un Certain Regard entry The Wind Journeys.
His new film chronicles the friendship between an Amazonian shaman and two scientists and claims to be the first film to shoot in the Colombian jungle in three decades. Sales are handled by Films Boutique.
Screen Future Leader Cristina Gallego of Colombia’s Ciudad Lunar produced with Venezuela’s NorteSur and Mc Producciones and Buffalo.
Screen revealed last week that Gallego is to reunite with Guerra on Birds Of Passage (Pajaros de Verano), set in an arid region of Colombia where a rare rainstorm leaves a trail of devastation. Shooting is set...
- 5/22/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
The Directors’ Fortnight doesn’t present awards itself, but some of its sponsors do. This year, the Art Cinema Award goes to Ciro Guerra's Embrace of the Serpent. The Europa Cinemas Label for best European film goes to Deniz Gamze Ergüven's Mustang. The Sacd Award for French-language feature film goes to Arnaud Desplechin's My Golden Years. Meantime, the Directors’ Fortnight does honor a short or two. This year, the illy Prize goes to Fyzal Boulifa's Rate Me. And an honorable mention goes to Peter Tscherkassky's The Exquisite Corpus. We have reviews of the winners. » - David Hudson...
- 5/22/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
The Directors’ Fortnight doesn’t present awards itself, but some of its sponsors do. This year, the Art Cinema Award goes to Ciro Guerra's Embrace of the Serpent. The Europa Cinemas Label for best European film goes to Deniz Gamze Ergüven's Mustang. The Sacd Award for French-language feature film goes to Arnaud Desplechin's My Golden Years. Meantime, the Directors’ Fortnight does honor a short or two. This year, the illy Prize goes to Fyzal Boulifa's Rate Me. And an honorable mention goes to Peter Tscherkassky's The Exquisite Corpus. We have reviews of the winners. » - David Hudson...
- 5/22/2015
- Keyframe
The complete lineups for the Directors' Fortnight and Critics' Week sidebars at Cannes have been announced.Directors' FORTNIGHTOpening Film: In the Shadow of Women (Philippe Garrel)A Perfect Day (Fernando León de Aranoa)Beyond My Grandfather Allende (Marcia Tumbutti)Arabian Nights (Miguel Gomes)Les Cowboys (Thomas Bidegain)Embrace the Serpent (Ciro Guerra)Fatima (Philippe Faucon)Green Room (Jeremy Saulnier)Much Loved (Nabil Ayouch)Mustang (Deniz Gamze Ergüven)Peace to Us in Our Dreams (Sharunas Bartas)Songs My Brothers Taught Me (Chloé Zhao)The Here After (Magnus von Horn)The Brand New Testament (Jaco Van Dormael)My Golden Days (Arnaud Despleschin)Special Screening: Yakuza Apocalypse: The Great War of the Underworld (Takashi Miike)Closing Film: Dope (Rick Famuyiwa)Shorts:Blue Thunder (Jean-Marc E. Roy & Philippe David Gagné)Calme ta joie (Emmanuel Laskar)The Broken Past (Martín Morgenfeld & Sebastián Schjaer)Kung Fury (David Sandberg[/link])Pitchoune (Reda Kateb)Trials, Exorcisms (Susana Nobre)Pueblo...
- 4/23/2015
- by Notebook
- MUBI
Takashi Miike, Jeremy Saulnier and Jaco Van Dormael among line-up; Jia Zhangke to receive Golden Coach.
A 17-strong line-up of titles for the 47th Directors’ Fortnight, a parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival (May 13-24) run by the French Director’s Guild, has been announced by artistic director Edouard Waintrop at a press conference in Paris this morning.
As previously announced, the opening film on May 14 will be In The Shadow Of Women, by Directors’ Fortnight habitué Philippe Garrel.
The closing film on May 22 will be Rick Famuyiwa’s La-set comedy drama Dope, a Us film first seen at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
Also previously announced was Arnaud Desplechin’s My Golden Days and Portuguese filmmaker Miguel Gomes’ Arabian Nights, a contemporary re-telling of One Thousand And One Nights that comprises three films spanning more than six hours.
A special screening will be given to Takashi Miike’s gangster-vampire hybrid thriller Yakuza Apocalypse: [link=tt...
A 17-strong line-up of titles for the 47th Directors’ Fortnight, a parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival (May 13-24) run by the French Director’s Guild, has been announced by artistic director Edouard Waintrop at a press conference in Paris this morning.
As previously announced, the opening film on May 14 will be In The Shadow Of Women, by Directors’ Fortnight habitué Philippe Garrel.
The closing film on May 22 will be Rick Famuyiwa’s La-set comedy drama Dope, a Us film first seen at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
Also previously announced was Arnaud Desplechin’s My Golden Days and Portuguese filmmaker Miguel Gomes’ Arabian Nights, a contemporary re-telling of One Thousand And One Nights that comprises three films spanning more than six hours.
A special screening will be given to Takashi Miike’s gangster-vampire hybrid thriller Yakuza Apocalypse: [link=tt...
