Death for Five Voices (1995)

Death for Five Voices (1995)
"Tod für fünf Stimmen" (original title)
TV Movie
59 min
Documentary

Director: Werner Herzog
Writer: Werner Herzog
Stars: Pasquale D'Onofrio, Salvatore Catorano, Angelo Carrabs

Country: Germany
Language: German | Italian | English

Carlo Gesualdo, (Venosa, 8 March 1560 – Gesualdo, 8 September 1613)  also known as Gesualdo da Venosa (Gesualdo from Venosa), Prince of Venosa and Count of Conza, was an Italian nobleman, lutenist, composer, alchemist and murderer. Its quite amazing that how a single man can hold all these conflicting titles. The life of this man, Carlo Gesualdo, is therefore a heterogeneous mixture of myths and facts. Werner Herzog made this documentary for ZDF Television in 1995 by coalescing both myths and facts- just as his life.
Documentary starts with the ruining cursed castle of Don Gesualdo where he spent his last years. Since Gesualdo is notorious for the cold blood murdering of his wife Donna Maria,her lover Fabrizio Carafa, the Duke of Andria and his second son by Maria he is presented mostly as a demonic figure. Through out the documentary he is capturing the very usual elements and with rapid cuts Gesualdo is conjuring through his experimental music, the mad people who stealthy visits his castle and music scholars.
 Herzog intentionally fabricates so many things which appears to be very natural, simply because he is telling the story if Gesualdo. For example: In the second half he presents an insane lady in the castle who says "I am Maria d'Avalos"; but its a fabricated one to create a mythical platform inside the documentary.
Carlo Gesualdo is considered as a prominent figure in music, particularly in madrigals. He made his most famous compositions of madrigals (Six Books of Madrigals) in between 1594 and 1611 ie, after the murder. Gesualdo is really a dangerous artist; he is still influencing a lot of minds in an unsafe way.

God plays sax, the Devil violin (2004)

God plays sax, the Devil violin (2004)
Dumnezeu la saxofon, dracu la vioara (2004)
43 min
Documentary | Short
Director: Alexandra Gulea
Writer: Alexandra Gulea
Stars: Adrian, Bicu, Filip
Country: Romania
Language: Romanian

A documentary made in Cinéma vérité style by Romanian director, Alexandra Gulea rolls her camera through the minds, corridor and rooms of Romanian psychiatric institution of Gura Ocnitei, somewhere in between Bucharest and Southern Carpathians. Even in the uninterrupted availability of  basic needs, life of about 300 inhabitants is like a stagnant pool laden with green boredom. They are chained in the continuous overflow of  time as seconds, minutes, hours, days...Living in their memories, carrying the burden of present and unable to think of future, forsaken by God and Devil.

To overcome this they are creating their own community inside the hospital (the outdoor visuals of hospital resembles that of Hospital of the Transfiguration (1979) based on Lem's novel ). They drink coffee, smoke cigarettes, married- trying to create ripples in their still green water.This is also an urge for endurance also a resistance towards the barricades that prevent the flow of wind into their minds from a parallel outside world.

Usage of photographic still video images in a greenish tone powerfully transmits stillness inside the minds in mental asylum. The documentary becomes an artistic brilliance when the images are stitched with discontinuous voices and music.

Das Kino Und Der Tod (1988)

Das Kino Und Der Tod (1988)
Cinema and Death
West Germany
46 min
Documentary
Director: Hartmut Bitomsky

