Director Lilya Syvytska’s experimental short Roots (КОРІННЯ) features some of the most striking black and white imagery I’ve seen in a long time. But there’s much more to this film than extraordinary cinematography. On a narrative level, it’s a film confronting the difficult stages of emotional displacement that come with the experience of war in your homeland. Syvystka conveys this through an experimental, choreography-led approach that, in tandem with the stunning camerawork, forms a truly cathartic piece of filmmaking she hopes will offer audiences a place to process their emotions. Dn is delighted to premiere Roots today side by side with an in-depth chat with Syvystka where she breaks down the poem the film was born from, the creative influence of both frenetic dance work and Maya Deren and the preparation she and her Cinematographer Austin Kwok did to achieve the short’s powerful images.
What...
What...
- 3/13/2024
- by James Maitre
- Directors Notes
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For regular updates, sign up for our weekly email newsletter and follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSRei.Tanaka Toshihiko’s Rei (2024)—the director’s debut feature, which he also produced and edited, and in which he acts—has won the Tiger Award in Rotterdam. Mark Gustafson, acclaimed animator and co-director of Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022), has died at the age of 64. Del Toro calls him “a pillar of stop-motion animation—a true artist.”In response to an open letter signed by more than 200 film workers (which has since been taken offline) the Berlin International Film Festival confirmed that it has invited two far-right German politicians to the opening ceremony but avers it stands “against right-wing extremism.”Recommended VIEWINGVia Dolorosa.The second part of Le Cinéma Club's two-week spotlight on Oraib Toukan features her film Via Dolorosa (2021), now streamable on the platform.
- 2/7/2024
- MUBI
Documentary festival IDFA, which runs Nov. 8 to 19 in Amsterdam, has revealed its first 50 titles, including the top 10 Chinese films selected by Chinese filmmaker Wang Bing, IDFA’s Guest of Honor.
The festival has also revealed the films playing in two of the three Focus programs: Fabrications, which probes the difference between reality and realism, and 16 Worlds on 16, an homage to 16mm film.
Wang’s selection will take the viewer “on a contemplative journey into contemporary Chinese cinema,” according to the festival. “The films and their politics are subtle in their film language, representing a wave of filmmaking rarely shown internationally.”
The selection (see below), which covers films produced since 1999, includes Lixin Fan’s 2009 film “Last Train Home,” which was supported by IDFA’s Bertha Fund. The film documents the millions of migrant factory workers that travel home for Spring Festival each year.
Fabrications explores the relationship of trust between documentary film and audiences,...
The festival has also revealed the films playing in two of the three Focus programs: Fabrications, which probes the difference between reality and realism, and 16 Worlds on 16, an homage to 16mm film.
Wang’s selection will take the viewer “on a contemplative journey into contemporary Chinese cinema,” according to the festival. “The films and their politics are subtle in their film language, representing a wave of filmmaking rarely shown internationally.”
The selection (see below), which covers films produced since 1999, includes Lixin Fan’s 2009 film “Last Train Home,” which was supported by IDFA’s Bertha Fund. The film documents the millions of migrant factory workers that travel home for Spring Festival each year.
Fabrications explores the relationship of trust between documentary film and audiences,...
- 9/19/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Our Member Lens feature spotlights current Film Independent Members to see how they got started, where they are now and what being part of Film Independent means to them. To celebrate 30 years of our Artist Development department, our summer 2023 series focuses on our incredible roster of Film Independent Fellows.
Film Independent is currently in the middle of a Matching Campaign to raise support for the next 30 years of filmmaker support. All donations make before or on September 15 will be doubled—dollar-for-dollar up to $100,000.
Hailing from the mostly white suburban-exurban neighborhoods of central California, first-generation Filipino-American documentarian Pj Raval’s eclectic career has taken him places to places up (a 100-foot tall army barrack tower), down (post-Katrina New Orleans) and all around. With three features under his belt and more on the way, the current University of Texas at Austin film professor and proud Film Independent Member’s 2023-24 dance card...
Film Independent is currently in the middle of a Matching Campaign to raise support for the next 30 years of filmmaker support. All donations make before or on September 15 will be doubled—dollar-for-dollar up to $100,000.
Hailing from the mostly white suburban-exurban neighborhoods of central California, first-generation Filipino-American documentarian Pj Raval’s eclectic career has taken him places to places up (a 100-foot tall army barrack tower), down (post-Katrina New Orleans) and all around. With three features under his belt and more on the way, the current University of Texas at Austin film professor and proud Film Independent Member’s 2023-24 dance card...
- 9/15/2023
- by Matt Warren
- Film Independent News & More
The Austrian director gave a masterclass at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
Austrian filmmaker Jessica Hausner is writing a film about workplace culture with the working title Toxic.
Hausner, most recently in Cannes Competition with Club Zero, said this will be her most optimistic and hopeful film. “The new idea is going to be about someone who tries to improve the world and the film has a happy end. It’s about the hope you can change things for the better.”
The film will be about “working hours, the working atmosphere - toxic workers,” she continued, explaining she had yet to...
Austrian filmmaker Jessica Hausner is writing a film about workplace culture with the working title Toxic.
Hausner, most recently in Cannes Competition with Club Zero, said this will be her most optimistic and hopeful film. “The new idea is going to be about someone who tries to improve the world and the film has a happy end. It’s about the hope you can change things for the better.”
The film will be about “working hours, the working atmosphere - toxic workers,” she continued, explaining she had yet to...
- 8/21/2023
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
In a city where you can discover a film festival every weekend of the year, perhaps the most unique of such offerings is located in Rockaway, Queens. Taking place just a few blocks from the beach, the 6th edition of the Rockaway Film Festival will occur August 19-August 27, and we’re pleased to exclusively debut the lineup of award-winning documentaries, premieres, live music and dance performances, shorts programmes, and rare repertory screenings.
Organized by Sam Fleischner and Courtney Muller and sponsored by Blundstone®, Istic Illic Pictures, and NYC Ferry, this year’s edition will open at their flagship outdoor theater, Arverne Cinema (constructed using scraps of boardwalk that were destroyed during Hurricane Sandy), with Disney’s famous feature masterpiece Fantasia. There will be a program of shorts preceding it by cine-magician Oskar Fishinger, whose groundbreaking animations changed the cinematic frontier. The festival will also present the New York Premiere of...
Organized by Sam Fleischner and Courtney Muller and sponsored by Blundstone®, Istic Illic Pictures, and NYC Ferry, this year’s edition will open at their flagship outdoor theater, Arverne Cinema (constructed using scraps of boardwalk that were destroyed during Hurricane Sandy), with Disney’s famous feature masterpiece Fantasia. There will be a program of shorts preceding it by cine-magician Oskar Fishinger, whose groundbreaking animations changed the cinematic frontier. The festival will also present the New York Premiere of...
- 8/4/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI, and sign up for our weekly email newsletter by clicking here.NEWSStars at Noon.Claire Denis is currently location scouting in Cameroon for her next film, which she completed writing a couple of weeks ago, according to the Guardian.The BlackStar Film Festival, taking place from August 2 through 6 in Philadelphia, has just announced their lineup. The slate includes new films by Ja’Tovia Gary, Kevin Jerome Everson, and Darol Olu Kae.Recommended Viewinga special mini-season of the Mubi Podcast involves conversations with filmmakers at Cannes. The first of these sees host Rico Gagliano talk to legendary director Wim Wenders about one of two films he premiered at the festival: Anselm, a 3D documentary about the work of German fine artist Anselm Kiefer.We’ve partnered with Filmadrid for our annual collaborative series, “The Video Essay.
