Below is a strictly personal, unapologetically idiosyncratic list of the twenty films I'm most looking forward to in 2018 and which have so far yet to be seen by any paying audiences. Among those seriously considered but ultimately excluded on the basis that they're more likely to be ready next year are Ad Astra (James Gray), Blessed Virgin (Paul Verhoeven), The Fire Next Time (Mati Diop), Late Spring (Michelangelo Frammartino), the particularly-dynamite-on-paper Martin Eden (Pietro Marcello), Mektoub, My Love: Canto Due (Abdellatif Kechiche) and Motorboats (Yuri Ancarani). I also reluctantly discarded a couple of highly tantalising projects whose status, at the time of writing, was frustratingly unclear, namely Tijuana Bible (Jean-Charles Hue) and the worryingly long-in-gestation You Can't Win (Robinson Devor). Omitted because they're made primarily for TV rather than cinemas: Martin Scorsese's The Irishman (Netflix) and Bruno Dumont's Coincoin and the Extra-Humans (Arté). Finally, Joanna Hogg's The Souvenir: Part I...
- 1/16/2018
- MUBI
I’ve been making 16mm durational urban landscape voiceover films, slowly but surely, since the late ‘90s. My short film Blue Diary premiered at the Berlinale in 1998. My two features, The Joy of Life (2005) and The Royal Road (2015) both premiered in the prestigious New Frontiers section at the Sundance Film Festival and have been as wildly successful as experimental films can be. Which is to say, they remain fairly obscure. My small but enthusiastic fan-base frequently asks me for recommendations of films that are similar to my own in terms of incorporating durational landscapes and voiceover and a meditative pace. While it is certainly one of the smallest subgenres in the realm of filmmaking, here are a handful of excellent landscape cinema examples by the practitioners I know best. I confess that my expertise here is limited and hope that the learned Mubi community will chime in with additions in the comments field below.
- 10/11/2016
- MUBI
Youth On The MARCHThere are 48 individual films screening in the Wavelengths section of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. The relative importance of this section, amidst the vast array of offerings in this relatively huge festival, depends on your taste in movies, of course, to say nothing of your specific objectives. If you’re coming to Toronto to try to score a hot tip in this year’s Oscar race, well . . . I feel sorry for you on a number of levels. But Wavelengths is unlikely to be your jam. Originally conceived exclusively as a showcase for experimental and non-narrative films (hence the section’s title, a direct tribute to avant-garde master and Toronto native son Michael Snow), Wavelengths now encompasses the edgier, less commercial side of art cinema. This is the first of two preview essays, and my aim is to cover everything in the section. These are the...
- 9/12/2015
- by Michael Sicinski
- MUBI
Time Out New York is spotlighting ten highlights from Bam's ongoing Indie 80s series, including David Lynch's Blue Velvet. More goings on: Pedro Costa in New York, Bill Gunn's Ganja & Hess and films by William E. Jones and Thom Andersen in Los Angeles, a Paul Thomas Anderson series in Portland, a program of free screenings in Knoxville and work by Stan Brakhage in Nashville. As Michael Sicinski writes for the Scene, "while Brakhage's films may bear comparisons to a different set of artforms—painting, photography, poetry—they are based on irreducible elements of cinema: light, time and motion." » - David Hudson...
- 7/23/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
Time Out New York is spotlighting ten highlights from Bam's ongoing Indie 80s series, including David Lynch's Blue Velvet. More goings on: Pedro Costa in New York, Bill Gunn's Ganja & Hess and films by William E. Jones and Thom Andersen in Los Angeles, a Paul Thomas Anderson series in Portland, a program of free screenings in Knoxville and work by Stan Brakhage in Nashville. As Michael Sicinski writes for the Scene, "while Brakhage's films may bear comparisons to a different set of artforms—painting, photography, poetry—they are based on irreducible elements of cinema: light, time and motion." » - David Hudson...