- 4/21/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Last week, the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs announced that "Philippe Garrel, who attended the 1st edition of the Directors' Fortnight with The Virgin's Bed in 1969, will celebrate the opening of the 47th edition with his new film, In the Shadow of Women." Then, over the weekend, we learned of two more additions: Arnaud Desplechin's My Golden Days and Miguel Gomes's Arabian Nights. Today, we have the full lineup, which includes films by Peter Tscherkassky, Takashi Miike, Fernando León de Aranoa, Rick Famuyiwa, Jeremy Saulnier, Chloé Zhao and more. » - David Hudson...
- 4/21/2015
- Keyframe
Last week, the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs announced that "Philippe Garrel, who attended the 1st edition of the Directors' Fortnight with The Virgin's Bed in 1969, will celebrate the opening of the 47th edition with his new film, In the Shadow of Women." Then, over the weekend, we learned of two more additions: Arnaud Desplechin's My Golden Days and Miguel Gomes's Arabian Nights. Today, we have the full lineup, which includes films by Peter Tscherkassky, Takashi Miike, Fernando León de Aranoa, Rick Famuyiwa, Jeremy Saulnier, Chloé Zhao and more. » - David Hudson...
- 4/21/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
The new issue of Senses of Cinema features a good handful of pieces on Michelangelo Antonioni and two on Paul Thomas Anderson. Also in today's roundup of news and views: A new short film from Jean-Luc Godard; Martin Scorsese on John Ford's The Searchers; an issue of Criticism devoted to Andy Warhol, desistfilm on Alfred Hitchcock, Isidore Isou, Peter Tscherkassky, Michael Robinson and David OReilly; an interview with Terence Stamp; articles on Thom Andersen's The Thoughts That Once We Had, Richard Linklater's Boyhood, Lisandro Alonso's Jauja and Alain Resnais—and more. » - David Hudson...
- 3/16/2015
- Keyframe
The new issue of Senses of Cinema features a good handful of pieces on Michelangelo Antonioni and two on Paul Thomas Anderson. Also in today's roundup of news and views: A new short film from Jean-Luc Godard; Martin Scorsese on John Ford's The Searchers; an issue of Criticism devoted to Andy Warhol, desistfilm on Alfred Hitchcock, Isidore Isou, Peter Tscherkassky, Michael Robinson and David OReilly; an interview with Terence Stamp; articles on Thom Andersen's The Thoughts That Once We Had, Richard Linklater's Boyhood, Lisandro Alonso's Jauja and Alain Resnais—and more. » - David Hudson...
- 3/16/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
The new issue of Senses of Cinema features a good handful of pieces on Michelangelo Antonioni and two on Paul Thomas Anderson. Also in today's roundup of news and views: A new short film from Jean-Luc Godard; Martin Scorsese on John Ford's The Searchers; an issue of Criticism devoted to Andy Warhol, desistfilm on Alfred Hitchcock, Isidore Isou, Peter Tscherkassky, Michael Robinson and David OReilly; an interview with Terence Stamp; articles on Thom Andersen's The Thoughts That Once We Had, Richard Linklater's Boyhood, Lisandro Alonso's Jauja and Alain Resnais—and more. » - David Hudson...
- 3/16/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
The new issue of Senses of Cinema features a good handful of pieces on Michelangelo Antonioni and two on Paul Thomas Anderson. Also in today's roundup of news and views: A new short film from Jean-Luc Godard; Martin Scorsese on John Ford's The Searchers; an issue of Criticism devoted to Andy Warhol, desistfilm on Alfred Hitchcock, Isidore Isou, Peter Tscherkassky, Michael Robinson and David OReilly; an interview with Terence Stamp; articles on Thom Andersen's The Thoughts That Once We Had, Richard Linklater's Boyhood, Lisandro Alonso's Jauja and Alain Resnais—and more. » - David Hudson...
- 3/16/2015
- Keyframe
The 18th annual Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival takes place 23-28 October 2014. From over 2,800 submissions, the programming committee has selected over 200 films from 42 countries, including 57 world, international or European premieres. These premieres include 10 Czech films in competition in the Czech Joy section.
Over the course of its existence, the Jihlava festival has become an indispensable Czech and worldwide documentary event, and an active contributor to the promotion and distribution of documentary films. The Jihlava festival is a co-founder and member of Doc Alliance, a prestigious union of seven important European documentary festivals.
Program – Year Eighteen
As in past years, the largest celebration of original documentary film in Central and Eastern Europe will present a diverse range of Czech and foreign films, with many world, international, European, and Czech premieres.
“This year’s festival is a true tribute to the artistic and independent film scene. This tribute will take place in the presence of such special guests as Kidlat Tahimik (which translates to “Quiet Lightning”), founder of independent Filipino cinema, whose films from the 1970s were declared by Werner Herzog to be among the most free to come out during that time, and noted Chinese director Wang Bing, winner of awards at festivals in Venice, Rotterdam, Yamagata and Marseilles,” said festival director Marek Hovorka.
The Face Of The Festival
The central motif of the 18th festival is a stark black-and-white symbol of a factory. It’s not only the dominant visual feature of the festival, but has also found its way into the films themselves. The poster was designed by artist, educator and publisher Juraj Horváth. This year’s festival trailer was created by the legend of Czech and world cinematography Jan Němec. This was his very first experience with this format; the intensity of the final form, however, can be felt in his short statement on the trailer’s filming:
“There are no ‘small’ or ‘big’ films. Twenty seconds expresses concern about the possible demise of film. I sound the alarm myself and the shadow of my hand is my signature.”
