@settima@zirk.us
“Play straight, baby.”
Shaft (Gordon Parks, 1971)
Jan
27
John Shaft (Richard Roundtree). Can you dig it, baby? DP: Urs Furrer.
– John Shaft
Οι παράνομοι [Oi paranomoi / The Outlaws] (Nikos Koundouros, 1958)
Jan
26
Survival Day
One of the convicts and the woman. DP: Giovanni Varriano.
Convicts: a convict settlement in Sydney Cove on January 26, 1788 marks what is considered the founding of Australia.
Die große Ekstase des Bildschnitzers Steiner [The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner] (Werner Herzog, 1974)
Jan
25
Chamonix 1924 Winter Olympics
Live footage of Steiner preparing for his flight. DP: Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein.
Winter sports in celebration of the Chamonix 1924 Winter Olympics.
– Walter Steiner
In a film that is as much about Herzog as it is about Steiner, we follow the soft-spoken woodcarver in preparation of his definitive ski flight in Planica, Yugoslavia.
L'inconnu de Shandigor; Les salauds vont en enfer
Jan
24
cuckoo clocks
Top to bottom: L'inconnu de Shandigor (Jean-Louis Roy, 1967), Les salauds vont en enfer (Robert Hossein, 1955).
Watched on January 24 and 25 respectively.
“This future of yours Shelmerdine, when it's gonna begin? Today? Or, is it always tomorrow?”
Orlando (Sally Potter, 1992)
Jan
24
Billy Zane's birthday
Orlando (Tilda Swinton) and Shelmerdine (Billy Zane) in intimate embrace. DPs: Aleksey Rodionov & Andrew Speller.
A [favourite] Billy Zane film for his birthday (1966).
– Orlando
As ordered by Queen Elizabeth I (Quentin Crisp), nobleman Orlando remains young and traverses exotic scenery, civilisations, time, and gender.
دایره مینا [Dayereh mina / The Cycle] (Dariush Mehrjui, 1977)
Jan
23
National Blood Donor Month
Poor looking men seen squatting on the floor, one arm attached to a blood bottle. In the middle of the floor a man in a lab coat with numerous empty bottles on a pristine white table. DP: Houshang Baharlou.
Someone gives blood for National Blood Donor Month (USA). A young man who accompanies his sick father to a hospital decides to donate blood for much needed money.
Macario (Roberto Gavaldón, 1960)
Jan
22
National Poverty in America Awareness Month
Macario (Ignacio López Tarso) passes a Día de los Muertos altar, stacked high with candles, human skulls and bones, and cempasúchil (marigolds), whose fragrant and colour lead the Dead back to their family on this revered day. DP: Gabriel Figueroa.
Poverty: National Poverty in America Awareness Month (USA)
Macario, poor and hungry, wishes to eat a whole turkey all by himself on Día de los Muertos. When he finally has the opportunity, he is interrupted three times: by the Devil, by God, and by Death. With one of them, he shares his meal.
War Machine (Duvet Brothers, 1984)
Jan
21
the passing of Orwell
A repurposed TV still of a battle ship billowing thick black smoke with the text WAR MACHINE superimposed over it.
A scratch video from 1984 on the date George Orwell died (1950). Date of production is either 84 or 85.
1. April 2000 [April 1, 2000] (Wolfgang Liebeneiner, 1952)
Jan
20
Inauguration Day
Austria's new Prime Minister (Josef Meinrad). DPs: Sepp Ketterer, Karl Löb & Fritz Arno Wagner.
Inaugurations for Inauguration Day (USA).
In the future year 2000, on April 1, the newly-elected Prime Minister of Austria is inaugurated. Much to the shock of the Global Union, he declares Austria's independence!
“A candy-colored clown they call the sandman
Tiptoes to my room every night
Just to sprinkle stardust and to whisper
'Go to sleep, everything is alright'”
Blue Velvet (David Lynch, 1986)
Jan
19
lights
Ben (Dean Stockwell) miming Roy Orbison's In Dreams with a work light for a microphone. DP: Frederick Elmes.
Lights on the date in 1883 that #ThomasEdison first switched on overhead electric lighting.
– Roy Orbison, In Dreams (1963)
David Lynch at his finest Anger, and Stockwell at his peak. The work light was improvised when Lynch noticed Stockwell handling it between shoots.