Snuff: A Documentary About Killing on Camera (2008)
76 min
Documentary
Director: Paul von Stoetzel
Stars: Larry C. Brubaker, Todd Cobery, Linda Flanders
Country: USA
Language: English
Feature film examining the existence of films in which people are murdered on camera and the culture surrounding them. Through interviews with former FBI Profilers, Cultural Academics, and Film Historians the documentary delves into the disturbing history and myth of Snuff Films. The FBI claims there is no evidence to prove the existence of Snuff and, therefore, Snuff Films are a myth. This documentary analyzes the relationships between war, cult films, serial killers and pornography to prove whether or not this pervasive myth is, in fact, reality. Written by Paul von Stoetzel(IMDB)
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Writers: David Zelag Goodman (screenplay), Sam Peckinpah (screenplay), Gordon Williams (novel "The Siege of Trencher's Farm")
Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Susan George, Peter Vaughan
Straw Dogs is a 1971 psychological thriller directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Dustin Hoffman and Susan George. The screenplay by Peckinpah and David Zelag Goodman is based upon Gordon M. Williams's 1969 novel The Siege of Trencher's Farm.The film's title derives from a discussion in the Tao Te Ching that likens the ancient Chinese ceremonial straw dog to forms without substance.
The film is noted for its violent concluding sequences and a complicated rape scene that critics point to as an example of Peckinpah's (and Hollywood's) debasement of women. Released theatrically the same year as A Clockwork Orange, The French Connection, and Dirty Harry, the film sparked heated controversy over the perceived increase of violence in cinema. Although controversial in 1971, Straw Dogs is considered by many to be one of Peckinpah's greatest films.The film premiered in US cinemas on December 29, 1971. A remake by Rod Lurie was released on September 16, 2011.(Wikipedia)
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Writers: Walon Green (screenplay), Sam Peckinpah (screenplay), Walon Green (story) and
Roy N. Sickner (story)
Stars: William Holden, Ernest Borgnine and Robert Ryan
The Wild Bunch is a 1969 American epic Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah about an aging outlaw gang on the Texas-Mexico border, trying to exist in the changing "modern" world of 1913. The film was controversial because of its graphic violence and its portrayal of crude men attempting to survive by any available means.
It stars William Holden, Robert Ryan, Ernest Borgnine, Ben Johnson and Warren Oates. The screenplay was by Peckinpah and Walon Green.
The Wild Bunch is noted for intricate, multi-angle editing, using normal and slow motion images, a revolutionary cinema technique in 1969. The writing of Green, Peckinpah, and Roy N. Sickner was nominated for a best-screenplay Academy Award; Jerry Fielding's music was nominated for Best Original Score; Peckinpah was nominated for an Outstanding Directorial Achievement award by the Directors Guild of America; and cinematographer Lucien Ballard won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography.
In 1999, the U.S. National Film Registry selected it for preservation in the Library of Congress as culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant. The film was ranked 80th in the American Film Institute's 100 best American films, and the 69th most thrilling film. In 2008, the AFI revealed its "10 Top 10" of the best ten films in ten genres: The Wild Bunch ranked as the sixth-best Western.(Wikipedia)
Director: Alain Robbe-Grillet
Writer: Alain Robbe-Grillet
Stars: Françoise Brion, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze and Guido Celano
A sad man meets a beautiful, secretive woman who may or may not be involved in some conspiracy ring dealing in kidnapped women used as prostitutes. After several days of their sadly passionate relationship she disappears. The sad man is unable to locate her as all the local Turkish people pretend not to remember any such woman. He suddenly finds her again (she finds him?) and before she can explain her disappearance she is killed in a car crash while he is in the passenger seat. He replays the accident over and over in his mind trying to remember how she died if he caused the accident himself by grabbing the wheel. Written by C Belz <pnin@bellatlantic.net> (IMDB)
Director: Ki-duk Kim
Writer: Ki-duk Kim
Stars: Min-soo Jo, Eunjin Kang and Jae-rok Kim
Pietà is a 2012 South Korean film. The 18th feature written and directed by Kim Ki-duk, it depicts the mysterious relationship between a brutal man who works for loan sharks and a middle-aged woman who claims that she is his mother, mixing Christian symbolism and highly sexual content.
It made its world premiere in the competition line-up of the 69th Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Golden Lion.[9][10] It is the first Korean film to win the top prize at one of the three major international film festivals — Venice, Cannes and Berlin.
The title refers to the Italian Pietà, signifying depictions of the Virgin Mary cradling the corpse of Jesus.
