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Bales2025FilmChallenge

Drylanders [Un autre pays] (Don Haldane, 1962)

Apr

14

Great Depression

Drylanders (1962)

A woman runs from one wooden house to the other, barely visible in the dust whirling up around her (via). DP: Reginald H. Morris.

A film set during the Great Depression (or set in Oklahoma) on the date John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath was published in 1939.

 

A man who returns from the Boer War decides to become a wheat farmer, but – like so many others in North America – falls victim to the Dust Bowl.

悲愁物語 [Hishu monogatari / A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness] (Seijun Suzuki, 1977)

Apr

13

1997 Masters Tournament

悲愁物語 (1977)

Reiko, looking fabulous, dropped down next to a sand-filled bunker. DP: Masaru Mori.

Golf (or a tiger) in honour of Tiger Woods' 1997 Masters Tournament victory.

 

Reiko (Yoko Shiraki), a professional model – is groomed into playing the circuit by the editor of a golfing fashion magazine. The rookie's unexpected success draws in all sorts of fans, including the obsessive.

Test pilota Pirxa [Pilot Pirx's Inquest] (Marek Piestrak, 1979)

Apr

12

International Day of Human Space Flight

Test pilota Pirxa (1979)

Men and nonlinears to board the ship set for Saturn's Cassini Division. DP: Janusz Pawłowski.

A manned spaceship for the International Day of Human Space Flight

“He began thinking about the innocence of machines, about how man had endowed them with intelligence and, in doing so, had made them an accomplice of his mad adventures. About how the myth of the golem — the machine that rebelled against its creator — was a lie, a fiction invented by the guilty for the sake of self-exoneration.”

– Stanisław Lem, Opowieści o pilocie Pirxie (1968)

Commander Pirx is sent out on a secret mission to evaluate “nonlinears” – androids – to determine if they can be used for future space flights. In a blind test, androids and humans form a crew for Pirx to investigate and identify.

Ladri di biciclette [The Bicycle Thieves] (Vittorio De Sica, 1948)

Apr

11

National Cheese Fondue Day

Ladri di biciclette (1948)

Bruno (Enzo Staiola) eating mozzarella. DP: Carlo Montuori.

Cheese or fondue for National Cheese Fondue Day (USA)

“Do you fancy a pizza? Come on, then! Come on, let's go! What the hell. We might as well go out in style. What's the point in worrying about it all?”

– Antonio Ricci

Images (Robert Altman, 1972)

Apr

9

National Unicorn Day

Images (1972)

Cathryn's desk. There's a small framed reproduction of one of the six La Dame à la licorne tapestries, a sketch of a galloping unicorn, and a dried seahorse. DP: Vilmos Zsigmond.

A unicorn for National Unicorn Day (UK)

“and in big, spidery writing, he wrote 'In search of unicorns.' The End”

– quote from “In Search of Unicorns”, written by Susannah York

Cathryn (Susannah York), a children's book author, works on a book called “In Search of Unicorns”. Her desk, and mind, are occupied with images from a obscure diegesis.

ビルマの竪琴 [Biruma no tategoto / The Burmese Harp] (Kon Ichikawa, 1956)

Apr

8

花祭り

ビルマの竪琴 (1956)

Mizushima (Shōji Yasui) holding his harp, looked over by the reclining Buddha. DP: Minoru Yokoyama.

A film about Buddhism, or set in Japan, in honour of the birth of Buddha, celebrated in Japan on April 8 as 花祭り (Hana Matsuri, aka Flower Festival)

“Can't you see that whatever you do is futile? The armies of Britain and Japan can come and fight all they wish. Burma is still Burma. Burma is the Buddha's country.”

– old monk

While stationed in Burma, Mizushima disguises himself as a dhutanga, a wandering Buddhist monk, burying the remains of his fellow Japanese soldiers.

女篮五号 [Nü lan wu hao / Woman Basketball Player No. 5] (Jin Xie, 1957)

Apr

7

March Madness

女篮五号 (1957)

Tense moments during the match. DPs: Shaofen Huang & Xilin Shen.

Basketball: the final day of March Madness

 

Το άλλο γράμμα [To allo gramma / The Other Letter] (Lambros Liaropoulos, 1976)

Apr

6

Greece

Το άλλο γράμμα (1976)

A woman observing her own reflection (via). DP: Stavros Hassapis.

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.

Klincz [Clinch] (Piotr Andrejew, 1979)

Apr

5

Chicago

Klincz (1979)

One of the boxers goes down (via). DPs: Jacek Mierosławski & Zbigniew Wichłacz.

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.