Using "basic" cinematic concept and techniques Hartmut Bitomsky made this documentary about murder in celluloid. He explains each scene by showing photographs of film scenes through movement of his hands. All the documentary scenes are static like images and also inside it film images are moving. Through this ways he examines Torn Curtain, Blow-Up, Band A Part and a series of classic/B grade films which include murder scenes.  In this documentary too we are not seeing the film clips as "clips" but we are seeing it. Bitomsky severalize a film into film images, its movements, music and voices then uniting them into a single piece through separation. In cinema time is considerably shrunk while dealing with killing- For 2 days death, cinema allows only 15 minutes which clearly shows the tyrannic fist of film over time and eyes. We can see, in this documentary too, time is slaughtered in editing table, showing a burning cigarette and a digital clock.
In first set of movies ie; Hitchcock's Torn Curtain and Seigel's Killers we can see the potential of killers. When it reaches Band A Part "nothing is more unreal as film death" Godard cancels all detailed symptoms of a so called film murder. Underworld by Fuller, Un Chien Andalou by Buñuel and Psycho by Hitchcock viewer is not exactly seeing the "killing" but his mind conceives "a murder has taken place". How photography played a crucial role in films is studied through Antonioni's Blow -Up, Shakedown by Joseph Pevney. Director brilliantly visualizes Bazins " Photography as shroud of reality" dialogue through the images from Chabrol's Les Bonnes Femmes sequencing from the murder scene to backwards.  Bitomsky points out the two classes of murder victims in film- One with a clear destiny and others without ( usually appear as mass) can be seen in Griffith's Massacre, Neutrality and Mechanization of death in Wild Bunch/ Western Movies, Morality of Killing in Orders to kill and Kiss Me deadly and also some other interesting murder classifications.

Federico García Lorca: Murder in Granada (1976)

Federico García Lorca: Murder in Granada (1976)
TV Movie  -  61 min
Documentary
Director: Humberto López y Guerra
Writer: Humberto López y Guerra
Country: Sweden
Language: Spanish | English
Frederico Gracia Lorca, the profound Spanish dramatist, poet was murdered by Nationalists at the age of 38 due to his political activities. This 61 minute documentary gives an idea about his life, works and death. Jumping from conversations to conversations (sometimes irksome) and using vintage video footages Lorca's life is "narrating". The attempts, more clearly difficulties, faced by Lorca to draw/write things during his secondary school days seems to be more interesting to me. He had great affection towards drawing which came little late after his interest to music and literature. "He had a very good hand with music and playing with piano, but he had difficulties with drawing and writing"- quoting his brother Fracesco Garcia Lorca. Also he failed in penmanship five times, a subject in secondary school !!!
To create a new form in writing and bored with Madrid life he often moved to his place Granada. The Gypsy, greenish life, orange trees came to his poetry from Granada.
His achievements in theater was incredible. He formed a group in 30's named La Barraca with amateur actors and students and performed dramas in various parts of Spain as a Travelling Theater. He said " La Barraca is my most important work. It interests me more" Neruda commented on La Barraca that its his own self.
We can also see Lorca's life in Madrid, the evolution of "Generation 1927", relationship with Dali, Vicente Aleixandre, his political involvement in Spain through drama, his anti-fascist visions in this documentary.
Federico García Lorca: A Murder in Granada ( 1976) directed by Humberto Lopez y Guerra and produced by the Swedish Television. In October 1980 the New York Times described the transmission of the film by Spanish Television in June that same year as attracting "one of the largest audiences in the history of Spanish Television"

TPB AFK: The Pirate Bay Away from Keyboard (2013)

TPB AFK: The Pirate Bay Away from Keyboard (2013)
85 min  -  Documentary
Director: Simon Klose
Stars: Gottfrid Svartholm, Peter Sunde, Fredrik Neij
Country: Sweden
Language: Swedish | English

A documentary about the leading file sharing website, " The Pirate Bay". Film shows trial faced by Gottfrid Svartholm, Peter Sunde, Fredrik Neij - the steerers of TPB,their efforts to keep the site online, Impact of US/Hollywood, their pressure on Swedish judicial system to shut down this site, finally the verdict and conviction. 

Arakimentari (2004)

Arakimentari (2004)
85 min  -  Documentary | Biography
Director: Travis Klose
Stars: Araki, Nobuyoshi Araki, Björk

Arakimentari is a documentary about brash Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki. He is notorious for his explicit and bondage photographic series. His photos looks, capturing the real scenes, may be that's the reason he is censured harshly by feminists.He found soul of his erotic art from traditional Japanese Shunga and bringing it to 70's Japanese society, he disputed with rigid social foundations. By destructing a predetermined form he is creating another form of art through his camera. This  interview includes dialogues about him by figures like Bjork, Takeshi Kitano.

