• James Benning – El Valley Centro (2000)

    1991-2000DocumentaryExperimentalJames BenningUSA

    Quote:
    Employing natural sound and contemplative proscenium shots, Benning skillfully composes a series of pure and majestic images that at once evoke a sense of nostalgic splendor as well as deliver a subtle, yet penetrating, political commentary. Benning tells the story of how water irrigates this valley and how the produce is carted away in boxcars for the nation’s consumption. He shows the lifestyle of a modest and growing rural community, whose concerns are often drowned out by the powerful railroads, oil companies and insurance conglomerates which own the farms and ranches and benefit from undocumented immigrant labor while insisting on imprisoning an American population of color.Read More »

  • Pelin Esmer – Oyun AKA The Play (2005)

    2001-2010DocumentaryDramaPelin EsmerTurkey

    Ummuye, Behiye, Ummu, Fatma K., Cennet, Saniye, Fatma F., Zeynep and Nesime are nine peasant women living in Arslankoy, a mountain village in southern Turkey. They spend their days working hard in the fields, on the construction site and at home. To lighten the burden of life, these women come together for a wholly different reason. They intend to write and perform a play based on their own life stories. They gather at the local high school, which they were shy of even stepping into until that day and they work with the principal, Mr. Huseyin. They reveal their life stories that they were even afraid to tell themselves and confront. For days on end, under the curious gazes of the village men, they work tirelessly, discuss and create with much fun a play, “The Outcry of Women!” This documentary is about the development process of this play and the change the women went through during this period.Read More »

  • Walter Forde – Rome Express (1932)

    1931-1940CrimeThrillerUnited KingdomWalter Forde

    Synopsis:
    Rome Express is a fast-moving British imitation of Hollywood’s Grand Hotel formula. The film concentrates on the various passengers of a European express train. On this particular run, the train is a veritable hotbed of intrigue, with crooks and blackmail victims seemingly in every coach. Among the naughty and nice characters are continental favorites Conrad Veidt, Cedric Hardwicke and Finlay Currie, as well as American silent film star Esther Ralston. Rome Express enabled director Walter Forde to graduate from inexpensive regional comedies to prestige British productions. The film was also an obvious inspiration for such later intrigue-on-the-rails epics as The Lady Vanishes (38) and Night Train (39). Rome Express was remade in 1948 as Sleeping Car to Trieste.Read More »

  • Philippe Lesage – Genèse AKA Genesis (2018)

    Drama2011-2020CanadaPhilippe LesageQueer Cinema(s)

    Three teenagers are shaken up by their first loves in the turmoil of their youth. At a time when others are conforming, they stand their ground and assert their right to love and be free.Read More »

  • Walt Disney – Walt Disney’s Fantasia (1940)

    1931-1940AnimationFantasyUSAWalt Disney

    Quote:
    Disney animators set pictures to Western classical music as Leopold Stokowski conducts the Philadelphia Orchestra. “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” features Mickey Mouse as an aspiring magician who oversteps his limits. “The Rite of Spring” tells the story of evolution, from single-celled animals to the death of the dinosaurs. “Dance of the Hours” is a comic ballet performed by ostriches, hippos, elephants, and alligators. “Night on Bald Mountain” and “Ave Maria” set the forces of darkness and light against each other as a devilish revel is interrupted by the coming of a new day.Read More »

  • Teona Strugar Mitevska – Jas sum od Titov Veles AKA I Am from Titov Veles (2007)

    2001-2010ArthouseDramaMacedoniaTeona Strugar Mitevska

    “Jas sum od Titov Veles” is a story of three sisters who try to survive, though they seem ill equipped for the cruel society… (IMDb)Read More »

  • David Gladwell – Memoirs of a Survivor (1981)

    1981-1990David GladwellDramaSci-FiUnited Kingdom

    Synopsis: Based on a novel by Doris Lessing, MEMOIRS OF A SURVIVOR stars the luminous Julie Christie as D, a woman struggling to survive in a violent post-apocalyptic world. Traumatized by both the war she’s lived through and the regular atrocities that each day bring, D retreats from reality into a bizarre Victorian dream world within herself. However, when she takes in a teenage girl, D is drawn back into the harsh reality of her crumbling city and its feral street gangs. Desperate for some kind of salvation, D becomes convinced that her fantasy world of the past holds may hold the key to a better future.Read More »

  • Jirí Weiss – Ninety Degrees in the Shade (1965)

    1961-1970DramaJirí WeissUnited Kingdom

    Quote:
    In a Prague shop, an assistant has been carrying on an affair with the dishonest, married manager. An emotionally repressed auditor with domestic problems of his own uncovers serious stock discrepancies. A test of loyalties and a questioning of values concludes in tragedy.Read More »

  • Mikhail Kalatozov – Letyat zhuravli AKA The Cranes are Flying (1957) (HD)

    1951-1960DramaMikhail KalatozovUSSRWar

    Synopsis:
    Veronika and Boris come together in Moscow shortly before World War II. Walking along the river, they watch cranes fly overhead, and promise to rendezvous before Boris leaves to fight. Boris misses the meeting and is off to the front lines, while Veronika waits patiently, sending letters faithfully. After her house is bombed, Veronika moves in with Boris’ family, into the company of a cousin with his own intentions.Read More »

Back to top button