1. Organization And Awards
The festival is organized by the Jsaf civic association. In 2013, the festival issued more than 2,900 festival passes. Of these, 782 were for film professionals and festival guests from the Czech Republic and abroad, and 156 were for journalists. The festival screenings were attended by a total of more than 30,000 viewers.
The following awards will be presented as part of the 2014 Jihlava Idff:
· 2014 Best International Documentary Film Award (Opus Bonum competition)
· 2014 Best Central and Eastern European Documentary Film Award (Between the Seas competition)
· 2014 Best Czech Documentary Film Award (Czech Joy competition)
· 2014 Best Experimental Documentary Film Award (Fascinations competition)
· 2014 Best Debut Film Award (First Lights competition)
· 2014 Best Short Film Award (Short Joy competition)
· 2014 Contribution to World Cinematography
2014 Spectators Prize 2014 Respekt Award for the best television or video reportage · Silver Eye Award in the categories of short, mid-length, and feature documentary
(part of the East Silver market organized by the Institute of Documentary Film)
· 2014 Award for the Most Beautiful Festival Poster
· 2014 Audience Award for the Most Beautiful Festival Poster
2. New At The 18th Jihlava Idff
This year’s festival brings two new competitions: the former non-competition section Short Joy, focusing on short films, has received competition status, and in the new competition First Lights, the jury will choose the best debut film from the Opus Bonum, Between the Seas and Czech Joy sections. And of course there’s our annual retrospective of distinctive personalities and unique thematic sections.
The Complete Letters
This unique project is the brainchild of the Centre for Contemporary Culture in Barcelona, in which five pairs of world-renowned directors exchanged audio-visual “letters”. These letters will be presented at Jihlava in their Eastern European premiere. Filmmakers such as meditative artist Naomi Kawase, legend of the New York avant-garde Jonas Mekas, “lone wolf” Albert Serra and critical chronicler of contemporary China Wang Bing invite viewers into their private lives and into the secrets of their artistic poetics.
“It’s remarkable to see how much each letter reflects the personal style of each of the directors. Never have two directors with such radically different styles come together like this,” commented festival programmer David Čeněk.
Forgotten Filmmaker JIŘÍ PolÁK
This photographer, director and sensitive individual who escaped to the “place where dreams are made real” – the island of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf prior to the August occupation of Czechoslovakia – is one of the forgotten figures of Czech cinema. Jiří Polák was able to film Hospital in Kuks, but did not enjoy any domestic recognition. After his emigration and short stays in Vienna and Switzerland, he accepted film assignments in Iran.
Tribute: Alain Resnais
“Renowned French director passed away on 1 March 2014 at the age of 91. In memory of his work, we have prepared two screenings of his lesser-known or completely unknown films. He himself was instrumental to an unprecedented extent to the development of documentary filmmaking in France, and showed its new stylistic possibilities,” says festival programmer David Čeněk about this unique presentation of Resnais’ (mainly) early work. Alain Resnais The majority of Resnais’ works being presented at this year’s Jihlava Idff have been shown only a few times in France, and are being screened in the Czech Republic for the first time ever.
Retrospective: Kidlat Tahimik
A special guest at this year’s Jihlava festival will be the “father of Filipino independent film” – director, actor, screenwriter and producer Kidlat Tahimik, the founder of the so-called Filipino New Wave and an influential commentator on post-colonialism and power imbalances throughout the world, praised in the West by Werner Herzog when he said that [Tahimik’s] films from the 1970s are among some of the most free works on film of their time.
3. Jurors
The jury for the competition section Opus Bonum traditionally consists of just one person – a notable personality from world cinema. This year, this honour has been bestowed on a significant figure from the Yugoslav Black Wave – Želimir Žilnik.
The best film in the Between the Seas section will be chosen by:
· French film theoretician Raymond Bellour
· Spanish director Albert Serra
American artist Deborah Stratman Artist Kateřina Šedá Czech Joy Jury:
Poet Petr Hruška Former director of Czech Television Ivo Mathé Film historian Tereza Czesany Dvořáková Documentary filmmaker Bohdan Bláhovec The winner of the experimental competition Fascination will be determined by the Austrian master of found footage Peter Tscherkassky and his wife, filmmaker Eve Heller.
The historic first judging of the Short Joy section will be conducted by members of the art group Rafani.
4. Competition Sections
Czech Joy
Competition for the Best Czech Documentary Film 2014.
A prestigious selection of new Czech documentaries, including 10 world premieres. Films include Daniel’s World (Veronika Lišková), a look at the last taboo of modern society – paedophilia. The delightful film Long Live Hunting! (Jaroslav Kratochvíl) takes aim at Czech hunting. Shadows of the past are revealed in the film Pavel Wonka Commits to Cooperate ( Libuše Rudinská), which examines whether the last Communist prisoner was a dissident and symbol of the revolution – or an StB collaborator. The section also includes a pair of family portraits: Family Business / from Videodiary (Jakub Wagner), and Marislav Janek’s eagerly awaited new film The Gospel According to Brabenec, about Vratislav Brabenec of the Plastic People of the Universe.
