Holy Ghost People (Peter Adair, 1967)
Jan
28
Rattlesnake Roundup Day
A man holds up a live rattlesnake in front of a congregation. DP: Peter Adair.
“I'll take you to the horses. I'll take you to the Moon.”
Space Coast (Ross McElwee + Michel Negroponte, 1979)
Jan
26
NASA Day Of Remembrance
Cape Canaveral space journalist Mary Bubb, 59, determined to never miss a launch – shows up at a rocket launch.
– former NASA employee talking to his granddaughter
“When you work with the cosmos, suddenly you get ideas for how to treat some visuals, like some images that had no intention of being in the film. That’s the freedom of the independent. Normally when you’re making a movie, it's almost pre-set, what elements will go in, so it will have “a unified structure”. But for me, I shoot so many things impulsively, that once I start editing a movie, suddenly there is an imperative for this obscure shot to come in here … or there. You keep juggling until you find on organic flow. You don't have a script, you just do it by feel. You're surprised that audiences like it.”
Bakit Dilaw Ang Kulay ng Bahaghari? [Why Is Yellow the Middle of the Rainbow?] (Kidlat Tahimik, 1984/1994)
Jan
23
First Philippine Republic Day
Young Kidlat Gottlieb Kalayaan in the midst of defacing political pamphlets of Ferdinand Marcos. DPs: Kidlat Tahimik & Roberto Yniguez.
– Kidlat Tahimik, via
“These are not pretty stories but they need to be recorded.”
Numéro zéro [Odette Robert] (Jean Eustache, 1971)
Jan
21
Dzień Babci
Jean Eustache holds up a clapperboard while interviewing his grandmother Odette Robert. DPs: Adolfo Arrieta & Philippe Théaudière.
– Odette Robert
“I pledge allegiance to the flag–the white flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of America. When they say “black” or “negro,” it means you’re not an American. I pledge allegiance to your flag. Not that I have to, but just for the hell of it I pledge allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. The white flag, with no stripes, no stars. It is a prestige badge worn by a profitable minority.”
Mingus: Charlie Mingus [Mingus / Mingus In Greenwich Village] (Thomas Reichman, 1968)
Jan
20
National Charlie Day
Charles Mingus and Carolyn sharing an intimate father/daughter moment in their studio. DPs: Lee Osborne & Michael Wadleigh.
Thomas Reichman follows bandleader and musician Charles Mingus in those tense hours on November 22, 1966, right before he's forced to evict his #GreenwichVillage studio.
– Charles Mingus
Between the banter (“This is the same gun they shot Kennedy with”) and magical moments between the giant and his little daughter, we see and hear Mingus perform at Lennie's-On-The-Turnpike in Peabody, Massachusetts.
にっぽん戦後史 マダムおんぼろの生活 [Nippon Sengoshi – Madamu onboro no Seikatsu / History of Postwar Japan (Shōhei Imamura, 1970)
Jan
17
Customer Service Day
Hostess Emiko Takada watching footage of US occupying forces in a movie theatre. DP: Masao Tochizawa..
Le Pétomane du Moulin Rouge [The Fart Maniac] (1900)
Jan
7
National Pass Gas Day
Flatulist Joseph Pujol blowing out a candle with his derrière.
Witness the world famous pétomane shot on location at the Moulin Rouge (and amazingly not at Edison's Black Maria), as saved for prosperity by Edison Studios. The large trumpet-like contraption that can be seen on the left, the Edison Kinetophone, also present in The Dickson Experimental Sound Film (William Dickson, 1894/95), recorded the sound on a cylinder, that then could be played back in synch with the picture.
The original audio recording that accompanied this film is lost; do check your attic.