AWARDS:
Golden Lion, Golden Mouse, Little Golden Lion, Nazareno Taddei Award: Venice Film Festival 2012
Director: Juliusz Machulski
Writer: Juliusz Machulski
Stars: Jan Machulski, Leonard Pietraszak and Witold Pyrkosz
Set in Lodz in 1930's. After six years in jail, framed for bankrobbery by an accomplice, the legendary Kwinto has only revenge on his mind. He is a safecracker in the old style, a thief with a sebse of pride and loyalty. Upon leaving the jail he learns that his friend with whom he played in the jazz band has been murdered by the same guy - now a bank president - who sent him to prison. Kramer hopes to keep Kwinto's mouth shut by paying him off, but at the same time he hires a paid gun to kill him. Meanwhile, some young, petty crooks hearing that Kwinto is free want to join forces with him for a job. Kwinto, employing a retired professional and two young admirers, pulls his last job to get even with Kramer...
Written by Polish Cinema Database <http://info.fuw.edu.pl/Filmy/> (imdb)
Director: Leos Carax
Writer: Leos Carax (screenplay)
Stars: Denis Lavant, Edith Scob and Eva Mendes
Country: France
Language: French
From dawn to dusk, a few hours in the life of Monsieur Oscar, a shadowy character who journeys from one life to the next. He is, in turn, captain of industry, assassin, beggar, monster, family man...(IMDB)
Arno Rafael Minkkinen is a famous photographer, born and raised in Finland, who is currently living in the United States. He is best known for his black and white photographs containing the juxtapose bodies, alongside landscapes. His work can be seen in more than 50 art museums all over the world. His photographs inspire me with Project one, not only because he shoots in black and white, but also because he takes unique portraits. He photographs the human body in obscure positions, taking an innovative approach at capturing his models. He often places them in naturalistic landscapes, usually around water.
New City, New York (1971)
Kuusamo, Finland (1976)
Kallavesi, Kuopio, Finland (1987)
Chinese Boy Contemplates the Hand of a Finnish Man • Sanya, Hainan Island, China (2007)
Director: Jayan Cherian
Writers: Jayan Cherian (story), Jayan Cherian
Dialogues: Jayan Cherian, P Surendran
Stars: Kallen Pokkudan, Saritha and Padmapriya
Country: India
Language: Malayalam
Papilio Buddha is an Indian feature film written and directed by Jayan K. Cherian. The film focuses on the atrocities committed against Dalits, women and the environment. It features environmentalist Kallen Pokkudan alongside Sreekumar, David Briggs and Padmapriya in pivotal roles. The film was completely shot from Wayanad in Kerala and the cinematography has been done by M. J. Radhakrishnan.(Wkipedia.org)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Writer: Quentin Tarantino
Stars: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz and Leonardo DiCaprio
Country: USA
Language: English
Set in the South two years before the Civil War, Django Unchained stars Jamie Foxx as Django, a slave whose brutal history with his former owners lands him face-to-face with German-born bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz). Schultz is on the trail of the murderous Brittle brothers, and only Django can lead him to his bounty. Honing vital hunting skills, Django remains focused on one goal: finding and rescuing Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), the wife he lost to the slave trade long ago. Django and Schultz's search ultimately leads them to Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), the proprietor of "Candyland," an infamous plantation. Exploring the compound under false pretenses, Django and Schultz arouse the suspicion of Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson), Candie's trusted house slave. -- (C) Weinstein(Rottentomatoes)
Director: Filip Marczewski
Writer: Grzegorz Loszewski
Stars: Agnieszka Grochowska, Mateusz Kosciukiewicz and Anna Próchniak
Country: Poland
Language: Polish
Incest drama Shameless (Bez wstydu) courts controversy as it tackles not only the overly-loving relationship between a young man and his older sister, but also links in Polish neo-Nazis and a Romany community. At times Filip Marczewski’s film struggles to keep a firm grip on its stretched interweaving storyline, but the core story about brother and sister is always impressive thanks to strong performances by Mateusz Kosciukiewicz and Agnieszka Grochowska.
The film, which had its international premiere at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, is a stylishly made melodrama, though Marczewski never lets it slip into cheap sensationalism, instead letting the intensity between brother and sister to gradually develop.
Mirage (2011)
Artist: Katie Grinnan
Friendly plastic, enamel, and sand
79 x 63 x 72 inches
Yoga is about fluidity and movements, which is why artist Katie Grinnan created a sculpture that reflects the flexibility and dynamism of the activity. Made of sand, plastic and enamel, this time-lapse structure entitled Mirage consists of a yoga routine suspended in time. Each and every sequence of the movements is captured in this extraordinary statue.