World Premieres · Daniel’s World, Veronika Lišková, Czech Republic 2014, 75 min
· The Gospel According to Brabenec , Miroslav Janek, Czech Republic 2014, 85 min
· Long Live Hunting! , Jaroslav Kratochvíl, Czech Republic 2014, 62 min
· Pavel Wonka Commits to Cooperate , Libuše Rudínská, Czech Republic 2014, 73 min
· The Plan , Benjamin Tuček, Czech Republic 2014, 91 min
· The Czech Way , Martin Kohout, Czech Republic 2014, 90 min
· Family Business / from Videodiary , Jakub Wagner, Czech Republic 2014, 60 min
· František of His Own Kind , Jan Gogola Jr., Czech Republic 2014, 26 min
· Lets Block , Martina Malinová, Czech Republic 2014, 47 min
My Farm Is My Castle , Jiří Stejskal, Czech Republic 2014, 87 min
Opus Bonum
Competition for the 2014 Best World Documentary Film
Opus Bonum selects the best noteworthy documentaries representing diverse trends from around the world. Sixteen films are in the Opus Bonum competition for best world documentary film, including 5 world premieres, 5 international premieres and 1 European premiere. Films in this section include Rock On Bones, a personal view of the Russian independent music scene, and the film-poem Fovea Centralis, which skirts the fringe of video art, composed of multiplied images from the Fukushima nuclear power plant’s closed-circuit cameras.20 Cents shows what happens when public transportation fares in São Paulo are increased and the carnival atmosphere is replaced by one of guerrilla warfare.
World Premieres · Aged , Philip Hoffman, Canada 2014, 45 min
· Rock on Bones , Caroline Troubetzkoy, France 2014, 145 min
· I Am the People , Anna Roussillon, France 2014, 110 min
· In Your Eyes , Pietro Albino Di Pasquale, Italy 2014, 78 min
Fovea Centralis , Philippe Rouy, France 2014, 50 min International Premieres · Chasing After The Wind , Juan Camilo Olmos Feris, Colombia 2014, 60 min
· Water to Tabato , Paulo Carneiro, Guinea-Bissau, Portugal 2014, 45 min
· 20 Cents , Tiago Tambelli, Brazil 2014, 52 min
· Buenos Aires Free Party , Homero Cirelli, Argentina 2014, 74 min
The Shelter , Fernand Melgar, Switzerland 2014, 101 min European Premiere The Beijing Ants , Ryuji Otsuka, China 2014, 88 min
Between The Seas
Competition for the 2014 Best Documentary Film from Central and Eastern Europe.
Between the Seas is a competition section for the countries and nations of Central and Eastern Europe. Between the Seas presents 17 films, of which 4 are world premieres, 2 are international premieres, and 2 are European premieres. The Serbian Lawyer is one of the films seeing its world premiere at Jihlava – a film about the man who defended Slobodan Milošević and Radovan Karadžić, criminals from whom he had fled during the old regime. Another premiere in this section is Zuzana Piussi’s Transference , which sketches a dark picture of the state social care system for threatened children in Slovakia after the death of an abused child. Also in competition is the latest film by unsparing Austrian analyst Ulrich Seidl. In the Basement reveals that the basement is a rather important place for many Austrians, where you’ll find the usual hunting trophies and unusual bars, but also town council members and their swastikas, sadomasochism and other “hobbies”.
World Premieres · Transference , Zuzana Piussi, Slovakia/Czech Republic 2014, 57 min
· The Serbian Lawyer , Aleksandar Nikolić, Germany/Great Britain/Serbia 2014, 82 min
· Pill Junkies , Bartosz Staszewski, Poland 2014, 76 min
Ocean , Tamara Drakulić, Serbia 2014, 77 min International Premieres · 6 Degrees , Bartosz Dombrowski, Poland 2013, 81 min
A Last Year in 114 Minutes , Daniel Nicolae Djamo, Romania 2014, 114 min European Premieres Euromaidan: Rough Cut , Roman Bondarchuk et al., Ukraine 2014, 60 min Don’t Breathe, Nino Kirtadzé, France 2014, 86 min
Fascinations
Competition for the 2014 Best Experimental Documentary Film.
Fascinations is a competition screening of experimental films that offer us unique approaches to the depiction of reality. The section will present 33 films, including 7 world premieres, 6 international premieres, and 4 European premieres.
Premiere films include:
An animated work based on Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philisophicus (Active Image O directed by Becky James); the unguided choreography of white points in black space (Fascinating Moments by Yoshiki Nishimura); a memorial to one’s father using old photographs and chemical manipulation of the film itself using salt and seaweed (Dark Matter by Karel Doing); and a journey through a digitally manipulated landscape (L by Jacques Perconte).
