We live in strange times. This young century has been defined by harrowing disasters both natural and man-made, political tribalism, and existential threats to the future of the planet. What better time for documentary filmmaking?
Non-fiction cinema has been evolving since the birth of the medium while capturing a world in motion. From the actualités of the Lumière brothers in the late 19th century to the heavily manipulated ethnographic films of the 1920, from the vérité films of the Maysles brothers to the man-on-the-street agitprop popularized by Michael Moore, documentaries have naturally always been more responsive to their times than any other mode of filmmaking.
Not only do they reveal our world to us, but they shape how we view it, and the early years of the 21st century have proven that to be more true than ever before. On one hand, digital technology has infinitely expanded our range of vision,...
Non-fiction cinema has been evolving since the birth of the medium while capturing a world in motion. From the actualités of the Lumière brothers in the late 19th century to the heavily manipulated ethnographic films of the 1920, from the vérité films of the Maysles brothers to the man-on-the-street agitprop popularized by Michael Moore, documentaries have naturally always been more responsive to their times than any other mode of filmmaking.
Not only do they reveal our world to us, but they shape how we view it, and the early years of the 21st century have proven that to be more true than ever before. On one hand, digital technology has infinitely expanded our range of vision,...
- 5/22/2021
- by David Ehrlich, Eric Kohn, Kate Erbland and Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSLuther Price's Sodom (1989)Experimental filmmaker Luther Price, best known for his reappropriation of found footage into vivid, often graphic and controversial painted images, has died. A number of available films, as well as a Q&a with Price, can be found here.Kirill Serebrennikov is set to direct a limited series based on the life of Andrei Tarkovsky. Due to the impact of the ongoing health crisis, the dates for next year's Oscars and BAFTA ceremonies have been pushed to April of 2021. Recommended VIEWINGThe official trailer for House of Hummingbird, Kim Bora's portrait of youth in 1990's Korea. Read our interview with Kim here.For GQ, martial artist Scott Adkins thoroughly breaks down fight scenes from movies like Ip Man, The Bourne Supremacy, and Rush Hour.A new short by David Lynch, The Story of a Small Bug,...
- 6/17/2020
- MUBI
One Shot is a series that seeks to find an essence of cinema history in one single image of a movie. No Home Movie (2015) is showing on Mubi in the United States in the series Remembering Chantal Akerman.“I want to show that there’s no distance in the world. You are in Bruxelles. I am in Oklahoma. But there is no distance.” This is Chantal Akerman’s explanation to her mother, Natalia, as to why she is recording their Skype call on a Dv camera. Two such interactions are featured in No Home Movie, and both are composed in a similar manner: Akerman’s handheld camera is positioned at a high angle above the laptop screen, upon which Natalia, slightly blurred by digital noise, appears in tight close-up. Akerman could have recorded the conversation in the form of a direct screen capture, but instead she chooses to depict the...
- 6/16/2020
- MUBI
Kim Gordon unveiled the bruising new single, “Sketch Artist,” from her debut solo album No Home Record, set to arrive October 11th via Matador.
The former Sonic Youth member also sahred a video for “Sketch Artist,” directed by the Berlin-based experimental filmmaker Loretta Fahrenholz. In the clip, Gordon plays a driver for a ride share app called “Unter,” and as she drives passengers — including Broad City star Abbi Jacobson — around nighttime Los Angeles, her cold stare shocks pedestrians on the street into dancing fits.
No Home Record — whose title alludes...
The former Sonic Youth member also sahred a video for “Sketch Artist,” directed by the Berlin-based experimental filmmaker Loretta Fahrenholz. In the clip, Gordon plays a driver for a ride share app called “Unter,” and as she drives passengers — including Broad City star Abbi Jacobson — around nighttime Los Angeles, her cold stare shocks pedestrians on the street into dancing fits.
No Home Record — whose title alludes...
- 8/20/2019
- by Claire Shaffer
- Rollingstone.com
There have been a lot of lists about the best films of the 21st century. IndieWire has been digging through the last two decades one genre at a time; meanwhile, the New York Times’ top movie critics provided their own takes. J. Hoberman, the longtime Village Voice film critic who now works as a freelancer, decided to join the fray. Here’s his take, also available at his site, and republished here with permission.
People have been asking me, so I thought I might as well join (or crash) the party initiated by the New York Times and put in my two cents regarding the 25 Best Films of the 21st Century (so far). I don’t see “everything” anymore and I haven’t been to Cannes since 2011.
There is some overlap but this is not the same as the proposed 21-film syllabus of 21st Century cinema included in my book “Film After Film.” Those were all in their way pedagogical choices. Begging the question of what “best” means, these are all movies that I really like, that I’m happy to see multiple times, that are strongly of their moment and that I think will stand the test of time.
My single “best” film-object is followed by a list of 11 filmmakers and one academic production company (in order of “best-ness”) responsible for two or more “best films,” these followed by another eight individual movies (again in order) and finally four more tentatively advanced films (these alphabetical). I’m sure I’m forgetting some but that’s the nature of the beast.
Christian Marclay: “The Clock”
Lars von Trier: “Dogville” & “Melancholia” (and none of his others)
Hou Hsiao Hsien: “The Assassin” & “Flight of the Red Balloon”
Jean-Luc Godard: “In Praise of Love” & “Goodbye to Language”
David Cronenberg: “Spider,” “A History of Violence,” “Eastern Promises,” & “A Dangerous Method”
David Lynch: “Mulholland Drive” & “Inland Empire”
Ken Jacobs: “Seeking the Monkey King,” “The Guests” (and more)
Cristi Puiu: “The Death of Mr Lazarescu” & “Aurora”
Chantal Akerman: “No Home Movie” & “La Captive” (assuming that 2000 is part of the 21st Century)
Paul Thomas Anderson: “The Master” & “There Will Be Blood”
Kathryn Bigelow: “The Hurt Locker” & “Zero Dark Thirty”
Alfonso Cuarón: “Gravity” & “Children of Men”
Sensory Ethnology Lab: “Leviathan,” “Manakamana,” & “People’s Park”
“The Strange Case of Angelica” — Manoel de Oliviera
“Corpus Callosum” — Michael Snow
“West of the Tracks” — Wang Bing
“Carlos” — Olivier Assayas
“Che” — Steven Soderbergh
“Ten” — Abbas Kariostami
“Russian Ark” — Aleksandr Sokurov
“The World” — Jia Zhangke
“Citizenfour” — Laura Poitras
“Day Night Day Night” — Julia Loktev
“Once Upon a Time in Anatolia” — Nuri Bilge Ceylan
“Wall-e” — Andrew Stanton
Related stories'Transformers: The Last Knight' Review: Here's the Most Ridiculous Hollywood Movie of the Year'En El Séptimo Dia' Review: Jim McKay's First Movie in a Decade is the Summer's Surprise Crowdpleaser'All Eyez on Me' Review: Tupac Shakur's Complicated Life Deserves More Than This Sprawling Biopic...
People have been asking me, so I thought I might as well join (or crash) the party initiated by the New York Times and put in my two cents regarding the 25 Best Films of the 21st Century (so far). I don’t see “everything” anymore and I haven’t been to Cannes since 2011.
There is some overlap but this is not the same as the proposed 21-film syllabus of 21st Century cinema included in my book “Film After Film.” Those were all in their way pedagogical choices. Begging the question of what “best” means, these are all movies that I really like, that I’m happy to see multiple times, that are strongly of their moment and that I think will stand the test of time.