- 7/23/2015
- Keyframe
Thom Andersen and Pedro Costa on stage at the Courtisane Festival. Photo by Michiel Devijver.This year’s Courtisane Festival paired Pedro Costa and Thom Andersen as their artists in focus. Both filmmakers hung out with each other and the public for the full five days of this under-recognized gem of a festival in Ghent. What at first might seem very different directors with distinct backgrounds actually proved to be kindred spirits. In the end credits of his new cine-history, The Thoughts That Once We Had, Andersen thanks Costa, because “without [him] this motion picture would have been poorer.” Andersen has admired Costa’s work ever since he discovered In Vanda’s Room (2000) at the Montreal Festival du Nouveau Cinéma in 2001. He wrote about this experience and about Colossal Youth (2006) in Film Comment in 2007. Andersen has invited Costa to CalArts, where he teaches, more than once, and Cinema Scope published a...
- 7/17/2015
- by Ruben Demasure
- MUBI
The 6th annual Migrating Forms will be returning to the BAMcinématek in Brooklyn, New York on December 10-18 for a full week of new and classic experimental media.
The fun kicks off with the lyrical portrait of North Korea, Songs From the North, for which filmmaker Soon-Mi Yoo compiled footage from popular films, state-organized demonstrations and home video from her own visits to the country.
Highlights of the fest include a three-film retrospective of documentarian William Greaves, Still a Brother, The Fight and Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One; a new consumerist exploration by Cory Arcangel, Freshbuzz (www.subway.com); the oblique narrative Don’t Go Back to Sleep by Stanya Kahn; and the Hong Kong experimental post-apocalyptic The Midnight After by Fruit Chan.
The full lineup for the 2014 Migrating Forms is below:
December 10
8:00 p.m.: Songs From the North, dir. Soon-Mi Yoo. This portrait of North Korea has been crafted...
The fun kicks off with the lyrical portrait of North Korea, Songs From the North, for which filmmaker Soon-Mi Yoo compiled footage from popular films, state-organized demonstrations and home video from her own visits to the country.
Highlights of the fest include a three-film retrospective of documentarian William Greaves, Still a Brother, The Fight and Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One; a new consumerist exploration by Cory Arcangel, Freshbuzz (www.subway.com); the oblique narrative Don’t Go Back to Sleep by Stanya Kahn; and the Hong Kong experimental post-apocalyptic The Midnight After by Fruit Chan.
The full lineup for the 2014 Migrating Forms is below:
December 10
8:00 p.m.: Songs From the North, dir. Soon-Mi Yoo. This portrait of North Korea has been crafted...
- 12/10/2014
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
This year's poster for the Vienna International Film Festival is of a flame, and while around the world in other cinema-loving cities and at other cinema-loving festivals one might that that as a cue for a celluloid immolation and a move forever to digital, here in Austria cinema and film as film aren't burning up but rather are burning brightly.
The tributes and special programs in artistic director Hans Hurch's 2014 edition make this position clear: John Ford, Harun Farocki and 16mm, with new films by Tariq Teguia, Jean-Luc Godard, and Jean-Marie Straub accompanying older ones by the same directors. These aren't just retrospectives, they are revitalizing redoubts, inexhaustible fountains of flame, of sensitivity, of consciousness, and of intervention. With such a profound retrospective program, I hope you'll forgive me telling you very little of anything new at the festival; unless, that is, you like me count cinema revived as something always new.
The tributes and special programs in artistic director Hans Hurch's 2014 edition make this position clear: John Ford, Harun Farocki and 16mm, with new films by Tariq Teguia, Jean-Luc Godard, and Jean-Marie Straub accompanying older ones by the same directors. These aren't just retrospectives, they are revitalizing redoubts, inexhaustible fountains of flame, of sensitivity, of consciousness, and of intervention. With such a profound retrospective program, I hope you'll forgive me telling you very little of anything new at the festival; unless, that is, you like me count cinema revived as something always new.
