Where : Foster CityWhen : Aug 23 at 4
Movie Details: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114787/
get the updates at : http://twitter.com/vsMovieNight
Monday, August 17, 2009
Next Movie Night: Underground - 1995 Cannes Golden Palm Winner
Where : Foster CityWhen : Aug 23 at 4
Movie Details: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114787/
get the updates at : http://twitter.com/vsMovieNight
Sunday, July 19, 2009
7th Annual Three-Minute Film Festival, August 8
What happens when both professional and first time filmmakers pledge to spend 30 days creating 3-minute cinematic masterpieces? Find out at the 7th Annual Three-Minute Film Festival Black Tie Gala and Film Screening, the August edition of Root Division’s monthly Second Saturday series. Films screen promptly at 8:00p and the after party features a contest for best interpretation of black tie, booty-shaking music, cocktails, magical food carts, the audience choice awards ceremony and art by Root Division resident artists. Dress to impress.Cost: $5 ($5-$20 Sliding scale donation at the door)
Website: http://www.rootdivision.org/
Venue: Root Division
Address: 3175 17th Street (South Van Ness @ Shotwell), San Francisco, CA
Monday, July 13, 2009
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Pray the Devil Back to Hell
Director Virginia Reticker's documentary tells the story of the thousands of Liberian women who helped end the bloody late-1990s civil war that killed 250,000 people, allegedly supported in secret by then-President Charles Taylor. Through nonviolent protests, the Christian Women's Peace Initiative forced a resolution in the peace talks, and their efforts led to the election of Africa's first female head of state, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.
http://www.praythedevilbacktohell.com/v3/
Here is an interesting interview with the leader of that movement on Bill Moyers program:
Women Fight for Peace:
http://www.pbs.org/video/video/1157137218/program/1113570149
http://www.praythedevilbacktohell.com/v3/
Here is an interesting interview with the leader of that movement on Bill Moyers program:
Women Fight for Peace:
http://www.pbs.org/video/video/1157137218/program/1113570149
Monday, June 1, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
they sound like us
Love talking about film?
The Auteurs is a social network bringing together cinephiles around the world. Find those who share your ideas and debate those who don’t.http://www.theauteurs.com/
Four things that were on our minds when we first dreamt the Auteurs: Number one: why can’t you just watch In the Mood for Love in an airport lounge? Number two: why is it so hard to get hold of Antonioni’s complete filmography? Number three: Wouldn’t it be great to instantly send Tati’s Playtime to a friend if you think they need it (there’s nothing like film therapy)? Number Four: why do films on the Internet look just awful? And that was that. We simply couldn't resist the idea of everyone having their own online film library… your little cinema, anytime, anywhere… after all not everyone can make it to the Cannes Film festival… less if you are a school teacher or you live in Winnipeg (or both)… but that doesn't mean you can’t recite all of Kubrick’s films in reverse chronological order or that you are not desperate to watch the latest Kitano film that is definitely not going to be released in your local multiplex.
And that’s our point; popular doesn’t always mean good.
Our film library is brimming with visionary films that wouldn’t fill a single cinema in Australia for a week – not even a day… but say you searched the world (all of it), you might just find an audience of a thousand for this rare cinematic treat. And we don’t think a thousand people should be ignored just because they happen to live in different time zones or far away from Australia cinemas… if someone needed to make such a precise film, it means that, someone, somewhere needs to watch it. More importantly… that someone might be you. Or Scorsese (he happens to be a member too…)
The Auteurs is not just about discovering wonderful new cinema or classic masterpieces. It’s also about discussing and sharing wonderful films… which makes us like a small coffee shop… a place where you can gather and talk about alternative endings, directors cuts or whatever those frogs in Magnolia meant… heated debates and passionate arguments are welcome… Hollywood films such as say Annie Hall or Royal Tenenbaums too… at the end of the day it doesn't matter where films come from, as long as they come from someone’s mind…
Are you in the mood for cinema? Welcome to The Auteurs…
ps: by the way, we spent a lot of energy on the quality of the streaming and we are very proud of it… just wanted to let you know…
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
DLF.TV is debuting an exclusive interview series known as “Daily David” where David speaks candidly about anything and everything ranging from filmmaking to consciousness. In this video clip, David Lynch speaks on how ideas come in fragments and join together. The film stays the same, but each viewer may have a different experience and interpretation.
This is new David Lynch foundation TV:
Friday, March 6, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
"Tehran Has No More Pomegranates!"