My single “best” film-object is followed by a list of 11 filmmakers and one academic production company (in order of “best-ness”) responsible for two or more “best films,” these followed by another eight individual movies (again in order) and finally four more tentatively advanced films (these alphabetical). I’m sure I’m forgetting some but that’s the nature of the beast.
Christian Marclay: “The Clock”
Lars von Trier: “Dogville” & “Melancholia” (and none of his others)
Hou Hsiao Hsien: “The Assassin” & “Flight of the Red Balloon”
Jean-Luc Godard: “In Praise of Love” & “Goodbye to Language”
David Cronenberg: “Spider,” “A History of Violence,” “Eastern Promises,” & “A Dangerous Method”
David Lynch: “Mulholland Drive” & “Inland Empire”
Ken Jacobs: “Seeking the Monkey King,” “The Guests” (and more)
Cristi Puiu: “The Death of Mr Lazarescu” & “Aurora”
Chantal Akerman: “No Home Movie” & “La Captive” (assuming that 2000 is part of the 21st Century)
Paul Thomas Anderson: “The Master” & “There Will Be Blood”
Kathryn Bigelow: “The Hurt Locker” & “Zero Dark Thirty”
Alfonso Cuarón: “Gravity” & “Children of Men”
Sensory Ethnology Lab: “Leviathan,” “Manakamana,” & “People’s Park”
“The Strange Case of Angelica” — Manoel de Oliviera
“Corpus Callosum” — Michael Snow
“West of the Tracks” — Wang Bing
“Carlos” — Olivier Assayas
“Che” — Steven Soderbergh
“Ten” — Abbas Kariostami
“Russian Ark” — Aleksandr Sokurov
“The World” — Jia Zhangke
“Citizenfour” — Laura Poitras
“Day Night Day Night” — Julia Loktev
“Once Upon a Time in Anatolia” — Nuri Bilge Ceylan
“Wall-e” — Andrew Stanton
Related stories'Transformers: The Last Knight' Review: Here's the Most Ridiculous Hollywood Movie of the Year'En El Séptimo Dia' Review: Jim McKay's First Movie in a Decade is the Summer's Surprise Crowdpleaser'All Eyez on Me' Review: Tupac Shakur's Complicated Life Deserves More Than This Sprawling Biopic...
- 6/20/2017
- by J. Hoberman
- Indiewire
Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles is a thriller. It’s as claustrophobic, psychologically penetrating, and exactingly-directed an apartment film as anything Roman Polanski has made. That it takes 200 minutes to watch is almost besides the point. The more you give yourself over to it – shutting out distractions, not breaking it into sections – the tighter its hold. I’ve seen the film three times now, twice at home with all the intrusions that comes with that, and once in a theater with all the peace it suggests. Except, peace for this film means an acute focus on its inner torment.
Jeanne (Delphine Seyrig) is a widow raising her teenage son in a single-bedroom apartment (he sleeps in the pull-out couch in the living room). Over the course of three non-consecutive days, we see Jeanne cook, clean, run errands, knit, read letters, and cook some more (there’s a lot of...
Jeanne (Delphine Seyrig) is a widow raising her teenage son in a single-bedroom apartment (he sleeps in the pull-out couch in the living room). Over the course of three non-consecutive days, we see Jeanne cook, clean, run errands, knit, read letters, and cook some more (there’s a lot of...
- 5/27/2017
- by Scott Nye
- CriterionCast
Female filmmakers are still an unfortunate rarity in Hollywood — USC Annenberg’s Media, Diversity & Social Change Initiative’s latest study about female directors in the industry recently delivered blunt findings like “the director’s chair is white and male” and “age restricts opportunities for female filmmakers” and even “one & done: opportunities for female directors are rare” — but that hasn’t stopped a compelling legion of creators to churn out excellent films for as long as the art form has existed.
The 21st century may be less than seventeen years old, but it’s already played home to a slew of instant classics, from established auteurs to rising indie stars and everything in between. Here are the 25 best.
Read More: The 25 Best Sci-Fi Movies of the 21st Century, From ‘Children of Men’ to ‘Her’
Behold, a bevy of riches…
25. “Tomboy,” directed by Céline Sciamma (2011)
A quietly gorgeous portrait of a plucky...
The 21st century may be less than seventeen years old, but it’s already played home to a slew of instant classics, from established auteurs to rising indie stars and everything in between. Here are the 25 best.
Read More: The 25 Best Sci-Fi Movies of the 21st Century, From ‘Children of Men’ to ‘Her’
Behold, a bevy of riches…
25. “Tomboy,” directed by Céline Sciamma (2011)
A quietly gorgeous portrait of a plucky...
- 5/26/2017
- by Kate Erbland, Jude Dry, Zack Sharf and Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
Editor’s Note: This article is presented in partnership with FilmStruck. Developed and managed by Turner Classic Movies (TCM) in collaboration with the Criterion Collection. FilmStruck features the largest streaming library of contemporary and classic arthouse, indie, foreign and cult films as well as extensive bonus content, filmmaker interviews and rare footage. Learn more here. Agnes Varda
At age 88, the indomitable and highly influential Varda shows zero sign of slowing down when it comes to churning out art told through continually experimental means (she’s also remained committed to supporting her work in person, recently popping up at both the French Institute Alliance Française for a career-spanning chat and this year’s Rendezvous With French Cinema series with a brand new exhibit; we should all be so lucky to be as vital and involved when we’re half Varda’s age). Varda’s contributions to cinema and feminism have been...
At age 88, the indomitable and highly influential Varda shows zero sign of slowing down when it comes to churning out art told through continually experimental means (she’s also remained committed to supporting her work in person, recently popping up at both the French Institute Alliance Française for a career-spanning chat and this year’s Rendezvous With French Cinema series with a brand new exhibit; we should all be so lucky to be as vital and involved when we’re half Varda’s age). Varda’s contributions to cinema and feminism have been...
- 4/18/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Babette Mangolte. © Fleur van Muiswinkel If the name Babette Mangolte doesn’t ring with the same familiarity as such storied French cinematographers as Raoul Coutard and William Lubtchansky, it’s not for lack of innovation or accomplishment. Born in Montmorot in 1941, Mangolte moved to New York in 1970 following a number of years as an assistant cinematographer and apprentice to director Marcel Hanoun. There she quickly integrated herself into the city’s burgeoning experimental cinema scene, befriending luminaries such as Jonas Mekas and Stan Brakhage, and soon after met a 20-year-old Chantal Akerman whom she proceeded to collaborate with on a series of groundbreaking works throughout the mid-70s. Influenced as much by structuralism as the films of the French New Wave, Mangolte and Akerman deftly utilized time and space as cinematic conduits to visually articulate themes of dislocation, alienation, and female autonomy. Their most celebrated work, the landmark feminist dispositif Jeanne Dielman,...
- 3/30/2017
- MUBI
After premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival, Karl Marx City stopped by New York Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival, and more, and now it’s heading to theaters this month. In Karl Marx City, documentarians Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker take a personal exploration of life under the East German Stasi, specifically through the eyes of Epperlein as she reflects on her father’s suicide. Ahead of a release next, week a new trailer has now arrived.
We said in our review, “With a clearer focus, Karl Marx City could have been the Stasi version of What Our Fathers Did: A Nazi Legacy or Inheritance, or, with more intimacy, been akin to an East German No Home Movie. While we’re told that there is 111 km of Stasi archives informing on over 17 million people and shown the archive storage units, this film spends an inordinate amount of time...