- 6/14/2023
- MUBI
Anger ignited the gossip industry with the squalid tales in his book Hollywood Babylon, while his daringly erotic films fuelled the counterculture
• Kenneth Anger dies aged 96 – news
Kenneth Anger was the dark and brilliant magus of Hollywood lore; a reclusive figure who had in his own lifetime assumed the status of myth or pop-culture rumour. He was virtually the Aleister Crowley of movie legend. He was the master of underground cinema and creator of avant-gardist short films treasured by connoisseurs as equivalent in importance to those of Maya Deren and Jonas Mekas.
But unusually for a film-maker, his masterpiece was in the medium of the written word: his outrageous, scabrous and scurrilous supposed history of Tinseltown scandals: Hollywood Babylon, first published in French in 1959 as Hollywood Babylone, banned for years and only fully available in English in 1975. The book was virtually radioactive in its sheer lack of respectability: a livre...
• Kenneth Anger dies aged 96 – news
Kenneth Anger was the dark and brilliant magus of Hollywood lore; a reclusive figure who had in his own lifetime assumed the status of myth or pop-culture rumour. He was virtually the Aleister Crowley of movie legend. He was the master of underground cinema and creator of avant-gardist short films treasured by connoisseurs as equivalent in importance to those of Maya Deren and Jonas Mekas.
But unusually for a film-maker, his masterpiece was in the medium of the written word: his outrageous, scabrous and scurrilous supposed history of Tinseltown scandals: Hollywood Babylon, first published in French in 1959 as Hollywood Babylone, banned for years and only fully available in English in 1975. The book was virtually radioactive in its sheer lack of respectability: a livre...
- 5/24/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.
Film at Lincoln Center
György Fehér’s remarkable, Béla Tarr-produced Twilight opens in a new restoration (read Z.W. Lewis on the film and its history here) while Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s early feature Passion continues screening (read Daniel Eagen’s interview with him here).
Museum of the Moving Image
A series on Jeanne Dielman‘s influences brings the film itself, further work by Akerman and Michael Snow; a program of Maya Deren movies plays on 16mm this Sunday; Sunrise plays on 35mm this Sunday, while Coraline shows in 3D.
Roxy Cinema
Resident Evil, Spring Breakers, and The Terminator have 35mm showings while Dennis Hopper’s Out of the Blue and The Trial screen in 4K restorations.
Light Industry
The Hong Kong Category III (read: very dirty) films of Fan Ho play this weekend, including a special 16mm presentation on Sunday.
Film at Lincoln Center
György Fehér’s remarkable, Béla Tarr-produced Twilight opens in a new restoration (read Z.W. Lewis on the film and its history here) while Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s early feature Passion continues screening (read Daniel Eagen’s interview with him here).
Museum of the Moving Image
A series on Jeanne Dielman‘s influences brings the film itself, further work by Akerman and Michael Snow; a program of Maya Deren movies plays on 16mm this Sunday; Sunrise plays on 35mm this Sunday, while Coraline shows in 3D.
Roxy Cinema
Resident Evil, Spring Breakers, and The Terminator have 35mm showings while Dennis Hopper’s Out of the Blue and The Trial screen in 4K restorations.
Light Industry
The Hong Kong Category III (read: very dirty) films of Fan Ho play this weekend, including a special 16mm presentation on Sunday.
- 4/21/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Hollywood loves to pat itself on the back, touting successes in the moment at the expense of seeing the bigger picture. You couldn’t ask for a more literal demonstration of that narrow-minded tendency than Steven Spielberg crediting Tom Cruise for “saving Hollywood’s ass” and possibly “the entire theatrical industry” as well.
That exchange went viral this past week in a clip of the two men at the annual Oscar nominee luncheon, and it stood out as a rare peek at the self-congratulatory echo chamber where the industry lives at its highest levels. As this weekly column looks at sustainability for the film community, Spielberg’s remarks demanded a closer look.
If your entire definition of the theatrical industry comes down to box-office juggernauts, then sure, Spielberg has a point: “Top Gun: Maverick” made close to 2 billion after two years of doom-and-gloom prognostication that exhibition was on a downward slope.
That exchange went viral this past week in a clip of the two men at the annual Oscar nominee luncheon, and it stood out as a rare peek at the self-congratulatory echo chamber where the industry lives at its highest levels. As this weekly column looks at sustainability for the film community, Spielberg’s remarks demanded a closer look.
If your entire definition of the theatrical industry comes down to box-office juggernauts, then sure, Spielberg has a point: “Top Gun: Maverick” made close to 2 billion after two years of doom-and-gloom prognostication that exhibition was on a downward slope.
- 2/18/2023
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI, and sign up for our weekly email newsletter by clicking here.NEWSNewly-minted Oscar nominee Andrea Riseborough in To Leslie.The 95th Academy Awards unveiled their full list of nominees yesterday. Browse the categories and relevant coverage on Notebook to prepare for the ceremony, airing March 12. (Andrea Riseborough made the cut.)On Monday, the Berlinale announced their main competition lineup, including new films by Angela Schanelec, Christian Petzold, Margarethe Von Trotta, and Philippe Garrel. Meanwhile, their Encounters section features new films from Hong Sang-soo, Dustin Guy Defa, Tatiana Huezo, and more. Notebook has the full lineup here.Last Wednesday, January 18, filmmaker, critic, and producer Paul Vecchiali died at the age of 92. Patrick Preziosi summed up a bit of his impact in his Notebook Primer on Vecchiali’s film company, Diagonale, “a solar system of the utopian possibilities of cinematic community.
- 1/24/2023
- MUBI
The words “Quentin Tarantino” and “video store” will forever be linked in the popular imagination. But imagine that Quentin didn’t just work at a video store. Imagine that he owned, operated, designed, and organized every shelf of the video store of his dreams. That place might have looked a lot like Kim’s Video.
If you were an ardent film fanatic and you walked into Kim’s, the fabled New York movie-rental emporium, which opened in 1987 and ultimately expanded to five Manhattan locations (the most famous was Mondo Kim’s on St. Mark’s Place), the store looked like nothing so much as the inside of your brain. At Kim’s, you seemed to be standing in the middle of an explosion of cinema. It was a store where grindhouse movies rubbed shoulders with Bergman and Bresson, where the wall of horror included films by Dario Argento that weren’t even out on video,...
If you were an ardent film fanatic and you walked into Kim’s, the fabled New York movie-rental emporium, which opened in 1987 and ultimately expanded to five Manhattan locations (the most famous was Mondo Kim’s on St. Mark’s Place), the store looked like nothing so much as the inside of your brain. At Kim’s, you seemed to be standing in the middle of an explosion of cinema. It was a store where grindhouse movies rubbed shoulders with Bergman and Bresson, where the wall of horror included films by Dario Argento that weren’t even out on video,...
- 1/20/2023
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Since the creation of the camera and the dawn of cinema, film has been one long experiment. Experimental film has often been defined through its rejection of traditional storytelling and structure, its defiance of logic or reason while creating mesmerizing scenes through dreamlike abstraction and subjective narrative.
A key figure in the early history of experimental film was the French filmmaker Georges Méliès. In the late 1890s and early 1900s, Méliès was one of the first filmmakers to use special effects and trick photography to create fantastical and surreal images on the screen. His films, such as A Trip to the Moon and The Impossible Voyage, were some of the first examples of what would later be called experimental film. Another important trailblazer during the silent era was female director Lois Weber who is credited in creating an estimated 200 to 400 films. She was credited with pioneering the use of the...
A key figure in the early history of experimental film was the French filmmaker Georges Méliès. In the late 1890s and early 1900s, Méliès was one of the first filmmakers to use special effects and trick photography to create fantastical and surreal images on the screen. His films, such as A Trip to the Moon and The Impossible Voyage, were some of the first examples of what would later be called experimental film. Another important trailblazer during the silent era was female director Lois Weber who is credited in creating an estimated 200 to 400 films. She was credited with pioneering the use of the...
