Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 8

Desert Victory

April 1943 •English

A featureless land fit only for war, as the narrator, J. L. Hodson stated in the early scenes: "If war was to be fought then let it begin here". In endless miles of rock-strewn scrub desert, where civilians hardly existed. Desert Victory tells the story of the Allied campaign to drive Germany and Italy from North Africa is analysed, with the major portion of the film examining the battles at El Alamein, including some re-enactment. Won "Best Documentary Feature" at the 16th Academy Awards in 1944.

Africa - Part I - From Morocco to Kilimanjaro

June 1952 •Czech

The feature-length film by engineers J. Hanzelka and M. Zikmund captures how the two travelers prepared for their first trip around the world and in documentary footage describes their experiences from the first half of the trip through Africa. You will see for yourself what obstacles they had to overcome on the ravaged roads of Abyssinia and in what danger the fate of the expedition was during the daring passage through the Nubian desert. The film culminates with an ascent to the highest mountain in Africa, the extinct volcano Kilimanjaro, whose peak is covered in ice all year round.

Africa II – From the Equator to Table Mountain

October 1953 •Czech

The second part of the film begins with a journey in the equatorial region, where the travelers managed to capture the most typical images of the original Africa. The journey continues to the forests of the Belgian Congo, where they filmed the smallest people in the world, black dwarfs. From Central Africa, they head south through Victoria Falls and the mysterious ruins of a medieval settlement in Zimbabwe. In Johannesburg, they witness a celebration of black gold diggers. Their journey ends at the southernmost tip of Africa under Table Mountain in Cape Town. The end of the film depicts the birth of a volcano shot from close range.

From Argentina to Mexico

October 1954 •Czech

Travelers Hansel and Zikmund sail from Africa to South America. On their journey to film, they capture clouds of locusts on the plains of Argentina's Chaco, a snake farm in Butantane, skyscrapers in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro, a visit to lepers in Paraguay, waterfalls in Iguazu, a daring expedition to the jungles of the Marañon river basin to hunt skull hunters. an Indian settlement in Panama and the journey ends prematurely in Mexico amidst the ruins of ancient Indian temples and pyramid.

Let's Spend the Night Together

October 1982 •English

The Rolling Stones' record-breaking 1981 North American arena tour documented by director Hal Ashby. Featuring the biggest Rolling Stones songs from the first 20 years - in the words of Mick Jagger, "a feel of what it's like to be there", as 20 cameras take you onstage with the band in this groundbreaking, dynamic tour.

The Sixth Continent

September 1954 •Italian

This 95-minute, full-color documentary was released in the U.S. as Sixth Continent. That continent is Africa -- or, more specifically, the coast of Ethiopia. Director Folco Quillici takes his cameras deep, deep into the waters near the coastal islands of Dalach, observing the passing parade of sea life on an up-close-and-personal basis. Particularly thrilling is a shark attack and its aftermath, with the cinematographers obviously in the thick of things. Gian Caspare Napolitano provides the narration, while the lush, evocative musical score is the handiwork of Roberto Nicolosi.

Why We Fight: The Battle of Russia

November 1943 •English

The fifth film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight propaganda film series, revealing the nature and process of the fight between the Soviet Union and Germany in the Second World War.

Anaconda

September 1955 •English

Documentary by Torgny Anderberg

Ludwig van Beethoven

July 1954 •German

Documentary on the master composer, from a GDR point of view.

Secret Tibet

January 1943 •German

In 1938 Nazi leader Heinrich Himmler sponsored an expedition to Tibet lead by several Nazi SS scientists to study the regions flora and fauna, and to take scientific measurements of the Earths magnetic fields. The expedition was also sent to find traces of the orgins of the "Aryan" race in Tibet which was where Himmler thought evidence of could be found. This film is a Nazi era documentary of that expedition.

Südseeparadies

December 1940 •German

Dharti Ke Lal

January 1946 •Hindi

Based on plays by Bhattacharya and the story Annadata by Krishan Chander. A film about the famine that swept through Indian villages in the final years of the war for independence. After natural disasters (floods and droughts), villagers seek refuge in the city.

The Fox of Glenarvon

January 1940 •German

An English peace judge in an Irish district is married to an Irishwoman. She is a caring patriot. He is heavily indebted by a life of luxury, and doesn't shy away from dark deeds to maintain his lifestyle. Anti-Britsh propaganda film.

Operette

December 1940 •German

A musician is offered a job in Vienna as stage director, but his disagreements with the aristocratic opera manager end in abrupt firing in spite of a mutual attraction. He's quickly engaged by another theatre and becomes famous for his lavish stage productions and fine acting, which begins their golden age with Suppé and Strauss.

Bicycle Thieves

July 1948 •Italian

Unemployed Antonio is elated when he finally finds work hanging posters around war-torn Rome. However on his first day, his bicycle—essential to his work—gets stolen. His job is doomed unless he can find the thief. With the help of his son, Antonio combs the city, becoming desperate for justice.

The Blue Lagoon

July 1980 •English

Two small children and a ship's cook survive a shipwreck and find safety on an idyllic tropical island. Soon, however, the cook dies and the young boy and girl are left on their own. Days become years and Emmeline and Richard make a home for themselves surrounded by exotic creatures and nature's beauty. But will they ever see civilization again?

Under the Yoke

November 1952 •Bulgarian

Follows the Bulgarian people's struggle for national independence in the period from 1875 to the Liberation from Otoman bondage.

The Girl and the Oak

February 1955 •

Smilja is a little girl living in Dalmatian Zagora. One day, her mother dies under a small oak tree and she is left without parents. Luckily, she gets adopted and continues to nurture the oak where her mother died. Many years later, Smilja is a handsome woman, but her jealous stepbrother Josip kills her boyfriend Ivan and rapes her. Ivan's brothers swear revenge.

Police Raid

May 1947 •German

Shortages in postwar Berlin have created a blooming black market, and the goods rounded up during a major police raid all seem to come from the same source. The trail leads Commissioner Naumann to the Alibaba Cabarett, but he is unable to find conclusive evidence to convict its owner Goll.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

January 1938 •English

A beautiful girl, Snow White, takes refuge in the forest in the house of seven dwarfs to hide from her stepmother, the wicked Queen. The Queen is jealous because she wants to be known as "the fairest in the land," and Snow White's beauty surpasses her own.