Celebrating the life of rock star and activist Rita Guerrero, this intimate and music-fueled documentary by Arturo Diaz Santana captures the energy and artistry of a brilliant performer who was taken too soon. As the lead singer of famous band La Santa Sabina, Guerrero became a central figure in Mexico’s 90s rock scene and a fierce advocate for social justice who supported the Zapatista movement. Blending footage from her role as an entertainer that the audience came to love, with personal moments highlighting her off-stage personality, as well as interviews with those who were touched by her magic, the film…
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Painter, writer, film director, Philippe Mora has forged an idiosyncratic path. His Mad Dog Morgan (1976), starring Dennis Hopper, is now considered a classic of Australian cinema. Mora subsequently directed, among other films; The Return of Captain Invincible (1983), A Breed Apart (1984), Howling II… Your Sister is a Werewolf (1985), Death of a Soldier (1986), Howling III: The Marsupials (1987), and Communion (1989). Over his long career, he has worked with actors Frank Thring, David Gulpilil, Jack Thompson, Alan Arkin, Christopher Lee, Rutger Hauer, Kathleen Turner, Christopher Walken and James Coburn. We spoke with the ebullient Mora from his…
Today, Monday April 15th 2019, is the 20th anniversary of the first release of HOME PAGE, a film by documentary filmmaker, Doug Block. In 1996 Doug fascinated by this new thing called the internet, trains his wry, analytical lens on the burgeoning home page (i.e. blogging) phenomenon. He soon falls under the spell of 21-year old cyber superstar Justin Hall, whose literally bare-all online diary spares no details about friends, family, lovers and, inevitably, Block himself. When Hall goads the filmmaker into keeping his own online diary, the story takes an unexpectedly personal turn, with hilarious and deeply affecting results. This…
The 20th Anniversary Scandinavian Film Festival L.A. (SFFLA) will be in residence at the Writers Guild Theater 135 S. Doheny in Beverly Hills January 5, 6, 19 20 with “top films from the top of Europe” featuring “Oscar” submissions and other current films from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and with BalticFilmExpo@SFFLA–Baltic neighbors Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. To learn more about the festival we had an interview with festival’s director and founder James Koenig. James Koenig is someone whose voice is heard in various arts arenas. He graduated from Northwestern University with bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in voice continuing studies…
Shoplifters is about life on the margins of Tokyo, where a dysfunctional band of outsiders are united by fierce loyalty, a penchant for petty theft and playful grifting. When the young son is arrested, secrets are exposed that upend their tenuous, below-the-radar existence and test their quietly radical belief that it is love—not blood—that defines a family. Shoplifters is directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda and is in Oscar Shortlist for the Best Foreign Language Film Award and also a nominee for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Golden Globe Awards. The following is Cinema Without Borders interview with Kaoru…
The Marriage, directed by Blerta Zeqiri, is Kosovo’s Oscar entry. In The Marriage Their, Anita and Bekim, wedding in only two weeks, are adding the final touches to their big day. Despite expecting news of Anita’s parents, declared missing since the 1999 Kosovo War, and with Bekim’s controlling family in turn, the couple seem to manage somehow with the preparations. But when Bekim’s secret gay ex-lover, Nol, returns from abroad unexpectedly, the situation becomes complicated, especially when Bekim realizes that Nol is still in love with him. Inevitably, the wedding banquet becomes loaded with tension when the unusual love triangle starts…
“I do not care if we go down in history as barbarians.” These words, spoken in the Council of Ministers of the summer of 1941, started the ethnic cleansing on the Eastern Front and now its title of a new film by Radu Jude, the Romanian filmmaker. The amazing film with its rich satire and fresh look, attempts to comment on the above statement. “I do not care if we go down in history as barbarians.” Is Romania’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Award and we had a brief interview with Radu Jude. Radu does not believe that…
Never Look Away, a Golden Globe nominee for the Best Morion Picture – Foreign Language and Germany’s Best Foreign Language Oscar entry is directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. Never Look Away is inspired by real events and spanning three eras of German history, NEVER LOOK AWAY tells the story of a young art student, Kurt (Tom Schilling) who falls in love with fellow student, Ellie (Paula Beer). Ellie’s father, Professor Seeband (Sebastian Koch), a famous doctor, is dismayed at his daughter’s choice of boyfriend, and vows to destroy the relationship. What neither of them knows is that their lives are already…
THE GOALKEEPER, Bolivian Oscar Entry is a thought-provoking thriller about a former iconic goalkeeper, Jorge “Muralla” Rivera, whose fame has run out and he is now scraping out a living as an alcoholic bus driver.His son is desperately sick and he does the unthinkable to save his child but to no avail.Racked with guilt and haunted by ghosts, Jorge seeks redemption to rescue the young girl he sold, even if it means his own downfall.THE GOALKEEPER is a powerful story that addresses the sad and frightening facts that approximately eight children a day disappear from the streets of La Paz…
The Rock (Bard) a short documentary film from Iran directed by Hamid Jafari is up for a chance for an Oscar nomination. The Rock happens in the South of Iran, where a woman goes to the mountain every day with her sledgehammer and crowbar, breaks rocks, and sells them to support her family. The Rock is a beautifully made film about survival and the powerful image it portrays from the main character of the film will remain with you for a very long time. Being an independent film and with the effects of US sanctions against Iran, The Rock did not…