Fragments of Kubelka

From the Depths

November 2013 •Italian

Both an activist and a documentarian, Valentina Pedicini also brings her background in anthropology to this impressively captured, claustrophobic nonfiction feature. Venturing beneath sea level, From the Depths profiles the lone woman at work in the last coal mine in Sardinia, Italy.

The Man Who Made Angels Fly

June 2013 •English

When the lights dim and the stage is revealed, Meschke channels life through the strings of his puppets, triggering the spiritual connection between the creator and his alter-egos: the charismatic Don Quixote, the loving Penelope, the inquisitive Baptiste, or the mysterious Antigone. THE MAN WHO MADE ANGELS FLY is a poetic story about a master of his craft that has inspired audiences to reflect upon common issues of suffering and the mortal coil. Visionary and un-biographic, imaginary tribute to the puppeteer.

Ancestral Voices

June 2011 •English

An educational documentary spanning two continents, opening up a much-needed debate about traditional African spiritual systems; their cosmologies, ideologies and underlying ethical principles. Modern science no longer refutes the origins of mankind being in Africa and similarities in the cosmological ideologies of African esoteric systems with those found many established world religions today, suggest that it was not only people that migrated, but also concepts and themes that then provided bedrock for the formation of other systems of belief.

Kuxa Kanema: O Nascimento do Cinema

January 2003 •Portuguese

Kuxa Kanema: The Birth of Cinema is a 2003 documentary by Margarida Cardoso on the National Institute of Cinema (INC), created by President Samora Machel following the 1975 independence of Mozambique.

The Do Gooders

October 2013 •English

British documentary filmmaker Chloe Ruthven’s grandparents were aid workers in Palestine. Growing up, she had avoided getting too involved in the subject, recalling how mention of the country made all the adults in her life angry. In her forties, after revisiting her grandmother’s book on the subject, she starts to research a documentary on the effects of foreign aid in the area and is shocked at the continued reliance on it there. Along the way she meets Lubna, a Palestinian woman who acts as her driver and fixer, and who is fiercely critical of Western aid efforts in her country. What begins as a quest to better understand her family history turns into a deeply emotional account of two women trying to understand one another. Ruthven’s determination to focus her film on deeply subjective analysis results in a unique joining of the acutely personal and complexly political. (Source: LFF programme)

Under Snow

September 2011 •German

In Echigo, Japan, the snow often lies several feet deep well into May, covering landscapes and villages. Over the centuries, the inhabitants have organised their lives accordingly. In order to record their very distinctive forms of everyday life, their festivals, and religious rituals, Ulrike Ottinger journeyed to the mythical snow country – accompanied by two Kabuki performers. Taking the parts of the students Takeo and Mako, they follow in the footsteps of Bokushi Suzuki, who in the mid-19th century wrote his remarkable book “Snow Country Tales”.

A Bit Of Scarlet

June 1997 •English

A Bit of Scarlet excavates clips from Britain's cinema archives to create a moving and humorous testament to the closeted gay and lesbian images from filmmaking's earliest days.

Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis

April 2007 •English

In this entrancing documentary on performance artist, photographer and underground filmmaker Jack Smith, photographs and rare clips of Smith's performances and films punctuate interviews with artists, critics, friends and foes to create an engaging portrait of the artist. Widely known for his banned queer erotica film Flaming Creatures, Smith was an innovator and firebrand who influenced artists such as Andy Warhol and John Waters.

Journey: Portrait of Věra Chytilová

June 2004 •Czech

Documentary about Czech filmaker Vera Chytilova.

Now We Live on Clifton

January 1974 •English

Now We Live on Clifton follows 10 year old Pam Taylor and her 12 year old brother Scott around their multiracial West Lincoln Park neighborhood. The kids worry that they'll be forced out of the neighborhood they grew up in by the gentrification following the expansion of DePaul University.

Fighting the Silence

November 2007 •English

In front of the camera, a woman relates how soldiers raped her during the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Another victim is filmed while bathing in a lake: 'Every time I smell their odour, I take a bath.' By expressing themselves and participating in support group meetings, raped Congolese women fight for recognition. At one meeting, men first point at the women's provocative clothing. But a soldier extends his support to the activists, just like a reverend does with a scathing sermon to his parishioners. The documentary switches back and forth between hope and sorrow. Two men took their wives back, one of them even participates in the information meetings now. But a young woman who tells about her rape will probably never get married. 'She will become a prostitute', her father sighs. The filmmakers meet with a condemned offender in jail, but he does not show any remorse.