World Premieres
· Active Image O , Becky James, USA 2014, 8 min
· Dark Matter , Karel Doing, Netherlands/Great Britain 2014, 20 min
· Fascinating Moments , Yoshiki Nishimura, Japan 2014, 4 min
· L , Jacques Perconte, France 2014, 15 min
· Our Hands Are Empty , Sj Ramir, Australia/New Zealand 2014, 10 min
· Jupiter Lolopop , Charlotte Dunker, Belgium 2014, 5 min
Study of Synchromy , Patrick Bergeron, Canada 2014, 3 min International Premieres
· Cut Out , Guli Silberstein, Great Britain 2014, 4 min
· The Civilization Desire , Carolina Astudillo, Spain 2014, 7 min
· A.D.A.M. , Vladislav Knežević, Croatia 2014, 13 min
· Digital Landscaping , Sangsok Ko, South Korea 2013, 4 min
· Field , Yi Myun, South Korea 2014, 6 min
Salers , Fernando Dominguez, Argentina/France 2014, 9 min European Premieres
· Beep , Kyungman Kim, South Korea 2014, 10 min
· Callisto , Youjin Moon, USA 2014, 14 min
· Droga! , Miko Revereza, Philippines 2013, 7 min
Frame Walk , Hayoung Jeon, South Korea 2014, 6 min Short Joy
Competition for the Best Short Film 2014 .
This year, this originally non-competition section devoted to short films has been transformed into a new competition section. The fifteen competition entries include films from all over the world, dealing with a wide spectrum of topics, and representing many current trends in contemporary documentary filmmaking. The Czech entry, Arguments by Andran Abramjan (who received an honourable mention in last year’s Czech Joy competition), considers the possibilities of dialogue on the Ukrainian crisis from both the eastern and western points of view. The purely observational film The Limits of Europe, underscored by the noise and sounds of protests, explores the spontaneous architecture of seven Kiev barricades erected in the streets leading to Independence Square. The contemplative and imaginatively filmed The Length enters the world of jazz legend Ted Curson.
First Lights
Competition for the Best Debut of 2014
Further evidence of Jihlava’s mission to support the film industry and share in the discovery of new talents is the presentation of a new competition section that rewards the best first work. Debut films presented as part of the traditional competition sections Opus Bonum, Czech Joy and Between the Seas have the opportunity to “battle it out” in a space that is not limited by territory. Comparing Czech and other Eastern European documentaries with their competition from the rest of the world can be a valuable experience, an opportunity to see commonalities and differences. It can also provide mutual inspiration not only for the films’ creators, but also for producers and other film professionals.
5. Non-competition Sections
Exprmntl.Cz
Experimental films from the Czech lands
This section is a non-competition survey of contemporary trends in Czech experimental film. Screenings will include films by renowned artists as well as filmmakers who just starting out.The unsettling video art of Zbyňek Baladrán, who focuses primarily on “archaeological” work with found material, can be seen in Dead Reckoning, showing the sterility of modern man’s life in four sequences featuring statistics, psychoanalysis, income and paranoia in the leading roles. Alice Růžičková’s film Autonomous Calábek takes a look into the plant kingdom. Made from a montage of scientific and film experiments, her portrait of a pioneer in plant physiology takes on surrealistic qualities.
Special Event
New world and Czech films, pre-premieres and festival hits
Alice Nellis presents Adoption: A Piece of Fortune, a kaleidoscope of stories with the same ending – a longed-for child. This opening film of the Jihlava Idff is a documentary exploration of a complex topic. In contrast, American master Errol Morris’ film The Unknown Known is a chilling look at former Us Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld. The Last of the Unjust by Claude Lanzmann captures the testimony of Benjamin Murmelstein, the “puppet king” appointed at the end of the Nazi era to the position of the last “Ältester” of the Judenrat at a model Jewish ghetto. Also worth mentioning is Regarding Susan Sontag, director Nancy Kates’s portrait of one the most important intellectuals of the 20th century.
Doc-fi
Documentary and fiction are not opposites
Doc-fi expresses the conviction that the boundary between documentary and fiction is permeable. This year, three unusual films will be screened. Requiem for Beauty by Chinese author and Nobel Prize winner Gao Xingjian examines the space between film, poetry and painting. His multi-language monologues touch on themes that people do not speak about much anymore. In Beyond Icebergland, a man, a woman and a child occupy an invisible common film space, but not the same reality. It’s an ephemeral chronicle of a frozen time and a collage of images from a disappearing world, a film on the frontier of documentary, mystification and delightful genre games. Czech filmmaker Ondřej Vavrečka’s Among Us is an experimentally tinged love story that takes place during the time when the country was coming to grips with the death of Václav Havel.
6. Doc Alliance
Doc Alliance is the result of a creative partnership of seven key European documentary film festivals: Cph:dox Copenhagen, Doclisboa, Dok Leipzig, Fid Marseille, Jihlava Idff, Planete Doc Film Festival and Visions du Réel Nyon.
The aim of Doc Alliance is to help documentary films reach as many viewers as possible, and to systematically support their distribution through their festival markets and through the alliance’s online platform www.DAFilms.com.
Over the course of its existence, the Jihlava festival has become an indispensable Czech and worldwide documentary event, and an active contributor to the promotion and distribution of documentary films. The Jihlava festival is a co-founder and member of Doc Alliance, a prestigious union of seven important European documentary festivals.
Program – Year Eighteen
As in past years, the largest celebration of original documentary film in Central and Eastern Europe will present a diverse range of Czech and foreign films, with many world, international, European, and Czech premieres.
“This year’s festival is a true tribute to the artistic and independent film scene. This tribute will take place in the presence of such special guests as Kidlat Tahimik (which translates to “Quiet Lightning”), founder of independent Filipino cinema, whose films from the 1970s were declared by Werner Herzog to be among the most free to come out during that time, and noted Chinese director Wang Bing, winner of awards at festivals in Venice, Rotterdam, Yamagata and Marseilles,” said festival director Marek Hovorka.