We said in our review, “With a clearer focus, Karl Marx City could have been the Stasi version of What Our Fathers Did: A Nazi Legacy or Inheritance, or, with more intimacy, been akin to an East German No Home Movie. While we’re told that there is 111 km of Stasi archives informing on over 17 million people and shown the archive storage units, this film spends an inordinate amount of time...
- 3/22/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
A very happy International Women’s Day (and, related, Happy A Day Without A Woman those exercising their ability to strike in order to help highlight the important contributions made by women in the workplace and the world at large) to all of our readers! With this important day in mind, we’ve assembled a list of films, all currently streaming online, that would not exist without the female creators (writers, directors, sometime-stars, and more) who crafted them. It’s just a taste — a nibble, really — of some of the industry’s best examples of forward-thinking, female-driven work.
Read More: IndieWire Stands With Women: 27 TV Shows Created by Women, Starring Women, That We Absolutely Love
Take a peek, and appreciate the power of women and their strong-as-hell creativity and drive.
“Paris Is Burning” (Netflix)
Jennie Livingston’s incisive, intimate and wildly entertaining documentary about New York City “drag ball culture...
Read More: IndieWire Stands With Women: 27 TV Shows Created by Women, Starring Women, That We Absolutely Love
Take a peek, and appreciate the power of women and their strong-as-hell creativity and drive.
“Paris Is Burning” (Netflix)
Jennie Livingston’s incisive, intimate and wildly entertaining documentary about New York City “drag ball culture...
- 3/8/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Our 22 Favorite Movies Directed by Women in 2016Looking to support great female-directed films? Start here.
Over the years, we’ve heard from our readers that one of the most important things we can do is to help you discover movies that may have slipped by mainstream audiences. And often just as important, our readers ask that we highlight voices that are in the minority in Hollywood. While we’re known for not taking ourselves very seriously, we take this part of our work seriously. Because as many studies have shown, there are some voices that aren’t as well-represented as others. Them’s the facts.
Beyond that, our team has a passion for seeking out and celebrating films directed by women. This is where we often find, as you’re about to see in this list, some of the most unique and interesting stories in the whole of cinema. Another thing we hear often from readers is...
Over the years, we’ve heard from our readers that one of the most important things we can do is to help you discover movies that may have slipped by mainstream audiences. And often just as important, our readers ask that we highlight voices that are in the minority in Hollywood. While we’re known for not taking ourselves very seriously, we take this part of our work seriously. Because as many studies have shown, there are some voices that aren’t as well-represented as others. Them’s the facts.
Beyond that, our team has a passion for seeking out and celebrating films directed by women. This is where we often find, as you’re about to see in this list, some of the most unique and interesting stories in the whole of cinema. Another thing we hear often from readers is...
- 1/18/2017
- by Film School Rejects
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
The incapability of many to consider 2016, now a week dead, as anything other than “teh worst year evar” gives yours truly an inclination to run positive and say, with no insincerity, that it offered one of the best collection of films I’ve encountered in some time — better yet, speaking not for quantity so much as the breadth and plurality of options. A good litmus test: group your bottom five with your five honorable mentions and ask, “Would this have made a proper top ten?” The answer to this year, perhaps more than any other I’ve been making countdowns, firmly leaned towards an affirmative, in no small part because it’s futile to consider one individual work — among nine-to-fourteen other works of such utter individuality — as inherently superior to another. This isn’t even to account for those that slip just out of reach: Paterson, The Bfg, De Palma,...
- 1/6/2017
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
As the year comes to a close, there is one group we’ve yet to hear from about the Best of 2016: The Directors.
Filmmakers are busy folks, and some were instantly wary about making a list, with “I haven’t seen enough movies to make a top ten list” a common reply. So we decided to keep it loose. Including TV and other forms of entertainment was encouraged, how they chose to frame their list was totally flexible, and even if they only had a handful of projects they wanted to highlight, IndieWire made it clear we wanted to know what inspired them this year.
The most exciting thing, beyond how many great directors replied, is the time and energy they put into their lists. Be it Kirsten Johnson’s tribute to Abbas Kiarostami, Paul Feig’s surprise message to “Ghostbuster” trolls, Jennifer Kent teasing the start of her new film,...
Filmmakers are busy folks, and some were instantly wary about making a list, with “I haven’t seen enough movies to make a top ten list” a common reply. So we decided to keep it loose. Including TV and other forms of entertainment was encouraged, how they chose to frame their list was totally flexible, and even if they only had a handful of projects they wanted to highlight, IndieWire made it clear we wanted to know what inspired them this year.
The most exciting thing, beyond how many great directors replied, is the time and energy they put into their lists. Be it Kirsten Johnson’s tribute to Abbas Kiarostami, Paul Feig’s surprise message to “Ghostbuster” trolls, Jennifer Kent teasing the start of her new film,...
- 12/28/2016
- by Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
“Moonlight” dominated IndieWire’s 2016 Critics Poll, winning five of the 10 categories in which it was eligible, but there’s plenty more acclaim to go around. Below, we’ve listed the top finishers in all of our 15 categories. Some of these films and performances have dominated the year-end discussion, but others are still looking for distribution homes or have yet to make their way to theaters.
Follow the link above each category to see a longer list of the top vote-getters and a more detailed breakdown of the rankings.
Read More: Full List of Participating Critics
Best Film
1. Moonlight
2. Manchester by the Sea
3. La La Land
4. Toni Erdmann
5. Oj: Made in America
6. Paterson
7. The Handmaiden
8. Arrival
9. Hell or High Water
10. Jackie
Best Director
1. Barry Jenkins, Moonlight
2. Damien Chazelle, La La Land
3. Maren Ade, Toni Erdmann
4. Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea
Best Actress
1. Isabelle Huppert, Elle
2. Natalie Portman, Jackie
3. Sandra Hüller,...
Follow the link above each category to see a longer list of the top vote-getters and a more detailed breakdown of the rankings.
Read More: Full List of Participating Critics
Best Film
1. Moonlight
2. Manchester by the Sea
3. La La Land
4. Toni Erdmann
5. Oj: Made in America
6. Paterson
7. The Handmaiden
8. Arrival
9. Hell or High Water
10. Jackie
Best Director
1. Barry Jenkins, Moonlight
2. Damien Chazelle, La La Land
3. Maren Ade, Toni Erdmann
4. Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea
Best Actress
1. Isabelle Huppert, Elle
2. Natalie Portman, Jackie
3. Sandra Hüller,...
- 12/19/2016
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
Lists from all three of the Nyt’s esteemed critics: Manohla Dargis, A.O. Scott, and Stephen Holden. Full writeups can be accessed here. Manohla Dargis: 1. No Home Movie 2. Toni Erdmann...
- 12/7/2016
- by Marshall Flores
- AwardsDaily.com
NEWSEnd of the year "tops" and "best ofs" are starting to appear online—well before many critics have seen many of the year's important films, we may add—and our favorite so far is Sight & Sound's poll for the best films of 2016. Maren Ade's Toni Erdmann deservedly tops the list, and aside from a few outliers (American Honey, Evolution), it looks pretty good from where we're sitting. Also just published are the the year's best movies as chosen by The New York Times: Manohla Dargis tops her list with Chantal Akerman's No Home Movie and A.O. Scott fetes Moonlight.The film world is just beginning to wrap 2016, and already we're looking at the next year: the Sundance Film Festival has begun announcing it selections, which we're gathering (and updating) here.Recommended VIEWINGWe may all have too much to watch (or so it seems), but here is something very...
