Wśród nocnej ciszy [Quiet Is the Night] (Tadeusz Chmielewski, 1978)
Sep
14
A young student sits on the ledge of a barge, looking up at another man. DP: Jerzy Szurowski.
Alan “How long will I live?” Cesare “Till the break of dawn.”
Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari [The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari] (Robert Wiene, 1920)
Dec
25
Hanukkah + Christmas
Cesare (Conrad Veidt) escapes with Jane (Lil Dagover) in his arms. Composition and distribution of light and shadow – much of which was painted directly on the set pieces – strike a strong resemblance with the oldest known survived photograph by Nicéphore Niépce from ca. 1822 – 1827. DP: Willy Hameister.
A favourite scene featuring light for Hanukkah and Christmas.
“Hey! If you're going to throw those guns away, can I have one?”
Night of the Comet (Thom Eberhardt, 1984)
Sep
20
cereal
An empty box or Raisin Bran lies tipped-over next to a Toshiba boombox. Just visible but out of focus is Samantha Belmont (Kelli Maroney) in her cheerleader uniform DP: Arthur Albert.
– Sarah
Kisapmata [Sa bawat kisapmata / In the Wink of an Eye] (Mike De Leon, 1981)
Aug
18
gatas
Adelina (Charito Solis) unwell in bed. She holds a glass of milk. DP: Rody Lacap.
Salesman (Albert + David Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin, 1969)
Mar
29
breakfast
Bible salesmen enjoying breakfast at a soulless motel. DP: Albert Maysles.
Watched on Good Friday.
Иконостасът [Ikonostasat / The Icon Stand] (Christo Christov + Todor Dinov, 1969)
Feb
5
apples
A closeup of woman's hand moving an apple. The black-and-white photography is deliberately out of focus. DP: Atanas Tasev.
Pождество обитателей леса [Rozhdestvo obitateley lesa / The Insects' Christmas] (Wladyslaw Starewicz, ca 1912)
Father Christmas makes a Christmas tree for the people of the forest.
Дед Мороз (Ded Moroz, or Old Man Frost) is the Slavic version of Saint Nicholas or Santa Claus. An ornament depicting the old grey climbs down a child's (or doll's) Christmas tree and sets off to the forest where he plants his magic staff to create a Christmas feast for the woodland animals.
The word “animation” means “a bestowing of life“. Like his ancestor in the arts Bernard Palissy and the ancient winter solstice celebration of the return of light that long ago spawned Christmas, Wladyslaw Starewicz's Insects' Christmas breathes life into real but inanimate beetles, dragonflies, and frogs. The illusion is complete as you effortlessly forget they are painstakingly animated.
From me to you, a little Christmas treat
#Bales2023FilmChallenge #WladyslawStarewicz #Russia #fantasy #animation #ShortFilm #Christmas #holidays #StopMotion #insects #animals #1910s ★★★★☆
Празник [Praznik / The Feast] (Đorđe Kadijević, 1967)
Dec
25
Christmas dinner
Soldiers eating bread at a set table. DP: Aleksandar Petković.
“You know Mum, I don't have to write to Santa anymore. There's an easier way, through Minitel.”
3615 code Père Noël [Deadly Games / Dial Code Santa Claus] (René Manzor, 1989)
Dec
4
Santa's List Day
A man in a grey overcoat and yellow scarf at a public Minitel terminal. On the display the code 3615 and an 8-bit illustration of Santa Claus carrying his bag with presents. The sack holds a smaller Minitel device with the text PERE NOEL. DP: Michel Gaffier.
A letter to Santa on Santa's List Day (USA)
Aah France… Land of old wine, old cheese, old art, and Internet access in the early 80s. Prestige project of Président Giscard, France was determined to take a technological leap. Any French man, woman and child could borrow a Minitel – a PC-like videotex device – from the national telecommunications services. For those without landline there were numerous public terminals throughout the land. The machine gave the people access to a phonebook (convenient!), the news (smart!), same-day delivery shopping(!) and sexting (ooh la la!). All these services were accessible via a code starting with 3615 followed by a string of letters. Dial 3615 ULLA to text with a sexy lady – some telecom employee pretending to be one – and 3615 PERE NOEL for Santa Claus. The real one, of course.
9 year old whizkid Thomas (Alain Lalanne aka Alain Musy) is dead set on proving that Santa is real and not some weirdo looking for a gullible kid to play with. A trap is set, and the boy waits.
– Thomas
3615 code Père Noël is definitely not your cutesy little Christmas romp. The violence is not cartoonish, the bandit is more Manson than moist. The boy's disillusionment in the adults around him is a perfect mirror of “Santa's” lonely attempts to communicate and be accepted. However, Thomas' mom didn't lie about one thing; that seeing Santa on Christmas Eve turns you into an ogre. Or an adult, as the grownups call it.
“There is no why for my making films. I just liked the twitters of the machine, and since it was an extension of painting for me, I tried it and loved it. In painting I never liked the staid and static, always looked for what would change the source of light and stance, using glitters, glass beads, luminous paint, so the camera was a natural for me to try—but how expensive!”
Lights (Marie Menken, 1966)
Dec
1
National Christmas Lights Day
A display of what appear to be red, yellow, green and blue bell-shaped Christmas lights among silhouetted tree branches. DP: Marie Menken.
Christmas lights for National Christmas Lights Day (USA)
It took experimental filmmaker Marie Menken three years to shoot Lights. From midnight until 1 AM, she filmed New York's window displays during the holiday season, using her camera, motion, colour, and available light sources as her paintbrush.
– Marie Menken, c. 1966
Filming at night helped to avoid unwanted interruptions of people and cars, but turned out to be problematic for her hand-cranked #Bolex, which kept stalling in NYC's icy winter nights.