Cinema Komunisto (2010)

Cinema Komunisto (2010)
100 min
Documentary | History
Director: Mila Turajlic
Country: Serbia
Language: Serbo-Croatian

Through cinema/video footage  Cinema Komunisto is telling the story of a nation , now existing only in cinemas-Yugoslavia and its "benevolent dictator"- Josep Broz Tito. A nation formed after WW2, then constructing gigantic, cinematic atmosphere with the support of Tito, the cinephile (fan of western movies!!!), its progress its abjection and finally nostalgia in the relics. Historical and political background of Avala Film Studio, the largest and well sophisticated film studio in post war Yugoslavia, the wide acceptance of  Tito among directors like Hitchcock, Orson Welles, their participation with Yugoslavian film industry,also personal film taste of Tito (had seen 8801 films in his theater), the full support given by him to blow The bridge on the Neretva river (Bosnia) in real to recreate the scene that happened during Neretva river battle- Mila Turajlic finds ethnic film clips to make this Socialist Federal Republic of Cinema Komunisto and succeeded flawlessly . But the documentary only gives a vague idea about the restrictions faced by cinema technicians under Tito. A must watch documentary created by Mila Turajlic.

Life, Love, Death And Other Trifles- Jan Saudek (1991)

Life, Love, Death And Other Trifles- Jan Saudek (1991)
Directors, Writers: Slawomir Pultyn, Jaroslaw Rybicki
Country: Czech
Language: Czech
Run time: 34 min

A glance at the life and works of  Czech photographer Jan Saudek. It includes footage of him while working with models, visions about subjects like woman, happiness...Not so deep, but lively and interesting.

The True Story of Killing Pablo (TV 2002)

The True Story of Killing Pablo (TV 2002)
TV Movie  -  Documentary
Director: David Keane
Writer: David Keane
Stars: David Jeremiah, Mark Bowden, Morris Busby
Country: USA
Language: English

Documentary about the life and dreadful career of notorious drug bigwig Pablo Escobar. The man who challenged Colombian law and judiciary for years. Prominent leader of Medellin Drug Cartel, born in 1949 amidst the Colombian political turmoils of 50's. He came to power by exploiting the Drug affinity of USA in 1970's starting as a Marijuana dealer and then to a cocaine trafficker.

Fabricated (2013)

Fabricated (2013)
Directed by K.P. Sasi
Country:India
Runtime: 90 Minutes

 A 90 Minutes Documentary Film on the Fabricated Cases on Abdul Nasar Maudany & Others.

This is a story of the post Independent India. Every year when this country celebrates freedom, there are thousands of innocent prisoners in Indian jails, waiting for justice without even a trial. Abdul Nasar Maudany is one such victim. As a Muslim spiritual leader, he reacted strongly against the demolition of Babari Masjid in 1992. His house was attacked and he spent nine and a half years in jail. All the charges against him were proven false and even the judgement makes it clear that the case was fabricated. He was released without any compensation. No trial on those who were responsible for such fabrication was conducted. But soon, Maudany was framed for another series of charges and he is still waiting for justice in Bangalore Parappana Agrahara jail. The documentary film shows that this is not an isolated case, but several Muslims, dalits, adivasis and activists from people's movements go through similar experiences. The question raised by the film is `why is a person spending so many years in jail in without being proven guilty?' This documentary film portrays the inner dynamics of the manner in which the present institutions of the democratic system functions, so that a large number of innocent people can be framed and fabricated with false cases and dumped in jails for long periods, without the provision of basic human rights as per the requirements of Indian Constitution.

Jan Saudek - V pekle svych vasni, raj v nedohlednu (2007)

Jan Saudek - V pekle svych vasni, raj v nedohlednu (2007)
Jan Saudek - Trapped by His Passions, No Hope for Rescue
Documentary
100min

