Mimosas (original title: Mimosas) is a 2016 drama film directed and co-written by Oliver Laxe, described by Laxe as ‘a Religious Western’. The film is a co-production between Spain, Morocco, France and Qatar. It was screened in the International Critics’ Week section at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Nespresso Grand Prize.Read More »
-
Oliver Laxe – Mimosas (2016)
2011-2020DramaMoroccoOliver Laxe -
Mark Cousins – Atomic: Living in Dread and Promise (2015)
2011-2020DocumentaryExperimentalHiroshima at 75Mark CousinsUnited KingdomThis hypnotic documentary by cinephile par excellence Mark Cousins takes a brave – but increasingly rewarding – abstract angle by seeking through aesthetic rather than conventional exposition to capture the strange, sensory ethos of the Atomic age (a period spanning approximately 1940-60 but having a far-reaching legacy up to the present day). Using Mogwai’s ethereal electronic soundtrack as his conduit, Cousins takes us through the history of the Atomic period through sound and image alone (there is no overt narration) – even trying ambitiously to suggest that splitting the atom and creating atomic weapons were not in themselves immediately malign developments but almost the end-game of a form of evolution, and symbol of mankind’s mastery over the properties of his planet. Hence Cousins finds in the famous, awe-inspiring images of atomic mushroom clouds a correlation with more common sights of proliferation in nature (a bud that grows, a flower that blooms, sperm that fertilises an egg).Read More »
-
Adam Curtis – The Trap: What Happened to Our Dream of Freedom (2007)
2001-2010Adam CurtisDocumentaryExperimentalUnited KingdomThe Trap: What Happened to Our Dream of Freedom is a BBC documentary series by British filmmaker Adam Curtis, well known for other documentaries including The Century of the Self and The Power of Nightmares. It began airing on BBC Two on 11 March, 2007.
The series consists of three one-hour programmes which explore the concept and definition of freedom, specifically “how a simplistic model of human beings as self-seeking, almost robotic, creatures led to today’s idea of freedom.”Read More »
-
Erik Løchen – Jakten AKA The Chasers AKA The Hunt (1959)
Drama1951-1960ArthouseErik LøchenNorwaySynopsis:
This is a film about the eternal triangle – two men – one woman. Bjørn is married to Guri and Knut is their mutual friend. Knut is the younger, dominated by his strong friend. They leave for a hunting-trip in the autumn and the drama develops between them – they shall fight about Guri.Read More » -
Joe Dante – The Movie Orgy (1968)
1961-1970CultExperimentalJoe DanteUSAA compilation film designed to evoke nostalgia for the shared entertainment experiences of early baby boomers, “The Movie Orgy” includes clips from television programs and B-movies of the 1950s and 1960s, as well as commercials, music clips, newsreels, blooper outtakes, satiric short films and promotional and government films. The effect is something like a simulation of a lazy Saturday of channel surfing or a long double (or triple) matinee at the movies. The film is primarily structured around extended clips from Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958) and Speed Crazy (1959); as it progresses, segments primarily culled from about a dozen other films and programs are increasingly intercut to create the effect of a single disjointed story in which numerous monsters and assorted social menaces seem to inflict themselves simultaneously on various American cities and towns. This principal focus is occasionally interrupted by commercial breaks and other assorted side features. (IMDB, Written by scgary66)Read More »
-
Cheryl Dunye – The Watermelon Woman (1996)
1991-2000Cheryl DunyeDramaQueer Cinema(s)The Female GazeUSAQuote:
Cheryl is young, Black, and lesbian, working in Philadelphia with her best friend Tamara and consumed by a film project: to make a video about her search for a Black actress from Philly who appeared in films in the 30s and was known as the Watermelon Woman. Following various leads, Cheryl discovers the Watermelon Woman’s stage name and real name and surmises that the actress had a long affair with Martha Page, a White woman and one of Hollywood’s few female directors. As she’s discovering these things, Cheryl becomes involved with Diana, who’s also White. The affair strains Cheryl’s friendship with Tamara. More discoveries bring Cheryl (and us, her audience) to new realizations.Read More » -
Ulrike Ottinger – Freak Orlando (1981)
1981-1990ArthouseExperimentalGermanyQueer Cinema(s)Ulrike OttingerAs Orlando (Magdalena Montezuma) enters the world of “freaks,” the movie develops scenes from a mythological netherworld, the Spanish Inquisition, the Middle Ages, and a few other settings to focus on unusual characters with physical or mental oddities. By the time the various vignettes that take place in these separate periods are completed, each with their own points and counterpoints, the “freaks” seem much less odd than their physically normal contemporaries. After Orlando has revealed much about the human condition through glimpses of a P.T. Barnum side-show, Siamese twins, as well as modern sexual morés, her journey with the viewer is completed. The device of Orlando, the time-traveler and liberated bisexual is based on Virginia Woolf’s “Orlando: A Biography.” The same set of actors play different roles in each of the five chronological segments. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, RoviRead More »
-
Nely Reguera – María (y los demás) AKA Maria and Everybody Else (2016)
2011-2020DramaNely RegueraSpainQuote:
Ever since her mum died, María has taken care of her father and her siblings. That’s why her father’s announcement of marriage to his nurse brings María’s world crashing down around her. At the age of 35, she’ll have to change her fate.Read More » -
Dane Komljen – Svi severni gradovi AKA All the Cities of the North (2016)
2011-2020Dane KomljenDramaSerbiaQuote:
In an abandoned bungalow complex two man have made themselves a peaceful haven. Although the relationship between them is unclear, the unexpected arrival of the third man is going to disrupt their little utopia.
Read More »








