MetaFilter posts tagged with film and documentary

Tremé

nola — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 18:59:04 -0800

Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans premieres Thursday, January 29 on PBS. Faubourg Tremé is considered the oldest black neighborhood in America, the origin of the southern civil rights movement and the birthplace of jazz. Trailer for Faubourg Tremé

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (In Patagonia)

Len — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:08:46 -0800

A few years ago, Gruff Rhys, lead singer of fabulous Welsh pop oddballs Super Furry Animals (Cymraeg/English) set out to make a film about the search for his uncle, a 1970s Argentinian pop star called René Griffiths. The result is Separado!: part travelogue, part music film, and part history of how a small band of idealists set out to establish a Welsh colony in the Argentinian part of Patagonia. The settlement was the idea of Welsh Congregationalist minister Michael D Jones (pic of his fabulous beard here), and the first settlers left Liverpool, bound for Patagonia, on a rickety tea clipper called the Mimosa in May of 1865. 153 passengers were aboard – including the Rev. Abraham Matthews, whose family travelled on this ticket. The Mimosa landed at Puerto Madryn and over the subsequent decades, its passengers and their descendants established a thriving Welsh community in the Chubut River valley. The settlers had been promised that Patagonia was much like lowland Wales, but they soon found it a harsh and unforgiving environment. Despite this, the colonists built both churches and what may have been Argentina's first system of artificial irrigation, as well as towns like Trelew and Gaiman, many of whose Welsh shops and tea houses survive to this day. (Small gallery of contemporary Gaiman and surroundings here.) Glaniad – a joint Welsh/Patagonian project – has original documents relating to Welsh emigration to Patagonia, including printed material extolling the virtues of the settlements, the culture of the settlements, and the everyday working lives of the colonists.

"I am an American as you can see from my shirt."

Pope Guilty — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:59:44 -0800

Ya'll remember Johnathan "The Impaler" Sharkey, Minnesota gubernatorial candidate for the Vampires, Witches, and Pagans Party? Of course you do. But have you seen Impaler, the documentary about him? hulu

CGI-brows short mockumentary

planetkyoto — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:04:40 -0800

CGI-brows (link goes to video on Vimeo which contains a naughty word but is otherwise SFW.) A short mockumentary about extreme emoting through SFX by RocketSausage (Dir. Andrew Gaynord) which has won the Virgin Media Shorts People's Choice Award for 2009.

There are more days to come

entropic — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:30:36 -0800

On Any Sunday is a 1971 film about motorcycling. Narrated by Bruce Brown (director of The Endless Summer, it features Mert Lawwill (who later developed a prosthetic for amputee riders), Malcolm Smith, and Steve McQueen, among others. It can be viewed in its entirety on Hulu. It was nominated for Best Documentary Feature in 1971, and reviewed by Roger Ebert in the same year.

Wasn't Han Solo a Correllian Chancellor?

arcolz — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:32:19 -0800

HOOPESTON is documentary in four acts by synedyne, the people who did the This Is My Milwaukee ARG (MeFi post). It's about the decline of tiny town in Illinois and the strange religion that moved in and called it home.

A road trip

fearfulsymmetry — Sat, 16 May 2009 06:29:29 -0800

The David Lynch Interview Project. A 121-part documentary series featuring 3-5 minute portraits of ordinary (and sometimes extraordinary) Americans from all over the country starts on June 1. Here's a Preview.

Southern Comfort

nola — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 21:17:09 -0800

Southern Comfort is a 2001 documentary film about the final year in the life of Robert Eads, a female-to-male transsexual. Eads, diagnosed with ovarian cancer, was turned down for treatment by two dozen doctors out of fear that treating such a patient would hurt their reputation. You can watch the film here, part 1 through 10.

Short films, court métrages and more from up north

Shepherd — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 03:21:52 -0800

Mentioned here earlier in its beta form, Canada's National Film Board has released the bulk of its films online, for free, in the NFB Screening Room. With hundreds of films from the 1920s onwards, including groundbreaking work by animator Norman McLaren, documentaries, dramas, bizarre anti-smoking (or pro-smoking?) screeds and much, much more, it's a breathtaking trove of amazing film to be discovered from north of the 49th. Personal favourites: The Sweater, the story of a young Quebecer's crushing blow due to the malfeasance of the Eaton's catalogue; Waterwalker, a feature-length documentary about one man and his canoe; Cartoons by Zlatko Grgic, a master of comic timing; Our Northern Neighbour (1944), a short film about how awesome it is to be allied with the Soviets and how nothing can possibly go wrong with that plan. See also Inside Fighting China (1942); Carts of Darkness, a recent documentary about homeless people who have turned cash recycling into an extreme sport. How can one viewer manage all this content? I recommend the Playlists, a section of the site where guest "curators" present a selection of NFB films around certain themes. I should note that the site launched yesterday or the day before, and their servers seem to be getting slaughtered -- connections are somewhat spotty, and YMMV but bookmarking the site and the films you want to check out and coming back to it in a couple of weeks might be more fruitful than "stalling out" halfway through a 60-minute documentary.

