“You'll feel better soon. Once you're used to the mask, you'll be a new man — one with no records, no past. A mind invisible to the world.”他人の顔 [Tanin no kao / The Face of Another] (Hiroshi Teshigahara, 1966)
Jan
3
Tutankhamun's tomb

Mr. Okuyama (Tatsuya Nakadai). DP: Hiroshi Segawa.
Bandages for that day in 1924 when Howard Carter came across Tutankhamun's sarcophagus.
– psychiatrist
Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (Fritz Lang, 1924)
Jan
2
dragons

Siegfried (Paul Richter), seen from the back, bathing in the blood of the slain dragon. On his left shoulder blade, a linden leaf. DPs: Carl Hoffmann, Günther Rittau & Walter Ruttmann.
Dragons or lizards, January's soul symbol.
“When we behave nobody cares. But when we are bad nobody forgets.”Auch Zwerge haben klein angefangen [Even Dwarfs Started Small] (Werner Herzog, 1970)
Dec
30
National Short Person Day

Some of the main cast members, with three women in focus. They're outdoors and several animals, including a kneeling dromedary, can be spotted in the background. DP: Thomas Mauch.
A short main character for National Short Person Day (USA).
– Hombré
“I no longer even recognize myself. What made me like the others has been destroyed. I was like everyone else, with many faults, perhaps, mine and those of the world around me. You made me different by taking me out of the natural order of things.”Teorema [Theorem] (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1968)
Dec
29
Independence Day of Mongolia

The visitor (Terence Stamp) in intimate closeup. DP: Giuseppe Ruzzolini.
Someone finds their independence: Independence Day of Mongolia (Үндэсний эрх чөлөө, тусгаар тогтнолоо сэргээсний баярын өдөр).
– Pietro, the son
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.
Мъжки времена [Mazhki vremena / Manly Times] (Eduard Sachariev, 1977)
Dec
23
Festivus

The men with a kidnapped woman, as was a custom in the region. DP: Radoslav Spassov .
A really silly tradition for Festivus.
“I hate to see the evening' sun go down
I hate to see the evening' sun go down
It makes me think I'm on my last go 'round Feeling' tomorrow like I feel today
Feeling' tomorrow like I feel today
I'll pack my grip and make my getaway” Saint Louis woman with her diamond rings
Pulls that man around by her apron strings
Wasn't for powder and the store-bought hair
The man I love wouldn't go nowhere, nowhere I got them Saint Louis Blues; just as blue as I can be
He's got a heart like a rock cast in the sea
Or else he wouldn't have gone so far from me”St. Louis Blues (Dudley Murphy, 1929)
Dec
20
Walter “Wolfman” Washington – 1943

Bessie “the Empress of Blues” Smith, singing her blues away. DP: Walter Strenge .
Featuring rhythm and blues, funk or blues, for Walter “Wolfman” Washington's birthday (1943)
– Bessie Smith, St. Louis Blues (W. C. Handy)