2001-2010

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The documentary film Tobacco Girls is a story of working class women that were made redundant from the Amer tobacco company in the spring of 2004. It describes the last days in the factory and what kinds of problems women face in trying to find new jobs. The film follows the lives of the few women made redundant over a year and especially how this affects them and the kinds of problems they have to solve.

Most of these women have been working in the factory for the best part of their working lives and it is difficult to take on a new job. Younger women try to retrain themselves or are looking out for new employment. One of the main characters has a case being heard in a labour court because associates have afflicted her. The other one finds a solution by undertaking to be her mother´s carer.

The theme developed shows how globalization has changed the thinking in manufacturing. Factories are disbanded so that the production can be removed to an area where labour costs are lower, and like at Amer, to enhance the company image. Older workers become unemployed.
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Plot : “Plot 35 is a place that was never mentioned in my family; it is where my elder sister, who died aged three, is buried. The sister about whom I was told nothing, or nearly nothing, and of whom my parents had oddly never kept a single photograph. It was to make up for the missing images that I decided to make this film. Thinking that I would simply chronicle a forgotten life, in fact I opened up the hidden door to a past that I was unaware of, to the subconscious memory that lies inside each of us and who makes us what we are.”Read More »

The Third Man – Howard Hawks’ »The Big Sky«
Tag Gallagher’s 20-minutes fine video-essay from 2010 on Howard Hawks’ »The Big Sky«. It’s a slightly revised version of an essay which originally was made for the 2004-Kinowelt-DVD-edition of the movie. Its focus is character in Hawks’ movies. The essay mainly uses excerpts from »Big Sky«. There’s a voice-over by Gallagher and some additional clips from other films. No talking heads or studio settings, no additional documents inserted. Here’s a transcript (English) and detailed description (German) (based on the 2004-version) to give you an idea of what you may download.Read More »

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A psychological thriller of a grieving mother turned cold-blooded avenger with a twisty master plan to pay back those who were responsible for her daughter’s death.Read More »

AMG: Cristiano Bortone’s inspirational Italian-language drama Red Like the Sky recounts the incredible true story of the early life of blind sound editor Mirco Mencacci. The victim of a freak childhood accident in 1970 that robbed him permanently of his sight, Mencacci is shipped off to a Genoan boarding school for Catholic boys, per the stipulations of the Italian government. Not one to be daunted or repressed, Mirco forges a heartwarming friendship with the daughter of the school gatekeeper; the two abscond together, via her bicycle, on a series of secret trips to the closest cinema. Meanwhile, at the school, Mirco also begins recording his own sound dramas with the school’s tape recorder and the use of audio books in the institution’s library. In time, the innovative young man invites other students to participate, who eagerly accept, and Mirco uses the activity to help each fellow student identify his own innate gifts and pursue his dreams. But when he leads a cadre of boys on a covert expedition to the cinema, the school administrators take swift and decisive action.Read More »

Alex takes on a poignant journey that examines his relationships with lover, brother and mother on his way to an emotional reconciliation with his father. Alex’s take on life is surprisingly crystal clear for a man who has lived life to the full. It is only in the moment of death that one can truly grasp the meaning of life. ~imdbRead More »

Minna, 19, lives in a small dusty town. She and her friend Simone roam the streets, have tedious jobs, and try to entertain themselves by falling in love with the wrong men. Minna is still affected by her mother’s death a few years ago which has left her with heartache and uncertainty. Gradually Minna understands that she has to break up from her old life. One day opportunity comes knocking and Minna sees a chance to move on. A touching and comical film about a young girl’s quest to find love and happiness.
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A woman runs away from her robotic suburban life somewhere in the flatlands of French-speaking Europe in search of icebergs, and finds new friends along the way.Read More »

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Shunji Iwai’s Lily Chou-Chou offers eternal peace. She’s ethereal, the rebirth of death (indeed, she was born the moment Mark David Chapman shot and killed John Lennon), and all-powerful, a voice for a pop-cyber culture that feeds on her Björkness. In All About Lily Chou-Chou, fans of the fictional singer use her “amniotic” music to detach themselves from the violence that consumes Japanese culture. Yuichi (Hayato Ichihara) is obsessed with Lily: He gets busted for shoplifting one of her CDs and engages in endless conversations on the website Liliphilia with fellow Lily-heads, “connecting” with the so-called ether that is Lily, just like he melds into colorful rice fields whenever he listens to Lily sing. While Yuichi is quiet and reserved, his online handle (“philia”) suggests a boy erupting with adult emotions, and though his friendship with “blue cat” is elusive it still feels within reach. Such is the dreaminess and possibility the film taps into.Read More »