- 1/19/2023
- by Robert Lang
- Deadline Film + TV
When I first saw the trailer for "Skinamarink" I felt strangely exhilarated. The whole thing looked unreasonably terrifying, but there was something about the visual style that was so intriguing I almost didn't realize how unsettled I was. Its static chiaroscuro and grainy, off-kilter framing gave it this vividly ominous sense, like some cursed home video dredged from a decrepit suburban basement.
Director Kyle Edward Ball's indie horror has since gained significant attention, even before its theatrical release in 2023. Having leaked online due to a technical glitch during its run at the 2022 Fantasia International Film Festival, the film took on an almost mythical aspect, becoming what Variety called, "The internet's new cult obsession." TikTokers and YouTubers alike latched onto Ball's distressing fever dream of a film, posting videos with titles like "Tik Tok Tried To Warn Me About This Movie."
While the trend escalated and its sensationalist language intensified,...
Director Kyle Edward Ball's indie horror has since gained significant attention, even before its theatrical release in 2023. Having leaked online due to a technical glitch during its run at the 2022 Fantasia International Film Festival, the film took on an almost mythical aspect, becoming what Variety called, "The internet's new cult obsession." TikTokers and YouTubers alike latched onto Ball's distressing fever dream of a film, posting videos with titles like "Tik Tok Tried To Warn Me About This Movie."
While the trend escalated and its sensationalist language intensified,...
- 1/14/2023
- by Joe Roberts
- Slash Film
For five years, Canadian filmmaker Kyle Edward Ball’s YouTube channel “Bite-Sized Nightmares” has been showcasing shorts full of fuzzy video, distorted sound, and an emphasis on creepy vibes rather than storytelling. His debut feature Skinamarink became an unlikely cult hit at Fantasia last summer, especially when a copy leaked to torrent networks. The buzz it has received may surprise many people once they actually see it, because not only is it far from a conventional horror film, it’s barely a narrative. Ball is steeped both in YouTube analog horror and avant-garde cinema.
Rather than emphasizing narrative, Skinamarink evokes the consciousness of Kevin (Lucas Paul), a terrified four-year-old boy roaming around a house in the middle of the night. He and his sister discover that their parents have disappeared, while the home’s geography has been rearranged, eliminating doors and windows. On a TV, cartoons from the 1930s play,...
Rather than emphasizing narrative, Skinamarink evokes the consciousness of Kevin (Lucas Paul), a terrified four-year-old boy roaming around a house in the middle of the night. He and his sister discover that their parents have disappeared, while the home’s geography has been rearranged, eliminating doors and windows. On a TV, cartoons from the 1930s play,...
- 1/13/2023
- by Steve Erickson
- The Film Stage
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
2nd Chance (Ramin Bahrani)
It’s an eerie image. Richard Davis stands out in a field, wearing a kevlar vest, and points a pistol into his belly. Then he pulls the trigger, skips back a bit, and checks his red-burned skin. Over the course of his life, he would do this—shoot himself—192 times, proving the efficacy of his life-saving device in the most visceral and operatic way possible. “A lot of people think I’m stupid for doing this,” he tells the camera before one of these high-wire demonstrations, and for just a moment, an air of unpredictability hangs over this bullet-proof vest magnate’s next move. – Jake K. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
Devotion (J.D. Dillard)
Devotion adheres to...
2nd Chance (Ramin Bahrani)
It’s an eerie image. Richard Davis stands out in a field, wearing a kevlar vest, and points a pistol into his belly. Then he pulls the trigger, skips back a bit, and checks his red-burned skin. Over the course of his life, he would do this—shoot himself—192 times, proving the efficacy of his life-saving device in the most visceral and operatic way possible. “A lot of people think I’m stupid for doing this,” he tells the camera before one of these high-wire demonstrations, and for just a moment, an air of unpredictability hangs over this bullet-proof vest magnate’s next move. – Jake K. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
Devotion (J.D. Dillard)
Devotion adheres to...
- 1/13/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Pitt and Margot Robbie, and many razzle dazzle setpieces, help lift a story in no hurry to engage with the true-life nastiness of its era
Damien Chazelle returns to that la la land in which he made his big breakthrough, with a turbocharged but heavy-handed epic about the secret chaos and excess of 1920s silent-era Hollywood on the verge of talkie extinction, inspired by some well-known anecdotes and further embellishing the apocryphal rumours and tales. It’s a love letter to the movies, inevitably, though I remember Chazelle’s previous films being love letters to actual human beings. There are preemptive references to Singin’ in the Rain and it climaxes with a swoony-solemn Oscar-telecast-type montage including clips from Maya Deren’s Meshes of the Afternoon and James Cameron’s Terminator 2. Funny though Babylon often is, in all its frantic melodrama it is weirdly without the gentle romantic sweetness and...
Damien Chazelle returns to that la la land in which he made his big breakthrough, with a turbocharged but heavy-handed epic about the secret chaos and excess of 1920s silent-era Hollywood on the verge of talkie extinction, inspired by some well-known anecdotes and further embellishing the apocryphal rumours and tales. It’s a love letter to the movies, inevitably, though I remember Chazelle’s previous films being love letters to actual human beings. There are preemptive references to Singin’ in the Rain and it climaxes with a swoony-solemn Oscar-telecast-type montage including clips from Maya Deren’s Meshes of the Afternoon and James Cameron’s Terminator 2. Funny though Babylon often is, in all its frantic melodrama it is weirdly without the gentle romantic sweetness and...
- 12/16/2022
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Every decade, the British Film Institute's Sight & Sound Magazine has asked film critics and directors to vote for what they believed were the greatest films of all time. The last time that the poll was held back in 2012, Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo" was given the prestigious title. However, a new best film ever has been crowned, and it might not be one you'd expect.
According to more than 1,600 film professionals, Chantal Akerman's "Jeanne Dielman 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles" is the greatest film of all time as of 2022. Just to put how unexpected this new placement is into perspective, the slice-of-life epic previously secured merely the 35th ranking, and that was the first time the film itself had even been on the final list. "Jeanne Dielman" becomes the fourth movie to top the Sight & Sound list, and it's in very prestigious company; not only does it share the distinction with "Vertigo,...
According to more than 1,600 film professionals, Chantal Akerman's "Jeanne Dielman 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles" is the greatest film of all time as of 2022. Just to put how unexpected this new placement is into perspective, the slice-of-life epic previously secured merely the 35th ranking, and that was the first time the film itself had even been on the final list. "Jeanne Dielman" becomes the fourth movie to top the Sight & Sound list, and it's in very prestigious company; not only does it share the distinction with "Vertigo,...
- 12/1/2022
- by Erin Brady
- Slash Film
Another decade, another Sight & Sound poll. On Thursday, the British magazine unveiled the 2022 edition of its long-running critics’ poll on the greatest films of all time, with “Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles” taking the top spot — the first film from a female director to achieve the honor since the poll began in 1952.
Directed by Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman and released in 1975, “Jeanne Dielman” is a three-hour, 20-minute film following the title character (Delphine Seyrig), a single mother and prostitute, as she carries out a monotonous daily routine that slowly breaks apart and collapses. Since its premiere, the film has been highly acclaimed as a landmark of feminist cinema. Previously, it ranked 36 on Sight & Sound’s 2012 edition of the poll, where it was one of only two films in the top 100 from a female filmmaker; the other, “Beau Travail” by Claire Denis, is now ranked at number seven.
In celebration...