- 12/7/2016
- MUBI
Glenn here. Despite writing about (at least) one documentary a week since March, it feels like we've barely made a dint in covering the mammoth list of 145 titles that will be competing for the five coveted nominations in Best Documentary Feature category at the upcoming Oscars. Collectively, The Film Experience has reviewed 30 of the list, and we hope to cover a bunch more as we get closer to nominations.
There are a lot of noteworthy titles on this list so even making it to the 15-strong shortlist will be tough. And it's worth remembering that big titles are left off and smaller little-known titles get elevated every year. I have never heard of quite a few of these - and many others only have/had qualifying runs with releases planned for 2017 so it's impossible to really gauge some of them. What big titles will be left off? Will the recent scandals help or hinder Weiner,...
There are a lot of noteworthy titles on this list so even making it to the 15-strong shortlist will be tough. And it's worth remembering that big titles are left off and smaller little-known titles get elevated every year. I have never heard of quite a few of these - and many others only have/had qualifying runs with releases planned for 2017 so it's impossible to really gauge some of them. What big titles will be left off? Will the recent scandals help or hinder Weiner,...
- 10/30/2016
- by Glenn Dunks
- FilmExperience
As 2016 winds down, like most cinephiles, we’re looking to get our hands on the titles that may have slipped under the radar or simply gone unseen. With the proliferation of streaming options, it’s thankfully easier than ever to play catch-up, and to assist with the process, we’re bringing you a rundown of the best titles of the year available to watch.
Curated from the Best Films of 2016 So Far list we published for the first half of the year, it also includes films we’ve enjoyed the past few months and some we’ve recently caught up on. This is far from a be-all, end-all year-end feature (that will come at the end of the year), but rather something that will hopefully be a helpful tool for readers to have a chance to seek out notable, perhaps underseen, titles from the year.
Note that we’re going by U.
Curated from the Best Films of 2016 So Far list we published for the first half of the year, it also includes films we’ve enjoyed the past few months and some we’ve recently caught up on. This is far from a be-all, end-all year-end feature (that will come at the end of the year), but rather something that will hopefully be a helpful tool for readers to have a chance to seek out notable, perhaps underseen, titles from the year.
Note that we’re going by U.
- 10/24/2016
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The head of Karl Marx glooms over Chemnitz, Germany — figuratively, as this city was once part of the Eastern Bloc, formerly known as Karl-Marx-Stadt, and literally, as a 40-ton stone bust of him is too massive to be taken away. In Karl Marx City, documentarians Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker use this place as both title and backdrop to reflect on past and residual damage caused by the G.D.R. (German Democratic Republic) and its conspiratorial abuses of power under the banner of Marxist ideology. Its narrative follows Karl Marx City-born Epperlein in a search for answers about her childhood, identity, and father.
When Epperlein’s father committed suicide in 1999 (a decade after the fall of communism), he left behind a rushed letter signed “Best regards” and a convoluted string of conflicting questions and histories involving the Stasi (Ministry for State Security, also known as East Germany’s...
When Epperlein’s father committed suicide in 1999 (a decade after the fall of communism), he left behind a rushed letter signed “Best regards” and a convoluted string of conflicting questions and histories involving the Stasi (Ministry for State Security, also known as East Germany’s...
- 10/15/2016
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Wieczór (An Evening)“Those are the kinds of things I like to remember,” says an elderly widow reminiscing about her granddaughter’s first communion at the end of Never Eat Alone, Sofia Bohdanowicz’s tender, touching feature debut. It’s a line that reverberates not just through the film itself—which is premiering in Future//Present, a new program of the Vancouver International Film Festival dedicated to emerging voices in Canadian film—but also throughout Bohdanowicz’s small, but distinctive body of work thus far.The infinities of a life, whether shared or solitary, remembered or forgotten, lived or imagined, seem to be at the heart of the Toronto native’s cinema, which is certainly true of the three shorts she directed in 2013 and which are screening alongside her debut feature. All shot in the Etobicoke home of her paternal grandmother, the films are at once formally rigorous and intensely personal,...
- 9/23/2016
- MUBI
For a quarter of a century, cinematographer Kirsten Johnson has hauled her camera through global danger zones, abortion-clinic doctor's offices and the District of Columbia. She's filmed graveyards in Sarajevo, boxers in Brooklyn and her own mother lost in the haze of Alzheimer's disease. You may not know her name, but if you've watched a documentary in the past 25 years — Citizenfour, Fahrenheit 9/11, The Oath, Derrida — you've definitely seen her work. And as this cinememoir, described by Johnson as a collection of "images that have marked me and leave me wondering still,...
- 9/9/2016
- Rollingstone.com
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit the interwebs. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.
Belladonna of Sadness (Eiichi Yamamoto)
It all begins with Once Upon a Time. Such a simple introduction for Belladonna of Sadness, a 1973 Japanese animated feature whose newfound legacy includes a decades-long disappearance, a dramatic re-emergence, and a growing reputation as a frenzied, pornographic freakout. The final entry in anime elder statesman Osamu Tezuka‘s erotic Animerama trilogy has remained largely unknown to even the most die-hard cult cinephiles,...
Belladonna of Sadness (Eiichi Yamamoto)
It all begins with Once Upon a Time. Such a simple introduction for Belladonna of Sadness, a 1973 Japanese animated feature whose newfound legacy includes a decades-long disappearance, a dramatic re-emergence, and a growing reputation as a frenzied, pornographic freakout. The final entry in anime elder statesman Osamu Tezuka‘s erotic Animerama trilogy has remained largely unknown to even the most die-hard cult cinephiles,...
- 7/15/2016
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Festival’s new $20,000 international competition prize goes to Albert Serra for The Death Of Louis Xiv; One Week And A Day wins best Israeli feature.
The 33rd Jerusalem Film Festival, which wraps on Sunday, has awarded its top prizes to The Death Of Louis Xiv by Albert Serra (best international film), One Week And A Day by Asaph Polonsky (best Israeli feature), and Dimona Twist by Michal Aviad (best Israeli documentary).
The international jury was comprised of Cornerstone Films’ Alison Thompson, Icelandic director Grímur Hákonarson, and Israeli director Talya Lavie, who praised Serra “for creating a bold and distinctive chamber piece in a beautifully detailed world. For its stunning set design and cinematography that captures its period brilliantly. For creating an intimate and moving look at the sunset of a great figure in history.”
An honourable mention went to Tobias Lindholm’s A War.
The Death Of Louis Xiv wins the $20,000 cash prize for the festival’s new international...
The 33rd Jerusalem Film Festival, which wraps on Sunday, has awarded its top prizes to The Death Of Louis Xiv by Albert Serra (best international film), One Week And A Day by Asaph Polonsky (best Israeli feature), and Dimona Twist by Michal Aviad (best Israeli documentary).
The international jury was comprised of Cornerstone Films’ Alison Thompson, Icelandic director Grímur Hákonarson, and Israeli director Talya Lavie, who praised Serra “for creating a bold and distinctive chamber piece in a beautifully detailed world. For its stunning set design and cinematography that captures its period brilliantly. For creating an intimate and moving look at the sunset of a great figure in history.”
An honourable mention went to Tobias Lindholm’s A War.
