Examines the forced participation of Sinti prisoners in the making of Leni Riefenstahl’s drama TIEFLAND. Nina Gladitz’ most controversial claim is that Riefenstahl knew these Sinti would be sent to Auschwitz. This led to court action and the film effectively being withdrawn. A rare film that supposedly was never screened again publicly after its 1982 TV premiere.Read More »
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Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk was the first President of Czechoslovakia (1918-1935), independence movement leader and philosopher. After the Velvet Revolution, Chytilová turns to Masaryk to ensure some continuity between her country’s past and present.Read More »
BACKGROUND
Sikkim is a 1971 Indian documentary about the nation of Sikkim, directed by Satyajit Ray. The documentary was commissioned by the Chogyal (King) of Sikkim at a time when he felt the sovereignty of Sikkim was under threat from both China and India. Ray’s documentary is about the sovereignty of Sikkim. The film was banned by the government of India, when Sikkim merged with India in 1975. In 2000, the copyright of the film was transferred to the Art and Culture Trust of Sikkim. The ban was finally lifted by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in September 2010. In November 2010 the director of the Kolkata film festival stated that upon filming the documentary for the first time, he received an injunction from the court of Sikkim again banning the film.Read More »
La Fraction Armée Rouge (RAF), organisation terroriste d’extrême gauche, également surnommée « la bande à Baader » ou « groupe Baader-Meinhof », opère en Allemagne dans les années 70. Ses membres, qui croient en la force de l’image, expriment pourtant d’abord leur militantisme dans des actions artistiques, médiatiques et cinématographiques. Mais devant l’échec de leur portée, ils se radicalisent dans une lutte armée, jusqu’à commettre des attentats meurtriers qui contribueront au climat de violence sociale et politique durant « les années de plomb ».Read More »
Jorge has only a few weeks with his five-year-old son Natan before he leaves to live with his mother in Rome. Intent on teaching Natan about their Mayan heritage, Jorge takes him to the pristine Chinchorro reef, and eases him into the rhythms of a fisherman’s life. As the bond between father and son grows stronger, Natan learns to live in harmony with life above and below the surface of the sea.Read More »
Ester Krumbachová – an artist, screenwriter, director, one of the most important names of the Czech New Wave. She worked for the theatre, wrote, illustrated. She was in the middle of the artistic life in Prague in the sixties. The director Věra Chytilová asks those who knew Ester Krumbachová, cooperated with her, were her friends, loved her. She puts together a picture of an inspiring person. She starts a search which should end with the answer to the question: Who was Ester? Evening with the presence of the film authors.Read More »
The late filmmaker Leo Hurwitz created this documentary tribute to his deceased wife Peggy Lawson by mixing both actual footage of historical events, clips from his own films, and personal remembrances of her life. Lawson was a partner in Hurwitz’s cinematic endeavors and shared his commitment to political and social change. Hurwitz brings up images from the Great Depression, from the persecution of union organizers and laborers in the 1930s, through his blacklisting in the ’50s, and the demonstrations against the Vietnam War in the following decade. These years of turbulence are contrasted with scenes from nature, images of Lawson, and attempts to convey what she meant to him. These two aspects — private and public — are woven together to form the main theme of this very personal documentary, winner of an International Film Critics prize. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie GuideRead More »
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In 1987, Woody Allen was at the height of his fame and adulation: he had just made one of his most popular and acclaimed films, Hannah and Her Sisters, and his relationship with Mia Farrow was the stuff of very carefully crafted legend. Promoting his new film, September, he was profiled for 60 Minutes talking about his work, his life, Farrow, and the upcoming birth of their first child. Like all 60 Minutes profiles, this one lasted about 20 minutes on air.Read More »
Members of the American Federation of Labor, the Atlantic & Gulf Coast District of the Seafarers International Union commissioned budding filmmaker and magazine photographer Stanley Kubrick to direct this half-hour documentary. Originally released in October of 1953, this short was the director’s first film in color. More of an industrial film than a documentary, it basically served as a promotional tool to get sailors to join the union. Since then, it has been released on home video for curious fans of the director. In addition to directing, Kubrick was cinematographer and editor. Presumably, he took the job of making The Seafarers in order to finance his first feature film, Fear and Desire, which was released in the same year.Read More »