Something something Greece (or the Olympics) on the date of the 1896 Summer Olympics

 

Athens seen through words put down in letters, forming a narrative of the city, Greece, its history, and its people.

Set in Chicago (or pizza) for National Deep Dish Pizza Day, USA.

 

A Polish factory worker hopes to find a better life when he picks up boxing. Initially unsuccessful. he finds himself in Chicago, facing an amateur boxer below his ranking.

The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.: civil rights being fought for.

“All the ideas I'd previously had were shown to be completely false. This was the first time I had really seen the strength and the power of a mass struggle; ordinary people directly participating in organizing their communities, and the defense of their communities.”

– Arthur MacCaig, title card

Mail or a mail carrier for Pony Express Day (USA).

“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)

Chantal Akerman reads out letters that her mother wrote to the former's stay in New York City between 1971 and 1973. The words slowly blend with the city.

An autistic actor or character for World Autism Awareness Day

“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

Fernand Deligny was an educator who promoted play and exploration, as opposed to drugs and force, to open up the lives of young nonverbal, autistic people. We follow Yves Guignard, one of Deligny's “patients”, who, in his own wordless rhythm shows us his world.

 

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.

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.

Something buried: discovery of the Terracotta Army on March 29, 1974

 

A German history teacher, unhappy with the standardised history textbooks she has to work with, literally digs up her nation's past and sees how it is reflected in modern society.

A flamboyant character for Elton John’s birthday (1947).

“I want to remain an enigma forever. To others, and also to myself.”

– Ludwig II

Diversity for the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

 

Today marks the anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre (1960), when police butchered dozens of people gathered to protest the pass law, one of Apartheid's many cruel segregation measurements.

“In a short while you'll see that the moon won't be so bright as it is. Clouds will cover it… it'll get broken up there. I hope it won't break us.”

– Sybil

The multicultural residents of a Notting Hill boarding house go about their day – listening to the radio, humming, singing – with the local council's imminent demolition of their home looming over them.

 

A kitchen sink drama, yes. But also a catchy musical, written by no other than Galt MacDermot, who brought the world the musical Hair (1967) and the blaxploitation neo-noir Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970).

Ice or cold food to celebrate the final day of the Reykjavík Food & Fun Festival

“For me it’s important to note that the film’s information is also the only thing you know. That’s the idea of the tip of the iceberg, provided that only the portion above the water exists (in the film), because you know nothing of what’s under water and therefore it’s impossible for you to describe the entire iceberg.   For example, in De nieuwe ijstijd the characters are not described 'in their entirety'. What is shown is only what we’ve encountered when we were filming. It’s always a limited, fragmentary knowledge of everything that exists, and that’s how it’s shown.”

– Johan van der Keuken, via

Part three of Van der Keuken's Noord-Zuid trilogy. Again we are confronted with the contrast between the First and Third world, here represented by a Dutch family of monotonous ice-cream factory hands, and impoverished Peruvian workers establishing self-governance, accompanied by Willem Breuker's punching free jazz cacophony.