WISH LIST FOR JUNE 2008

WISH LIST FOR JUNE 2008

A. FILM WISH LIST

1.DAYS IN SINTRA (2008, Paula Gaitan, Brazil, documentary, 90 min)
http://tischfilmreview.com/?p=403


2.FOREVER (2006, Heddy Honigmann, Netherlands, documentary)
William Johnson wrote about this film in FILM QUARTERLY, Spring 2008.


3.A HEBREW LESSON (2006, David Ofek, Israel, 123 min)


4.HELEN (2008, Joe Lawlor + Christine Molloy, UK/Ireland, 79 min)


5.AN ISLAND CALLING (2008, Annie Goldson, Fiji, gay documentary, 75 min)


6.LEMON TREE (2008, Eran Riklis, Israel)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1172963/

“A drama based on the true story of a Palestinian widow who must defend her lemontree field when a new Israeli Defense Minister moves next to her and threatens to have her lemon grove torn down”

Eran Riklis directed THE SYRIAN BRIDE (2004, A+). Both films star Hiam Abbass, whom I like very much.
http://outnow.ch/Movies/2008/LemonTree/Bilder/
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3260/2636103287_e98b57bc91_b.jpg


7.MAGNUS (2007, Kadri Kousaar, Estonia, 86 min)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0979917/

“Magnus is a sensitive boy from a family where no-one really cares about him. His parents consider that given food and shelter, their children will just grow up on their own. As a child Magnus suffers from a potentially fatal lung disease and he plays bizarre games to cheat death. Ten years later, modern medicine has cured the disease but Magnus' death wish continues. After his second attempt to take his own life his father's conscience finally awakens. He tries to convince his son to go on living by sharing his own unorthodox lifestyle. An uneasy and sometimes humorous relationship develops between Magnus and his father, leading to an unexpected conclusion”
http://outnow.ch/Movies/2007/Magnus/Bilder/
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3107/2636972748_6e04d1d015_b.jpg


8.THE POPE’S TOILET (2007, Cesar Charlone + Enrique Fernandez, Uruguay)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482901/
http://www.jigsawlounge.co.uk/film/content/view/717/1/
http://outnow.ch/Movies/2005/BanoDelPapa/Bilder/
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3189/2636972752_eb63dfdc9a_b.jpg


9.SARI SOLDIERS (2008, Julie Bridgham, Nepal, documentary)
Acquarello wrote about this film here:
http://filmref.com/journal/archives/2008/06/sari_soldiers_2008.html


10.THING WITH NO NAME (2008, Sarah Friedland, USA/South Africa)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1243230/

“Thing With No Name, a feature-length documentary, provides an unprecedented, intimate glimpse into the traditional life of a rapidly changing culture. Set in Okhahlamba, South Africa, a stunning, mountainous Zulu area and UNESCO World Heritage Site, the story follows Danisile and Ntombeleni, two women with full-blown AIDS as they attempt to access recently introduced antiretroviral (ARV) treatment through the public sector. Danisile responds well to the medications, with the support of her family and her volunteer nurse. Ntombeleni does not respond as positively, experiencing the delirium and difficult side effects that are a strong source of controversy within the Zulu culture. The universal aspects of motherhood and the struggle to survive are explored through the womens' lives: Danisile's strained relationship with her teenage daughter, who secretly fears becoming one of South Africa's 1.2 million AIDS orphans, and the traditional Zulu ceremonies that Ntombeleni's family holds to combat her illness in their own way. Illustrating the bittersweet reality of the situation, through both the miracle of survival and the tragedy of falling victim to an overwhelmed medical system, Thing With No Name reveals the private and public obstacles that have led to an out of control epidemic.”



B.BOOK WISH LIST

1.FRAMES (2008, Loren D. Estleman)

I knew about this novel from Peter Nellhaus’ blog:
http://www.coffeecoffeeandmorecoffee.com/archives/2008/06/frames.html

This is the synopsis from www.amazon.com

“Having appeared in 10 short stories in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, self-described film detective Valentino, who works as a film archivist at U.C.L.A., makes his novel-length debut in the engaging first of a new series from Shamus-winner Estleman. Valentino stumbles on the find of a lifetime when he inspects the Oracle, a decaying 1920s movie theater he's considering purchasing. An abandoned storage room contains reels of film that may be the only surviving prints of Erich von Stroheim's legendary epic, Greed. The further discovery of a skeleton of unknown vintage in the old building complicates matters. Aided by academic colleagues, Valentino tries to eat his cake and have it, too, by cooperating with the police inquiry into what might be a case of foul play without revealing the existence of the film reels, which he fears might be damaged if seized as evidence. While the lighthearted tone is far removed from the gritty realism of the author's Amos Walker series (American Detective, etc.), the versatile Estleman has crafted yet another intelligent page-turner.”


The synopsis of this novel makes me think about

1.1 FLICKER
This is a great novel by Theodore Roszak about films.

1.2 MANO (2005, George Felner, Portugal, A+)
This film is about the preservation of classic films.
http://www.costacastelo.pt/mano/

1.3 The news about the discovery of the complete METROPOLIS
http://www.matthewhunt.com/blog/2008/07/metropolis-complete-print-discovered.html


2.THE MEMO BOOK: FILMS, VIDEOS, AND INSTALLATIONS BY MATTHIAS MULLER (2006, 282 pages)
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41VRA88Q5NL._SS500_.jpg



C. ART EXHIBITION WISH LIST

David Claerbout’s videos, especially BORDEUX PIECE (2004, 13-hour long)
http://www.artnet.com/artist/4079/david-claerbout.html
http://www.vanabbemuseum.nl/pers/pressphotos/20050531-david-claerbout.htm

This is what Christophe Gallois wrote about Claerbout’s videos in Frieze magazine:
http://www.frieze.com/shows/review/david_claerbout/

“Taking as point of departure an intrigue of betrayal filmed in a modernist house, Bordeaux Piece (2004) first seems to be a conventionally looped short film. After a few sequences, however, the work slowly discloses its content. Though the narrative repeats itself again and again, each successive sequence occurs under a slightly different atmospheric light. Each shot was repeated about seventy times by the actors over the duration of a day, from sunrise to sunset, before being edited to compose a thirteen-hour long video. Slowly, the real subject matter becomes the changing light. The background comes to be the foreground while the plot of the film, its narrative and the characters, rapidly turn into a mere motif.”