The Face Of The Festival
The central motif of the 18th festival is a stark black-and-white symbol of a factory. It’s not only the dominant visual feature of the festival, but has also found its way into the films themselves. The poster was designed by artist, educator and publisher Juraj Horváth. This year’s festival trailer was created by the legend of Czech and world cinematography Jan Němec. This was his very first experience with this format; the intensity of the final form, however, can be felt in his short statement on the trailer’s filming:
“There are no ‘small’ or ‘big’ films. Twenty seconds expresses concern about the possible demise of film. I sound the alarm myself and the shadow of my hand is my signature.”
1. Organization And Awards
The festival is organized by the Jsaf civic association. In 2013, the festival issued more than 2,900 festival passes. Of these, 782 were for film professionals and festival guests from the Czech Republic and abroad, and 156 were for journalists. The festival screenings were attended by a total of more than 30,000 viewers.
The following awards will be presented as part of the 2014 Jihlava Idff:
· 2014 Best International Documentary Film Award (Opus Bonum competition)
· 2014 Best Central and Eastern European Documentary Film Award (Between the Seas competition)
· 2014 Best Czech Documentary Film Award (Czech Joy competition)
· 2014 Best Experimental Documentary Film Award (Fascinations competition)
· 2014 Best Debut Film Award (First Lights competition)
· 2014 Best Short Film Award (Short Joy competition)
· 2014 Contribution to World Cinematography
2014 Spectators Prize 2014 Respekt Award for the best television or video reportage · Silver Eye Award in the categories of short, mid-length, and feature documentary
(part of the East Silver market organized by the Institute of Documentary Film)
· 2014 Award for the Most Beautiful Festival Poster
· 2014 Audience Award for the Most Beautiful Festival Poster
2. New At The 18th Jihlava Idff
This year’s festival brings two new competitions: the former non-competition section Short Joy, focusing on short films, has received competition status, and in the new competition First Lights, the jury will choose the best debut film from the Opus Bonum, Between the Seas and Czech Joy sections. And of course there’s our annual retrospective of distinctive personalities and unique thematic sections.
The Complete Letters
This unique project is the brainchild of the Centre for Contemporary Culture in Barcelona, in which five pairs of world-renowned directors exchanged audio-visual “letters”. These letters will be presented at Jihlava in their Eastern European premiere. Filmmakers such as meditative artist Naomi Kawase, legend of the New York avant-garde Jonas Mekas, “lone wolf” Albert Serra and critical chronicler of contemporary China Wang Bing invite viewers into their private lives and into the secrets of their artistic poetics.
“It’s remarkable to see how much each letter reflects the personal style of each of the directors. Never have two directors with such radically different styles come together like this,” commented festival programmer David Čeněk.
Forgotten Filmmaker JIŘÍ PolÁK
This photographer, director and sensitive individual who escaped to the “place where dreams are made real” – the island of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf prior to the August occupation of Czechoslovakia – is one of the forgotten figures of Czech cinema. Jiří Polák was able to film Hospital in Kuks, but did not enjoy any domestic recognition. After his emigration and short stays in Vienna and Switzerland, he accepted film assignments in Iran.
Tribute: Alain Resnais
“Renowned French director passed away on 1 March 2014 at the age of 91. In memory of his work, we have prepared two screenings of his lesser-known or completely unknown films. He himself was instrumental to an unprecedented extent to the development of documentary filmmaking in France, and showed its new stylistic possibilities,” says festival programmer David Čeněk about this unique presentation of Resnais’ (mainly) early work. Alain Resnais The majority of Resnais’ works being presented at this year’s Jihlava Idff have been shown only a few times in France, and are being screened in the Czech Republic for the first time ever.
Retrospective: Kidlat Tahimik
A special guest at this year’s Jihlava festival will be the “father of Filipino independent film” – director, actor, screenwriter and producer Kidlat Tahimik, the founder of the so-called Filipino New Wave and an influential commentator on post-colonialism and power imbalances throughout the world, praised in the West by Werner Herzog when he said that [Tahimik’s] films from the 1970s are among some of the most free works on film of their time.
3. Jurors
The jury for the competition section Opus Bonum traditionally consists of just one person – a notable personality from world cinema. This year, this honour has been bestowed on a significant figure from the Yugoslav Black Wave – Želimir Žilnik.
The best film in the Between the Seas section will be chosen by:
· French film theoretician Raymond Bellour
· Spanish director Albert Serra
American artist Deborah Stratman Artist Kateřina Šedá Czech Joy Jury:
Poet Petr Hruška Former director of Czech Television Ivo Mathé Film historian Tereza Czesany Dvořáková Documentary filmmaker Bohdan Bláhovec The winner of the experimental competition Fascination will be determined by the Austrian master of found footage Peter Tscherkassky and his wife, filmmaker Eve Heller.
The historic first judging of the Short Joy section will be conducted by members of the art group Rafani.
4. Competition Sections
Czech Joy
Competition for the Best Czech Documentary Film 2014.
