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.
– Is there anything I can do for you? – You could make a film about my suffering.
کلوزآپ ، نمای نزدیک [Klūzāp, nemā-ye nazdīk / Close-Up] (Abbas Kiarostami, 1990)
Jan
19
Hossain Sabzian on the back of a motorcycle on a busy tree-lined, four lane street. He's holding a large potted rose-red dahlia. DP: Ali Reza Zarrindast.
X2000 (François Ozon, 1998)
Jan
1
2000
A young, naked man holding a drink observes two men asleep in a sleeping bag on the floor. On the wall behind them the text “2000” spelled out with tinsel garlands. DP: Pierre Stoeber.
“It was the morning of December 31, 1999 when I returned, at last, to judge the living and the dead. Though still, and perhaps always, I had my doubts.”
The Book of Life (Hal Hartley, 1998)
Dec
31
1999
The “New York News” of December 31, 1999. The headline reads LAST DAY OF CENTURY BELIEVERS PRAY FOR END. DP: Jim Denault.
“At 10 PM, in what will be the last broadcast, Fact or Fiction goes live.”
The Last Broadcast (Stefan Avalos + Lance Weiler, 1998)
Dec
15
1995
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An anxious looking camera man in the woods on grainy VHS stock. DP: Lance Weiler.
– David Leigh, the filmmaker
The Baby of Mâcon (Peter Greenaway, 1993)
Dec
12
Dīpāvalī
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The miraculous child (Nils Dorando) surrounded by candles. DP: Sacha Vierny.
Candles for Diwali*. Today's and tomorrow's theme are virtually interchangeable.
When an old crone gives birth to a beautiful baby, a young virgin claims the child as hers. With the Immaculately Conceived wonder put on display – to the child's contemporaries, the court of Cosimo de' Medici attending a reenactment of the events, and us film viewers – He protects the false Virgin from losing her chastity and blurs the walls between staging and gospel.
* “Diwali, one of the major religious festivals in Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism, lasting for five days from the 13th day of the dark half of the lunar month Ashvina to the second day of the light half of the lunar month Karttika. The corresponding dates in the Gregorian calendar usually fall in late October and November.” (source).
Roma dodici novembre 1994 [Rome, November 12, 1994] (Alfredo Angeli et al., 1995)
Nov
12
1994
“A premonition of a horror film”
Outer Space (Peter Tscherkassky, 1999)
Oct
26
Barbara Hershey as Carla Moran. DP of The Entity: Stephen H. Burum.
[Favourite] psychological horror*
– tagline
Real horror is not found in broken dinner plates or corpuscular masses of light. It's in what the mind does with that input, in how those lux morph into human-like shapes. In how gusts of wind becomes larynx-touched voices. Cut up the neatly filed research papers and be left with the whispers of the mind.
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for October is horror-themed as opposed to date-based, and is all about favourites. Expect non-horror and films I believe to be relevant instead.
1943-1997 ['43 – '97] (Ettore Scola, 1997)
Oct
16
1943
The boy (Francesco Cencioni) on the run in a locked down town. DP: Carlo Tafani.
Happy Birthday to John [Happy Birthday John Lennon] (Jonas Mekas, 1995)
Oct
9
1972
A rectangular birthday cake with a chocolate acoustic guitar spells out Happy Birthday John From Yoko And The Whole World. Presumed DP: Jonas Mekas.
On October 9th, 1972 an exhibition of John and Yoko's art – designed by the Master of the Fluxus movement, George Maciunas and curated by David Ross – opened at the Syracuse Museum of Art in New York. On the same day, an unusual group of John and Yoko's friends, including Ringo Starr, Allen Ginsberg, and Paul Krasner, gathered to celebrate John's birthday.