Documentary

Quote:
Human Remains is a haunting documentary which illustrates the banality of evil by creating intimate portraits of five of this century’s most reviled dictators. The film unveils the personal lives of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Francisco Franco and Mao Tse Tung. We learn the private and mundane details of their everyday lives — their favorite foods, films, habits and sexual preferences. There is no mention of their public lives or of their place in history. The intentional omission of the horrors for which these men were responsible hovers over the film.

Human Remains addresses this horror from a completely different angle. Irony and even occasional humor are sprinkled throughout the documentary. This darkly poetic film is based entirely on fact, creatively combining direct quotes and biographical research. Though based on historical figures, Human Remains is contemporary in its implications and ultimately invites the viewer to confront the nature of evil.
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Auf geht’s – West Germany 1955, 11 min.
Directed by: Ferdinand Khittl
Written by: Just Scheu
Cinematography by: Gerd von Bonin
Edited by: Hans Dieter Schiller
Produced by: Olympia-Film, München

One of the 3 short films that came as an extra on Edition Filmmuseum 47: Die Parallelstrasse AKA The Parallel Street (Ferdinand Khittl, 1962).

Documentary short on the Octoberfest in Munich.
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Eoghan is a sound recordist who is returning to Ireland for the first time in 15 years. His reason for returning is a job offer: to find and record places free from man-made sound. His quest takes him away from towns and villages into remote terrain. Throughout his journey, he is drawn into a series of encounters and conversations which gradually divert his attention towards a more intangible silence, one that is bound up with the sounds of the life he had left behind. Influenced by elements of folklore and archive, Silence unfolds with a quiet intensity, where poetic images reveal an absorbing meditation on themes relating to sound and silence, history, memory and exile. (IMDB)
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Synopsis:

An illuminating – and extremely rare – documentary profile of one of the greatest filmmakers of our time, Béla Tarr. Filmed during the production of his final masterpiece, The Turin Horse, this film features clips, behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with longtime collaborators.

From December 2008 until June 2010, Béla Tarr gathered his “cinema family” near Budapest for his last film: The Turin Horse. This shooting family, which has been collaborating with Tarr for years or even decades, includes Tarr’s wife/co-director/editor Agnes Hranitzky, cinematographer Fred Kelemen (himself a director of some renown), scriptwriter Laszlo Krasznahorkai, musician Mihaly Víg, composer Akosh Szelevenyi, and lead actors Janos Derzsi and Erika Bok.Read More »

There is seven of them, aged 23 to 60: a man, women, mothers, girls, they come from different backgrounds.
All speak openly, quite frankly, with courage.
Each one of them shares his story, his emotions and memories.
Each story is unique, but universal in its way. Everyone tells the silences,
the feeling of guilt of the victim, the lack of points of reference, the cowardice of the whole family, the tragic role of the mother, the denial, the feeling of being alone in the world.
The film shows the mechanisms of incest and that one can not understand it
without considering the whole family.
The documentary also wants to transmit a message of hope with these men and women who were able to rebuild themselves.
Their stories offer a helping hand to those who, like them once, suffocate under a blanket of silence.
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JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI is the story of 85 year-old Jiro Ono, considered by many to be the world’s greatest sushi chef. He is the proprietor of Sukiyabashi Jiro, a 10-seat, sushi-only restaurant inauspiciously located in a Tokyo subway station. Despite its humble appearances, it is the first restaurant of its kind to be awarded a prestigious 3 star Michelin review, and sushi lovers from around the globe make repeated pilgrimage, calling months in advance and shelling out top dollar for a coveted seat at Jiro’s sushi bar.

For most of his life, Jiro has been mastering the art of making sushi, but even at his age he sees himself still striving for perfection, working from sunrise to well beyond sunset to taste every piece of fish; meticulously train his employees; and carefully mold and finesse the impeccable presentation of each sushi creation. At the heart of this story is Jiro’s relationship with his eldest son Yoshikazu, the worthy heir to Jiro’s legacy, who is unable to live up to his full potential in his father’s shadow.
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This is a TV documentary featuring footage of Fassbinder on the sets of “Kamikaze 89” and “Querelle”. There is also an interview with him (I think it might be the last interview he gave before his death). “Last Works” director Gremm was staying at Fassbinder’s apartment during the night of his overdose.Read More »

Background/Synopsis wrote:
Long interview with Monte Hellman at home. Maybe one of the best documentaries about a filmmaker ever shot.
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Synopsis:
A hilarious retrospective of scenes from films, television and short-subjects going back to the the ’20s, ’30s. ’40s, ’50s and ’60s, detailing everything from proper petting etiquette to military lectures on VD prevention.Read More »