Director: Adolf Zika
Writer: Adolf Zika (screenplay)
Stars: Jan Saudek

Country: Czech Republic
Language: Czech


Czech photographer Adolf Zika's documentary "Jan Saudek - Trapped by His Passions, No Hope for Rescue" portrays how war, woman and a single window influenced world famous photographer Jan Saudek. Camera moves through various subjects like his vision on body while capturing them, whether he is keeping any taboos or not, the pornographic atmosphere in images.
Saudek treats human body in its ultimate freedom. By using abnormal images he opens a path for spectators to enter the beauty and not trying to create ugliness even in a single megapixel. In this documentary Zika asked Saudek whether he felt any passion for a male body which tempted him to touch the body as a woman's. Saudek's answer is "Hold on, it's not a beautiful male body that attracts me. The body doesn't need to be beautiful, meaning muscular and slim. We are led by the smell and in that sense".
Its the Velvet Revolution (1991) gave him absolute fame both in his country and rest of the world. Saudek says that what revolution gave him was the gradual loss of omnipresent fear. Since he was a jew who passed his childhood days during Second World War in Prague witnessed so many diabolic scenes. His family was hunted by Nazis, also he and his twin bother Kaja Saudek suffered a lot in concentration camps and faced the ferocity of Dr Mengele's experiments. Before Revolution he was working in Prague in a cellar unnoticed by secret police. This self confinement makes him to create images that he cant see through the single window in the cellar.

Snuff: A Documentary About Killing on Camera (2008)

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)

Near Heaven, Near Earth (1968)

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)

Bhagwan (1978)

Bhagwan (1978)
Director: Robert Hillmann
Documentary
48 minutes

In 1978 a German film maker visited the Ashram in Poona and created a unique film document about Osho , his Sannyasins and the ashram.
He was the first and only film maker whom Osho ever permitted to film inside the legendary encounter groups.
These pictures shocked the west.
Scenes like this had never been seen before: screaming naked men and women, fighting with each in other in a clumsy little room full of mattresses.
The prudish imagination of middle class couch potatoes went wild.
Significant numbers of celebrities had been visiting this exotic place in India and the tabloids had already labeled Osho as the “Sex-Guru” but nobody had ever seen what was really happening there.
This documentary created an outburst of emotion in the late 1970s and went deep into the common unconsciousness of western societies.
Even though it was the basis of the fanatic condemnation of Osho in the west, it also lead thousands of interested young people to Poona.
This film dominates public discussion to this day about Osho, spiritual search and group therapy.

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Ramkinkar (1975)

Ramkinkar (1975)
Documentary

Country: India

Director: Ritwik Ghatak

Ramkinkar Baij (or Ramkinkar)- is an incomplete personality study or documentary on sculptor Ramkinkar Baij created by legendary filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak. He started creating the film in 1975. The film was almost complete but it still remained unfinished for the death of Ritwik Ghatak.
In July 1975 Ghatak commenced shooting on the sculptor at Shantiniketan for a stretch of four days. The movie is a biographical (personality study) film where Baij has been featured as a political icon too. In the film, Ramkinkar Baij speaks about the problems that he faces in his life. He speaks about how he has shielded his dripping roof with his oil paintings. Ghatak asks him what he is going to do for the show that is coming soon. Ramkinkar answers to this question: “As the paintings are made by oil on canvas water will not do any damage to them. I can pull them out for the show. But my worry is what I will replace them with to stop the rainwater. It costs hundred rupees to buy grass for thatching. It is very expensive."(Wikipedia)

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Nostalgia for the Light (2010)

Nostalgia for the Light (2010)
Nostalgia de la luz (original title)
90 min
Documentary


Director: Patricio Guzmán
Writer: Patricio Guzmán
Stars: Gaspar Galaz, Lautaro Núñez and Luís Henríquez


Country: Chile
Language: Spanish | English

In Chile's Atacama Desert, astronomers peer deep into the cosmos in search for answers concerning the origins of life. Nearby, a group of women sift through the sand searching for body parts of loved ones, dumped unceremoniously by Pinochet's regime. Written by Anonymous  (IMDB)

Rating: 100% (Rotten Tomatoes)

Love in India (2009)

Love in India (2009)
91 min
Documentary

Country: India


Directors: Qaushiq Mukherjee (Q)
Writer: Qaushiq Mukherjee
Stars: Rituparna Sen

Love in India is a passionate look at the way passion is perceived in India. It's a personal film, designed with fragments of the romance between the filmmaker and his girlfriend. But soon, the film spills on to the chaos that is India. Old or new? Love or sex? Love in India is a volatile story of confusion, dichotomy and revelation. A story of repressed moral values in a country with a timeless tradition of spiritual sexuality. The film is a search for the roots of romance and the eternal orgasm. Written by Anonymous  (IMDB)