Directed by Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman and released in 1975, “Jeanne Dielman” is a three-hour, 20-minute film following the title character (Delphine Seyrig), a single mother and prostitute, as she carries out a monotonous daily routine that slowly breaks apart and collapses. Since its premiere, the film has been highly acclaimed as a landmark of feminist cinema. Previously, it ranked 36 on Sight & Sound’s 2012 edition of the poll, where it was one of only two films in the top 100 from a female filmmaker; the other, “Beau Travail” by Claire Denis, is now ranked at number seven.
In celebration...
- 12/1/2022
- by Wilson Chapman and Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
Click here to read the full article.
Almost 50 years after its release, Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles — Chantal Akerman’s groundbreaking 1975 drama following the meticulous daily routine of a middle-aged widow over the course of three days — has become the first film by a female director to top Sight & Sound magazine’s once-a-decade “Best Films of All Time” poll in 70 years.
More than 1,600 film critics, academics, distributors, writers, curators, archivists and programmers voted in the poll, which the BFI-backed publication has been running since 1952, with the results, announced Thursday, seeing Akerman’s feature — which was heralded by Le Monde in January 1976 as “the first masterpiece of the feminine in the history of the cinema” — leapfrog from 36th position in 2022 to No. 1.
The 2012 winner, Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, now sits in second place, with Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane (which held the No. 1 spot for 50 years) placed third and Yasujirō Ozu’s Tokyo Story fourth.
Almost 50 years after its release, Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles — Chantal Akerman’s groundbreaking 1975 drama following the meticulous daily routine of a middle-aged widow over the course of three days — has become the first film by a female director to top Sight & Sound magazine’s once-a-decade “Best Films of All Time” poll in 70 years.
More than 1,600 film critics, academics, distributors, writers, curators, archivists and programmers voted in the poll, which the BFI-backed publication has been running since 1952, with the results, announced Thursday, seeing Akerman’s feature — which was heralded by Le Monde in January 1976 as “the first masterpiece of the feminine in the history of the cinema” — leapfrog from 36th position in 2022 to No. 1.
The 2012 winner, Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, now sits in second place, with Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane (which held the No. 1 spot for 50 years) placed third and Yasujirō Ozu’s Tokyo Story fourth.
- 12/1/2022
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
As the leaves crunch underfoot and the wintry chill intensifies, you may realize: it’s time to think of a good gift for that friend of yours who’s already packed their shelves to the gills with Blu-rays and back issues of Cahiers du Cinéma. Have no fear. Covering books, home video, music, posters, and apparel, here are some gift ideas for the dearest cinephiles in your life.Books And MAGAZINESFireflies Press recently published Pier Paolo Pasolini: Writing on Burning Paper: a beautiful set of two complementary volumes to honor the filmmaker’s centenary. The smaller book includes a revised translation of his poem “Poet of the Ashes,” while the larger volume includes tributes from 20 contemporary artists and critics, including Catherine Breillat, Jia Zhangke, Luc Moullet, Angela Schanelec, and Mike Leigh.Written by Karen Han, Bong Joon Ho: Dissident Cinema is a mid-career monograph covering the Korean auteur’s features,...
- 11/29/2022
- MUBI
LevelK has boarded Icelandic thriller “Natatorium,” directed by Helena Stefánsdóttir Magneudóttir. The film started shooting on Sept. 14, and is expected to bow locally next year.
Produced by Sunna Gudnadóttir for Bjarstýn Films, marking the company’s first feature film, it’s financed with the support from the Icelandic Film Center and the Finnish Film Foundation. Scanbox, Sena and Ruv Yle are behind the project as well.
“I am mostly interested in working on films with female directors and/or scriptwriters, [projects] with high artistic integrity and universal appeal,” says Gudnadóttir, who previously worked on “A White, White Day,” and Iceland’s Oscar submission “Beautiful Beings.” She adds that “Natatorium” has three complex female leads, and 60 of the crew is female as well.
Currently being presented at the Helsinki-based industry event Finnish Film Affair, “Natatorium” zooms in on teenage Lilja who visits her estranged grandparents, Áróra and Grímur. She is supposed to...
Produced by Sunna Gudnadóttir for Bjarstýn Films, marking the company’s first feature film, it’s financed with the support from the Icelandic Film Center and the Finnish Film Foundation. Scanbox, Sena and Ruv Yle are behind the project as well.
“I am mostly interested in working on films with female directors and/or scriptwriters, [projects] with high artistic integrity and universal appeal,” says Gudnadóttir, who previously worked on “A White, White Day,” and Iceland’s Oscar submission “Beautiful Beings.” She adds that “Natatorium” has three complex female leads, and 60 of the crew is female as well.
Currently being presented at the Helsinki-based industry event Finnish Film Affair, “Natatorium” zooms in on teenage Lilja who visits her estranged grandparents, Áróra and Grímur. She is supposed to...
- 9/22/2022
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
The Cohen Film Collection brings to Region A its beautifully remastered disc of American fringe filmmaking’s weirdest, most obsessively arty shock-fest — a loving return to silent expressionist horror. The New York censors scuttled its commercial chances, and it wound up as a movie-within-a-movie footnote for Steve McQueen. We never thought we’d see the show look this good — John Parker memorialized Venice, California five years before Orson Welles. But the overall package packs a big disappointment, as I’ll explain.
Dementia
Blu-ray
Cohen Media Group
1955 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 56 min. / Street Date April 26, 2022 / Available from Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Adrienne Barret, Ben Roseman, Bruno VeSota, Ben Roseman, Angelo Rossitto.
Cinematography: William C. Thompson
Film Editor: Joseph Gluck
Original Music: George Antheil
Music director: Ernest Gold
Featured Vocal: Marni Nixon
New Concepts in Modern Sounds: Shorty Rogers and his Giants
Written, Produced and Directed by John J. Parker
The BFI first...
Dementia
Blu-ray
Cohen Media Group
1955 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 56 min. / Street Date April 26, 2022 / Available from Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Adrienne Barret, Ben Roseman, Bruno VeSota, Ben Roseman, Angelo Rossitto.
Cinematography: William C. Thompson
Film Editor: Joseph Gluck
Original Music: George Antheil
Music director: Ernest Gold
Featured Vocal: Marni Nixon
New Concepts in Modern Sounds: Shorty Rogers and his Giants
Written, Produced and Directed by John J. Parker
The BFI first...
- 5/3/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Filmmakers Albert Birney and Kentucker Audley discuss the movies that inspired their latest film, Strawberry Mansion.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Strawberry Mansion (2022)
The Fabulous Baron Munchausen (1962) – Glenn Erickson’s trailer commentary
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary
The Neverending Story (1984)
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary
Pretty Woman (1990) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary
Barton Fink (1991)
Being There (1979) – Alan Spencer’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review
Salesman (1969)
The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
Eraserhead (1977) – Karyn Kusama’s trailer commentary
The Shining (1980) – Adam Rifkin’s trailer commentary
The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)
Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) – Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review
Bottle Rocket (1996)
Rushmore (1998)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Beetlejuice (1988) – Alex Kirschenbaum’s review
Pee Wee’s Big Adventure (1985)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) – Axelle Carolyn’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s trailer commentary
Honey I Shrunk The Kids (1989)
Re-Animator (1985) – Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Strawberry Mansion (2022)
The Fabulous Baron Munchausen (1962) – Glenn Erickson’s trailer commentary
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary
The Neverending Story (1984)
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary
Pretty Woman (1990) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary
Barton Fink (1991)
Being There (1979) – Alan Spencer’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review
Salesman (1969)
The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
Eraserhead (1977) – Karyn Kusama’s trailer commentary
The Shining (1980) – Adam Rifkin’s trailer commentary
The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)
Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) – Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review
Bottle Rocket (1996)
Rushmore (1998)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Beetlejuice (1988) – Alex Kirschenbaum’s review
Pee Wee’s Big Adventure (1985)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) – Axelle Carolyn’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s trailer commentary
Honey I Shrunk The Kids (1989)
Re-Animator (1985) – Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review...