- 11/12/2014
- by Daniel Kasman
- MUBI
What follows is a highly selective, unavoidably partial guide to the Wavelengths section of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, which kicks off today. Perhaps it seems that “selective” and “partial” are synonymous enough to produce redundancy when placed within the same sentence, and in most instances I would agree with this objection. In the first case, "selective," I will note that, of the 28 shorts and features that I was able to preview from the Wavelengths section (impeccably curated, as always, by the perspicacious Andréa Picard), I have chosen to highlight the fifteen that I personally found most aesthetically and intellectually bold, invigo(u)rating, troubling, critical-verbiage-thwarting, or otherwise worthy of hearty recommendation. This in no way implies that the other works were somehow lacking, only that I could not see my way through to them at this particular time and place. A different set of viewing circumstances (the ones you’re about to embark upon,...
- 9/10/2014
- by Michael Sicinski
- MUBI
This year, Chicago’s durable Onion City Experimental Film And Video Festival is celebrating its devotion to challenging, exciting and entertaining experimental and avant-garde films for a quarter of a century. Hosted, as always, by Chicago Filmmakers, the 25th annual edition of the fest runs at several locations around the Windy City — the Gene Siskel Film Center, Columbia College and the Music Box Theater — on September 5-8.
The opening night program is a terrific lineup of eclectic short works from some of the giants of the experimental film world, such as animators Jodie Mack and Lawrence Jordan, documentarian Deborah Stratman, British filmmaker Ben Rivers, Indian filmmakers Shai Heredia and Shumona Goel, classic experimental filmmaker Phil Solomon and several more.
The rest of the fest is also jam-packed with other terrific short films and videos, from filmmakers such as Jennifer Reeder, Stephanie Barber, Mike Hoolboom, Lewis Klahr, Scott Fitzpatrick and tons more; plus,...
The opening night program is a terrific lineup of eclectic short works from some of the giants of the experimental film world, such as animators Jodie Mack and Lawrence Jordan, documentarian Deborah Stratman, British filmmaker Ben Rivers, Indian filmmakers Shai Heredia and Shumona Goel, classic experimental filmmaker Phil Solomon and several more.
The rest of the fest is also jam-packed with other terrific short films and videos, from filmmakers such as Jennifer Reeder, Stephanie Barber, Mike Hoolboom, Lewis Klahr, Scott Fitzpatrick and tons more; plus,...
- 9/5/2013
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
September is here again, and it's time to delve into the cinematic bounty of the Wavelengths section of the Toronto International Film Festival, that rambunctious and idiosyncratic corner of the Reitman Machine largely cordoned off from commercial concerns and set aside for lovely and sometimes difficult film art. Despite the ever-changing profile of Tiff, stalwart programmer Andréa Picard has [cue needle-scratching-record sound] What? Yes, last year at this time, the avant-garde community thought we were seeing Ms. Picard leaving this position behind. Fortunately for us all, Tiff won her back.
And this is where things get interesting. Starting with this 2012 edition of the festival, the Wavelengths section is a much more broadly based, festival-wide category. In essence, it now subsumes the old Visions designation, which was Tiff’s home for formally challenging, feature-length arthouse fare. This merger, which may seem like a bit of a shotgun wedding to some, does in fact make sense.
And this is where things get interesting. Starting with this 2012 edition of the festival, the Wavelengths section is a much more broadly based, festival-wide category. In essence, it now subsumes the old Visions designation, which was Tiff’s home for formally challenging, feature-length arthouse fare. This merger, which may seem like a bit of a shotgun wedding to some, does in fact make sense.
- 9/11/2012
- MUBI
Above: Ernie Gehr's Auto-Collider Xv.
The vast bulk of Tiff's 2012 has been announced and listed here, below. We'll be updating the lineup with the previous films announced, as well as updating links to specific films for more information on them in the coming days. Of particular note is that the Wavelengths and Visions programs have been combined to create what is undoubtedly the most interesting section of the festival. Stay tuned, too, for our own on the ground coverage of Tiff.
