• Liliane de Kermadec – Aloïse (1975)

    1971-1980DramaFranceLiliane de Kermadec

    Quote:
    The life of noted Swiss painter Aloise, whose work was accomplished during 40 years in a mental hospital to which she was commited after protesting against World War I…Read More »

  • Michael Pilz – Himmel und Erde AKA Heaven and Earth (1983)

    1981-1990AustriaDocumentaryEthnographic CinemaExperimentalMichael Pilz

    Michael Pilz’s 285-minute Himmel and Erde is an essay film or an ethnographic documentary about life in the Styrian mountain village of St. Anna. It contemplates the finite lot of individuals as part of a continuum of human experience in the natural world. Himmel und Erde, which translates to Heaven and Earth, was recorded between 1979 and 1982. The documentary invites the viewer to contemplate the disruptive effects of technology on economic and social ties through circumscribed vignettes of village life which are oft repeated either as recycled footage or variations on a theme. The film is a meditation on time, nature, and the struggles of man, as well as a record of a lifestyle ceasing to exist. “If you let it happen, the film will pull you into its cosmos; it is one of those works that teaches you to see and listen again.”Read More »

  • Billy Wilder – One, Two, Three (1961)

    1961-1970Billy WilderComedyPoliticsUSA

    Synopsis:
    Berlin, after the Second World War: C.R. MacNamara presides over the Coca-Cola branch of Germany. He is working hard and trying his very best to impress the Atlanta headquarters, since he has heard that the European headquarters in London will soon be looking for a new head. Now, Coca-Cola boss Mr. Hazeltine asks MacNamara to take care of his daughter Scarlett, who is going to take a trip to Europe. Scarlett, however, does not behave the way a young respectable girl of her age should: Instead of sightseeing, she goes out until the early morning and has lots of fun. Finally, she falls in love with Otto Piffl, a young man from East Berlin and a flaming Communist, and marries him surprisingly. When MacNamara hears of this, he intrigues quite a bit with the help of his assistant Schlemmer to get Piffl into an East German prison, but when he also gets note of his Boss and wife coming over to visit their daughter in Berlin, he needs to get Piffl out again, convert him to Capitalism and present him as a fine young and noble husband in order to get his London post, and all of that very quickRead More »

  • Werner Herzog – Glaube und Währung AKA God’s Angry Man (1981)

    1981-1990DocumentaryGermanyWerner Herzog

    Quote:
    The documentary follows Gene Scott, famous televangelist involved with constant fights against FCC, who tried to shut down his TV show during the 1970’s and 1980’s, and even argues with his viewers, complaining about their lack of support by not sending enough money to keep going with the show. Werner Herzog presents the man, his thoughts and also includes some of his uncharacteristic programs.Read More »

  • Roger Corman – Premature Burial (1962)

    1961-1970HorrorMysteryRoger CormanUSA

    Synopsis:
    Emily Gault arrives at the Carrell mansion determined to rekindle an old relationship with Guy Carrell, despite the disapproval of his sister, Kate. Guy overcomes his all-consuming fear of being buried alive long enough to marry Emily but soon becomes obsessed again, building a crypt designed to guarantee that he will not fall prey to his most dreaded nightmare. Trying to prove that he has been cured of his phobia, he opens his father’s tomb and is shocked into a catatonic state. His worst fears are realized as he is lowered into a grave and covered over, apparently never to learn that the treachery of someone very dear to him was directly responsible for his predicament.Read More »

  • Jacques Tourneur – Nightfall (1956)

    1951-1960250 Quintessential Film NoirsFilm NoirFranceJacques Tourneur

    Fred Camper wrote:
    This 1957 noir masterpiece by Jacques Tourneur stars Aldo Ray as a man fleeing a private investigator and Anne Bancroft as the barroom acquaintance who agrees to help him. Ray’s past is revealed gradually in a series of flashbacks, which are intercut with the couple’s flight and the investigator’s pursuit; by developing each narrative in a parallel space or time, Tourneur movingly articulates the theme of a character trapped by his history. The images have a smooth, almost liquid quality, the high-contrast lighting of most noirs replaced by a delicate lyricism that takes the natural world as the norm. Tourneur links this naturalism to Ray’s growing observational skills (“I know where every shadow falls,” he says), but it also contrasts with the story’s acute paranoia.Read More »

  • Michael Sear & Joseph Sharman – The Harlem Globetrotters: The Team That Changed the World (2005)

    2001-2010DocumentaryJoseph SharmanMichael SearTVUSA

    Synopsis:
    “The Team that Changed the World,” investigates the Globetrotters’ impact socially and culturally, as well as their lasting effect on the NBA. Featuring interviews with basketball players, celebrities, politicians, and more, the documentary also shows how the Globetrotters continue to serve as “Ambassadors of Goodwill” and touch audiences around the world today.Read More »

  • Janusz Majewski – System (1972)

    1971-1980HorrorJanusz MajewskiPolandTV

    It features a young man and a lady friend driving to an insane asylum whose overseers the woman knows. Weirdness is evident before they even reach the place, in the form of a ranting maniac in a tree. More crazies are found freely wandering the grounds of the asylum, they being participants in an apparently revolutionary new system instituted by the asylum’s director. But the director seems just as nutty in his own way as the patients, and it turns out there’s a good reason for this: he is one of the patients, having taken over the asylum and locked up its overseers.Read More »

  • Nansalmaagin Uranchimeg – Argamshaa AKA Shackles (1993)

    1991-2000DramaMongoliaNansalmaagin Uranchimeg

    Synopsis / Plot
    Ulan Bator is the capital of Mongolia, and is has its share of urban crimes despite being in the middle of one of the most underdeveloped and underpopulated countries in the world. In this story, Toguldur (S. Gombo-Ochir) is a boy who was recently orphaned. He has at least these things going for him: he is wiry, strong, and agile. These might help him to survive legitimately, but he has come to the attention of a local gang, which needs him to do some cat-burgling for them. Whether he will succeed in winning free from the gang is the central issue here, and he gets some help from an old farmer (N. Tsegmid) who shelters him briefly.Read More »

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