• John Farrow – Alias Nick Beal (1949)

    USA1941-1950FantasyFilm NoirJohn Farrow

    ArtsEmerson writes: An update of the Faust story set in urban modernity, with Milland as the mysterious Nick Beal, the Mephistophelean tempter. District Attorney Joseph Foster (Mitchell) is after an elusive gangster when Beal—emerging from the fog—offers his assistance. The price to be paid is clear, as Farrow chillingly charts the initially law-abiding lawyer’s descent into corruption. With a notable hard-boiled turn from noir regular Audrey Totter, as the fallen woman Beal enlists to draw Foster away from his marriage.Read More »

  • Lav Diaz – Ang panahon ng halimaw AKA Season of the Devil (2018)

    2011-2020ArthouseDramaLav DiazPhilippines

    Synopsis
    Philippines, late 1970s. A military-controlled militia is oppressing a remote village, spreading terror both physical and psychological. The fearless young doctor Lorena who opened a clinic for the poor disappears without a trace. Her husband, activist poet Hugo Haniway, attempts to find her.Read More »

  • John Nelson – Through Navajo Eyes: Shallow Well Project (1966)

    1961-1970DocumentaryEthnographic CinemaJohn NelsonUSA

    Shallow Well Project
    This is a film that Johnny undertook to make after he was reprimanded by the community for making the photographs of horses which are described in the text. It was at that time that he was asked to supervise the construction of a shallow well.

    Johnny previously had experience as a foreman helping to construct these wells in the community. He told the relative who suggested that he undertake the supervision of this construction that he couldn’t do it because he was learning to make movies. But then he realized that perhaps he could make a film about it and thus regain some of his status.Read More »

  • Mikio Naruse – Uwasa no musume aka The Girl in the Rumor (1935)

    1931-1940DramaJapanMikio Naruse

    Quote:
    A story of two sisters, the older being more traditional, the younger a “moga” (“modern girl”). Their widowed father runs the family sake shop — but is running into financial trouble (causing him to make some bad decisions). Meanwhile, his long-time mistress’s little business is also on the rocks. Amidst this, the older sister is introduced to a well-off suitor (a university boy who is much more intrigued by the less traditional “little sister”). Add a dotty grandfather, an officious uncle and busy body neighbors.Read More »

  • Nicolas Roeg – Don’t Look Now (1973)

    1971-1980MysteryNicolas RoegThrillerUSA

    Quote:
    Don’t Look Now is a 1973 occult thriller film directed by Nicolas Roeg. Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland star as a married couple whose lives become complicated after meeting two elderly sisters in Venice, one of whom claims to be clairvoyant and informs them that their recently deceased daughter is trying to contact them to warn them of danger. It is an independent British and Italian co-production, filmed in England and Italy, and adapted from the short story by Daphne du Maurier.Read More »

  • Ishirô Honda – Gasu ningen dai ichigo AKA The Human Vapor (1960)

    1951-1960AsianIshirô HondaJapanSci-Fi

    Synopsis:
    A librarian is subject to a scientific experiment which goes wrong and transforms him into ‘The Human Vapour’. He uses his new ability to rob banks to fund the career of his girlfriend, a beautiful dancer. The Human Vapour is ruthless in his quest for money and kills anyone who stands in his way, especially police. He soon becomes Tokyo’s most wanted criminal. Can he be stopped before he kills again?Read More »

  • David Achkar – Allah Tantou AKA God’s Will (1992)

    1991-2000David AchkarDocumentaryGuinea

    Synopsis:
    ‘Allah Tantou’ is the first African film to confront the immense personal and political costs of the continent’s widespread human rights abuses. Director David Achkar has described the origins of his film: “Every year Amnesty International publishes a list of countries where human rights are ignored, including the estimated number of those unjustly imprisoned and executed in each. My father was one of those who died anonymously. In 1986, by a strange twist of fate, an envelope containing letters written by my father in prison was brought to me. Years later, still trying to make my first film, I watched some home movies my father had shot and then opened that envelope for the first time.Read More »

  • Yoshihiko Matsui – Tonkei shinjû aka Pig-Chicken Suicide (1981)

    1981-1990CultExperimentalJapanYoshihiko Matsui

    Directed by Japanese underground legend Yoshihiko Matsui, most famous for his epic film Noisy Requiem and his early work with maverik Japanese director Sogo Ishii (Gojoe, Crazy Thunder Road), Pig Chicken Suicide is a veritable assault on the senses, mixing violent images of animal slaughter, racial strife and surrealism to tell the story of two Koreans living in Japan who’s love is destroyed due to overwhelming racial discrimination.Read More »

  • Sana Na N’Hada – Xime (1994)

    1991-2000African CinemaArthouseDramaGuinea -BissauSana Na N'Hada

    The film tells the tale of Iala, whose authority over his two sons, Raul and Bedan, is shaken. Raul has left to study in a seminary in the big city, where unknown to anyone, he has joined the liberation movement. Meanwhile, younger son, Bedan is rebelling against every possible tradition, even eyeing his father’s young bride-to-be.Read More »

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