Galas
A Royal Affair (Nikolai Arcel, Demark/Sweden/Czech Republic/Germany)
Argo (Ben Affleck, USA)
The Company You Keep (Robert Redford, USA)
Dangerous Liaisons (Hur Jin-ho, China)
Emperor (Peter Webber, Japan/USA)
English Vinglish (Gauri Shinde, India)
Free Angela & All Political Prisoners (Shola Lynch)
Great Expectations (Mike Newell, UK)
Hyde Park on Hudson (Roger Michell, UK)
Inescapable (Ruba Nadda, Canada)
Jayne Mansfield's Car (Billy Bob Thorton, USA/Russia)
Looper (Rian Johnson,...
The vast bulk of Tiff's 2012 has been announced and listed here, below. We'll be updating the lineup with the previous films announced, as well as updating links to specific films for more information on them in the coming days. Of particular note is that the Wavelengths and Visions programs have been combined to create what is undoubtedly the most interesting section of the festival. Stay tuned, too, for our own on the ground coverage of Tiff.
Galas
A Royal Affair (Nikolai Arcel, Demark/Sweden/Czech Republic/Germany)
Argo (Ben Affleck, USA)
The Company You Keep (Robert Redford, USA)
Dangerous Liaisons (Hur Jin-ho, China)
Emperor (Peter Webber, Japan/USA)
English Vinglish (Gauri Shinde, India)
Free Angela & All Political Prisoners (Shola Lynch)
Great Expectations (Mike Newell, UK)
Hyde Park on Hudson (Roger Michell, UK)
Inescapable (Ruba Nadda, Canada)
Jayne Mansfield's Car (Billy Bob Thorton, USA/Russia)
Looper (Rian Johnson,...
- 8/22/2012
- MUBI
By merging the former Visions into the Wavelengths section, Cameron Bailey has essentially made a new incontournable programme. Headed by Andréa Picard, the section which at a time was populated by medium to short run times now includes some of the bigger names in innovative feature film filmmaking who have no qualms about bending the medium. This year the sections includes long, medium and short length works from the likes of Ben Rivers, Athina Rachel Tsangari, Carlos Reygadas (pic of his controversial Post Tenebras Lux above), Wang Bing, Mati Diop (actress from Claire Denis and Antonio Campos films) and our very own writer Blake Williams who makes it two for two at Tiff with Many a Swan – he previously had Coorow-Latham Road programmed last year. Here’s the complete A to Z listing and well-worth reading descriptions.
Pairings
The Capsule Athina Rachel Tsangari, Greece, 37’ A bevy of gorgeous Gothic...
Pairings
The Capsule Athina Rachel Tsangari, Greece, 37’ A bevy of gorgeous Gothic...
- 8/14/2012
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Found police surveillance footage of a tearoom (a term for notorious spots to find public but covert gay sex) in 1962 makes up William E. Jones' "Tearoom." On July 23rd, this former piece of courtroom evidence will be projected on the walls of New York's oldest gay bar, Julius. Most high-minded curators and the artists they regularly work with would turn their noses up at the idea of screening a film at a bar. But the bar -- the activity, social and sexual, that takes place inside -- and its history are the very reasons Dirty Looks: On Location series will be screening "Tearoom" at Julius. Creative Director, Bradford Nordeen, who hosts New York's art queers and cinephiles for his monthly queer experimental film and video series, Dirty Looks, is taking on a project that is far more ambitious than those most New York programmers would dare. For the entire month of July,...
- 5/25/2012
- by Bryce J. Renninger
- Indiewire
The 57th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen opens on May 5, 2011. The five day festival will screen nearly 470 short films from 53 countries. 141 of these films will vie in Oberhausen’s five competitions for a total of 41,000 euros in award money.
There is no Indian short in the 2011 edition of Oberhausen. The 56th edition of the festival screened Umesh Kulkarni’s Vilay in competition while featured experimental filmmaker Amit Dutta in its Profile section.
The festival will present 90 shorts in its biggest special programme for the year: “Shooting Animals”.Under this programme, the festival will take a look at the history of animal films.
