Documentary

Interview with David Perlov
© Uri Klein, Haaretz, Sep. 29 1993
When you made In Jerusalem did you consciously plan to make a film
that was different, of a kind we’d never seen before?
“Yes, I was aware of the difference. In the film I interview an old man, a
religious photographer, who tells me, ‘No one took photographs in the Holy
Land before me. I was the first.’ I, too, said this while I was filming, but only to
myself. I had a feeling that I was doing something decisive for myself and also
for Israeli filmmaking.Read More »

In this insiders look at life in the porn business, filmmaker Dag Yngvesson speaks with both naïve newcomers and seasoned skin-flick veterans to offer a revealing portrait of cinema’s most controversial cash cows. By exploring the routes both into and out of the porn business, Yngvesson discovers that the adult film industry has taken on an unprecedented air of legitimacy despite lingering taboos. It didn’t happen overnight though, and in addition to exploring such lingering issues as sexually transmitted diseases, racism, and misogyny, Yngvesson digs deep to offer a studied look at the progression of porn thus far, and an intriguing look at where the business may be headed in the future.
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Stupid title aside, this is another recent little documentary which brings together a some rare footage and interviews about the art of the 1960s, the birth of “pop”, and so forth. Not terribly profound, but fun.
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The ‘Casa do Povo’ cultural centre in São Paulo, an icon of the secular Jewish workers’ movement: a crumbling theatre flanked by staircases, entryways and corridors. Construction noise drones away in the background, clinking crockery, a broom sweeping over tiled floors, an expressive façade of countless adjustable panes of glass covered by a patina. It’s October 2016 and a group of young people are preparing a preview of Bickels [Socialism]. The venue is to form a prologue to the completed film, which tours 22 buildings in Israel designed by Samuel Bickels, most of which for kibbutzim. Dining halls, children’s houses, agricultural buildings, bright structures inserted into the Mediterranean landscape with great ingenuity.Read More »

Filmed in the UK in 1969, this documentary by Godard and the Dziga Vertov Group represents an analysis of production and the status of women in capitalist society and a speculation about class consciousness and the need for political organization. A group of men formed by trade unionists and employers debate on what measures would benefit their respective classes. At the same time, a group of young hippies tested several Beatles songs.Read More »

This is a super-rare look behind the scenes of Cassavetes’ first ‘big budget’ film, Husbands. It depicts several scenes which never made it into the final film, and a few that did. Also great is to watch Cassavetes working out scenes with Peter Falk and Ben Gazzara, sitting around a table smoking, brainstorming, joking, and singing – just like Archie Gus and Harry!

Picture quality isn’t tops, being this was taken from a VHS copy from a 16mm print that’s seen better days, and it has a timecode window burned in at the bottom left, but everything is visible that counts.Read More »

A historical document on the uses of Architecture and urban reform as tools for political propaganda, populism and the co-optation of the masses.

The newsreels of the time are a testimony to it: the city is a gigantic construction yard; new buildings rise next to the demolitions in the heart of Rome and the Fascist regime adopts new architectural styles and transforms the city. The documentary La Roma di Mussolini, by Leonardo Tiberi and Leonardo Ciacci, aided by footage of the Istituto Luce and maps and drawings of the time, describes XX century Rome, a monumental city opposed to the ancient and medieval one. And yet Mussolini, and his ‘demolishing fury’ take on older city plans, started or laid out back in 1800s. Republican Italy indeed did the same with projects that have begun under the Fascist regime.Read More »

Synopsis:
Take a compelling look at the point where religious fanaticism gives way to murderous intent as politically-minded filmmaker Pierre Rehov explores the mind and motivations of the contemporary Middle Eastern suicide bomber. Though interviews with both the families of successful suicide bombers and would-be suicide bombers who attempts to achieve martyrdom were somehow thwarted, Rehov probes his subjects to get answers that are often as surprising as they are shocking.
Jason Buchanan, All Movie GuideRead More »

In this short film on the life and work of the 12th century saint-poet, Mahadevi Akka, her radical poems, written with the female body as a metaphor, have been composed and picturised in contemporary musical language. Mahadevi, framed as Akka – elder sister, while leaving the domestic arena in search of God also abondoned modesty and clothing. The film explores the meaning of this denial through the work of contemporary artists and writers and testimonies of ordinary folk who nurtured her image through centuries in their folklore and oral literature. A celebration of rebellion, feminity and legacy down nine hundred years. Read More »