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The Adventure of Faustus Bidgood (Andy Jones + Michael Jones, 1976/1986)
Apr
17
Constitution Act, 1982
Faustus Bidgood, President. DP: Michael Jones.
“I'm dead as a doornail
Though very high strung
I can make loud noises
Though I have no lung”
Clerk Faustus Bidgood dreams of becoming the president of Newfoundland and lead the province to secede from Canada.
Newfoundland's first and only all-Newfoundland film. It took ten years to complete.
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Culloden (Peter Watkins, 1964)
Apr
16
1746
“Sir Thomas Sheridan, Jacobite military secretary. Suffering advanced debility and loss of memory. Former military engagement, 56 years ago. Sir John MacDonald, Jacobite captain of cavalry. Aged, frequently intoxicated, described as 'a man of the most limited capacities.' John William O'Sullivan, Jacobite quartermaster general. Described as 'an Irishman whose vanity is superseded only by his lack of wisdom.' Prince Charles Edward Stuart, Jacobite commander in chief. Former military experience: 10 days at a siege at the age of 13.”
– narrator
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Daïnah la métisse [Dainah the Mixed] (Jean Grémillon, 1932)
Apr
15
Titanic
Mechanic Michaux (Charles Vanel) and Daïnah (Laurence Clavius) on the Art Deco liner. DPs: Louis Page & Georges Périnal.
A cruise ship in remembrance of the sinking of the Titanic on April 14–15, 1912.
Mestiza Daïnah, who accompanies her illusionist husband on the luxury cruise ship he works on, loves to flirt and tease the other sex, including the ship's engineer Michaux. When she disappears, suspicion falls not only on Michaux, but also on her Black husband.
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Drylanders [Un autre pays] (Don Haldane, 1962)
Apr
14
Great Depression
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.
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悲愁物語 [Hishu monogatari / A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness] (Seijun Suzuki, 1977)
Apr
13
1997 Masters Tournament
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.
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Test pilota Pirxa [Pilot Pirx's Inquest] (Marek Piestrak, 1979)
Apr
12
International Day of Human Space Flight
Men and nonlinears to board the ship set for Saturn's Cassini Division. DP: Janusz Pawłowski.
“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.”
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Les demoiselles de Rochefort [The Young Girls of Rochefort] (Jacques Demy, 1967)
APr
10
Siblings Day
Sisters Delphine and Solange Garnier mid-song, played by real-world sisters Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Dorléac. DP: Ghislain Cloquet.
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Images (Robert Altman, 1972)
Apr
9
National Unicorn Day
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.
“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.
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ビルマの竪琴 [Biruma no tategoto / The Burmese Harp] (Kon Ichikawa, 1956)
Apr
8
花祭り
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.
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女篮五号 [Nü lan wu hao / Woman Basketball Player No. 5] (Jin Xie, 1957)
Apr
7
March Madness
Tense moments during the match. DPs: Shaofen Huang & Xilin Shen.