The Death Of Louis Xiv wins the $20,000 cash prize for the festival’s new international...
- 7/15/2016
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Festival’s new $20,000 international competition prize goes to Albert Serra for The Death of Louis Xiv; One Week And a Day wins best Israeli feature.
The 33rd Jerusalem Film Festival, which wraps on Sunday, has awarded its top prizes to The Death of Louis Xiv by Albert Serra (best international film), One Week And A Day by Asaph Polonsky (best Israeli feature), and Dimona Twist by Michal Aviad (best Israeli documentary).
The jury was comprised of Cornerstone Films’ Alison Thompson, Icelandic director Grímur Hákonarson, and Israeli director Talya Lavie, who praised Serra “for creating a bold and distinctive chamber piece in a beautifully detailed world. For its stunning set design and cinematography that captures its period brilliantly. For creating an intimate and moving look at the sunset of a great figure in history.”
An honourable mention went to Tobias Lindholm’s A War.
Louis Xiv wins the $20,000 cash prize for the festival’s new international competition, supported...
The 33rd Jerusalem Film Festival, which wraps on Sunday, has awarded its top prizes to The Death of Louis Xiv by Albert Serra (best international film), One Week And A Day by Asaph Polonsky (best Israeli feature), and Dimona Twist by Michal Aviad (best Israeli documentary).
The jury was comprised of Cornerstone Films’ Alison Thompson, Icelandic director Grímur Hákonarson, and Israeli director Talya Lavie, who praised Serra “for creating a bold and distinctive chamber piece in a beautifully detailed world. For its stunning set design and cinematography that captures its period brilliantly. For creating an intimate and moving look at the sunset of a great figure in history.”
An honourable mention went to Tobias Lindholm’s A War.
Louis Xiv wins the $20,000 cash prize for the festival’s new international competition, supported...
- 7/15/2016
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
★★★☆☆ The late Chantal Akerman's final film No Home Movie opens on a shot of a tree being buffeted by the wind with a barren expanse of Israeli desert stretching into the distance. The composition lasts for several minutes and is the first of five such asides dotted throughout this intimate portrait of the director's ageing mother, Natalia, who passed away in 2014. Their meaning remains ambiguous, though the film's title may perhaps suggest their inclusion is intended to illustrate some tangential link between Akerman's own emotional distance from her mother's Brussels apartment, and her mother's spiritual one from Israel.
- 6/22/2016
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit the interwebs. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.
The Boy and the Beast (Mamoru Hosoda)
Two worlds collide once young Kyuta (Shôta Sometani) and warrior Kumatetsu (Kôji Yakusho) meet in Mamoru Hosoda‘s The Boy and the Beast. The former was recently orphaned after his mother’s death (she had divorced his father years ago and her family refuses to get in touch with him), currently working his way towards becoming a solitary street...
The Boy and the Beast (Mamoru Hosoda)
Two worlds collide once young Kyuta (Shôta Sometani) and warrior Kumatetsu (Kôji Yakusho) meet in Mamoru Hosoda‘s The Boy and the Beast. The former was recently orphaned after his mother’s death (she had divorced his father years ago and her family refuses to get in touch with him), currently working his way towards becoming a solitary street...
- 6/10/2016
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Documentary filmmakers will descend on Sheffield in the coming days to offer a window on the past, present and virtual future. Michael Rosser reports
The 23rd Sheffield Doc/Fest (June 10-15) kicks off today and promises to be one of its most eclectic to date, with its typically diverse line-up of documentaries from around the world complemented by big name speakers and a major showcase of virtual reality content.
Its 160 feature and short films will be bookended by opening film Where To Invade Next, from Oscar-winning Us director Michael Moore, and The Seasons In Quincy: Four Portraits Of John Berger. Moore and actress Tilda Swinton, a co-director on the latter doc, will both be in Sheffield to present their films.
Moore’s film and accompanying Q&A will also be live streamed to 120 cinemas across the UK through distributor Dogwoof – the second time Doc/Fest has done this, following Pulp: A Film About Life, Death & Supermarkets...
The 23rd Sheffield Doc/Fest (June 10-15) kicks off today and promises to be one of its most eclectic to date, with its typically diverse line-up of documentaries from around the world complemented by big name speakers and a major showcase of virtual reality content.
Its 160 feature and short films will be bookended by opening film Where To Invade Next, from Oscar-winning Us director Michael Moore, and The Seasons In Quincy: Four Portraits Of John Berger. Moore and actress Tilda Swinton, a co-director on the latter doc, will both be in Sheffield to present their films.
Moore’s film and accompanying Q&A will also be live streamed to 120 cinemas across the UK through distributor Dogwoof – the second time Doc/Fest has done this, following Pulp: A Film About Life, Death & Supermarkets...
- 6/10/2016
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
In this episode of Off The Shelf, Ryan and Brian take a look at the new DVD and Blu-ray releases for Tuesday, June 6th 2016.
Subscribe in iTunes or RSS.
Follow-Up Gods of Egypt Bill & Ted’s Most Excellent Collection Blu-ray News Star Trek 50th Anniversary TV and Movie Collection Bill & Ted’s Most Excellent Collection Blu-ray Three Upcoming Kino Lorber Blu-ray Releases Detailed Pioneers of African-American Cinema Blu-ray Box Set Detailed Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn 3D Blu-ray Three Upcoming Kino Lorber Blu-ray Releases Detailed Nico B. Launches New Label, Announces First Blu-ray Title Midnight Run Collector’s Edition Blu-ray Detailed StudioCanal: Two New Vintage Classics Blu-ray Titles Coming Up Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition 4K Blu-ray Curzon Artificial Eye: Andrei Rublev Blu-ray Release Detailed Links to Amazon 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi The 5,000 Fingers of Dr.
Subscribe in iTunes or RSS.
Follow-Up Gods of Egypt Bill & Ted’s Most Excellent Collection Blu-ray News Star Trek 50th Anniversary TV and Movie Collection Bill & Ted’s Most Excellent Collection Blu-ray Three Upcoming Kino Lorber Blu-ray Releases Detailed Pioneers of African-American Cinema Blu-ray Box Set Detailed Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn 3D Blu-ray Three Upcoming Kino Lorber Blu-ray Releases Detailed Nico B. Launches New Label, Announces First Blu-ray Title Midnight Run Collector’s Edition Blu-ray Detailed StudioCanal: Two New Vintage Classics Blu-ray Titles Coming Up Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition 4K Blu-ray Curzon Artificial Eye: Andrei Rublev Blu-ray Release Detailed Links to Amazon 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi The 5,000 Fingers of Dr.
- 6/8/2016
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
Glenn here. Each Tuesday we bring you reviews and features on documentaries from theatres, festivals, and on demand. This week we look at Chantal Akerman's final film, 'No Home Movie'.
If No Home Movie is any indication, then Chantal Akerman had a lot of creativity inside of her to offer at the time of her far too premature death at age 65. I have no doubt that this, her final film, will likely confound those who find their way to it out of mere curiosity, but – and this is true of many films by many filmmakers, but especially so here – No Home Movie is a film that will most definitely play as something far deeper and more personal to somebody who is more familiar with her back catalogue than somebody who isn’t.
I know that sometimes it sounds awfully pretentious to say that. Who can be expected...
