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“A famed Lithuanian painter expresses the torment of his youth through his paintings. But lately, even his work provides no solace, for he falls into a deep mid-life crises and can find no inspiration. This grim, earnest and arty drama looks back upon his formative years, the joy of which were destroyed by Stalin’s policies. The darkness began for him when his father was arrested for being an enemy of the state and sent to a Siberian prison. The boy and his remaining family become social pariahs, and the only way his mother can support them is to prostitute herself to the local police and politicians. Eventually the young painter is sent to the countryside, but even there, he cannot escape the fear and oppression. To cope, he becomes hard and cynical; his mother too changes dramatically and when the father finally returns home, he finds himself among virtual strangers.”Read More »

Based on the novel of the same title by the Strugatsky brothers

“Konstantin Lopushansky was a student of classic Soviet director Andrei Tarkovsky, and master’s influence is highly visible in “The Ugly Swans” — not just as a ghost in the background, but as full-fledged foreground presence. Which is not to deny Lopushansky his originality. More than anything, it’s a sign of a certain artistic style being handed down over the generations… The film is …aesthetically outstanding and emotionally moody in a way that’s very hard to gauge… Tarkovsky would have been proud.” (Tom Birchenough, “The Moscow Times”)
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Contents:
Main content:
The shorts:
Double Exposure 7minutes 03 seconds
Hot Pants 5 minutes 46 seconds
The Second Coming 13 minutes 34 seconds
Daydreams from a Crosstown bus 14 minutes 11 seconds
Mumbo Jumbo 13 minutes 51 seconds
Green Thoughts 9 minuts 15 seconds
Underground, (my favourite) 10 minutes 46 seconds and
Prometheus 21 minutes 21 seconds

Extras: Complete and untouched:
– Fragments: The Incomplete Films of Peter de Rome (Ethan Reid, 2012, 43 minutes): revealing new documentary in which Peter de Rome discusses his many incomplete and unfinished films.
– Scopo (Peter de Rome, 1966, 6 minutes): when a young man arrives at an empty apartment, he is unaware that a stranger is watching him.
– The Fire Island Kids (Peter de Rome, 1970, 12 minutes): two men spend a lazy day in each other’s company after one rescues the other from drowning
– Moulage (Peter de Rome, 1971, 13 minutes): humour and art collide in this study of erotic body casting.
– Brown Study (Peter de Rome, 1979, 9 minutes): an ethnographic study with a difference.
– Abracadaver! (Nathan Schiff, 2008, 10 minutes): a gruesome tale of magic and mutilation from producer David McGillivary, starring Peter de Rome.Read More »

Quote:
Adua and Friends (Italian: Adua e le compagne) is a 1960 Italian film directed by Antonio Pietrangeli with a collaborative screenplay by the film’s director together with Ruggero Maccari, Ettore Scola and Tullio Pinelli. The plot concerns the efforts of four prostitutes to eke out a living after being thrown out of their jobs by enactment of the Merlin Law, which shut down Italy’s legalized brothels.Read More »

18th century Kazakhstan, a vast, pitiless region of austere and terrible beauty, bordered by China, Russia and Tibet. Here the proud and warlike Kazakh tribes have survived and fought for centuries – against invaders, against their formidable Jungar enemies and amongst themselves.
Oraz, a mystic and warrior possessed of great powers, foretells the birth of a new star, a hero. This boy -Mansur – is destined to unite the Kazakhs, and lead them to glorious victory against their enemies. Fearful of Oraz’ prediction, the Jungar ruler Galdan orders his General, Sharish, to find the child and slay him. However, Oraz saves Mansur and delivers him to his father, Sultan Wali.Read More »

Struggling martial artist and dancer Bruno loves his girlfriend Carla, but when he meets fellow dancer Rai, serious sparks begin to fly, opening the couple up to new possibilities. A new generation navigates sexual fluidity, torn affections, and open relationships in this steamy love triangle. But once Bruno’s clandestine encounters with Rai are revealed, a confused and hurt Carla kicks him out. But she simply doesn’t want to give up on her love. Eventually she agrees that Bruno can date them both as long as he keeps his life with Rai relatively separate. Read More »

Daniela, raised in the bosom of a strict Evangelical family and recently unmasked as a fornicator by her shocked parents, struggles to find her own path to spiritual harmony.Read More »

Carl’s life is reduced to two things: receiving lows and, despite everything, persists in carrying out a “normal” existence.
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Quote:
The great Russian film director Sergei Eisenstein, whose Potemkin, Alexander Nevsky, and Ivan the Terrible stand as masterpieces of world cinema, is the subject of this eccentric and puzzling production. Though based on memoirs Eisenstein wrote before his death in 1948, most of this film is barely a documentary at all, but rather a composite of images, many of which are fascinating and arresting. Eisenstein himself was known for startling and memorable images (perhaps the most famous of which is the shot of the baby carriage rolling down the steps in Potemkin), so memorializing him with clips from his own films interspersed with readings from his memoirs seems somewhat appropriate. But the voice-over in Russian (with English subtitles) is quite sparse, and at times the images onscreen, which include clips from Buster Keaton films and Hollywood musicals from the 1930s, are utterly mystifying.. –Robert J. McNamaraRead More »