• Ishmael Bernal – City After Dark AKA Manila By Night (1980)

    1971-1980AsianDramaIshmael BernalPhilippines

    Quote:
    The hidden nightlife of ordinary people living in Manila unveils. Lovers and families’ conflicts are radically pitted against each other as they live in the night streets rampant with drugs and prostitution. The outstanding narrative explicitly unravels the various characters and episodes. This landmark film of Ishmael Bernal depicts the darkness of city life so vividly that it was once prohibited to use the word ‘Manila’ on its title.Read More »

  • Kyoshi Sugita – Kanata no uta AKA Following the Sound (2023)

    2021-2030DramaJapanKyoshi Sugita

    One day, Haru (25), who works as a bookstore clerk, reunites with Takeshi (45), whom she first met a few years prior, when she stopped him from jumping in front of a train. Takeshi offers Haru a job. Another day, Haru is worried about Yukiko (40) who is sitting on a bench in front of the station, and talks to her. This leads them on a small journey together. Haru takes along a cassette tape and recorder left behind by her mother Taeko, who died of illness when Haru was in primary school. Haru again faces regrets of not being able to help Taeko, which she had held for a long time.Read More »

  • Sebastián Silva – Rotting in the Sun (2023)

    2021-2030CrimeDramaQueer Cinema(s)Sebastián Silva

    PLOT: Follows social media celebrity Jordan Firstman as he starts a search for filmmaker Sebastian Silva who went missing in Mexico City. He suspects that the cleaning lady in Sebastian’s building may be involved in his disappearance.Read More »

  • Mikhaël Hers – Les passagers de la nuit AKA The Passengers of the Night (2022)

    2021-2030DramaFranceMikhaël Hers

    Left by her husband, Elisabeth finds herself alone, responsible for the day-to-day care of her two children. She picks up a job on a night-time radio show, where she meets Talulah, a youngster she decides to take under her wing.Read More »

  • René Viénet – Mao par lui-même AKA Mao by Mao (1977)

    1971-1980DocumentaryFranceRené Viénet

    Synopsis
    A film autobiography of Mao Tse-tung, leader of China from 1947 through until his death in 1976, drawn exclusively from his own writings, diaries, speeches and personal notes. Incorporates footage never before seen outside of China.

    A film-détournement biography of Mao Tse-tung in which the life of the recently deceased Great Helmsman is told in his own words, using quotes culled from various Red Guard publications. The rise to power of the film’s namesake appears as the inevitable outcome of a dialectical logical. Or so the voice-over might lead one to believe. If the usual practice of détourned films is for the soundtrack to undermine the image, here the reverse occasionally takes place. The images critique Mao’s words. They show that which, even in the official visual record of the times, the narrative elides. The film is dedicated to Li Yhi Zhe, the nominal author of a famous Democracy Wall critique of the Maoist state.Read More »

  • Suneil Sanzgiri – At Home But Not At Home (2020)

    2011-2020ExperimentalIndiaShort FilmSuneil Sanzgiri

    Sanzgiri’s father was 18 when India ousted the last remaining Portuguese colonisers from Goa in 1961. Combining 16mm with drone footage, desktop screenshots, and Skype interviews with his father, Sanzgiri utilises various modes of seeing at a distance to question identity, the construction of memory and anti-colonial solidarity across continents.Read More »

  • Isabella Eklöf – Holiday (2018)

    2011-2020DenmarkDramaIsabella EklöfThriller

    Quote:
    The white sand sparkles in the hot sun beside the clear blue waters of the Turkish Riviera. Young, blonde, clad in light summer garb and an oversized hat, Sascha (Victoria Carmen Sonne) looks as though she was made for this place. She drifts around the hotel pool on an inflatable crocodile, leans out laughing in the bow of a yacht or giggles over cocktails. One day, buying strawberry ice cream, she catches the eye of a young Dutchman, Thomas (Thijs Römer). But Sascha is already attached – to fortysomething mobster Michael (Lai Yde) – a man whom she has already learned will respond to disloyalty with violence…Read More »

  • Jean Valère – Les grandes personnes AKA Time Out for Love (1961)

    1961-1970DramaFranceJean Valère

    Quote:
    Successful fashion executive Michelle (Micheline Presle, The Assassin) attempts to commit suicide when she realizes that the man she loves, Philippe (Maurice Ronet, Purple Noon), has started drifting away from her. But she fails and an American beauty, Anne (Jean Seberg, Breathless), helps her get back on her feet.

    Soon after, Michelle hires Anne to help her with her daily projects. She also changes her hairstyle and shows her what dresses to wear so that she looks as attractive and elegant as the Parisian women. When Philippe reappears, she encourages her to start exploring the city with him.Read More »

  • Daisuke Miyazaki – Yamato (Kariforunia) AKA Yamato (California) (2016) (HD)

    2011-2020ArthouseDaisuke MiyazakiDramaJapan

    Quote:
    Sakura shares a small house with her mother and brother, next to the US military base in Yamato, Japan. Her dream is to become a famous rapper like the American hip-hop stars she admires. One day, the daughter of her mother’s American boyfriend arrives to their home.Read More »

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