If No Home Movie is any indication, then Chantal Akerman had a lot of creativity inside of her to offer at the time of her far too premature death at age 65. I have no doubt that this, her final film, will likely confound those who find their way to it out of mere curiosity, but – and this is true of many films by many filmmakers, but especially so here – No Home Movie is a film that will most definitely play as something far deeper and more personal to somebody who is more familiar with her back catalogue than somebody who isn’t.
I know that sometimes it sounds awfully pretentious to say that. Who can be expected...
- 5/31/2016
- by Glenn Dunks
- FilmExperience
Competition titles revealed; retrospectives of Ken Loach and Chantal Akerman; speakers include HBO documentaries president Sheila Nevins and revered filmmaker Da Pennebaker. Scroll down for competition films
Sheffield Doc/Fest (June 10-15) has unveiled the programme for its 23rd edition, including 160 feature and short documentaries, an alternate realities line-up and a series of on-stage interviews and debates with major filmmakers and industry figures.
As previously announced, Michael Moore’s Where To Invade Next will open the festival with the Us documentarian in attendance at Doc/Fest for the first time since 1998.
The UK premiere and Q&A will be live streamed to 114 cinemas across the UK through distributor Dogwoof. It marks the second time Doc/Fest has streamed its opening, following Pulp: A Film About Life, Death & Supermarkets in 2014.
There are a total of 27 world premieres, 15 international, 19 European and 52 UK premieres with documentaries from 49 countries including Mexico, Cuba, China and Peru.
Competition titles...
Sheffield Doc/Fest (June 10-15) has unveiled the programme for its 23rd edition, including 160 feature and short documentaries, an alternate realities line-up and a series of on-stage interviews and debates with major filmmakers and industry figures.
As previously announced, Michael Moore’s Where To Invade Next will open the festival with the Us documentarian in attendance at Doc/Fest for the first time since 1998.
The UK premiere and Q&A will be live streamed to 114 cinemas across the UK through distributor Dogwoof. It marks the second time Doc/Fest has streamed its opening, following Pulp: A Film About Life, Death & Supermarkets in 2014.
There are a total of 27 world premieres, 15 international, 19 European and 52 UK premieres with documentaries from 49 countries including Mexico, Cuba, China and Peru.
Competition titles...
- 5/5/2016
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Competition titles revealed; retrospectives of Ken Loach and Chantal Akerman; speakers include HBO documentaries president Sheila Nevins and legendary filmmaker Da Pennebaker.Scroll down for competition films
Sheffield Doc/Fest (June 10-15) has unveiled the programme for its 23rd edition, including 160 feature and short documentaries, an alternate realities line-up and a series of on-stage interviews and debates with major filmmakers and industry figures.
As previously announced, Michael Moore’s Where To Invade Next will open the festival with the Us documentarian in attendance at Doc/Fest for the first time since 1998.
The UK premiere and Q&A will be live streamed to 114 cinemas across the UK through distributor Dogwoof. It marks the second time Doc/Fest has streamed its opening, following Pulp: A Film About Life, Death & Supermarkets in 2014.
There are a total of 27 world premieres, 15 international, 19 European and 52 UK premieres with documentaries from 49 countries including Mexico, Cuba, China and Peru.
Competition titles...
Sheffield Doc/Fest (June 10-15) has unveiled the programme for its 23rd edition, including 160 feature and short documentaries, an alternate realities line-up and a series of on-stage interviews and debates with major filmmakers and industry figures.
As previously announced, Michael Moore’s Where To Invade Next will open the festival with the Us documentarian in attendance at Doc/Fest for the first time since 1998.
The UK premiere and Q&A will be live streamed to 114 cinemas across the UK through distributor Dogwoof. It marks the second time Doc/Fest has streamed its opening, following Pulp: A Film About Life, Death & Supermarkets in 2014.
There are a total of 27 world premieres, 15 international, 19 European and 52 UK premieres with documentaries from 49 countries including Mexico, Cuba, China and Peru.
Competition titles...
- 5/5/2016
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Perhaps video essays are like pornography in that, as the saying goes, you know it when you see it. But what distinguishes a video essay from a short film and what are the ground rules for this relatively new form? Finally, how much creative leeway can a video essayist take with a filmmaker’s work without being disrespectful or misrepresentative? These questions arose last month when we published a video essay from Kevin B. Lee, chief video essayist at Fandor, about the spaces in Chantal Akerman’s final documentary, No Home Movie. Initially, Lee edited the video to music. But after receiving some complaints, including from the distributors […]...
- 5/3/2016
- by Paula Bernstein
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Rushes collects news, articles, images, videos and more for a weekly roundup of essential items from the world of film.NEWSThe great avant-garde filmmaker and musician Tony Conrad has died at the age of 76.If you're sending mail in Austria, now you can creep your family and friends out with an image of austere art-house task-master Michael Haneke on your stamps.A terrific-looking new book "by" Jean-Luc Godard is out via Contra Mundum Press: Phrases features the texts contained within several of Godard's films, including Germany Year 90 Nine Zero, Forever Mozart and In Praise of Love. After his feature documentary Junun and music video for Joanna Newsom, Paul Thomas Anderson is returning to the music world, having reportedly shot a video for Radiohead.Recommended VIEWINGFilmmaker (Traveling Light, Here's to the Future!) and Notebook contributor Gina Telaroli has shared online an exquisite new video work, Starting Sketches: Theresa and Jeanne.
- 4/13/2016
- by Notebook
- MUBI
Photo by Sophie BeeIn the display window of a used record store, you can see covers for albums that don’t exist. They bear titles like Flaming Creatures or Heaven and Earth Magic, familiar to aficionados of experimental film, alongside lurid designs by local artist Tom Carey. This exhibit can mean only one thing: the film festival has come to Ann Arbor. Just down the block is the Michigan Theater, which has been operating since 1928. For one week every spring, its spacious main auditorium and cozy screening room host an intimidating array of avant-garde programming. The selections are eclectic in subject matter, submitted from all over the world, and interspersed with recently restored prints of older works. This practice means that no presentation is predictable. The only constant that carries across the festival is the artists’ collective push against the traditional boundaries of their medium.An example of this ethos...
- 4/8/2016
- by Alice Stoehr
- MUBI
Rushes collects news, articles, images, videos and more for a weekly roundup of essential items from the world of film.NEWSThe great French essayist Chris Marker remains on our minds nearly four years after his death—the mystery of his life and his work remains haunting. Which is why we're very intrigued by the news that his adopted daughter has penned a new book about their relationship, Chris Marker (le livre impossible).Okay, Sofia Coppola's A Very Murray Christmas was pretty wretched (though we can't help but love that it was shot in New York's Bemelmans Bar), but we adore Don Siegel's Southern Gothic, Civil War-set, Clint Eastwood-starring kinky horror film (!), The Beguiled—and so are tremendously curious about the news that Coppola will remake that 1971 film with Nicole Kidman.Speaking of films in the works, Terry Gilliam may...finally...start...shooting Don Quixote, produced by Paulo Branco,...
- 4/6/2016
- by Notebook
- MUBI
Sydney's State Theatre.
The 63rd Sydney Film Festival has unveiled 26 new films to be featured in this year.s June.8-19.event.
They include Demolition, from Dallas Buyers Club director Jean-Marc Vallée, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts; Maggie.s Plan, starring Ethan Hawke, Julianne Moore, Greta Gerwig and Vikings star Travis Fimmel; and Alexander Sokurov.s Francofonia.
