1990s

  • Jan Nemec – V žáru královské lásky AKA In the Light of the King’s Love (1990)

    1981-1990ArthouseCzech RepublicExperimentalJan Nemec

    Postmodernistic version of the grotesque and blasphemic novel The Sufferings of Prince Sternenhoch by czech anarchistic and subjectiv-idealistic philosopher Ladislav Klima (1878-1928) transposed into reality of the Prague 1989. The visual look of the film is credited by painter Michael Rittstein, a representative of the Czech grotesque. The film instead of the Prince’s headquarters takes place on the television transmitter, the main role is played by Czech punk-rock star Vilem Cok. The film is full of blasphemy, allusions to pornography and aesthetics of decay and kitsch. For Jan Nemec meant the project return to the Czech film, but also in his time shocking failure – Czech society was not ready for such hyperbole.Read More »

  • Yavuz Özkan – Bir Erkeğin Anatomisi (1997)

    1991-2000DramaTurkeyYavuz Özkan

    Taner is an upscale and successful Istanbul lawyer, but somewhat unhappy in his private life. One day he takes the trial of an underground guy, who gives him a file full of sensitive information regarding the connections between police and mafia and asks him to release it to the media if he ever disappears. At a time he hasn’t heard from this underground guy for several months, some unpleasant people enter his office and threaten him to give them the file. He is astonished after taking a look at the file himself, and believes it would be more of a merit to open up the file to the public thus revealing the dirty connections, even though that is subject to threaten his life. On the run forced by this event, he gets the ultimate chance to evaluate the people around him and tell the true ally from the fake. Meanwhile, he forms an interesting bond with a dj lady on the radio by calling her virtually every night and saying extreme things on the phone. Whilst scared to death, he’s also very happy with what he’s doing. However, his packaged rebellion won’t suffice to save the world, and things won’t be as easy as he would have hoped.Read More »

  • Masahiro Shinoda – Fukuro no shiro AKA Owls’ Castle (1999)

    1991-2000DramaEpicJapanMasahiro Shinoda

    As the great military commander Hideyoshi was consolidating his power across Japan, one of his actions was to wipe out a clan of assassins, killing every man, woman and child he found in the village. Years later, one of the survivors has hired a young but skilled assassin to avenge the deaths of his friends and family. His mission: to sneak into the most heavily guarded castle in Japan, and kill the supreme ruler of the country.Read More »

  • Michael Epstein & Thomas Lennon – American Experience: The Battle Over Citizen Kane (1996)

    USA1991-2000DocumentaryMichael EpsteinThomas Lennon

    Citizen Kane was an American saga about a giant who brings ruin to all, including himself. As fate would have it, it is through this film that both Orson Wells and William Randolph Hearst are remembered today. In telling the tale of these two flawed and fascinating men, The Battle over Citizen Kane also sheds light on the masterpiece over which they fought, the fiction that fuses them both: the enduring film character of Charles Foster Kane.Read More »

  • Anthony Page – Performance: Absolute Hell (1991)

    Drama1991-2000Anthony PageComedyUnited Kingdom

    “Nothing but drink and sex – drink and sex – one long, never-ending effort to
    escape from reality”. That just about sums up the characters who inhabit
    La Vie en Rose, a nightclub viewed one month after the end of the
    Second World War, which only closes when everyone falls over. Judging by
    its bohemian clientele, one imagines that the club, run by Dame Judi
    Dench’s hard-nosed but beneath the surface sensitive Christine, must
    have been in Soho.Read More »

  • Reha Erdem – Kaç Para Kaç AKA A Run for Money (1999)

    1991-2000DramaReha ErdemTurkey

    A Run for Money concerns the quandary faced by an Istanbul clothier when he discovers half a million dollars languishing in a paper bag in the back of a cab. After a minor attempt to find its owner, Selim (Taner Birsel) absconds with the cash and hides it in his home, keeping his family in the dark about his newfound riches. As news of the missing cash spreads throughout the city, Selim becomes more and more insular, alienating those around him. When his business is robbed, he blames his assistant; as his paranoia mounts, he lavishes riches on his suspicious wife.Read More »

  • Anh Hung Tran – La pierre de l’attente (1991)

    1991-2000Anh Hung TranAsianShort FilmVietnam

    Quote:
    -La pierre de l’attente (1991) about a girl who meets his future husband in a boat people camp. They later establish in France (Paris 13eme arrondissement, “our” Chinatown !), have a kid…but their serenity is broken when the man discovers a terrible secret… based on an old vietnamese tale…but I won’t describe it as it’ll spoil the film … and the secret mentionnedRead More »

  • Camille Billops & James Hatch – Finding Christa (1991)

    USA1991-2000Camille BillopsDocumentaryJames HatchThe Female Gaze

    This startlingly personal documentary presents a moving yet unsentimental view of motherhood and adoption. It explores the feelings surrounding the reunion of a young woman with her birth mother twenty years after being given up for adoption. The reunion is between filmmaker Camille Billops and her own daughter, Christa. Facing the re-encounter with mixed emotions, Billops interrogates her family and friends as well as her own motivations. The result is an original and daring work that challenges social biases about adoption and offers new insight into mother-daughter relationships.

    Winner of the 1992 Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary at Sundance.Read More »

  • Quan’an Wang – Yue shi (1999)

    1991-2000ChinaDramaQuan'an Wang

    Synopsis: A young newlywed has a chance encounter with an enigmatic minivan driver with a passion for photography. When the amateur photographer confesses to her a previous love affair with a woman who bears an uncanny resembalance to the newlywed, the young woman falls under the spell of this soft-spoken, unkempt, and seemingly hapless young man.Read More »

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