Other programmes include profiles of the American filmmaker William E. Jones and Polish filmmaker Grzegorz Królikiewiecz, as well as a sequel to the big silent film programme in 2010: a selection of French silent shorts from 1907 under the title “Red Rooster 1907″.
There is no Indian short in the 2011 edition of Oberhausen. The 56th edition of the festival screened Umesh Kulkarni’s Vilay in competition while featured experimental filmmaker Amit Dutta in its Profile section.
The festival will present 90 shorts in its biggest special programme for the year: “Shooting Animals”.Under this programme, the festival will take a look at the history of animal films.
Other programmes include profiles of the American filmmaker William E. Jones and Polish filmmaker Grzegorz Królikiewiecz, as well as a sequel to the big silent film programme in 2010: a selection of French silent shorts from 1907 under the title “Red Rooster 1907″.
- 5/5/2011
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
A look at what's new on DVD today:
"Black Lightning" (2009)
Directed by Dmitriy Kiselev and Aleksandr Voytinskiy
Released by Universal Studios
"Wanted" director Timur Bekmambetov produced this Russian action flick about a man and his flying car, using the same effects team that worked on all of his previous films including "Night Watch." A Russian trailer is here since where we're going, we don't need to understand words.
"7th Hunt" (2010)
Directed by Jon Cohen
Released by Vanguard Cinema
A motley group of young adults are abducted and forced to fend for their survival at an abandoned military training center in the middle of nowhere in Jon Cohen's thriller.
"Alien Vs. Ninja" (2010)
Directed by Seiji Chiba
Released by Funimation
A selection of last year's New York Asian Film Festival, Seiji Chiba's crazy genre mashup may just be "the best and wittiest movie ever to air at 2am on the SyFy Channel" in the future,...
"Black Lightning" (2009)
Directed by Dmitriy Kiselev and Aleksandr Voytinskiy
Released by Universal Studios
"Wanted" director Timur Bekmambetov produced this Russian action flick about a man and his flying car, using the same effects team that worked on all of his previous films including "Night Watch." A Russian trailer is here since where we're going, we don't need to understand words.
"7th Hunt" (2010)
Directed by Jon Cohen
Released by Vanguard Cinema
A motley group of young adults are abducted and forced to fend for their survival at an abandoned military training center in the middle of nowhere in Jon Cohen's thriller.
"Alien Vs. Ninja" (2010)
Directed by Seiji Chiba
Released by Funimation
A selection of last year's New York Asian Film Festival, Seiji Chiba's crazy genre mashup may just be "the best and wittiest movie ever to air at 2am on the SyFy Channel" in the future,...
- 2/21/2011
- by Stephen Saito
- ifc.com
Repertory theaters on the coasts are truly offering a window onto the world this spring, with Jia Zhangke and Bong Joon-ho retrospectives, as well as New French Cinema in New York, "Freebie and the Bean," "Killer Klowns from Outer Space" and Jason Reitman's favorite films invade Los Angeles, and the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin is offering a fond farewell to the video cassette. But consider this a hello to seeing classics, oddities and rarities on the big screen over the next few months.
Cities: [New York] [Los Angeles] [Austin] More Spring Preview: [Theatrical Calendar]
[Anywhere But a Movie Theater]
New York
92YTribeca
Is there a more energetic way to start the spring than with a screening of Russ Meyer's "Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" (Feb. 20, with editors Rumsey Taylor, Leo Goldsmith and Jenny Jediny in attendance)? Perhaps not, but it's only the start of an exciting spring season at the 92YTribeca Screening Room, which will present several special events over the next few months.
Cities: [New York] [Los Angeles] [Austin] More Spring Preview: [Theatrical Calendar]
[Anywhere But a Movie Theater]
New York
92YTribeca
Is there a more energetic way to start the spring than with a screening of Russ Meyer's "Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" (Feb. 20, with editors Rumsey Taylor, Leo Goldsmith and Jenny Jediny in attendance)? Perhaps not, but it's only the start of an exciting spring season at the 92YTribeca Screening Room, which will present several special events over the next few months.
- 2/20/2010
- by Stephen Saito
- ifc.com
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