Website: http://www.loveinindia.in/

Are All Men Pedophiles? (2012)

Are All Men Pedophiles? (2012)
70 min
Documentary


Director: Jan-Willem Breure
Writer: Jan-Willem Breure
Stars: Jan-Willem Breure, Dick Swaab and Corine de Ruiter


Country: Netherlands
Language: English

For the first time a documentary examines the global impact of pedophilia from a cultural and professional perspective. We live in a society that condemns pedophiles, though biological instinct and world cultures throughout history suggest that an attraction to adolescents is unavoidable. The fashion industry on the one hand sexualizes ever-younger girls while those who act on these instincts are reviled. The apparent hypocrisy at the heart of society forces the question: What do we mean when we talk about Pedophilia? The film also explores the many dangerschildren face and exposes the systematic violation of children rights by societies and how the pedophilia hysteria has led to the mass incarceration of adults and children. In conclusion, we are faced with both the contradiction of a society which sexualizes youth and the question: Are All Men Pedophiles? * Winner of the Mediaprize - Best Documentary of 2012 * Written by Jan-Willem Breure  (IMDB)

Berkeley in the Sixties (1990)

Berkeley in the Sixties (1990)
117 min
Documentary

Country: USA
Language: English



Director: Mark Kitchell
Writers: Mark Kitchell, Susan Griffin, and Stephen Most
Stars: Jentri Anders, Joan Baez and Frank Bardacke

Berkeley in the Sixties is a 1990 documentary film by Mark Kitchell. The film highlights the origins of the Free Speech Movement beginning with the May 1960 House Un-American Activities Committee hearings at San Francisco City Hall, the development of the counterculture of the 1960s in Berkeley, California, and ending with People's Park in 1969. The film features 15 student activists and archival footage of Mario Savio, Todd Gitlin, Joan Baez, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Huey Newton, Allen Ginsberg, Gov. Ronald Reagan and the Grateful Dead. The film is dedicated to Fred Cody, founder of Cody's Books. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.(Wikipedia)


Wins
1990 Sundance Film Festival: Audience Award; 1990.
National Society of Film Critics Awards 1990: Best Documentary; 1991.
Nominations
63rd Academy Awards nominee: Academy Award for Documentary Feature; 1990.[2]
1990 Sundance Film Festival: Grand Jury Prize; 1990. (Awards)

Sharon Tate: Murdered Innocence (2002)

Sharon Tate: Murdered Innocence (29 Oct. 2002)
TV Episode
60 min
Country: USA
Language: English


Director: John Griffin
Writer: John Griffin
Stars: Jacqueline Bisset, John Calley and Mia Farrow

Documentary about Sharon Tate

A big "+" about this particular biography on actress Sharon Tate is that it's readily available on-line. "E!" also produced a biography that was much longer (The Last Days of Sharon Tate), but it's currently out of print. "Sharon Tate: Murdered Innocence" was produced by A & E for their "Biography" series, and gives a very well-rounded view of this tragic 60's beauty. Tracing her humble roots as the oldest of 3 sisters in a very mobile military family, the program follows Sharon through her high school years, including photos, some footage of her as a cheerleader at Vicenza American High School, and some insightful interviews with former classmates. Roman Polonski, Mia Farrow, Martin Ransohoff and others in the television/film industry also discuss their experiences and first impressions of Sharon. In spite of the dark title, "Murdered Innocence" doesn't dwell overly long on Sharon's tragic murder, but gives equal time to the positive aspects of her life. The last part of the program chronicles efforts by Sharon's mom and sisters to preserve Sharon's memory, to keep her killers behind bars, and to protect the rights of families of murder victims. Packed with interviews, vintage photos, home movies, film clips and a few trailers, "Sharon Tate: Murdered Innocence" is a very satisfying video for fans of Sharon Tate...and very affordable.(IMDB Page)

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