• Dick Fontaine & Pat Hartley – I Heard It Through the Grapevine (1982)

    USA1981-1990Dick FontaineDocumentaryPat Hartley

    James Baldwin retraces his time in the South during the Civil Rights Movement, reflecting with his trademark brilliance and insight on the passage of more than two decades. From Selma and Birmingham, and Atlanta, to the battleground beaches of St. Augustine, Florida, with Chinua Achebe, and back north for a visit to Newark with Amiri Baraka, Baldwin lays bare the fiction of progress in post–Civil Rights America—wondering “what happened to the children” and those “who did not die, but whose lives were smashed on Freedom Road.”Read More »

  • Anocha Suwichakornpong – Jao nok krajok aka Mundane History (2009)

    2001-2010Anocha SuwichakornpongDramaThailand

    Explores the relationship between Ake, a young man who is paralyzed from the waist down after an accident, and Pun, the male nurse who takes care of him, and of course Ake’s father. Ake is at first cold towards his nurse Pun, but as Pun continues to earnestly take care of him he starts to open up his heart through candid conversations. The physical contact with Pun makes him rethink physical desires that he wants to forget. The grudge he held against his father slowly abates. All of this slowly becomes the motivating factor to confirm that he is alive, albeit with physical problems.Read More »

  • John Sayles – Silver City (2004)

    2001-2010DramaJohn SaylesThrillerUSA

    Quote:
    The discovery of a corpse threatens to unravel a bumbling local politician’s campaign for governor of Colorado.Read More »

  • Stanislaw Rózewicz – Aniol w szafie AKA Angel in the Wardrobe (1987)

    Drama1981-1990ArthousePolandStanislaw Rózewicz

    “Angel In The Wardrobe” is a film about responsibility, towards ourselves and others. A film about conscience; about the memory, without which we are nothing. The fears and anxieties in us and around us”.

    — Stanislaw Rozewicz.Read More »

  • João Canijo – Noite Escura AKA In the Darkness of the Night (2004)

    2001-2010DramaJoão CanijoPortugal

    João Canijo latest movie adapts a Greek tragedy “Ifigénia en Aulis” to a provincial Portuguese family that has to deal with the Russian Mafia after a deal went wrong. In a place where everything is bought and sold even the youngest daughter may have to be offered for prostitution to make up for a deal that went terribly wrong. “Noite Escura” deals with the emotions of a small family that runs a provincial whorehouse, having to sell their youngest in order to survive.Read More »

  • Carmelo Bene – Don Giovanni (1970)

    1961-1970Amos Vogel: Film as a Subversive ArtArthouseCarmelo BeneExperimentalItaly

    Synopsis:
    Spectacular Italian comedy-drama directed by Carmelo Bene. The narrative follows how Don Giovanni tries to seduce a young woman who is manically searching for Christian icons. The film is loosely based on Jules Barbey d’Aurevilly’s short story “The Greatest Love of Don Juan”, from the collection Les Diaboliques. The film premiered in the Directors’ Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival.Read More »

  • Andrzej Wajda – Dyrygent AKA The Conductor (1980)

    1971-1980Andrzej WajdaDramaPoland

    Quote:
    A violinist in a provincial Polish orchestra, whose husband is the director of the ensemble, on a visit to the U.S., ties up with the world-renowned symphony conductor. As it turns out, he was once in love with the violinist’s mother. The conductor, a slightly unstable hypochondriac, returns to Poland to lead the provincial orchestra. He also tries to revive an old love affair using the violinist as a surrogate of her mother. Her husband is resentful of the conductor for personal and professional reasons.Read More »

  • Med Hondo – Sarraounia (1986)

    1981-1990African CinemaArthouseBurkina FasoEpicMed Hondo

    Sarrouina (Keïta), a young warrior queen of the Azna tribe well-schooled in the arts of herbalism and warfare, leads her people to victory against a neighboring tribe. But the real trial of strength for her comes when the French army marches south to widen its colonial grip on the African continent. The second half of the film focuses on the French, acidly but plausibly satirized as little tyrants whose megalomania swells in proportion with their failure to grasp the realities of the culture they are trying to crush. Grounded in careful historical research, Sarraounia is a superbly crafted and expansive film that strikes a celebratory, assertive tone.Read More »

  • Gaspar Antillo – Nadie Sabe Que Estoy Aquí AKA Nobody Knows I’m Here (2020)

    2011-2020ChileDramaGaspar Antillo

    Quote:
    “Nobody Knows I’m Here” tells the story of Memo (Jorge Garcia), a recluse hiding out with his uncle Braulio (Luis Gnecco) in a remote part of Chile. Memo likes breaking into people’s houses for reasons unexplained, and would appear to be on the autism spectrum though a line of dialogue negates that. He helps his uncle tend sheep while refusing any attempt to attend public events or be sociable. He barely even speaks to Braulio, who chides him about his anti-social behavior and penchant for breaking and entering. At night, Memo occasionally dresses in the flashy outfits he makes and performs for an audience of one.Read More »

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