settima

@settima@zirk.us

Die Republik der Backfische [The Republic of Flappers] (Constantin J. David, 1928)

Sep

20

1928

Die Republik der Backfische (1928)

The Berliner Zeitung (a rag of a paper that's still around to this day) of September 20, 1928. It blares something about America and Graf Zeppelin, the then-new airship. DP: Mutz Greenbaum.

Depending on the language version you watch, you'll see a 1928 newspaper headline dated September 20 (a Thursday), January 10 (a Tuesday), or January 9 (a Monday).

 

Smrt si říká Engelchen [Death Is Called Engelchen] (Ján Kadár + Elmar Klos, 1963)

Sep

19

ER – 1994

Smrt si říká Engelchen (1963)

Pavel (Jan Kačer) recovering face-down in his hospital bed. DP: RudolfMilič.

An emergency room: ER debuts on this date in 1994.

 

A paralysed Czechoslovak partisan recovering from a shot in the back in an emergency ward, feverishly remembers the events that brought him to that moment. He particularly remembers Engelchen, the SS Sturmbannführer who killed his best friend and massacred the local villagers.

The UFO Incident [Interrupted Journey] (Richard A. Colla, 1975)

Sep

19

The UFO Incident (1975)

Betty Hill (Estelle Parsons) observed from above. It's night, and tire tracks are visible. DP: Rexford L. Metz.

Слънцето и сянката [Slantzeto i syankata / Sun and Shadow] (Rangel Vulchanov, 1962)

Sep

18

National First Love Day

Слънцето и сянката (1962)

The two young lovers (Georgi Naumov and Anna Prucnal). DP: Dimo Kolarov.

First love for National First Love Day (USA).

 

A boy and a girl fall in love at a resort at the Black Sea. He's the son of an architect, an optimist who sees creation where possible. She's the daughter of a nuclear scientist, the future an inevitable apocalypse.

Äppelkriget [The Apple War] (Tage Danielsson, 1971)

Sep

17

National Apple Dumpling Day

Äppelkriget (1971)

Locals and a centaur – half man, half papier-mâché – enjoy a drink. DP: Lars Swanberg.

Apples, or dumplings, for National Apple Dumpling Day (USA)

– What are you gonna do with tons of apples? They can't be sold! Ask any apple farmer! They just pile up and rot! – The apple farmers? – No. The apples!

A beautiful, picturesque part of Sweden will become… Deutschneyland! At least, that's the brilliant business plan Herr Volkswagner has. But the local apple farmers – a large family that's half human, half mythological creatures – have no need for an amusement park on their grounds.

A Sunday in September (James Hill, 1961)

Sep

17

1961

A Sunday in September (1961)

A large group of bobbies attempts to block off the street in front of an Underground station. They're greatly undone by the large group of protesters behind them (via).

 

La fórmula secreta [Coca-Cola en la sangre / The Secret Formula] (Rubén Gámez, 1965)

Sep

16

El Grito de Independencia

La fórmula secreta (1965)

Grinning seminary boys hang from monkey bars. DPs: Salvador Gijón, Rubén Gámez & Segismundo Pérez de Pedro 'Segis'.

El Grito de Independencia: ¡Viva México!

“¡Mexicanos! ¡Vivan los héroes que nos dieron patria! ¡Viva Hidalgo! ¡Viva Morelos! ¡Viva Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez! ¡Viva Allende! ¡Vivan Aldama y Matamoros! ¡Viva la independencia nacional! ¡Viva México! ¡Viva México! ¡Viva México!”

El Grito

Accompanied by Juan Rulfo's poem, Gámez explores Mexico's identity, and loss thereof. Crying out for the Mexican with Coca-Cola in the blood.

The War Game (Peter Watkins, 1966)

Sep

16

The War Game (1966)

An old man in uniform, possibly a mailman or traffic warden, stands motionless in a crowd of people. He looks off into the distance. DPs: Peter Bartlett & Peter Suschitzky.

“In the next world war, I believe that both sides could stop before the ultimate destruction of cities so that both sides could retire for a period of ten years or so of post-attack recuperation, in which world wars four to eight could be prepared.”

– a leading American nuclear strategist

Hullumeelsus [Безумие / Madness] (Kaljo Kiisk, 1968)

Sep

15

International Day of Democracy

Hullumeelsus (1968)

Windisch (Jüri Järvet) pacing, blending in with a white-clad inmate. DP: Anatoliy Zabolotskiy.

On the International Day of Democracy, the word “democracy” is spoken.

“Stop shooting! Stop democracy!”

– Person Nr. 1

The Gestapo arrives to liquidate the inmates of a mental hospital. Then Windisch, plainclothes Nazi, brings them a letter: there's a special commando hiding amidst the 583 patients. Interrogating them slowly pushes Windisch among them.

Dead Dreams of Monochrome Men (David Hinton, 1989)

Sep

14

Patrick Swayze – 2009

Dead Dreams of Monochrome Men (1989)

Two of the male dancers performing. They're lying on a black-and-white tiled floor. There's a heaviness to their bodies. DP: Nicholas D. Knowland.

Dancing, or Patrick Swayze who passed away on this date in 2009.

“I caused dreams which caused death … this is my crime.”

– Dennis Nilsen

Dennis Nilsen was a lonesome, closeted gay man in Thatcher's London, whose desperation lead to multiple horrific killings. He'd ritually bathe and dress the bodies, and held on to them for company. Radical dance troupe DV8's interpretation of Nilsen's transgressions explores the horror of the act in suffocating beauty.