A filmmaker arrives at a crossroads in his life and his art when he learns his mother may be dying in this drama with comedic overtones from director Darezhan Omirbaev. Amir Kobessov (Djamshed Usmonov) is a well-respected filmmaker from Kazakhstan who, both professionally and personally, is suffering from a crisis of confidence. Amir is beginning to wonder if audiences are still interested in his work, and he has a recurring nightmare in which his latest premiere is scotched in favor of a low-budget chop-socky epic. At home, Amir and his wife are not getting along, and both are struggling to keep their marriage afloat. When Amir receives word that his mother is seriously ill, he hops in his car and sets out to visit her in the small village where he was born; along the way, Amir finds himself examining his past as he tries to come to terms with an uncertain future. Jol was screened as part of the Un Certain Regard series at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
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PLOT SUMMARY:
A young American dancer travels to Europe to join a famous ballet school. As she arrives, the camera turns to another young woman, who appears to be fleeing from the school. She returns to her apartment where she is gruesomely murdered by a hideous creature. Meanwhile, the young American is trying to settle in at the ballet school, but hears strange noises and is troubled by bizarre occurrences. She eventually discovers that the school is merely a front for a much more sinister organization.
source = IMDB
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Synopsis: Blind Ambition is a nine-part video shot throughout one day in the streets of Cairo. It features nine social situations that take place in public spaces. Shot with two mobile phones, Blind Ambition gives the impression of using real-time, factual footage material. Deprived of ambient sound, and with dubbed in voices, it is a video about material culture during the Egyptian revolution.Read More »

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Documentary about Clara Bow, a cinema sensation who broke box office records and became one of the greatest stars of the silent screen. Amid scandal and ill health she retired for good at the age of just 28. Once the Queen of Hollywood, now largely forgotten – whatever happened to Clara Bow?
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Life, Death, God, Salvation, Revolution? Those living in the abyss have left the worst behind. Dostoyevsky’s “Devils” takes place in the transition between religious belief and materialistic ideology, foreshadowing not only the approaching death of God, but also the collapse of socialism. Written in the 1860’s, the novel opens not only a philosophical panorama of different types of human quest for transcendence, but also establishes such fateful bonds among those involved in the quest that in the end only state terror can prevent widespread annihilation. Beauty and terror mate before dusk.Read More »

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Ecologic thresholds are surpassed, economic thresholds are surpassed, population thresholds are surpassed and social harmony is upset. Here is the depiction of neoliberal urbanisation: Ecumenopolis: City Without Limits. In his first feature-length documentary, İmre Azem aims for a wholesome approach to Istanbul; as much as the change itself, he questions the underlying dynamics. He takes us on a long journey in this endless city, from demolished slums to the tops of skyscrapers, from the depths of the Marmara Sea to the route of the third bridge crossing the Bosporus, from real estate investors to urban opposition. We hope that you will not be a mere spectator to change, but question it.Read More »

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Horizon: Eat, Fast and Live Longer

Michael Mosley has set himself a truly ambitious goal: he wants to live longer, stay younger and lose weight in the bargain. And he wants to make as few changes to his life as possible along the way. He discovers the powerful new science behind the ancient idea of fasting, and he thinks he’s found a way of doing it that still allows him to enjoy his food. Michael tests out the science of fasting on himself – with life-changing results.
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Animation by Anatoly Petrov, The first of 4 Greek mythological stories with an erotic character about Aphrodite and Eros he made between 1989 and 1996.
The style is quite experimental on the first two, as he strived for a 3 dimensional effect using just handcrafted cel-animation means.

For animating it means he drew 2 layers for each animation sequence, which doubles the amount of animation drawings.and he drew them all by himself, showing his extraordinary skills and speed as animator.
There are many switches in style in the animation, sometimes using sketch material,at other times fully worked out animation, and from black and white to colour, etc. It gives the animation a quit experimental character. A sort of deconstructed style
The nudity and erotique character of the 4 animations is unique for soviet animation. With every animation of the serie the erotism gets more explicit. The 4 are the only Russian erotic animation art known to meRead More »

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Darezhan Omirbaev (Kairat, Kardiogramma) directed this French-Kazakh film about a young man driven to the precipice in an uncaring world. Marat (Talgat Assetov) works as a chauffeur for a well-known scientist. Driving home from the maternity hospital with his wife Aijan (Roksana Abouova) and their new baby boy, Marat is at fault during a minor traffic accident. The damage payments on both cars put him in debt. Unable to cover costs when the baby gets sick, Marat finds it necessary to follow a gangster’s bidding to murder a journalist. Shown in the Certain Regard Section at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.Read More »