settima

fantasy

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.

Touha zvaná Anada [Desire Called Anad / Adrift] (Elmar Klos + Ján Kadár, 1968/1971)

May

20

Touha zvaná Anada (1968/1971)

Zuzka (Milena Dravić) holds a mirror to Anada's (Paula Pritchett) face. Zuzka's husband Jánoš (Rade Marković) looks on. DP: Vladimír Novotný.

दुविधा [Duvidha / The Dilemma] (Mani Kaul, 1973)

May

3

National Paranormal Day

दुविधा (1973)

Lachhi, the bride (Raisa Padamsee). DP: Navroze Contractor.

A supernatural theme for National Paranormal Day (USA). May 3 (coincidentally?) is also the day Charles Fort passed on to a different realm.

 

A ghost falls in love with a bride whose husband, a merchant, is away from home. He takes on the man's form, and lives with her.

حاجی واشنگتن [Hajji Washington / Haji Washington] (Ali Hatami, 1983)

Apr

30

George Washington – 1789

Hajji Washington (1983)

The ambassador and guest in the embassy. The guest, a white cowboy peeling peanuts, leisurely rests on a Persian rug with a hookah by his side. The ambassador recites from a book, with his chaii within reach (via). DP: Mehrdad Fakhimi.

The White House, or set in Washington, DC, in commemoration of the first inauguration of George Washington in 1789.

 

Hajji Hossein-Gholi Noori was Iran's first ambassador to the United States in 1889. Stuck in DC, homesick, and without any US-based Iranians to serve, he slowly unravels

The Adventure of Faustus Bidgood (Andy Jones + Michael Jones, 1976/1986)

Apr

17

Constitution Act, 1982

The Adventure of Faustus Bidgood (1976)

Faustus Bidgood, President. DP: Michael Jones.

A film set in Canada on the date the Constitution Act, 1982 was enforced. The rights of the Indigenous peoples remain undefined up to today.

“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.

कालिया मर्दन [Kaliya Mardan / The Childhood of Krishna] (Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, 1919)

Apr

1

April Fools' Day

कालिया मर्दन (1919)

Shri Krishna (Mandakini Phalke, the director's seven-year old daughter), playing his flute with a twinkle in his eye. DP: Dhundiraj Govind Phalke.

A fool or jokester for April Fools' Day

 

As a child, Shri Krishna, the eighth avatar of Lord Vishnu, was a prankster. The Lord and his childhood friends would steal makhan and, if there was too much to eat all at once, would share it with the monkeys.

 

Kaliya Mardan is one of the handful films from India's early cinematic output that has survived. Do check your attic

Baron Prášil [The Fabulous Baron Munchausen] (Karel Zeman, 1962)

Mar

14

Under the Skin – 2013

Baron Prášil (1962)

A weird of quirky sci-fi film on the date Under the Skin (2013) was released in the UK.

“I cast my hat out into the universe, let it greet those who are on their way from Earth. From this day forward, the Moon is no longer a dream.”

– Cyrano de Bergerac

Тіні забутих предків [Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors] (Sergei Parajanov, 1965)

Feb

6

St. Dorothea of Caesarea

Тіні забутих предків (1965)

The childhood lovers to be newlyweds. During the wedding ceremony, the bride suddenly breaks out in smile. DPs: Yuri Ilyenko & Viktor Bestayev.

A wedding on the day of Dorothea of Caesarea, patron saint of horticulture, brewers, brides, florists, gardeners, midwives, newlyweds, and love.

Případ pro začínajícího kata [Case for a Rookie Hangman] (Pavel Juráček, 1970)

Jan

30

doors

Případ pro začínajícího kata (1970)

In a completely dark room, a large silhouette of a man can be seen rushing through a brightly lit doorway. Other, impossible doors at odd heights show several people observing the man. Still via DVDBeaver. DP: Jan Kališ.

A gateway or door for Janus, god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and ending

 

A man named Gulliver (Lubomír Kostelka) accidentally runs over a rabbit, who is dressed to the nines and carries a pocket watch. Slowly, the man finds himself in a sort of Wonderland.