- 3/1/2022
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
After a hiatus as theaters in New York City and beyond closed their doors during the pandemic, we’re delighted to announce the return of NYC Weekend Watch, our weekly round-up of repertory offerings. While many theaters are still focused on a selection of new releases, there’s a handful of worthwhile repertory screenings taking place.
IFC Center
Solaris screens for its 50th anniversary.
Metrograph
As a retro of melodrama master John M. Stahl gets underway, the six-film retrospective of Miklós Jancsó has its final weekend.
Museum of the Moving Image
Films by Paul Thomas Anderson, Sergei Eisenstein, and Ulrike Ottinger screen for “See It Big: Extravaganzas!“
Museum of Modern Art
“To Save and Project,” one of the most eye-opening series in any given year, has its final weekend as a pre-code series kicks off.
Film Forum
As a new 35mm print of The Conversation continues its run, a collection...
IFC Center
Solaris screens for its 50th anniversary.
Metrograph
As a retro of melodrama master John M. Stahl gets underway, the six-film retrospective of Miklós Jancsó has its final weekend.
Museum of the Moving Image
Films by Paul Thomas Anderson, Sergei Eisenstein, and Ulrike Ottinger screen for “See It Big: Extravaganzas!“
Museum of Modern Art
“To Save and Project,” one of the most eye-opening series in any given year, has its final weekend as a pre-code series kicks off.
Film Forum
As a new 35mm print of The Conversation continues its run, a collection...
- 2/3/2022
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Five years after her lauded short “And the Whole Sky Fit in the Dead Cow’s Eye” won Sundance’s short film jury award in international fiction, Chile’s Francisca Alegria is bowing her feature debut on Jan. 23 at the Park City, Utah, fest.
In “The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future,” Alegria continues to further expand the themes in her short. “I was exploring this in-between place, which exists beyond our physical senses. It’s where the subtle entities are, where our sensations live, where death appears,” she says. “I wanted to convey those spaces through the stories and themes that have been with me since childhood. I do feel that in the short film, these themes became more like symbols because I didn’t have time to develop and dig into the heart and bones of the matter.”
In the short, 85-year-old Emeteria is visited by...
In “The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future,” Alegria continues to further expand the themes in her short. “I was exploring this in-between place, which exists beyond our physical senses. It’s where the subtle entities are, where our sensations live, where death appears,” she says. “I wanted to convey those spaces through the stories and themes that have been with me since childhood. I do feel that in the short film, these themes became more like symbols because I didn’t have time to develop and dig into the heart and bones of the matter.”
In the short, 85-year-old Emeteria is visited by...
- 1/22/2022
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
The November 12, 1958 edition of The Village Voice featured the first installment of the column “Movie Journal” by Jonas Mekas.
“Movie Journal” would become what the Underground Film Journal would argue was the most significant organizing tool of avant-garde cinema created by Jonas, even more so than the Film-makers’ Cooperative and the Anthology Film Archives he helped found. But what was the column like before it gained such notoriety?
Well, we don’t have to guess. The book collection Movie Journal doesn’t start reprinting Jonas’s columns until 1959, but the entire archives of the Voice are online.
As a weekly publication, the Voice only published twelve “Movie Journal” columns in 1958. The Underground Film Journal has read all twelve and extracted what films Jonas reviewed each week; as well as made notes of significant avant-garde film happenings.
Jonas reviewed only a few avant-garde films those first two months, including Maya Deren...
“Movie Journal” would become what the Underground Film Journal would argue was the most significant organizing tool of avant-garde cinema created by Jonas, even more so than the Film-makers’ Cooperative and the Anthology Film Archives he helped found. But what was the column like before it gained such notoriety?
Well, we don’t have to guess. The book collection Movie Journal doesn’t start reprinting Jonas’s columns until 1959, but the entire archives of the Voice are online.
As a weekly publication, the Voice only published twelve “Movie Journal” columns in 1958. The Underground Film Journal has read all twelve and extracted what films Jonas reviewed each week; as well as made notes of significant avant-garde film happenings.
Jonas reviewed only a few avant-garde films those first two months, including Maya Deren...
- 11/28/2021
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Prisoners of the Ghostland screenwriter/producer Reza Sixo Safai joins hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante to discuss his wildest cinematic experiences.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Infested (2002)
The Howling (1981) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings
Hollywood Boulevard (1976) – Jon Davison’s trailer commentary
Bela Lugosi Meets A Brooklyn Gorilla (1952) – Joe Dante’s trailer commentary
Prisoners of the Ghostland (2021)
Mandy (2018)
Candy (1968) – Glenn Erickson’s trailer commentary
S.O.B. (1981)
The Shining (1980) – Adam Rifkin’s trailer commentary
Robin Hood (1973)
The Story of Robin Hood (1952)
Modern Times (1936)
The Kid (1921)
The Deer (1974)
A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary
Qeysar (1969)
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
The Warriors (1979)
New Jack City (1991)
Colors (1988)
The Whip And The Body (1963)
Blow Out (1981) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary
Porky’s (1981)
Cinema Paradiso (1988) – Glenn Erickson’s Region B Blu-ray review, Glenn Erickson’s 4K Blu-ray review
Circumstance (2011)
Ninja 3: The Domination (1984)
Flashdance (1983)
Debbie...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Infested (2002)
The Howling (1981) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings
Hollywood Boulevard (1976) – Jon Davison’s trailer commentary
Bela Lugosi Meets A Brooklyn Gorilla (1952) – Joe Dante’s trailer commentary
Prisoners of the Ghostland (2021)
Mandy (2018)
Candy (1968) – Glenn Erickson’s trailer commentary
S.O.B. (1981)
The Shining (1980) – Adam Rifkin’s trailer commentary
Robin Hood (1973)
The Story of Robin Hood (1952)
Modern Times (1936)
The Kid (1921)
The Deer (1974)
A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary
Qeysar (1969)
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
The Warriors (1979)
New Jack City (1991)
Colors (1988)
The Whip And The Body (1963)
Blow Out (1981) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary
Porky’s (1981)
Cinema Paradiso (1988) – Glenn Erickson’s Region B Blu-ray review, Glenn Erickson’s 4K Blu-ray review
Circumstance (2011)
Ninja 3: The Domination (1984)
Flashdance (1983)
Debbie...
- 11/9/2021
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
Samay (Bhavin Rabari) gives his food to projectionist Fazal (Bhavesh Shrimali) in Pan Nalin’s Last Film Show: “Yes, they’re all my mother’s [Hanasa] recipes and they are also local recipes you find in that region. They are all historically vegetarian, and even today.”
When I spoke with Tribeca Film Festival Artistic Director Frédéric Boyer from Paris on the line-up for the 20th anniversary edition, he highly recommended Last Film Show (Chhello Show). Pan Nalin bookends his very personal film with the gratitude he feels to cinema history by naming the Lumière brothers, Eadweard Muybridge, David Lean, Stanley Kubrick and Andrei Tarkovsky before the opening credits and ends with a highly imaginative tribute to the colour palates of filmmakers such as Satyajit Ray, Michelangelo Antonioni, Maya Deren, Jean-Luc Godard, Alfred Hitchcock, Yasujiro Ozu, and Martin Scorsese to name just a few.
Pan Nalin with Anne-Katrin Titze on Stanley Kubrick:...
