Documentary

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History of Polish documentary 1896-2016 is a collection of lectures by renowned experts, richly illustrated with film examples and curiosities, which presents the history of Polish non-fictional film in a cross-sectional way. The twelve-episode series is based on two volumes of Professor Małgorzata Hendrykowska’s book The History of Polish Documentary Film. The lectures produced as part of the Polish Film Academy project are presented in an accessible language, but at the same time they are not devoid of a deeper reflection on film studies, which is why they are addressed both to laypeople and experts in the subject. Subsequent meetings are led by: Prof. Małgorzata Hendrykowska, Prof. Marek Hendrykowski, Prof. Mikołaj Jazon, Prof. Wojciech Otto, Prof. Jadwiga Hučková, Prof. Mirosław Przylipiak and Prof. Katarzyna Mąka-Malatyńska.Read More »

The documentary “Film noir: Bringing darkness to light,” completed in 2006 and produced and directed by Gary Leva, is far superior to any of the film-noir documentaries available on public-domain collections of film noir for several reasons: (1) At 68 min., the subject is treated in depth. (2) The B&W clips from films as well as the interviews in color and color film posters are of excellent quality. (3) The clips, some from rarely seen films, are precise selections, unlike the fuzzy, often lengthy trailers included in previous noir documentaries. (4) Read More »

Baron Victor von Plessen’s “Kopfjäger von Borneo” (1936) is a magnificent early ethnographic film. A painter, ornithologist and ethnographer, von Plessen (1900-1980) apparently was an independent spirit of independent financial means. There is absolutely no indication for the fact that this was produced in Third Reich Germany, but this might nevertheless account for the relative obscurity into which this film has sadly fallen.Read More »

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From a bird’s point of view atop a 13th century church, the human world seems alien and weirdly self-absorbed. People ride bikes, jog, attend weddings and churches and make an elaborate ritual out of tending and grooming a loved one’s grave.

That’s the way it looks, anyhow, in “Kestrel’s Eye,” a Swedish film that offers a genuine bird’s-eye view of the world. Directed by nature-film veteran Mikael Kristersson, “Kestrel’s Eye” was made over 2 1/2 years, during which Kristersson filmed a family of kestrels (European falcons) in the church steeple they had made their home.Read More »

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
King: A Filmed Record… Montgomery to Memphis

King: A Filmed Record… Montgomery To Memphis is a 1970 American documentary film biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., presented in the form of newsreel footage and segments of recordings by Dr. King, framed by celebrity narrators, including Marlon Brando, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Ruby Dee, James Earl Jones, Clarence Williams III, Burt Lancaster, Ben Gazzara, Charlton Heston, Harry Belafonte, The movie was produced by Richard Kaplan and Ely Landau.Read More »

In this monumental work, Thomas Heise draws on letters and other documents to trace the story of his family over four generations. Word and image merge into a piercing, deeply moving portrait of a family, a country and a century.Read More »

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Filmmaker Ming-liang Tsai sits with Lee Kang-sheng in a house as they have a discussion.

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This conversation between Taiwanese auteur Tsai Ming-liang and his muse Lee Kang-sheng illuminates one of the great actor-director collaborations in cinema history.Read More »

The Five Obstructions”, a 100 min. theatre documentary directed by Lars von Trier and Jørgen Leth. An investigative journey into the phenomenon of “documentary”, based on manifestos written by each director. About a filmmaker not only revisiting, but also recreating (not in a conventional sense) one of his first films, The Perfect Human / Det perfekte menneske (1967), a document on life in Denmark, containing the familiar Leth idiosyncrasiesRead More »

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Stavros and Charlotte – i.e. the director and his partner in life and art, Charlotte van Gelder – are wandering the streets of a burdensome reality like immigrants, tracing the world around them through friendships, journeys and political quests. Made with minimal means with a few rolls of black and white film they managed to scrape together, this is a thoroughly unconventional film that defies traditional narrative structures, spectacularly revealing the director’s true vision: a primordial cinema full of imagery that comes out of nowhere and communicates freely, like a small wonder. A large slice of the international film critic community – including Frenchman Louis Skorecki who described the film as a comet – will adore “Coatti” and continue to support Tornes’ lonely path until the end.Read More »