"Shh! ...Did you hear that?"

Del Far — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 10:30:25 -0800

"Did you hear a stalk of celery being cut? If you did, you understand the magic of the Foley Artist." A short film that is just too long about silent films from the previously mentioned podcast You Look Nice Today

One Pair of Eyes

miss lynnster — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 01:31:58 -0800

Architectural critic and writer Reyner Banham loved Los Angeles. (Last link is a BBC documentary, circa 1972, 52 minutes -- NSFW at 47 minute mark) Surprisingly, some parts of LA seemed much more run down 30 years ago than now. Most shocking to me was being reminded of how horrific the Santa Monica Pier looked back when it was slated for destruction (appx. 32 minute mark). And no, the pre-GPS Baede Kar system wasn't real, they made it up.

Director Peter Watkins on the Hollywood Monoform

mediareport — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 09:29:53 -0800

Director Peter Watkins' web site describes the filming, distribution and critical reaction to each of his controversial films, including Punishment Park, the rock star satire Privilege, The War Game, La Commune and more. He also offers a 10-part critique of "the media crisis" that marginalizes non-mainstream ideas via the Hollywood monoform and the Universal Clock, a style he claims structures almost all of the messages delivered to the public, but which sharply limits the range of relationships possible between media producers and audiences. Bright Lights Film Journal on Privilege More on La Commune Watkins discussing the media crisis in a bizarre Stalinist theme park in Lithuania. (The War Game and Punishment Park previously)

Hands on a Hard Body

acro — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:31:19 -0800

"It's a human drama thing." This is a documentary film about a group of people in Texas who enter a competition to win a new "hardbody" pickup truck, merely by keeping one hand on the truck the longest. (via Kottke via waxy) More background to the competition, which is no longer run, due to a tragedy which occurred in 2005.

Hazel Eyed-Chic-Sleek-gorgeously glamorous twinkle Toed Charmer of the Silver Screen

bookish — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 17:58:41 -0800

Bollywood, the 1960s and 70s: "For years, the favorite setting for the big dance number has been a cabaret, with its atmosphere of forbidden liquor and sexual permissiveness, with its mixed audience of privileged Indians, industrialists, playboys, princes, and its foreign decadence..." And no one was more at home this exotic milieu than an Anglo-Burmese refugee who began dancing in films at 13 to support her family. Her pale skin and vaguely foreign looks, along with a collection of colored contacts and wigs, allowed her to play white women, Asian women, whatever titillating role was called for. She was Helen, Queen of the Nautch Girls (part 2, part 3, part 4). The Merchant Ivory documentary is sometimes painfully condescending, but it has some great footage and gives a good primer on the phenomenon of Helen. Although she performed in hundreds of films and was quite famous and well loved, she never had success as a leading lady-- perhaps because she was too foreign or too provocative for Indians at the time to relate to. Mostly retired since the 80s, she still does occasional cameo roles. A few of her finer moments, courtesy of YouTube: Mera Naam Chin Chin Choo, from Howrah Bridge, 1958: The song that made Helen famous. Hum Kaale Hain To, from Gumnaam, 1965: A crazy comic/horror number, against glowing-eyed tiki statues and fog machines. Aa Jane Ja, from Inteqam, 1969: Helen lusciously taunts men in black-face (one of whom is actually in a cage) at a nightclub. Muqabla Humse Na Karo, from Prince, 1969: "Western" Helen has a spectacular dance-off with a traditional Vyjayanthimala. Piya Tu Ab To Aaja, from Caravan, 1971: Classic Helen cabaret. Breathy, drunken, and lovelorn. Mehbooba Mehbooba, from Sholay, 1975: Gypsy Helen dances for a camp of ragged outlaws. Yeh Mera Dil, from Don, 1978: Helen tries to seduce Amitabh Bachchan, who somehow retains his characteristic cool. Helen on Wikipedia; rediff.com profile.

"It doesn't really seem that long ago."

Miko — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:52:54 -0800

Home Movies. A 1975 documentary by a young academic folklorist, exploring what it was that people were doing when they made home movies: remembering selectively, creating a "golden age." This little film looks kind of clunky these days (though I think I hear a clear antecedent of Ira Glass' delivery style in the narration of the filmmaker) , but it provoked some interesting thoughts about how little of our motivations for recording our lives has changed in the digital age, even as the ease with which we do it increases. We're still trying to preserve our lives, prevent time's motion, and create stories about ourselves.