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3106/2637016786_21a7a559fb_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3270/2637016782_b27a24cbe2_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3127/2637016780_a61d24ae1d_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2370/2637016774_a72f7b56ee_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3150/2636972762_cef2f3df9c.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3146/2636972758_188e9a2599_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3105/2636972754_de5ca3fca8_b.jpg



D.RETROSPECTIVE WISH LIST

Films directed by John Cook

This is what Olaf Moller wrote about John Cook’s films in Cinema Scope magazine:
http://www.cinema-scope.com/cs27/feat_moller_cook.html

“To truly understand the Austrian fascination/obsession with this ur-typical Canadian realist—imagine a radically vérité-styled mix of Jean-Pierre Lefebvre and Allan King, with a dash of Straub—one needs to understand the “Realism Complex” of Austrian cinephilia.”

You can buy a book about John Cook here:
http://www.filmmuseum.at/jart/projects/fm/main.jart?rel=en&content-id=1156362394538



E.Tribute wish list

Tribute to Hanns Zischler, who was born in 1947. I love this German actor.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0957193/


I wish a film festival in Bangkok can show these films starring Hanns Zischler:

(The synopsis of these films are copied from the book WEST GERMAN CINEMA SINCE 1945: A REFERENCE HANDBOOK, written by Richard C. Helt and Marie E. Helt.)


1.THE AUTOGRAPH (1984, Peter Lilienthal, 92 min)

A boxer and a musician arrive at a festival in a Latin American provincial town, where the festival is supposed to disguise the unrest there. The pair soon becomes involved in political and military intrigue. Adapted from a novel by Osvaldo Aorriano, cinematographed by Michael Ballhaus.


2.COLD AS ICE (1981, Carl Schenkel, 87 min)

A young “desperado” type takes on his foes in the Berlin punk scene kamikaze style.


3.DOCTOR FAUSTUS (1982, Franz Seitz, 137 min)

Thomas Mann’s novel about the composer Adrian Leverkuehn, whose life parallels German history. Andre Heller stars.


4.DOMINO (1982, Thomas Brasch, 118 min)

The story of an artistic “identity crisis”. An actress destroys a production and turns her back on her career. Katharina Thalbach stars. Thomas Brasch also directed ANGELS OF IRON (1981, A+++++)


5.GERMANY CAN SOMETIMES BE VERY NICE (1981, Solveig Hoogesteijn, 90 min)

The development of a young woman who, as part of her revolt against her prosperous surroundings, rejects language as a means of communication; only a musician neighbor is able to interest her in life. Cinematographed by Joerg Schmidt-Reitwein. Eva Mattes co-stars.


6.LIGHTHOUSE OF CHAOS (1982, Wolf-Eckart Buehler + Manfred Blank, 118 min)

The biographical story of American actor Sterling Hayden, who became a member of the Communist Party, but later betrayed other members during the McCarthy period.


7.MALEVIL (1980, Christian de Chalonge, 120 min)

A few inhabitants of a small village survive an atomic catastrophe and try to stay alive in an almost totally destroyed world. Music by Gabriel Yared. Michel Serrault, Jacques Dutronc, Jean-Louis Trintignant star.


8.THE PASSIONATE ONES (1981, Thomas Koerfer, 105 min)

A film based on Goethe’s THE SORROWS OF YOUNG WERTHER, using a dialectical method which connects Goethe’s own life to the story.


9.RENDEZVOUS D’ANNA (1978, Chantal Akerman, 100 min)


10.SOMETHING IS BECOMING VISIBLE (1981, Harun Farocki, 114 min)

A couple, who got together during a demonstration against the Vietnam war, hope to continue the struggle, but the woman eventually leaves the man. Bruno Ganz co-stars.


11.SYSTEM WITHOUT SHADOWS (1983, Rudolf Thome, 115 min)

A smooth operator helps a computer expert pull off a sophisticated bank job. Bruno Ganz and Dominique Laffin star.


12.WOMAN IN FLAMES (1983, Robert van Ackeren, 107 min)

A “black humor” type of film, in which a young woman leaves her comfortable existence to become a prostitute and eventually finds herself caught between her “profession” and her love for a male prostitute. Music by Peer Raben. Mathieu Carriere stars.

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FILM WISH LIST FOR MAY 2008
http://celinejulie.blogspot.com/2008/06/film-wish-list-for-may-2008.html

FILM WISH LIST FOR APRIL 2008
http://celinejulie.blogspot.com/2008/05/film-wish-list-for-april-2008.html

Film wish list for March 2008
http://celinejulie.blogspot.com/2008/04/film-wish-list-for-march-2008.html

FILM WISH LIST FOR FEB 2008
http://celinejulie.blogspot.com/2008/03/film-wish-list-for-february-2008.html

FILM WISH LIST FOR JAN 2008
http://celinejulie.blogspot.com/2008/02/film-wish-list-for-jan-2008.html

FILM WISH LIST IN 2007
http://celinejulie.blogspot.com/2008/02/film-wish-list-for-jan-2008.html