At first glace, the art piece looks like a bird spreading its winds; however, upon closer examination, it becomes evident that the layers represent the development of yoga positions. The artist explains, “Mirage focuses on the concept of peripersonal space, the space that your body encompasses at its most extended point in every direction, which describes the body’s potential boundary.”
The sculpture by Katie Grinnan is a celebration of the human body and its endless spiritual and physical potential.
Mirage, focuses on the experiential nature of the body and is formed from casting Grinnan’s own body moving through the different positions of a portion of her yoga routine. The resulting form is both an approximation of motion and a solid thing, a singular figure and many. Mirage focuses on the concept of peripersonal space, the space that your body encompasses at its most extended point in every direction, which describes the body’s potential boundary. Although one might consider the artist, Étienne-Jules Marey as a reference point for Mirage, the Hindu sculptures from South India, where different gods are portrayed with multiple limbs are of equal importance. Both references reflect Grinnan’s interest in the expansion and compression of time and “everyday superposition.”
War Is Personal (2010)
Photographer/ Author: Eugene Richards
Eugene Richards‘ book War Is Personal delves into the lives of 15 people forever changed by the war in Iraq. As a photojournalist, Richards is known for unflinching explorations of his subjects’ lives, no matter how uncomfortable. In each chapter, the impact of the war is shown in photographs and interviews with soldiers, husbands, wives, mothers and fathers, revealing their emotional battles more vividly than you might imagine.
When the book was released, in September 2010, Richards visited TIME to discuss his project. “People have done a lot of great work on the war,” Richards said. “But I think the more intimate you get, the closer it comes to you.”
Rust and Bone (2012)
De rouille et d'os (original title)
120 min
Director: Jacques Audiard
Writers: Jacques Audiard (screenplay), Thomas Bidegain (screenplay), Craig Davidson
Stars: Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts and Armand Verdure
Country: France
Language: French
Put in charge of his young son, Ali leaves Belgium for Antibes to live with his sister and her husband as a family. Ali's bond with Stephanie, a killer whale trainer, grows deeper after Stephanie suffers a horrible accident. (IMDB)
Awards:
London Film Festival 2012: Best Film
Valladolid International Film Festival 2012: Best Actor, Best Director
Exploding Into Life (1986)
Photographer: Eugene Richards
Exploding into Life.
Photographs by Eugene Richards.
Text by Dorothea Lynch.
"Exploding Into Life", is a book by Dorothea Lynch and photographed by Eugene Richards chronicles Dorothea Lynch's (his first wife) struggle with breast cancer, received Nikon's Book of the Year award.
At the age of thirty-four, writer Dorothea Lynch discovered that she had breast cancer. She asked her longtime photographer-friend Eugene Richards to document the surgery and subsequent chemotherapy. During that process, Lynch wrote a diary of her experiences and feelings. The resulting book is a testament to a woman who confronts her own fears about cancer and our medical and cultural attitudes about it. Through Richards' unflinching eye, we are given a grueling tour of what it's like to go through cancer surgery and combative chemotherapy. The coupling of Lynch's personal insight with Richards' intense photographs produces a powerful and valuable book that addresses our fears of one of our most dreaded diseases. Dorothea Lynch tells her story with courage while contemplating her own mortality, and comes through with a resounding affirmation of life.
USA, Arlington, Virginia, 1990
Jim Vogt listens to his unburn child's heartbeat as his wife, Sarina, relaxes at home.
Newly born, Washington, DC, 1990 (from "The Next Step").
USA WashingtonDC, 1990
Sarina Vogt cries tears of joy after her newborn son Zachary is placed on her chest. Sarina and her husband Jim were so happy that they didnt notice whether their firstborn was a boy or a girl.
Eugene Richards (born 1944, Dorchester, Massachusetts) is a noted American documentary photographer.
During the 1960s, Richards was a civil rights activist and VISTA volunteer. After receiving a BA in English from Northeastern University, his graduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were supervised by photographer Minor White.
Richards' published photographs are mostly intended as a means of raising social awareness, have been characterized as "highly personal" and are both exhibited and published in a series of books. The first book was Few Comforts or Surprises (1973), a depiction of rural poverty in Arkansas; but it was his second book, the self-published Dorchester Days (1978), a "homecoming" to Dorchester, Massachusetts, where Richards had grown up, that won most attention. It is "an angry, bitter book", both political and personal.Gerry Badger writes that "[Richards's] involvement with the people he is photographing is total, and he is one of the best of photojournalists in getting that across, often helped by his own prose".