Poor people drive our economy, okay? Poor people ... with checks.

grabbingsand — Thu, 22 May 2008 04:43:40 -0800

"America's most valuable resource is poor people." The award-winning Internets Celebrities (Dallas Penn, Rafi Kam and director Casimir Nozkowski) take on check cashing joints with a short documentary called Checkmate. Don't know the IC? Educate yourself with Bodega, Cereal Is Dope and the incredibly informative Urine Nation. (via Hip-Hop is Read)

Koyaanisqatsi

phrontist — Sat, 10 May 2008 23:59:12 -0800

Koyaanisqatsi (wiki, previously)

"creating a hospital without walls"

heatherann — Fri, 09 May 2008 13:35:39 -0800

In a pilot project with Canada's National Film Board, Katerina Cizek is Filmmaker-in-Residence at Toronto's St. Michael's Hospital (Flash site with videos). She directed The Interventionists: Chronicles of a Mental Health Crisis Team, a film about a unique crisis team in downtown Toronto. A mental health nurse and a police officer ride the streets of the inner city together in an unmarked police car, responding to 911 calls involving "emotionally disturbed persons." The team is a partnership between St. Michael's Hospital and two downtown police divisions. Their mandate is to de-escalate crises and avoid unnecessary arrests and emergency room visits by providing referrals, services and resources within a patient's own community. Excerpts from the film have been shown to the Toronto Police Services Board, who then voted unanimously to expand the service. The documentary recently won the Webby award for Documentary Series. If you are in Toronto, the film is available free for viewing at the NFB Mediatheque.

The Grace Lee project

fixedgear — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:23:22 -0800

The Grace Lee Project Inspired by the Jennifer 8. Lee post, here goes Grace Lee. She's a filmmaker who made a documentary about women named Grace Lee.

Here is the best part. You have a head start. If you are among the very young at heart.

mrducts — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 15:21:46 -0800

Young@Heart. What started as a 2006 British television documentary and became an audience favorite at the Los Angeles and Sundance film festivals in 2007 and 2008 opens across the United States this weekand will soon open in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Japan and Australia. The opening sequence showing Eileen Hall , then 92 , singing the 1982 hit from punk-rock group The Clash provided the inspiration for director Stephen Walker when he first saw the group on stage in London in 2005. Besides giving new meaning to lyrics from popular hits, the film is comedic and poignant as it explores friendship, old age and death.

The Documentary Blog

Fuzzy Skinner — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:01:34 -0800

Do you love documentaries? The Documentary Blog offers reviews and news about documentary films. Check out their list of the Top 25 Documentaries.

Possessed, A Short Documentary About Hoarders

jack_mo — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 06:22:22 -0800

POSSESSED is a short documentary film that 'enters the complicated worlds of four hoarders; people whose lives are dominated by their relationship to possessions'.

Writers on Screenwriting

dobbs — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 07:48:26 -0800

Word Into Image: Writers on Screenwriting {youtube}
William Goldman (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) (1 2 3)
Robert Towne (Chinatown) (1 2 3)
Carl Foreman (High Noon) (1 2 3)
Neil Simon (The Odd Couple) (1 2 3)
Paul Mazursky (An Unmarried Woman) (1 2 3)
Eleanor Perry (The Swimmer) (1 2 3)

RIP, Tony Silver, director of Style Wars

YoungAmerican — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 12:09:51 -0800

Tony Silver, the director of the groundbreaking hip-hop documentary Style Wars passed last night. He was a family friend of mine, and had been sick for several years with a irreversible brain condition. Style Wars is considered by some to be the best hip-hop film ever made, and by everyone to be the first. It was shot at the very start of the 1980s, when graffiti was still hip-hop's dominant form, and the idea of graffiti as art was brand new. I recommend checking out the deluxe DVD edition of the film Tony put together a few years ago after many years where it was only available as an expensive educational-only VHS, but you can also check out the 1hr 10m version on Google Video.

A World Awaits Inside Your Computer

Dave Faris — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 19:39:22 -0800

Second Skin [is a documentary that] takes an intimate look at computer gamers whose lives have been transformed by the emerging genre of Massively Multiplayer Online games (MMOs). World of Warcraft, Second Life, and Everquest allow millions of users to simultaneously interact in virtual spaces. Second Skin introduces us to couples who have fallen in love without meeting, disabled players who have found new purpose, addicts, Chinese gold-farming sweatshop workers, wealthy online entrepreneurs and legendary guild leaders - all living in a world that doesn't quite exist. (quicktime)