When I spoke with Tribeca Film Festival Artistic Director Frédéric Boyer from Paris on the line-up for the 20th anniversary edition, he highly recommended Last Film Show (Chhello Show). Pan Nalin bookends his very personal film with the gratitude he feels to cinema history by naming the Lumière brothers, Eadweard Muybridge, David Lean, Stanley Kubrick and Andrei Tarkovsky before the opening credits and ends with a highly imaginative tribute to the colour palates of filmmakers such as Satyajit Ray, Michelangelo Antonioni, Maya Deren, Jean-Luc Godard, Alfred Hitchcock, Yasujiro Ozu, and Martin Scorsese to name just a few.
Pan Nalin with Anne-Katrin Titze on Stanley Kubrick:...
- 6/9/2021
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
One Shot is a series that seeks to find an essence of cinema history in one single image of a movie. The series Ways of Seeing with Barbara Hammer starts on Mubi on March 8, 2021 in many countries.A hand paints the last white letter of the word "Dyketactics" on a crumbling concrete façade and then we’re off to the races. For nearly two minutes the film pulsates in a kaleidoscopic montage of dyke imagery: naked women laying in the grass, striking poses in fields, bare feet walking over fallen leaves, Barbara Hammer photographing her own naked body and laughing, fruit, lizards, and bodies comingling before a burnt orange color fills the frame. A breath before dissolving into the rest of the film. Within this collage is a brief shot composed of a double exposure. On the left and right sides of the frame are women’s nude torsos in the grass.
- 3/29/2021
- MUBI
Breathing in its deadly gases, Yono works for a few dollars a day at an East Java sulfur mine. When unexpectedly abandoned by his wife, he turns to animism, Islamism and finally capitalism to try to find an answer to life. To no avail.
Barcelona-born Alvaro Gurrea is a singular figure in Spanish cinema, an economist and art curator who, as becomes a student at Barcelona’s Pompeu Fabra U., attempts to portray in his feature debut, “Ancient Soul” not only the mores of a community, but its dominant mindsets which explain how its conceives capital ideas such as progress.
Living between Indonesia and Catalonia, the scenario he chooses, however, is unexpected, an East Java sulfur mine so dangerous that it has become a tourist trap, where Yono slaves extracting sulfur blocks from the lap of volcano.
Melding naturalistic scenes and spiritualism in what calls an “ethno-fictional” mix, Gurrea employs austere fixed shots,...
Barcelona-born Alvaro Gurrea is a singular figure in Spanish cinema, an economist and art curator who, as becomes a student at Barcelona’s Pompeu Fabra U., attempts to portray in his feature debut, “Ancient Soul” not only the mores of a community, but its dominant mindsets which explain how its conceives capital ideas such as progress.
Living between Indonesia and Catalonia, the scenario he chooses, however, is unexpected, an East Java sulfur mine so dangerous that it has become a tourist trap, where Yono slaves extracting sulfur blocks from the lap of volcano.
Melding naturalistic scenes and spiritualism in what calls an “ethno-fictional” mix, Gurrea employs austere fixed shots,...
- 3/8/2021
- by Emilio Mayorga
- Variety Film + TV
The holidays are upon us, so whether you looking for film-related gift ideas or simply want to pick up some of the finest the year had to offer in the category for yourself, we have a gift guide for you. Including must-have books on filmmaking, the best from The Criterion Collection, Kino Lorber, and more home video picks, subscriptions, magazines, music, and more, dive in below.
Blu-ray Box Sets
There’s no better way to kick off a gift guide than the most prized possession/obsession of any cinephile: a gorgeous Blu-ray box set to dive into. The Criterion Collection leads the charge once again this year with a number of highlights, my favorite of which is Éric Rohmer’s Six Moral Tales collection, featuring astounding works by the French New Wave master that make a great pairing with another one of his cohorts: Agnès Varda.
“What Agnès Varda seemed...
Blu-ray Box Sets
There’s no better way to kick off a gift guide than the most prized possession/obsession of any cinephile: a gorgeous Blu-ray box set to dive into. The Criterion Collection leads the charge once again this year with a number of highlights, my favorite of which is Éric Rohmer’s Six Moral Tales collection, featuring astounding works by the French New Wave master that make a great pairing with another one of his cohorts: Agnès Varda.
“What Agnès Varda seemed...
- 12/8/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
This bizarre, creepy and maudit masterpiece of silent expressionist horror is an independent 1950s production that never had a chance commercially. Butchered by a second distributor, its ignominious fate was to wind up as a movie-within-a-movie footnote for Steve McQueen. Cohen/BFI’s ‘rescue’ remastering of John Parker’s picture does some things great — we never thought we’d see it look this good. But the overall package packs a big disappointment, as I’ll explain.
Dementia (1955)
Region B Blu-ray + Pal DVD
BFI
1955 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 56 min. / Street Date October 19, 2020 / £15.89
Starring: Adrienne Barret, Ben Roseman, Bruno VeSota, Ben Roseman, Angelo Rossitto.
Cinematography: William C. Thompson
Film Editor: Joseph Gluck
Original Music: George Antheil
Music director: Ernest Gold
Featured Vocal: Marni Nixon
New Concepts in Modern Sounds: Shorty Rogers and his Giants
Written, Produced and Directed by John J. Parker
I screened John Parker’s Dementia at UCLA in 1972, at...
Dementia (1955)
Region B Blu-ray + Pal DVD
BFI
1955 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 56 min. / Street Date October 19, 2020 / £15.89
Starring: Adrienne Barret, Ben Roseman, Bruno VeSota, Ben Roseman, Angelo Rossitto.
Cinematography: William C. Thompson
Film Editor: Joseph Gluck
Original Music: George Antheil
Music director: Ernest Gold
Featured Vocal: Marni Nixon
New Concepts in Modern Sounds: Shorty Rogers and his Giants
Written, Produced and Directed by John J. Parker
I screened John Parker’s Dementia at UCLA in 1972, at...
- 11/3/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
“Women Make Film.” The title of Irish film savant Mark Cousins’ sprawling 14-hour follow-up to “The Story of Film” serves both as a statement of fact and, if punctuated slightly differently, a call to action: “Women, Make Film!”
Where the earlier documentary was a monumental survey of the medium, attempting to cram its entire history into a single project, with footage shot through the windshields of cars on nearly every continent. He and editor Timo Langer have assembled montage upon montage of magic moments, the vast majority plucked from films even I was unfamiliar with, amounting to an invaluable film appreciation workshop. It’s ideal for those with open minds and eclectic tastes, such as festival audiences and subscribers of Turner Classic Movies and The Criterion Channel, where the film can be absorbed in bite-size chunks.
“This is a film school of sorts in which all the teachers are women,...
Where the earlier documentary was a monumental survey of the medium, attempting to cram its entire history into a single project, with footage shot through the windshields of cars on nearly every continent. He and editor Timo Langer have assembled montage upon montage of magic moments, the vast majority plucked from films even I was unfamiliar with, amounting to an invaluable film appreciation workshop. It’s ideal for those with open minds and eclectic tastes, such as festival audiences and subscribers of Turner Classic Movies and The Criterion Channel, where the film can be absorbed in bite-size chunks.
“This is a film school of sorts in which all the teachers are women,...
- 9/1/2020
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Much has been made in recent years of the need to support, uplift, and, for the love of God — finance —more women filmmakers, but how many lesbian films have shaken out from all that hand-wringing? It’s heartening to see a woman at the helm of a comic book movie, but when was the last great lesbian rom-com? (Even more pressing: Where is the next one?) As in the struggle for queer liberation, lesbians —and lesbian films — are often an afterthought. That’s one of the many salient points covered in the peppy new documentary, “Dykes, Camera, Action!,” which while offering yet more proof that no one does catchy titles like the queers.