Richards has been a member of Magnum Photos and of VII. He lives in New York.(Wikipedia.org)
Director: Ken Loach
Writer: Paul Laverty (screenplay)
Stars: Paul Brannigan, John Henshaw and Gary Maitland
Country: UK
Language: English
The Angels' Share is a Scottish comedy-drama film directed by Ken Loach, starring Paul Brannigan, John Henshaw, William Ruane, Gary Maitland, Jasmin Riggins, and Siobhan Reilly. It tells the story of a young Glaswegian father who narrowly avoids a prison sentence. He is determined to turn over a new leaf and when he and his friends from the same community payback group visit a whisky distillery, a route to a new life becomes apparent.
The Angel's Share has been met with critical acclaim from critics. Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 93% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on a sample of only 28 reviews, with a rating average of 7.2 out of 10.(Wikipedia)
This bitter sweet comedy follows protagonist Robbie as he sneaks into the maternity hospital to visit his young girlfriend Leonie and hold his newborn son Luke for the first time. Overwhelmed by the moment, he swears that Luke will not have the same tragic life he has had. Escaping a prison sentence by the skin of his teeth, he's given one last chance......While serving a community service order, he meets Rhino, Albert and Mo who, like him, find it impossible to find work because of their criminal records. Little did Robbie imagine how turning to drink might change their lives - not cheap fortified wine, but the best malt whiskies in the world. Will it be 'slopping out' for the next twenty years, or a new future with 'Uisge Beatha' the 'Water of Life?' Only the angels know.(IMDB)
Albert Einstein by Yousuf Karsh (1948)
Photographer: Yousuf Karsh
Yousuf Karsh, CC (December 23, 1908 – July 13, 2002) was an Armenian-Canadian photographer, and one of the most famous and accomplished portrait photographers of all time.
Near Heaven, Near Earth (1968)
Nær himlen, nær jorden
26 min - Documentary, Short
Directors: Ole John, Jørgen Leth
Writers: Ole John, Jørgen Leth
Stars: Jørgen Leth
Country: Denmark
Language: Danish
Near Heaven, Near Earth is a film about hippie life in Nepal shot completely at the same level as its participants. A couple of interviews provide insight into the hippie philosophy and we follow a visit to a temple in which the hippies seem like peaceful beings from another planet. The visuals, in black and white and colour, are kaleidoscopic, and reveal a dramatic interest in the camera as a physical object: there is a constant toying with zoom, the camera swings back and forth, and in a series of zany shots from a rickshaw the film provides some very tangible sensory impressions from Kathmandu. Two sequences stand out in terms of form: flickering fast motion communicates what is clearly a filmic acid trip and towards the end of the film six or seven different visual materials are blended into a repetitive, metrical montage. On the soundtrack Bach's St. John Passion is used as film music as are a number of Beatles songs.(IMDB)
Magritte with Hat (1965)
Photographer: Duane Michals
"I was lucky because I never went to photography school and I didn't learn the photography rules. And in not learing the rules, I was free. I always say, you're either defined by the medium or your redefine the medium in terms of your needs."
Points of Contention (2011)
Sculpture
Artist: Jonathan Latiano
Wood, plastic, acrylic, styrofoam, glass, plexiglass and salt
Jonathan Latiano was born and raised amongst the rural hills of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Since graduating from Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA in 2006 with a degree in Studio Art, he has lived and exhibited in New York City and Baltimore, Maryland. In May of this year, Jonathan received his Masters of Fine Art from the Maryland Institute College of Art.
Currently, Jonathan resides and works in Baltimore, Maryland and teaches at The Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington DC.
Convex and Concave (1955)
Artist: M. C. Escher
Dutch
Lithograph
Convex and Concave is a lithograph print by the Dutch artist M. C. Escher, first printed in March 1955.
It depicts an ornate architectural structure with many stairs, pillars and other shapes. The relative aspects of the objects in the image are distorted in such a way that many of the structure's features can be seen as both convex shapes and concave impressions. This is a very good example of Escher's mastery in creating illusion of "Impossible Architectures". The windows, roads, stairs and other shapes can be perceived as opening out in seemingly impossible ways and positions. Even the image on the flag is of reversible cubes. One can view these features as concave by viewing the image upside-down.
Note that all additional elements and decoration on the left are consistent with a viewpoint from above, while those on the right with a viewpoint from below: hiding half the image makes it very easy to switch between convex and concave.(Wikipedia)
Maurits Cornelis Escher (17 June 1898 – 27 March 1972), usually referred to as M. C. Escher, was a Dutch graphic artist. He is known for his often mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints. These feature impossible constructions, explorations of infinity, architecture, and tessellations.(Wikipedia)
Escher and the interior of his studio in Rome are reflected in the mirrored sphere that he holds in his hand. Escher's preoccupation with mirrored reflections and visual illusion belongs to a tradition of northern European art established in the fifteenth century.
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