Other features coming to Sydney are Irish comedy Sing Street, starring Game of Thrones' Aidan Gillen and directed by Once's John Carney, and Richard Linklater.s Everybody Wants Some!!, a "spiritual sequel" to his 1993 film Dazed and Confused.
Also in the line-up is Sundance 2016 Grand Jury Prize for Us Documentary winner Weiner, about former congressman Anthony Weiner, the subject of two sexting scandals, and his wife Huma Abedin; A Journey of a Thousand Miles: Peacekeepers, by festival guest Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and co-director Geeta Gandbhir, following 160 predominantly Muslim Bangladeshi policewomen on...
The 63rd Sydney Film Festival has unveiled 26 new films to be featured in this year.s June.8-19.event.
They include Demolition, from Dallas Buyers Club director Jean-Marc Vallée, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts; Maggie.s Plan, starring Ethan Hawke, Julianne Moore, Greta Gerwig and Vikings star Travis Fimmel; and Alexander Sokurov.s Francofonia.
Other features coming to Sydney are Irish comedy Sing Street, starring Game of Thrones' Aidan Gillen and directed by Once's John Carney, and Richard Linklater.s Everybody Wants Some!!, a "spiritual sequel" to his 1993 film Dazed and Confused.
Also in the line-up is Sundance 2016 Grand Jury Prize for Us Documentary winner Weiner, about former congressman Anthony Weiner, the subject of two sexting scandals, and his wife Huma Abedin; A Journey of a Thousand Miles: Peacekeepers, by festival guest Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and co-director Geeta Gandbhir, following 160 predominantly Muslim Bangladeshi policewomen on...
- 4/5/2016
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
Late last week, we published a video essay from Kevin B. Lee, chief video essayist at Fandor, about the spaces in Chantal Akerman’s final documentary, No Home Movie. Lee estimated that about 70% of the film took place within the walls of the filmmaker’s dying mother Natalia’s apartment. To re-orient himself in Natalia’s apartment, Lee reorganized the footage by room. Initially, he edited the video to music, using Schubert’s Impromptu D. 899 Op. 90 No. 3, not coincidentally the same music used in Michael Haneke’s Amour, which also follows an elderly woman’s demise. But after receiving some complaints, including from the distributors of the film, Lee reassessed […]...
- 4/5/2016
- by Paula Bernstein
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Chantal Akerman’s final film, No Home Movie, takes on a deeper resonance following the Belgian filmmaker’s death in October 2015. The film is a documentary tribute to her dying mother, Natalia a.k.a. Nelly and an exploration of their relationship. As with all of Akerman’s work, there’s a deeply autobiographical element to the film — even more so now that we know it was to be her last. In the above video essay from Fandor, Kevin B. Lee has reorganized the film’s footage by each room in the apartment to emphasize how Akerman explores each space to reflect her relationship with her dying mother. Beginning April 1, No Home Movie […]...
- 3/31/2016
- by Paula Bernstein
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
After the obituaries for its creator and just as a new documentary anchored in its production arrives, Chantal Akerman‘s final work, No Home Movie, is coming to the United States this week in a limited release, courtesy of Icarus Films. One of the best films we saw at last year’s Tiff — as well as a highlight among Nyff’s excellent line-up and a top selection among 2016 offerings seen so far — it’s a tough film, filtered through grief over the director’s mother’s passing (the opening shot alone is one of the greatest expressions of that feeling I’ve ever seen) and fittingly unsparing in its formal construction. If one can tune into its rhythms — none of which are foreign to her output — the experience is immensely rewarding.
As we said in our highly complimentary review, “Removed from anything resembling ostentatious formalism, it fits into what’s...
As we said in our highly complimentary review, “Removed from anything resembling ostentatious formalism, it fits into what’s...
- 3/30/2016
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Few filmmakers have seen a spike in attention over these past six months quite like Chantal Akerman, albeit for the worst of reasons. Following her passing in October, now widely believed to have been by her own hand, the Belgian icon’s cinema is more widely than ever recognized for the genius of its many approaches to form. And so while we’re reflecting so heavily for, yes, the worst of reasons, now might also be the best time for an in-depth documentary about what she gave us.
I Don’t Belong Anywhere: The Cinema of Chantal Akerman seeks to do just that, with director Marianne Lambert (Akerman’s former unit production manager) following the filmmaker during the making of No Home Movie while stringing together a discussion of the many films in her oeuvre and the numerous places they span — Paris, Brussels, Israel, and New York among them. The...
I Don’t Belong Anywhere: The Cinema of Chantal Akerman seeks to do just that, with director Marianne Lambert (Akerman’s former unit production manager) following the filmmaker during the making of No Home Movie while stringing together a discussion of the many films in her oeuvre and the numerous places they span — Paris, Brussels, Israel, and New York among them. The...
- 3/22/2016
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Chantal Akerman’s final film opens with an image of wind battering a tree, and continues to explore the way people weather any number of elements – age, genocide, family, depression, distance – for the two hours that follow it. Akerman shot this film purposelessly, recording stray encounters with her mother and anything else that struck her for years on end.
It was only after her mother’s passing that she realized what she was making. No Home Movie is an exploration of two women trying to reconnect near the end of one’s life, when neither especially sees it coming. The value of their conversations, typically involving old stories and new mundanities, is only truly understood in retrospect, enlivened by the wit of both women and how keenly many in the audience feel their own separation, physical and emotional, from those to whom they should be closest.
Akerman suggests that death is not a departure,...
It was only after her mother’s passing that she realized what she was making. No Home Movie is an exploration of two women trying to reconnect near the end of one’s life, when neither especially sees it coming. The value of their conversations, typically involving old stories and new mundanities, is only truly understood in retrospect, enlivened by the wit of both women and how keenly many in the audience feel their own separation, physical and emotional, from those to whom they should be closest.
Akerman suggests that death is not a departure,...
- 2/14/2016
- by Scott Nye
- CriterionCast
Piff 39: Five Films Criterion Collection Fans Should See at the Portland International Film Festival
Tomorrow night, the Northwest Film Center kicks off their 39th annual Portland International Film Festival. They’ll be screening Klaus Härö’s The Fencer as the opening night film (unfortunately the screenings are sold out, but there will be an additional showing on Sunday the 14th). Over the course of the next sixteen days there will be over 90 feature films shown around town at various theaters.
This is one of my favorite festivals that I’ve had the privilege of attending, and I cannot wait to see a some of the films that they have programmed.
As usual, we here at the site will be covering a number of the films throughout the festival, but I wanted to make sure that any local Criterion Collection fans were alerted to some of the treats that we have in store. While there are many films at the festival that will align with...
This is one of my favorite festivals that I’ve had the privilege of attending, and I cannot wait to see a some of the films that they have programmed.
As usual, we here at the site will be covering a number of the films throughout the festival, but I wanted to make sure that any local Criterion Collection fans were alerted to some of the treats that we have in store. While there are many films at the festival that will align with...
- 2/11/2016
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
The more “international” body of tastemaker critics have anointed Todd Haynes’ Carol, Hou Hsaio-Hsien’s The Assassin, George Miller’s Mad Max, Sean Baker’s Tangerine and Bruno Dumont’s Li’l Quinquin as the better film items for 2015 and top vote getters with the most noms for 2016 Ics Awards. Winners of the 13th Ics Awards will be announced on February 21, 2016. Here are the noms and all the categories.
