settima

Bales2025FilmChallenge

فلسطين في العين [Filastin fi al-ayn / Palestine in the Eye] (Mustafa Abu Ali, 1977)

May

28

Amnesty International Day

Filastin fi al-ayn (1977)

Palestinian freedom fighters.

Amnesty International Day: someone who fights for human rights

“Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of person”

– The Right to Live, the third of the Human Rights

Filmmaker #HaniJawharieh died while working for the #PLO Film Unit, an organisation fighting for the rights of the Palestinian people. His own death in 1976, which he caught on camera, is edited into this documentary.

Снежная королева [Snezhnaya koroleva / The Snow Queen] (Gennadiy Kazanskiy, 1967)

May

25

National Missing Children's Day

Снежная королева (1967)

Kai (Vyacheslav Tsyupa) under the Snow Queen's spell. DPs: Vadim Grammatikov & Sergei Ivanov.

Someone missing is found on National Missing Children's Day (USA)

 

Oh boy, how to do this one without a spoiler…

 

Siblings Gerda and Kai are best friends until one day, the Snow Queen's mirror shatters into a million pieces. One shard pierces Kai's eye, the other his heart, and from that moment on, all he can see is evil and his heart is cold. Now taken in by the Queen, and cold to Gerda's affection, the girl tries all to get Kai, the old Kai, back.

Jubilee (Derek Jarman, 1978)

May

24

Tiara Day

Jubilee (1978)

Bod (Jenny Runacre), wearing a Crown Jewels-jewelish affair, and Amyl Nitrate (Jordan) clutching her pearls. DP: Peter Middleton.

A “member of a monarchy” for Tiara Day

“Rule Britannia, Britannia, Britannia…”

– Amyl Nitrite

Queen Elizabeth I (Jenny Runacre) requests Her court occultist John Dee (Richard O'Brien) to show Her Majesty the future of Her kingdom, baroness Thatcher's rotten England, ruled over by a gang of nihilist women.

Angst [Fear] (Gerald Kargl, 1983)

May

23

National Title Track Day

Angst (1983)
Klaus Schulze (1983)

1: K. Out. Out. DP: Zbigniew Rybczynski.
2: Klaus Schulze at work in 1983 (via)

A killer title track for National Title Track Day (USA)

“The fear in her eyes and the knife in the chest. That's my last memory of my mother. That's why I had to go to prison for four years, even though she survived.”

– opening lines

What stabs you harder in the chest than Klaus Schulze's synth-driven killing spree?

Mlad i zdrav kao ruža [Young and Healthy As a Rose] (Jovan Jovanović, 1971)

May

21

Employee Health and Fitness Day

Mlad i zdrav kao ruža (1971)

Stiv (Dragoslav 'Dragan' Nikolić) working out. DPs: Petar Lalović & Petar Dositej Aranđelović.

A character who works out on Employee Health and Fitness Day (USA)

“Ja sam vaša budućnost”

– Stiv

Reason Over Passion [La raison avant la passion] (Joyce Wieland, 1969)

May

19

Victoria Day

Reason Over Passion (1969)

A winding road. nearos oevr isoasnp. DP: Joyce Wieland.

A movie made or set in Canada for Victoria Day (Canada)

“sroena evor ssiapon”

– Pierre Trudeau

Joyce Wieland's heart and camera travel from the Canadian east coast all the way to the west. Cars drive by, suns set, suns rise, and Pierre Trudeau's motto rings on in 537 permutations.

La caduta degli dei (Götterdämmerung) [The Damned] (Luchino Visconti, 1969)

May

18

Visit Your Relatives Day

La caduta degli dei (Götterdämmerung) (1969)

Martin Von Essenbeck (Helmut Berger) entertains the family. DPs: Pasqualino De Santis & Armando Nannuzzi.

A family gathering on Visit Your Relatives Day (USA)

“You must realize that today in Germany anything can happen, even the improbable, and it's just the beginning, Frederick. Personal morals are dead. We are an elite society where everything is permissible. These are Hitler's words. My dear Frederick, even you should give them some thought.”

– Aschenbach

The wealthy Von Essenbecks gather for a family dinner party. There is entertainment.

Den vita väggen [The White Wall] (Stig Björkman, 1975)

May

17

från Sverige

Den vita väggen (1975)

Monika (Harriet Andersson) (via). DP: Petter Davidson.

An actor, director, or character from Sweden for OP Bramble Jim's Swedish grandma's birthday (happy birthday, Grandma!).

 

Monika – in spirit the Monika from Bergman's Sommaren med Monika (1953) – is middle-aged, unemployed, and in limbo. We follow her life for a single day.

Ich bin meine eigene Frau [I Am My Own Woman] (Rosa von Praunheim, 1992)

May

16

Honor Our LGBT Elders Day

Ich bin meine eigene Frau (1992)

Ichgola Androgyn, Jens Taschner, and Charlotte von Mahlsdorf as Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. DP: Lorenz Haarmann.

An LGBTQ actor, director, or character over 55 for Honor Our LGBT Elders Day (USA)

“Ich bin meine eigene Frau” (“I am my own woman/wife”)

– Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, in response to her mother's request to settle and get married

The extraordinary life of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, Berliner, gender bender, Nazi killer (her own father, with a wooden rolling pin, mind you), prisoner, custodian, museum founder, barmaid, Stasi informer (arguably), den mother to the GDR's LGBT+ youngsters, but most of all, her own woman.

Anayurt Oteli [Motherland Hotel] (Ömer Kavur, 1987)

May

14

Receptionist Day

Anayurt Oteli (1987)

Receptionist Zebercet. DP: Orhan Oğuz.

A receptionist or secretary for Receptionist Day

 

The proprietor and receptionist of a small hotel welcomes a new guest. The woman, her name she doesn't tell, stays for only one night with the promise to return the following week. The receptionist waits.