Documentary

Visionary documentary that contrasts the conditions of life in small towns and in the industrialized cities, starting with a brief portrait of pre-industrial United States, then moving into the modern chaotic, industrial and commercial city to reflect on the effects of this environment on family life and the raising of children, and finally proposing a return to a simpler life, in an idyllic “new city” in Maryland, constructed as a New Deal project, to promote proper upbringing of children, as well as a stable family life.Read More »

Synopsis:
This film, made as a “twin” of “A Ilha dos Amores”, was planned as a poetic documentary on the enigmatic life of Wenceslau de Moraes (1855-1929), the great Portuguese writer who lived in the Far East. Verbal testimony, photographs, manuscripts, images of Lisbon, Macao, Kobe and Tokushima in Moraes’ time are set side by side with “A Ilha dos Amores” and with de Moraes’ writings. The director, Paulo Rocha, visited places where Moraes was still remembered, interviewed the writers descendants, consulted archives, rummaged through memories, appointment books, postcards, diaries and calendars from the private life of the 19th century. And above all he set out on a new journey, from Lisbon to Macao to Kobe until he reached Tokushima, where Moraes lived through the final ruin of his life and where Rocha tracks down, between the city and the cemetery, the living presence of places and the memories of individuals.Read More »

“Each July, various followers of New Age thinking from around the globe searching for new levels of enlightenment congregate in a forest in Sweden for the annual No Mind Festival, and filmmakers Corinna Villari-McFarlane and Robert Cannan paid a visit to the festival with a camera crew in tow. Three Miles North of Molkom is a documentary that examines the event as it’s seen by a handful of participants. Ljus is an aging flower child from the United States who is still chasing the freedom of the hippie dream. Regina is a musician who is attending with her friend Marit, and they find they’ve unwittingly becomes the festival’s sex symbols. Peter is a husband and father who seem convinced his wife at home needs a new way of living even more than he does. Despite his name, Siddhartha works in a Swedish shipyard and seems the very model of an old salt. Read More »

The world of Zeytin, a stray dog living life on the streets of Istanbul.Read More »

Quote:
In an Armenian village with a patriarchal tradition, five women who are daughters, mothers and grandmothers debate together about life and war while they prepare lavash the Armenian traditional bread.Read More »

Synopsis:
87-year-old persecuted and declared guerrilla Giannis Lionakis, in a farewell trip to the place that defined his life, tells us about a 14-years (1948-1962) incredible survival effort, which begins with the end of the Civil War in Crete.Read More »

During the early 1980s, David Hockney focused on a new technique for creating photographic collages, which he termed ‘joiners’. These works involve assembling scores of photos of the same subject taken from different angles in a single session. Hockney’s aim was to inject a visible element of time into photographic images, which normally represent only ‘frozen moments’. To illustrate his approach, a special project was devised for this film, and Hockney is shown at his Los Angeles studio creating the ‘joiner’ later titled Fredda bringing Ann and me a Cup of Tea. Through his exploration of this new method, Hockney illuminates his underlying attitudes to the nature of visual representation. This film adds a further dimension by looking at the influence of photographs on Hockney’s paintings and graphic works throughout his career. Hockney places his own experiments in a wide perspective, highlighting the interaction between an artist’s creativity and chosen medium.Read More »

American composers have long struggled against the momentum of the Western European classical tradition and the prestige it has held in America’s cultural life. Featuring Harry Partch, Lou Harrison and Terry Riley, Musical Outsiders: An American Legacy addresses the freedom desired by the musicians and their efforts to gain recognition and opportunities while existing outside of the mainstream. When asked about his creative process, Terry Riley offered the following thought, “There’s always an endless frontier in music, because we’re dealing here with a person’s soul, you’re dealing with something that’s very basic, it’s a spiritual element.” (Terry Riley). Together the featured artists offer a deeper understanding of their alternative musical pursuits and how they have affected American culture.Read More »

Tibetan Buddhist Master Choogyal Namkhai Norbu watches as his western-born son, Yeshi, who was recognized at birth as the reincarnation of a famous spiritual master, considers departing from tradition to embrace the modern world.Read More »