Bruno Bozzetto’s parody and spin-off of Disney’s Fantasia is a collection of animated sketches accompanying classical music pieces (by Debussy, Dvorak, Ravel, Sibelius, Stravinsky, and Vivaldi), with live-action slapstick sequences featuring cowriter Maurizio Nichetti (The Icicle Thief). It’s not only a hilarious send-up of Disney’s excesses but a splendid cartoon feature in its own right–funny and imaginative and lively. The “restored” version of this 1976 Italian picture includes more Nichetti footage and a stereo sound track.Read More »

In the late 1800s, an isolated Egyptian mountain clan sustains itself by exploiting Egypt’s ancient heritage, secretly raiding the tombs of the Pharaohs in Thebes. “One of the greatest Egyptian films ever made, Al-Mummia has an extremely unusual tone – stately, poetic, with a powerful grasp of time and the sadness it carries. The carefully measured pace, the almost ceremonial movement of the camera, the classical Arabic spoken on the soundtrack, the unsettling score by the great Italian composer Mario Nascimbene – they all work in perfect harmony… This picture has a sense of history like no other, and in the end, the film is strangely, even hauntingly consoling – the final understanding of who and what we are” (Martin Scorsese).Read More »

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Air Hostess is a 1933 American Pre-Code aviation-themed melodrama based on a serial published in a 1919 True Story Magazine article called Air Hostess by Grace Perkins, also known as Dora Macy. Director Albert Rogell who had moved from shorts to B-films, had been interested in aviation having already helmed a similar feature, The Flying Marine (1929). In Air Hostess, the studio had attempted to merge flying and romance. Advertising stressed, “A date in the skies … a rendezvous in the heavens…where love zooms with thrill after thrill … but finds a happy landing!”Read More »

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“The rule of coal is gone. The bios plants will provide power to the world from today!” In this rediscovery of Weimar cinema, a dystopian vision of unfettered capitalism that is eerily contemporary, a coal miner makes a Faustian pact with the otherworldly Algol, an alien who teaches him how to harness the energy of his home star and become the most powerful man on earth. Together they become megalomaniacal CEOs of the “Bios-Werke,” lording over the nations of the world by monopolizing renewable energy and by turning workers into slaves.Read More »

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An alien, master of the time from a distant star who travels centuries to centuries, explores our planet. He finds himself on a Brazilian beach with his magic ring.Read More »

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The camera follows citizens of Rome in mockumentary style.

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This film is recognized as of national cultural interest by the General Directorate for Cinema of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, on the basis of the ministerial resolution of 4 February 2003.Read More »

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Lisa Heredia, la veuve et la monteuse de Jean-Claude Brisseau, nous a confié ces films. Ce sont ses tout premiers essais, qu’il a montrés quelques années plus tard à Eric Rohmer, qui en fut enthousiasmé et qu’il l’a introduit auprès [de la maison de production] des Films du Losange. Comme il est pour l’instant peu probable que la société nous permette de reprogrammer la rétrospective qui aurait dû lui être consacrée, nous avons jugé de notre devoir de montrer ces films sur notre plate-forme pour compléter la connaissance qui est due à tout grand cinéaste. (Frédéric Bonnaud, Le Monde) .Read More »

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Poem is the last film in Jissoji’s Art Theatre Guild trilogy and deals with the traditional stem-family system on the verge of collapse allegorically. Not very satisfied with the optimistic last scene of Mujo, Jissoji approaches a similar subject matter from a different perspective. And the film is more in line with his concern about the radical change in the society which prompted him to make the trilogy. It appears that the script was written through intense discussions between Jissoji and Ishido, this time too.Read More »

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In Dangling by Their Mouths, Campbell casts himself as the female lead named Anna. At first, the obvious image of the cross-dressing Campbell playing the part of Anna is quite displacing. However, by avoiding the “camp” aspects of gender bending (quite often found in videos from the 1980s), Campbell’s performance allows the viewer to suspend their disbelief until, midway through the tape, Campbell has successfully transformed into Anna.Read More »