view
News from Home (Chantal Akerman, 1976)
Apr
3
Pony Express Day
New York, a street scene. Superimposed a quote from one Chantal Akerman's mother's letters. DPs: Jim Asbell & Babette Mangolte.
“Dear child,
l received your letter and hope you will write often. l hope you won’t stay away too long and that you’ve found a job by now. If you’re doing well, we’re happy. Even though we do miss you. When will you be back? Everything is fine here, but Sylviane is home with the flu. My blood pressure is low. l’m on medication for it. Today is my birthday. l feel sad. lt’s quiet at the shop. Tonight we’re going out to dinner with friends. That’s all. Your birthday is coming up. l wish you all the best. Write to me soon about your work, about New York, about everything. Lots of love from the three of us.
Your loving mother” (quote via)
view
みな殺しの霊歌 [Minagoroshi no reika / I, the Executioner] (Tai Katō, 1968)
Apr
3
1968
A newspaper headline for April 3, 1968: “COMPANY DIRECTOR'S WIFE NEWEST VICTIM”. DP: Keiji Maruyama.
“With bar hostesses, there's a type who are likely to be murdered.”
view
Le moindre geste [The Slightest Gesture] (Jean-Pierre Daniel, Fernand Deligny + Josée Manenti, 1962–1964, 1971)
Apr
2
World Autism Awareness Day
Yves (Yves Guignard), resting. Deligny wrote a lot about the lack of words, and how it stays close to the heart of cinema. Still (and a wonderful essay) via. DP: Josée Manenti.
“Celui qui n’a jamais rien dit
a cinquante ans d’âge
et ne dira jamais rien
s’est appris à lire
dans les moindres gestes”
– Fernand Deligny, Essi & Copeaux. Derniers écrits et aphorismes, via
Over time, the film was forgotten and even lost, until it was found in a tree, then completed with a narrative and soundtrack in 1969, selected for the 1971 Cannes Film Festival and praised by Cahiers du Cinéma, lost once more, and eventually – with support of Chris Marker – restored and brought to a wider audience.
view
Les yeux cernés [Marked Eyes] (Robert Hossein, 1964)
Apr
2
1964
A typed request on official stationary dated April 2, requesting to show up at the police precinct on April 4, 1964. DP: Jean Boffety.
view
1. April 2000 [April 1, 2000] (Wolfgang Liebeneiner, 1952)
Apr
1
2000
The President of the Global Union (Hilde Krahl) stepping out of her spaceship. DPs: Sepp Ketterer, Karl Löb & Fritz Arno Wagner.
view
कालिया मर्दन [Kaliya Mardan / The Childhood of Krishna] (Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, 1919)
Apr
1
April Fools' Day
Shri Krishna (Mandakini Phalke, the director's seven-year old daughter), playing his flute with a twinkle in his eye. DP: Dhundiraj Govind Phalke.
Kaliya Mardan is one of the handful films from India's early cinematic output that has survived. Do check your attic
view
Moment of Impact (Julia Loktev, 1998)
Apr
1
1989
A person holds Leonid Loktev's head from behind, while someone else cups his left eye with one hand. DP: Julia Loktev.
view
父ありき [Chichi ariki / There Was a Father] (Yasujirō Ozu, 1942)
Mar
31
a father
Father and son fishing in a creek. DP: Yūharu Atsuta.
A father for OP's father's birthday.
A father, and proud teacher, raises his son alone. When the boy is an adult and a teacher himself, the elder's traditional concept of societal hierarchy affirms the balance between the generations.
view
Chac: Dios de la lluvia [Chac: The Rain God] (Rolando Klein, 1975)
Mar
30
mythology
Mythology on the date Wrath of the Titans (2012) was released.
With their shaman lost to alcohol, villagers make their way to a diviner in the hope to appease Chac, the rain god.
“This is the account
of when
all is still silent
and placid.
All is silent
and calm.
Hushed
and empty is the womb of the sky.”
– Popul Vuh, The Primordial World
Filmed in the forests of Tenejapa, Chiapas, Chac is probably the first film completely in Tzotzil, one of several Maya languages, and based on themes found in the Popol Vuh.
view
野獣死すべし [Yajū shisubeshi / The Beast Shall Die] (Eizō Sugawa, 1959)
Mar
30
7 p.m.
Kunihiko Date (Tatsuya Nakadai) driving along at night. DP: Fukuzō Koizumi.
“He’s not a beast. No, he’s a robot. A machine created by a modern, twisted society.”