Director Massoud Bakhshi and crew are on a mission to make a film about their hometown, Tehran, but have hit a wall and must explain to their overseers at the Documentary Film Center why their project cannot be completed. They decide to investigate the city’s past in order to better understand the present. What follows is a sarcastic and comic narrative about
Showtime: march 4 and 5, 2009, 6:15pm, 8:00pm, & 9:35 pm
Embarcadero Center Cinema, 1 Embarcadero Center, San Francisco
Monday, March 2, 2009
The 27th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival
The 27th annual San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival(SFIAAFF), which showcases the best Asian and Asian American films from around the globe takes place March 12-22, 2009 in San Francisco, Berkeley and San Jose.
Film screenings, filmmaker tributes, and panel discussions take place at the Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street in San Francisco; Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, 1881 Post Street in San Francisco; Pacific Film Archive, 2575 Bancroft Way in Berkeley, and the Camera 12 Cinemas, 201 South Second Street in San Jose.
For more information visit
http://festival.asianamericanmedia.org/2009/
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Niki Karimi in Berkeley on March 1st [Sunday], 3pm-9pm
Women’s Cinema from Tangiers to Tehran
Director and actress Niki Karimi joins us on March 1 to present her films One Night and A Few Days Later . . . . Well known for her portrayals of forceful, independent women in such films as Sara (1993), Two Women (1999), and The Hidden Half (2001), she also assisted Iranian master Abbas Kiarostami on The Wind Will Carry Us and ABC Africa before going on to direct her own films. In advocating for what she calls “the kind of cinema which describes reality and which gets close to people’s daily lives without making compromises,” she speaks for many of the courageous women whose works are presented here.
A celebration of women filmmakers from North Africa and the Middle East, as well as the diaspora in Europe, this series represents a remarkable geographic, cultural, and stylistic range. In documentaries, features, and experimental works, the directors depict urban attitudes and rural traditions, the dream of escape and the isolation of exile, and the comforts and entrapments of family. But as James Neil, co-curator of the British series that inspired this one, has said, a common theme runs through the films: “They are about women who struggle and strive against their surroundings, and they’re directed by women who have had those experiences themselves.”
http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/filmseries/womens_cinema_tangiers_tehran
Thursday, February 26, 2009
HRW film festival
Human Right Watch group has a film festival in the bay area from Feb 25-March 26th.
For more info go to http://www.hrw.org/en/iff/san-francisco.
For more info go to http://www.hrw.org/en/iff/san-francisco.
Monday, February 23, 2009
the world may be wild at heart and weird on top...
...but
Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
And the dreams that you dreamed of
Once in a lullaby ii ii iii
Somewhere over the rainbow
Blue birds fly
And the dreams that you dreamed of
Dreams really do come true ooh ooooh
did you guys see the rainbows today?
Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
And the dreams that you dreamed of
Once in a lullaby ii ii iii
Somewhere over the rainbow
Blue birds fly
And the dreams that you dreamed of
Dreams really do come true ooh ooooh
did you guys see the rainbows today?
Friday, January 16, 2009
David Lynch
In the upcoming movie night we will be watching David Lynch movies.He's known as Writer/Director of Experimental, Avante-Garde, Dark and Disturbing Art House Films.
"Born in 1946 in Missoula, Montana, David Lynch was raised early in small town America. After high school, he went to Boston to attend the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. Shortly after that, he planned a 3 year trip to Europe to work on his art, but didn't take to it and left after 15 days. In 1977, he released his first film Eraserhead (1977), which, although not critically acclaimed, was noticed by many people, includingFrancis Ford Coppola, who was rumored to have screenings of it for his cast and crew on the Apocalypse Now (1979) set. After a stream of visually stunning films such as Blue Velvet (1986), Lost Highway (1997) and Mulholland Dr. (2001). All these films, and a few more, beginning with Blue Velvet (1986), and including his "Twin Peaks" (1990) TV series, feature what has now been added to signature Lynch features, such as vibrant colors, the use of dreams and amazing montage to connect character thought and multiple emotions into one sequence..."
Thanks to Tara for recommendation of this link: David Lynch
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Wong Kar-Wai
We have seen Wong movies for last few months and we know him as high energy visual style director who use jump cut, wide angle lenses, stutter frame editing...
but there are some interesting points he said about his movies:
About his chance to make a film:
"It happened suddenly, when a producer asked me if I wanted to make a film and I said ,"why not?" that started my career as a director."
"I was born and raised in cities, and I think I am more interested in making films about cities in general, whereas most Chinese fils are about the countryside."