Picture
• 45 Years
• Arabian Nights
• The Assassin
• Carol
• Clouds of Sils Maria
• The Duke of Burgundy
• Inside Out
• Li’l Quinquin
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
• Tangerine
Director
• Sean Baker – Tangerine
• Bruno Dumont – Li’l Quinquin
• Todd Haynes – Carol
• Hou Hsaio-Hsien – The Assassin
• George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road
Film Not In The English Language
• Amour Fou
• Arabian Nights
• The Assassin
• Hard to Be a God
• Jauja
• La Sapienza
• Li’l Quinquin
• Phoenix
• A...
Picture
• 45 Years
• Arabian Nights
• The Assassin
• Carol
• Clouds of Sils Maria
• The Duke of Burgundy
• Inside Out
• Li’l Quinquin
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
• Tangerine
Director
• Sean Baker – Tangerine
• Bruno Dumont – Li’l Quinquin
• Todd Haynes – Carol
• Hou Hsaio-Hsien – The Assassin
• George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road
Film Not In The English Language
• Amour Fou
• Arabian Nights
• The Assassin
• Hard to Be a God
• Jauja
• La Sapienza
• Li’l Quinquin
• Phoenix
• A...
- 2/8/2016
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
How would you program this year's newest, most interesting films into double features with movies of the past you saw in 2015?Looking back over the year at what films moved and impressed us, it is clear that watching old films is a crucial part of making new films meaningful. Thus, the annual tradition of our end of year poll, which calls upon our writers to pick both a new and an old film: they were challenged to choose a new film they saw in 2015—in theatres or at a festival—and creatively pair it with an old film they also saw in 2015 to create a unique double feature.All the contributors were given the option to write some text explaining their 2015 fantasy double feature. What's more, each writer was given the option to list more pairings, with or without explanation, as further imaginative film programming we'd be lucky to catch...
- 1/4/2016
- by Notebook
- MUBI
The alarm clock cries in my bedside table. 8am. Right, here we go. Grab clothes for yet another day, don’t forget the body soap, the moisturizer and the black mascara and off I go to start my daily ritual lively practiced inside my tiny toilet. Repetitive motions are evoked…teeth are washed, hair is brushed, boot laces are entwined around my unreliable feet, eggs are scrambled in the tormented pan, coffee is brewed, lights are shut, doors are locked, and a cigarette is delightedly lit—all as if I was skimming through the prologue of a novel I have lazily read too many times before. My feet move to the rhythm of the rain incessantly falling on the grey pavement and my bones fear the unpredictability of what may come in the following hours, but I never stop. I never do. (…) The ritual has somehow turned into tradition and...
- 12/31/2015
- by Susana Bessa
- MUBI
Exclusive: Contemporary Films inks deal with Doc & Film for No Home Movie, the final film of the late director.
UK distributor Contemporary Films, in association with screenings collective A Nos Amours, has acquired rights to Belgian film-maker Chantal Akerman’s final feature, No Home Movie.
The pioneering writer-director died in Paris in October aged 65, just months after the documentary debuted at Locarno and weeks after it played in Toronto.
The film is a portrait of the film-maker’s relationship with her mother Natalia, a Holocaust survivor and familiar presence from many of her daughter’s films.
No Home Movie received its UK premiere at the Regent Street Cinema in October as the concluding film of A Nos Amour’s two year Akerman retrospective and is due to be shown at the Glasgow Film Festival (Feb 17-28), Dublin International Film Festival (Feb 18-28) and Sheffield Doc/Fest (Jun 10-15), among others, before getting...
UK distributor Contemporary Films, in association with screenings collective A Nos Amours, has acquired rights to Belgian film-maker Chantal Akerman’s final feature, No Home Movie.
The pioneering writer-director died in Paris in October aged 65, just months after the documentary debuted at Locarno and weeks after it played in Toronto.
The film is a portrait of the film-maker’s relationship with her mother Natalia, a Holocaust survivor and familiar presence from many of her daughter’s films.
No Home Movie received its UK premiere at the Regent Street Cinema in October as the concluding film of A Nos Amour’s two year Akerman retrospective and is due to be shown at the Glasgow Film Festival (Feb 17-28), Dublin International Film Festival (Feb 18-28) and Sheffield Doc/Fest (Jun 10-15), among others, before getting...
- 12/22/2015
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Contemporary Films inks deal with Doc & Film for the late director’s final film.
UK distributor Contemporary Films, in association with screenings collective A Nos Amours, has acquired rights to Belgian film-maker Chantal Akerman’s final feature No Home Movie.
The pioneering writer-director died in Paris in October aged 65, just months after the documentary debuted at Locarno and weeks after it played in Toronto.
The film is a portrait of the film-maker’s relationship with her mother Natalia, a Holocaust survivor and familiar presence from many of her daughter’s films.
No Home Movie received its UK premiere at the Regent Street Cinema in October as the concluding film of A Nos Amour’s two year Akerman retrospective and is due to be shown at the Glasgow Film Festival (Feb 17-28), Dublin International Film Festival (Feb 18-28) and Sheffield Doc/Fest (Jun 10-15), among others, before getting a UK theatrical run next year. A release...
UK distributor Contemporary Films, in association with screenings collective A Nos Amours, has acquired rights to Belgian film-maker Chantal Akerman’s final feature No Home Movie.
The pioneering writer-director died in Paris in October aged 65, just months after the documentary debuted at Locarno and weeks after it played in Toronto.
The film is a portrait of the film-maker’s relationship with her mother Natalia, a Holocaust survivor and familiar presence from many of her daughter’s films.
No Home Movie received its UK premiere at the Regent Street Cinema in October as the concluding film of A Nos Amour’s two year Akerman retrospective and is due to be shown at the Glasgow Film Festival (Feb 17-28), Dublin International Film Festival (Feb 18-28) and Sheffield Doc/Fest (Jun 10-15), among others, before getting a UK theatrical run next year. A release...
- 12/22/2015
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Rushes collects news, articles, images, videos and more for a weekly roundup of essential items from the world of film.Setsuko Hara, 1920 - 2015The great Japanese actress of Yasujiro Ozu's Late Spring and Mikio Naruse's Repast passed away in September but the news has only recently been released. An indelible screen presence whose absence from movies has been felt every year since 1966.My MotherTop 10s: Cahiers du Cinéma + Sight & SoundFor us it's still too early to make judgement—we've hardly caught up with all of 2015's great cinema!—but the esteemed magazines of Cahiers du Cinéma and Sight & Sound have made their selections for the best of the year:Cahiers du Cinéma1. My Mother (Nanni Moretti)2. Cemetery of Splendour (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)3. In the Shadow of Women (Philippe Garrel)4. The Smell of Us (Larry Clark)5. Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller)6. Jauja (Lisandor Alonso)7. Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson)8. Arabian Nights...
- 12/2/2015
- by Notebook
- MUBI
Following yesterday's top tens from J. Hoberman and John Waters in the "Best of 2015" issue of Artforum, we now have lists from three more critics. Both Nicole Brenez and Amy Taubin have Chantal Akerman's No Home Movie at the top of their tens, while James Quandt goes for Labour in a Single Shot, a project launched in 2011 by Antje Ehmann and Harun Farocki. The National Board of Review has named George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road the best film of year—and shown a lot of love, too, for Ridley Scott's The Martian. The Academy's announced that it's whittled 124 submissions in the race for the Documentary Feature Oscar down to a shortlist of 15. Plus, nominations for the 43rd Asifa-Hollywood Annie Awards and the Satellite Awards. » - David Hudson...
- 12/2/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
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