Documentary

  • Toshiaki Toyoda – Planetist (2018)

    2011-2020DocumentaryJapanToshiaki Toyoda

    A mysterious and wondrous islands surrounded by an unparalleled natural environment exists in Tokyo Prefecture that is referred to as the Galapagos of the East. They are called the Ogasawara Islands. A man lives on one of these islands. He is 65-year-old Miyagawa Noritsugu, a legendary surfer–a tarzan of the sea–who established the world’s first swimming-with-dolphins tour. Artists of every type are summoned to the island and shown around by Miyagawa. The imaginative power of these intensely perceptive individuals is drawn out by this tour and a never-before-seen Ogasawara comes to life. In order to chronicle these islands, director Toyoda Toshiaki moved to Ogasawara and took 5 years to complete this documentary. The film’s pièce de résistance are the scenes didgeridoo instrumentalist Goma, actors Kubozuka Yosuke and Shibukawa Kiyohiko, drummer Nakamura Tatsuya, and guitarist Yamaji Kazuhide are performing out among majestic natural surroundings.Read More »

  • Ulrike Ottinger – Chamissos Schatten (2016)

    2011-2020DocumentaryGermanyUlrike Ottinger

    Quote:
    It starts with “Peter Schlemihl’s Miraculous Story”, which tells of a man travelling the world in seven-league boots. Adelbert von Chamisso wrote the tale before setting off to Russia on scientific expedition in 1815. He analysed the flora of Alaska and then explored the Northwest Passage, just like Cook and voyager Bering had done previously, the latter with physician and naturalist Steller in tow.
    A porthole reveals the view. Thus begins Ottinger’s journey from Alaska to Kamchatka via Chukotka, with her predecessors’ log books to accompany her on her way.Read More »

  • Jorge Cramez – Actos de Cinema AKA Acts of Cinema (2018)

    2011-2020DocumentaryJorge CramezPortugal

    Quote:
    “The motto for this film is affections from life in images. It alternates between ‘snapshots’ of shootings and the present-day memory of people with whom I’ve worked in films by Teresa Villaverde, João Mário Grilo, José Álvaro de Morais, Fernando Lopes or Miguel Gomes.”
    – Jorge CramezRead More »

  • Marie Amiguet & Vincent Munier – La panthère des neiges AKA The Velvet Queen (2021)

    Documentary2021-2030FranceMarie AmiguetVincent Munier

    Two men explore the high-altitude wilderness of Tibet with many cameras, filming wildlife from a respectful distance and searching for the rare snow leopard.Read More »

  • Jürgen Böttcher – Im Pergamon-Museum AKA In the Pergamon Museum (1962)

    Documentary1961-1970GermanyJürgen BöttcherShort Film

    Quote:
    A cinematic visit to the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. The camera usually observes the visitors and paints their views on scenes of the ensemble of figures. The amazement at the beauty and grace of the antique sculptures is reflected in the faces of the viewers and emotion is palpable. The visitors come from all over the world – one sees Indians, Asians, Blacks. All age groups are represented, from children to old people. They come individually or in groups and communicate about what they see. The film gets along without any comment. You see more pictures of the visitors than of the altar. This means that it is important for the film to show the cultural interest of the people. Gerhard Rosenfeld creates atmospheric music with a classical feel to it. An early and extremely interesting work by the great documentary filmmaker Jürgen Böttcher.Read More »

  • Alan Lowery & John Pilger – Paying the Price: Killing the Children of Iraq (2000)

    1991-2000Alan LoweryDocumentaryJohn PilgerUnited Kingdom

    From johnpilger.com:
    “Almost 10 years of extraordinary isolation imposed by the UN and enforced by America and Britain have killed more people than the two atomic bombs dropped on Japan.”

    Paying the Price: Killing the Children of Iraq is a powerful indictment of the largely unreported effects of United Nations sanctions following the 1991 Gulf War – most strikingly, the 500,000 children among more than one million Iraqis who died in almost 10 years of sanctions, figures verified by UNICEF (the United Nations Children’s Fund) and other UN agencies.Read More »

  • Naomi Kawase – Tarachime (2006)

    2001-2010DocumentaryJapanJapanese Female DirectorsNaomi KawaseShort Film

    Quote:
    n April 24, 2004, Kawase Naomi had a son, Mitsuki. Following Japanese tradition, she gave birth on a tatami mat, assisted by a midwife and surrounded by all her family. As soon as the umbilical cord was cut, she tools up her camera and films every day her child and her ninety-year-old grandmother. With this highly emotionally affecting «docu-diary» the filmmaker continues to reflect on the world around her, her origins and the future. Although she initially wanted to describe only the life she carried within her for nine months, Kawase Naomi eventually extended the scope of her film to include Mitsuki’s interaction with those around him. By deliberately breaking with any notion of linear temporarily, she creates, with gentleness but also with harshness and violence, a pendulum like movement between moments, past and present feelings. Read More »

  • Andrzej Munk – Kierunek – Nowa Huta! AKA Destination Nowa Huta (1951)

    1951-1960Andrzej MunkDocumentaryPolandShort Film

    A film about the construction, begun in 1948 where a village near Krakow used to be, of the city of Nowa Huta and the metallurgical plant there. A propaganda picture about the flagship construction project of People’s Poland.Read More »

  • Robert Kramer – Cités de la plaine AKA Cities of the Plain (2000)

    Robert Kramer1991-2000DocumentaryDramaFrance

    The final film from expatriate American filmmaker Robert Kramer, who died in France in 1999. Kramer and collaborators tell the somber life story of Ben. After leaving his homeland as a youth, he is greeted in France by menial jobs in industry. In time, he opens a fruit market, finds a wife, fathers a child, and has it all come crashing down when he learns his mother is in danger back home. Upon his return to France, he finds his life in ruin.Read More »

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