Oh! Man

March 2004 •Italian

After Prisoners of the war and On the Heights all is Peace, this film concludes Yervant Gianikian and Angela Ricci Lucchi's trilogy on the first world war. From the emblem of totalitarianism to individual physical suffering, the directors use this representation of man's rampaging violence to draw up an anatomical inventory of the damaged body and examine the consequences of the conflict on children, from 1919 to 1921. From the deconstruction to the artificial reconstruction of the human body, they try to understand how humanity can forget itself and perpetuate these horrors.

Superjews

November 2013 •English

An Israeli woman living in Amsterdam investigates why fans of the Ajax soccer team have appropriated the nickname "Superjews" – complete with Star of David hats, Israeli flags and songs like "Hava Nagila." We meet hooligans, an Ajax archivist, former Ajax president Uri Coronel and a Holocaust survivor. Who is the "real" Jew: the non-religious Israeli woman with an aversion to her own country's flag, or the "Jews" who flock to the stadium and dedicate their lives to the team? Superjews is about identity, the use of symbols, and what it means to be or feel Jewish. Filmmaker Nirit Peled takes on the role of narrator and guide in the land of Ajax, against the backdrop of her present-day life in Amsterdam and her past in Israel, a country she is very critical of. Though she is initially turned off by the "Superjew" phenomenon, her viewpoint becomes more nuanced as she learns more about it, and she manages to gain perspective on how she personally relates to the cult of Jews.

Along the Coast

November 1958 •French

Tongue-in-cheek look at the French Riviera, especially in summer when it overflows with tourists. Reviews its history and famous visitors; displays its faux-exotic buildings, its crowded beaches, its trees and monuments; and, pokes fun at the colors women wear and the vagaries of fashion. The film celebrates the use of "Eden" as a place name, suggesting that paradise comes to the coast after all are gone, perhaps only on a remote island beach.

Em Todo Canto

January 2011 •Portuguese

My Really Cool Legs!

January 2011 •English

My Really Cool Legs! follows a group of pediatric amputee athletes who challenge themselves beyond their disability. Led by their amputee mentor and coach, these kids dance and ski, ice skate and run, refusing to let their disability define who they are and what is possible.

Down There

February 2006 •French

Akerman spends a brief period on her own in an apartment by the sea in Tel Aviv. She films from the apartment and in her narration she talks about her family, her Jewish identity and her childhood. She wonders whether normal everyday life is possible in this place and whether filming is a realistic option.

Le plafond de verre

January 2006 •French

This is the story of the few people who went ahead, beyond racial prejudice. And their struggle to open the workplace to other people.

Forever

October 2006 •English

Père-Lachaise - one of the world's most famous and beautiful cemeteries - is the final resting-place of a gifted group of artists from all eras and corners of the world. Some - such as Piaf, Proust, Jim Morrison and Chopin - are worshiped to this day. Others have fallen into oblivion, or are visited occasionally by a single admirer. In Forever we see the mysterious, calming and consoling beauty of this unique cemetery through the eyes of people of flesh and blood. Many come for their 'own' beloved: husbands, wives, family and friends. Others Honor 'their' artist by leaving behind a personal message or a flower. While admirers share with us the importance of art and beauty in their lives, the graveyard gradually reveals itself as a source of inspiration for the living. Death offers little consolation except for the passing of time, the melancholia of a moss-covered tomb, and the beauty and power of a piece of music, a poem or a painting Written by Cobos

The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam

January 2003 •English

Long Tack Sam was an internationally renowned Chinese acrobat and magician. He overcame isolation, poverty, cultural and linguistic barriers, extreme racism and world wars to become one of the most successful vaudeville acts of his time. His showmanship was unrivalled, yet he refused to appear in movies because of the way Chinese were portrayed at the time. A celebration of the spirit of Long Tack Sam's magic and art, this richly textured first person road movie is an exhilarating testament to his legacy and a prismatic tour through the 20th Century. It all begins in a small village in China... https://www.nfb.ca/film/the_magical_life_of_long_tack_sam/