A prestigious selection of new Czech documentaries, including 10 world premieres. Films include Daniel’s World (Veronika Lišková), a look at the last taboo of modern society – paedophilia. The delightful film Long Live Hunting! (Jaroslav Kratochvíl) takes aim at Czech hunting. Shadows of the past are revealed in the film Pavel Wonka Commits to Cooperate ( Libuše Rudinská), which examines whether the last Communist prisoner was a dissident and symbol of the revolution – or an StB collaborator. The section also includes a pair of family portraits: Family Business / from Videodiary (Jakub Wagner), and Marislav Janek’s eagerly awaited new film The Gospel According to Brabenec, about Vratislav Brabenec of the Plastic People of the Universe.
World Premieres · Daniel’s World, Veronika Lišková, Czech Republic 2014, 75 min
· The Gospel According to Brabenec , Miroslav Janek, Czech Republic 2014, 85 min
· Long Live Hunting! , Jaroslav Kratochvíl, Czech Republic 2014, 62 min
· Pavel Wonka Commits to Cooperate , Libuše Rudínská, Czech Republic 2014, 73 min
· The Plan , Benjamin Tuček, Czech Republic 2014, 91 min
· The Czech Way , Martin Kohout, Czech Republic 2014, 90 min
· Family Business / from Videodiary , Jakub Wagner, Czech Republic 2014, 60 min
· František of His Own Kind , Jan Gogola Jr., Czech Republic 2014, 26 min
· Lets Block , Martina Malinová, Czech Republic 2014, 47 min
My Farm Is My Castle , Jiří Stejskal, Czech Republic 2014, 87 min
Opus Bonum
Competition for the 2014 Best World Documentary Film
Opus Bonum selects the best noteworthy documentaries representing diverse trends from around the world. Sixteen films are in the Opus Bonum competition for best world documentary film, including 5 world premieres, 5 international premieres and 1 European premiere. Films in this section include Rock On Bones, a personal view of the Russian independent music scene, and the film-poem Fovea Centralis, which skirts the fringe of video art, composed of multiplied images from the Fukushima nuclear power plant’s closed-circuit cameras.20 Cents shows what happens when public transportation fares in São Paulo are increased and the carnival atmosphere is replaced by one of guerrilla warfare.
World Premieres · Aged , Philip Hoffman, Canada 2014, 45 min
· Rock on Bones , Caroline Troubetzkoy, France 2014, 145 min
· I Am the People , Anna Roussillon, France 2014, 110 min
· In Your Eyes , Pietro Albino Di Pasquale, Italy 2014, 78 min
Fovea Centralis , Philippe Rouy, France 2014, 50 min International Premieres · Chasing After The Wind , Juan Camilo Olmos Feris, Colombia 2014, 60 min
· Water to Tabato , Paulo Carneiro, Guinea-Bissau, Portugal 2014, 45 min
· 20 Cents , Tiago Tambelli, Brazil 2014, 52 min
· Buenos Aires Free Party , Homero Cirelli, Argentina 2014, 74 min
The Shelter , Fernand Melgar, Switzerland 2014, 101 min European Premiere The Beijing Ants , Ryuji Otsuka, China 2014, 88 min
Between The Seas
Competition for the 2014 Best Documentary Film from Central and Eastern Europe.
Between the Seas is a competition section for the countries and nations of Central and Eastern Europe. Between the Seas presents 17 films, of which 4 are world premieres, 2 are international premieres, and 2 are European premieres. The Serbian Lawyer is one of the films seeing its world premiere at Jihlava – a film about the man who defended Slobodan Milošević and Radovan Karadžić, criminals from whom he had fled during the old regime. Another premiere in this section is Zuzana Piussi’s Transference , which sketches a dark picture of the state social care system for threatened children in Slovakia after the death of an abused child. Also in competition is the latest film by unsparing Austrian analyst Ulrich Seidl. In the Basement reveals that the basement is a rather important place for many Austrians, where you’ll find the usual hunting trophies and unusual bars, but also town council members and their swastikas, sadomasochism and other “hobbies”.
World Premieres · Transference , Zuzana Piussi, Slovakia/Czech Republic 2014, 57 min
· The Serbian Lawyer , Aleksandar Nikolić, Germany/Great Britain/Serbia 2014, 82 min
· Pill Junkies , Bartosz Staszewski, Poland 2014, 76 min
Ocean , Tamara Drakulić, Serbia 2014, 77 min International Premieres · 6 Degrees , Bartosz Dombrowski, Poland 2013, 81 min
A Last Year in 114 Minutes , Daniel Nicolae Djamo, Romania 2014, 114 min European Premieres Euromaidan: Rough Cut , Roman Bondarchuk et al., Ukraine 2014, 60 min Don’t Breathe, Nino Kirtadzé, France 2014, 86 min
Fascinations
Competition for the 2014 Best Experimental Documentary Film.
Fascinations is a competition screening of experimental films that offer us unique approaches to the depiction of reality. The section will present 33 films, including 7 world premieres, 6 international premieres, and 4 European premieres.
Premiere films include:
An animated work based on Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philisophicus (Active Image O directed by Becky James); the unguided choreography of white points in black space (Fascinating Moments by Yoshiki Nishimura); a memorial to one’s father using old photographs and chemical manipulation of the film itself using salt and seaweed (Dark Matter by Karel Doing); and a journey through a digitally manipulated landscape (L by Jacques Perconte).