At a breezy 60 minutes, the film has much in common with that other lesbian tradition, the potluck, in terms of the topics it covers. There’s a little o’ this, a little o’ that, plus plenty of vegan and gluten-free options.
At a breezy 60 minutes, the film has much in common with that other lesbian tradition, the potluck, in terms of the topics it covers. There’s a little o’ this, a little o’ that, plus plenty of vegan and gluten-free options.
- 5/15/2020
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
The denizens of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences need to get their eyesight checked. 2019 was another watershed year for women on and off-screen, even if the accolades accrued at the Golden Globes and Oscars did not reflect it. Greta Gerwig released her highly anticipated Little Women, Olivia Wilde made her directorial debut with the sassy, Gen Z Booksmart, Big Little Lies Season 2 aired on HBO, and a slew of films ushered in a horror renaissance featuring astonishing female leads including Florence Pugh in Midsommar and Lupita Nyong’o in Us. But 2019 also marked a year of great loss: the prolific filmmaker Barbara Hammer passed away, as did luminary Agnès Varda and the performance artist and experimental filmmaker, Carolee Schneemann. Which is to say, women were in the news when it came to cinema; some of us just had to know where to look.
While feminist film theory from...
While feminist film theory from...
- 3/8/2020
- by jbindeck2015
- Den of Geek
I can’t think of a better start to the Berlin Film Festival than Raúl Ruiz’s The Tango of a Widower and its Distorting Mirror (1967/2020), an eerie, imaginative story about a despotic professor, haunted by the ghost of his deceased wife, and which is also a tribute to experimental cinema. The film was to be Ruiz’s debut feature, but he never completed it. Ruiz’s widow, Valeria Sarmiento, who was also behind the completion of Ruiz’s other celebrated posthumous project, The Wandering Soap Opera (2017), effectively became its co-director.The film’s plot is quite simple, perhaps even schematic. A renowned professor (Rubén Sotoconil) sees his nightmarish dreams infect reality, assailed by her image in daylight. Wigs move around his apartment—surrealist, sensual, tormenting. In one dream, his nephew removes a wig from his body, as if he just gave birth to it. There’s plenty here to create tension,...
- 2/26/2020
- MUBI
From retrospective screening series celebrating everything from Hammer films to the movies of Jean Rollin and Mario Bava, New York's Quad Cinema has always featured an eclectic lineup of classic horror films, and this month is certainly no exception. To celebrate the January 24th opening night screening of Bertrand Bonello's Zombi Child, Quad Cinema is featuring a bunch of 35mm screenings of movies that inspired Bonello's latest film, including Wes Craven's The Serpent and the Rainbow, Brian De Palma's Carrie, Picnic at Hanging Rock, and more.
You can view the full lineup of Quad Cinema's "Bertrand Bonello’s Footnotes to Zombi Child" screenings below, and to learn more, visit their official website.
"Origin Stories:
Bertrand Bonello’s Footnotes to Zombi Child
Starts Fri January 17
French filmmaker Bertrand Bonello selects films that inspired and informed his upcoming Zombi Child, opening January 24
Titles include 35mm prints of Carrie, I Walked with a Zombie,...
You can view the full lineup of Quad Cinema's "Bertrand Bonello’s Footnotes to Zombi Child" screenings below, and to learn more, visit their official website.
"Origin Stories:
Bertrand Bonello’s Footnotes to Zombi Child
Starts Fri January 17
French filmmaker Bertrand Bonello selects films that inspired and informed his upcoming Zombi Child, opening January 24
Titles include 35mm prints of Carrie, I Walked with a Zombie,...
- 1/15/2020
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Since any New York City cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.
Film at Lincoln Center
The J. Hoberman-curated “Make My Day: American Movies in the Age of Reagan” kicks off with Blow Out, Back to the Future, The King of Comedy and more.
Funny Face screens for free at the Josie Robertson Plaza.
Metrograph
“Shaw Sisters,” a series on female-directed Hong Kong cinema, begins.
The...
Film at Lincoln Center
The J. Hoberman-curated “Make My Day: American Movies in the Age of Reagan” kicks off with Blow Out, Back to the Future, The King of Comedy and more.
Funny Face screens for free at the Josie Robertson Plaza.
Metrograph
“Shaw Sisters,” a series on female-directed Hong Kong cinema, begins.
The...
- 8/23/2019
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
With his epic fourteen-hour documentary “Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema,” writer/director Mark Cousins doesn’t skimp in his continuing pursuit to celebrate female filmmakers. Set to finally screen at its full-length (in five parts) next month at the Toronto International Film Festival, the movie is narrated by an eclectic list of voices.
UK actresses Adjoa Andoh and Thandie Newton, New Zealander Kerry Fox, India icon Sharmila Tagore, and Hollywood star Debra Winger all join previously announced narrators Jane Fonda and Tilda Swinton, who is an executive producer. Swinton narrates the first four hours of the film, which debuted at Venice 2018.
“We have 11 decades of women making films,” Swinton told IndieWire. “Another slight tweak of the goalpost is talking about women filmmakers. Women have made films since Mary Pickford onwards in incredible numbers. We know who made Hitchcock’s films with him (Alma Reville), but we don’t focus on it.
UK actresses Adjoa Andoh and Thandie Newton, New Zealander Kerry Fox, India icon Sharmila Tagore, and Hollywood star Debra Winger all join previously announced narrators Jane Fonda and Tilda Swinton, who is an executive producer. Swinton narrates the first four hours of the film, which debuted at Venice 2018.
“We have 11 decades of women making films,” Swinton told IndieWire. “Another slight tweak of the goalpost is talking about women filmmakers. Women have made films since Mary Pickford onwards in incredible numbers. We know who made Hitchcock’s films with him (Alma Reville), but we don’t focus on it.
- 8/14/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
With his epic fourteen-hour documentary “Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema,” writer/director Mark Cousins doesn’t skimp in his continuing pursuit to celebrate female filmmakers. Set to finally screen at its full-length (in five parts) next month at the Toronto International Film Festival, the movie is narrated by an eclectic list of voices.
UK actresses Adjoa Andoh and Thandie Newton, New Zealander Kerry Fox, India icon Sharmila Tagore, and Hollywood star Debra Winger all join previously announced narrators Jane Fonda and Tilda Swinton, who is an executive producer. Swinton narrates the first four hours of the film, which debuted at Venice 2018.
“We have 11 decades of women making films,” Swinton told IndieWire. “Another slight tweak of the goalpost is talking about women filmmakers. Women have made films since Mary Pickford onwards in incredible numbers. We know who made Hitchcock’s films with him (Alma Reville), but we don’t focus on it.
UK actresses Adjoa Andoh and Thandie Newton, New Zealander Kerry Fox, India icon Sharmila Tagore, and Hollywood star Debra Winger all join previously announced narrators Jane Fonda and Tilda Swinton, who is an executive producer. Swinton narrates the first four hours of the film, which debuted at Venice 2018.
“We have 11 decades of women making films,” Swinton told IndieWire. “Another slight tweak of the goalpost is talking about women filmmakers. Women have made films since Mary Pickford onwards in incredible numbers. We know who made Hitchcock’s films with him (Alma Reville), but we don’t focus on it.
- 8/14/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
In today’s films news roundup, “Lucy in the Sky” and “Villains” get release dates, “The Angry Birds 2” is moved up a day, Tony Todd gets a part and Art House Theater Day is set.
Release Dates
Fox Searchlight has set an awards-season release date of Oct. 4 for Natalie Portman’s astronaut drama “Lucy in the Sky.”