"I've always thought in terms of images, so as these images occur to me, I have to continue to revise the plan in order to accommodate them."
"Basically, I like fruits but I hate pineapple, so I think one of the best tortures for a character in my films is for him to be eating a lot of pineapple."
"In Chungking Express, people are far away from camera but seem so close (It became a contrast). We worked with very limited budget we don't have permits, so we have to work like CNN, you know just breaking into some place and taking some shots. We often don't have time to set up..."
"Non of my films are autobiographical. My life is too boring. I don't think it would be interesting film."
"I'm not satisfied with most of the Hong Kong films about this topic(gay) because they treat it specially; there always must be something different. And to me I'm happy with Happy Together because there is nothing different. It is story about two persons, they are both man. The story can apply to a man and woman, or two women, even a man and a tree."
"To me relationship seems like a plane and a airport. But sometimes, when this airport refuses to be an airport anymore and the plane has no place to land, this is the end of the relationship."
Friday, November 21, 2008
Wong Kar-Wai
You might have noticed that among the movies we rated for this month's movie night were three different titles by Wong. In the upcoming movie night we will be watching Chungking Express by this director, hence getting familiar with his work and style may help us in better understanding and communicating with the film. Wong is considered one of the postmodern auteurs of cinema. "In film criticism, the 1950s-era Auteur theory holds that a director's films reflect that director's personal creative vision, as if he or she were the primary "Auteur" (French word for "author")." -wikipedia
Here are the links to some articles on this directors work and vision.
Wong kar-wai
The Cinema of Wong kar-wai "a writing game"
Wong Kar-Wai: Time, Memory, Identity
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
A Night With Dariush Mehrjui at Berkeley this Saturday
Nima Television, Berkeley Lecture series and Iranian Student of Berkeley Presents:
A Night With Dariush Mehrjui
Saturday November 1st 2008
UC Berkeley Dwinell Hall Room 145 6:00 P.M.
Featuring the movie "The Pear Tree" (Derakht Golabi)
and a Movie with Khosrow Shakibayi "The Lost Cousin" (Dokhtar Dayi Gomshodeh)
following Q & A with Dariush Mehrjui
for info: 510-490-6462
Admission $15.00
With student ID $10.00
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Stranger than Paradise: Reviews
Stranger than
“…the effect is disorienting until you recognize what Mr. Jarmusch is up to - that is, discovering the ludicrously sublime in the supremely tacky….''Stranger Than Paradise'' is a ''Marty'' that Jean-Paul Sartre might have appreciated, about hanging out, not in hell but in a permanent purgatory. This world sometimes looks like an eerily underpopulated New York City, a rundown but genteel working- class section of Cleveland or that scrubby part of the east coast of Florida that has yet to be transformed into a vacation paradise, where the motels always have vacancies, even at the height of the season, and where the swimming pools are filled with weeds, not water.” – The New York Times
An article in Cutlure Cartel discusses how according to Mulvey there are 2 narratives in cinema: masculine and feminine. Masculine oriented films gradually build a climax and find a fast resolution, whereas feminine films will be more circular and open ended. Jarmusch; on the other hand has introduced a more gender neutral, less sexist, racists narrative in his works.
“Stranger than Paradise merges American and Hungarian culture in a way that doesn't make overt statements about multiculturalism so much as it presents scenarios and lets them work out their own conclusion. sometimes not much more than letting Aunt Lotte serve goulash. Yet what makes Stranger than Paradise such a joyful postmodern romp is not its alternative narrative or its multicultural tendencies. Stranger than Paradise is groundbreakingly alternative in its skeletal formalism.
..
Jarmusch constructs an
Here are also a few other interesting reviews:
“Boredom and loneliness are ever-present in this
“Here, characters not talking reflect a broader failure of communication, characters sitting around doing nothing reflect a more general lack of direction, and characters replaying the same scenes in different milieux reflect an inability to escape the rigidity of their own personalities. This is a film about narrow-mindedness, folly and a lack of initiative (in the
…
Willie may lecture Eva on the 'American' way to eat, speak and behave, but while he is a single, work-shy loser with no ambition and few prospects, she is a resourceful, driven winner, quick to acquire a job and a boyfriend (Danny Rosen). In other words, she embraces the American Dream far more than her cousin ever will, and while the film's twist ending may at first seem merely an ironic gag that has come out of nowhere, in fact it crystallises the difference between this odd couple: Eva is open enough to seize the opportunities serendipity offers and to make a new life in the new world, while aimless Willie is in fact always going backwards.
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