World Premieres
· Active Image O , Becky James, USA 2014, 8 min
· Dark Matter , Karel Doing, Netherlands/Great Britain 2014, 20 min
· Fascinating Moments , Yoshiki Nishimura, Japan 2014, 4 min
· L , Jacques Perconte, France 2014, 15 min
· Our Hands Are Empty , Sj Ramir, Australia/New Zealand 2014, 10 min
· Jupiter Lolopop , Charlotte Dunker, Belgium 2014, 5 min
Study of Synchromy , Patrick Bergeron, Canada 2014, 3 min International Premieres
· Cut Out , Guli Silberstein, Great Britain 2014, 4 min
· The Civilization Desire , Carolina Astudillo, Spain 2014, 7 min
· A.D.A.M. , Vladislav Knežević, Croatia 2014, 13 min
· Digital Landscaping , Sangsok Ko, South Korea 2013, 4 min
· Field , Yi Myun, South Korea 2014, 6 min
Salers , Fernando Dominguez, Argentina/France 2014, 9 min European Premieres
· Beep , Kyungman Kim, South Korea 2014, 10 min
· Callisto , Youjin Moon, USA 2014, 14 min
· Droga! , Miko Revereza, Philippines 2013, 7 min
Frame Walk , Hayoung Jeon, South Korea 2014, 6 min Short Joy
Competition for the Best Short Film 2014 .
This year, this originally non-competition section devoted to short films has been transformed into a new competition section. The fifteen competition entries include films from all over the world, dealing with a wide spectrum of topics, and representing many current trends in contemporary documentary filmmaking. The Czech entry, Arguments by Andran Abramjan (who received an honourable mention in last year’s Czech Joy competition), considers the possibilities of dialogue on the Ukrainian crisis from both the eastern and western points of view. The purely observational film The Limits of Europe, underscored by the noise and sounds of protests, explores the spontaneous architecture of seven Kiev barricades erected in the streets leading to Independence Square. The contemplative and imaginatively filmed The Length enters the world of jazz legend Ted Curson.
First Lights
Competition for the Best Debut of 2014
Further evidence of Jihlava’s mission to support the film industry and share in the discovery of new talents is the presentation of a new competition section that rewards the best first work. Debut films presented as part of the traditional competition sections Opus Bonum, Czech Joy and Between the Seas have the opportunity to “battle it out” in a space that is not limited by territory. Comparing Czech and other Eastern European documentaries with their competition from the rest of the world can be a valuable experience, an opportunity to see commonalities and differences. It can also provide mutual inspiration not only for the films’ creators, but also for producers and other film professionals.
5. Non-competition Sections
Exprmntl.Cz
Experimental films from the Czech lands
This section is a non-competition survey of contemporary trends in Czech experimental film. Screenings will include films by renowned artists as well as filmmakers who just starting out.The unsettling video art of Zbyňek Baladrán, who focuses primarily on “archaeological” work with found material, can be seen in Dead Reckoning, showing the sterility of modern man’s life in four sequences featuring statistics, psychoanalysis, income and paranoia in the leading roles. Alice Růžičková’s film Autonomous Calábek takes a look into the plant kingdom. Made from a montage of scientific and film experiments, her portrait of a pioneer in plant physiology takes on surrealistic qualities.
Special Event
New world and Czech films, pre-premieres and festival hits
Alice Nellis presents Adoption: A Piece of Fortune, a kaleidoscope of stories with the same ending – a longed-for child. This opening film of the Jihlava Idff is a documentary exploration of a complex topic. In contrast, American master Errol Morris’ film The Unknown Known is a chilling look at former Us Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld. The Last of the Unjust by Claude Lanzmann captures the testimony of Benjamin Murmelstein, the “puppet king” appointed at the end of the Nazi era to the position of the last “Ältester” of the Judenrat at a model Jewish ghetto. Also worth mentioning is Regarding Susan Sontag, director Nancy Kates’s portrait of one the most important intellectuals of the 20th century.
Doc-fi
Documentary and fiction are not opposites
Doc-fi expresses the conviction that the boundary between documentary and fiction is permeable. This year, three unusual films will be screened. Requiem for Beauty by Chinese author and Nobel Prize winner Gao Xingjian examines the space between film, poetry and painting. His multi-language monologues touch on themes that people do not speak about much anymore. In Beyond Icebergland, a man, a woman and a child occupy an invisible common film space, but not the same reality. It’s an ephemeral chronicle of a frozen time and a collage of images from a disappearing world, a film on the frontier of documentary, mystification and delightful genre games. Czech filmmaker Ondřej Vavrečka’s Among Us is an experimentally tinged love story that takes place during the time when the country was coming to grips with the death of Václav Havel.
6. Doc Alliance
Doc Alliance is the result of a creative partnership of seven key European documentary film festivals: Cph:dox Copenhagen, Doclisboa, Dok Leipzig, Fid Marseille, Jihlava Idff, Planete Doc Film Festival and Visions du Réel Nyon.
The aim of Doc Alliance is to help documentary films reach as many viewers as possible, and to systematically support their distribution through their festival markets and through the alliance’s online platform www.DAFilms.com.
- 10/28/2014
- by Peter Belsito
- Sydney's Buzz
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