Noah Hawley helmed “Lucy in the Sky” in his directorial feature film debut. Portman stars as an astronaut who returns to Earth after an extended time is space and begins an obsessive affair with a fellow astronaut, played by Jon Hamm. The plot is loosely based on the true story of Nasa astronaut Lisa Nowak, who was arrested in 2007 for the attempted murder of fellow astronaut Colleen Shipman, who was romantically involved with astronaut William Oefelein.
The film, formerly called “Pale Blue Dot,” also stars Dan Stevens — as the husband of Portman’s...
Release Dates
Fox Searchlight has set an awards-season release date of Oct. 4 for Natalie Portman’s astronaut drama “Lucy in the Sky.”
Noah Hawley helmed “Lucy in the Sky” in his directorial feature film debut. Portman stars as an astronaut who returns to Earth after an extended time is space and begins an obsessive affair with a fellow astronaut, played by Jon Hamm. The plot is loosely based on the true story of Nasa astronaut Lisa Nowak, who was arrested in 2007 for the attempted murder of fellow astronaut Colleen Shipman, who was romantically involved with astronaut William Oefelein.
The film, formerly called “Pale Blue Dot,” also stars Dan Stevens — as the husband of Portman’s...
- 8/9/2019
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Since any New York City cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.
Metrograph
Films by Mizoguchi, Kurosawa, and Naruse kick off a retrospective of Japanese actress Machiko Kyō.
The Pasolini retrospective continues.
Streetwise and its follow-up, Tiny: The Life of Erin Blackwell, begin a run.
The restoration of A Bigger Splash continues screening, while the ’90s indie film Chalk has been restored.
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
Metrograph
Films by Mizoguchi, Kurosawa, and Naruse kick off a retrospective of Japanese actress Machiko Kyō.
The Pasolini retrospective continues.
Streetwise and its follow-up, Tiny: The Life of Erin Blackwell, begin a run.
The restoration of A Bigger Splash continues screening, while the ’90s indie film Chalk has been restored.
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
- 7/26/2019
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) beings with an arm dropping a single flower on the ground. A woman follows a hooded figure with a mirror face. She drops a key, which later turns into a knife. She goes to her bedroom and watches herself follow the figure and enter the house. She interacts with several other versions of herself; she even tries to kill one. Reflections. Mirrors shatter. The ocean. That’s Meshes in a nutshell. Of course, the nutshell synopsis doesn’t quite do it justice. Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid were working in the genre of psychodrama. A psychodramatic film is a film in which a person’s conscious or subconscious is recreated on film. Deren was attempting to show the audience what was going...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 7/20/2019
- Screen Anarchy
Few things at this year’s San Francisco International Film Festival (Sffilm for short) felt more San Francisco than being at the packed-to-the-rafters Castro Theatre on Good Friday to cast one’s eyes recklessly into the image pool rippling across the 24-foot-high screen. The visuals belonged to Maya Deren, the mystical dynamo of American independent cinema, whose core of 16mm work is a motherlode of the avant-garde, and fervent evidence of a mid-century bohemia that bloomed on the West Coast, a legacy kept alive through outfits […]...
- 4/30/2019
- by Steve Dollar
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Few things at this year’s San Francisco International Film Festival (Sffilm for short) felt more San Francisco than being at the packed-to-the-rafters Castro Theatre on Good Friday to cast one’s eyes recklessly into the image pool rippling across the 24-foot-high screen. The visuals belonged to Maya Deren, the mystical dynamo of American independent cinema, whose core of 16mm work is a motherlode of the avant-garde, and fervent evidence of a mid-century bohemia that bloomed on the West Coast, a legacy kept alive through outfits […]...
- 4/30/2019
- by Steve Dollar
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Until today, if you had asked me to name the greatest living filmmaker, I would have answered Agnès Varda. What a loss that the 90-year-old director — who died Friday, leaving behind such intimate masterpieces as “Cléo from 5 to 7,” “Vagabond,” and “The Gleaners and I” — will create no more.
Her passing is a chance for the world of cinema to come together and recognize the achievements of an outsider artist who lived long enough to appreciate the impact her work has had on both audiences and multiple generations of younger directors. Before the French New Wave took form in the late 1950s, it was Varda who paddled out from shore and shouted, “Hey boys, come on in! The water’s fine!” And in recent years, with a series of increasingly personal documentaries — including two, “The Beaches of Agnès” and “Faces Places,” that the Los Angeles Film Critics awarded along the way...
Her passing is a chance for the world of cinema to come together and recognize the achievements of an outsider artist who lived long enough to appreciate the impact her work has had on both audiences and multiple generations of younger directors. Before the French New Wave took form in the late 1950s, it was Varda who paddled out from shore and shouted, “Hey boys, come on in! The water’s fine!” And in recent years, with a series of increasingly personal documentaries — including two, “The Beaches of Agnès” and “Faces Places,” that the Los Angeles Film Critics awarded along the way...
- 3/29/2019
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
In 1945, Maya Deren was awarded an Honorable Mention for her first film, Meshes of the Afternoon (1943), by the Amateur Cinema League. This film, co-directed with her husband Alexander Hammid, would go on to become one of the most influential avant-garde films of the 20th Century. You can learn where to watch it here.
According to the Amateur Cinema Database, the League was formed in New York City on July 28, 1926 and began awarding their “Ten Best” list in 1930. The staff of the League’s monthly publication, Movie Makers, would select their ten best films, then also award a number of Honorable Mentions in the pages of their magazine. The list was not typically considered a competition, but was an informal selection of films that the magazine staff wanted to highlight and recognize.
The Ten Best list of 1945 was published in the December issue of Movie Makers. Six months earlier, in the June issue,...
According to the Amateur Cinema Database, the League was formed in New York City on July 28, 1926 and began awarding their “Ten Best” list in 1930. The staff of the League’s monthly publication, Movie Makers, would select their ten best films, then also award a number of Honorable Mentions in the pages of their magazine. The list was not typically considered a competition, but was an informal selection of films that the magazine staff wanted to highlight and recognize.
The Ten Best list of 1945 was published in the December issue of Movie Makers. Six months earlier, in the June issue,...
- 1/24/2019
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
In the years since his 2015 feature “Cemetery of Splendour,” Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul has traveled a lot, presenting shorts and installation pieces around the world. These days, he’s plotting his first movie outside of Thailand, the Colombia-set “Memoria,” with Tilda Swinton and Jean Balibar attached to star. On November 19, he will receive the annual Fiaf prize from the Federation of Film Archives. In the midst of all this activity, Weerasethakul was also invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, in 2016 — but voting for the Oscars has little appeal to poetic auteur, who won the Palme d’Or for “Uncle Boomnee Who Can Recall His Past Lives” in 2010.
“They’ve been sending me these DVDs and movies. A lot of them,” Weerasethakul said in a Skype interview from a shorts festival in Europe. “I confess that I don’t watch many.” Last year, he tried voting using AMPAS’ online system,...
“They’ve been sending me these DVDs and movies. A lot of them,” Weerasethakul said in a Skype interview from a shorts festival in Europe. “I confess that I don’t watch many.” Last year, he tried voting using AMPAS’ online system,...
- 11/15/2018
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
This documentary examines how Maya Deren shaped the course of avant-garde filmmaking in the United States through works such as the iconic Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) and other films. Filmmaker Martina Kudlácek interviews those who knew Deren personally and features excerpts from her films as well as examining her unfinished work documenting Haitian voodoo rituals.
Starring: Jonas Mekas, Stan Brakhage, Alexander Hammid, Katherine Dunham...
Starring: Jonas Mekas, Stan Brakhage, Alexander Hammid, Katherine Dunham...
- 10/21/2018
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
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