Something something Greece (or the Olympics) on the date of the 1896 Summer Olympics

 

Athens seen through words put down in letters, forming a narrative of the city, Greece, its history, and its people.

The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.: civil rights being fought for.

“All the ideas I'd previously had were shown to be completely false. This was the first time I had really seen the strength and the power of a mass struggle; ordinary people directly participating in organizing their communities, and the defense of their communities.”

– Arthur MacCaig, title card

Something buried: discovery of the Terracotta Army on March 29, 1974

 

A German history teacher, unhappy with the standardised history textbooks she has to work with, literally digs up her nation's past and sees how it is reflected in modern society.

A flamboyant character for Elton John’s birthday (1947).

“I want to remain an enigma forever. To others, and also to myself.”

– Ludwig II

A film about communism to commemorate the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact on February 25, 1991.

“Alexandre Ivanovitch Medvedkine est le seul cinéaste russe né en 1900. (…) Son énergie, son courage, ses illusions, ses désillusions, ses compromissions, ses bagarres avec les bureaucrates, ses illuminations prophétiques, ses aveuglements, volontaires ou non, son humour indestructible et la lumière déchirante que l’effondrement de l’URSS jette rétrospectivement sur toute sa vie, ce sont ceux de toute une génération, et c’est le portrait de cette génération que j’entends tracer à travers le portrait d’un ami.”

– press kit (via)

A film essay using the life and work of filmmaker Aleksandr Medvedkin to tell the story of communism. Medvedkin traveled the Soviet Union with his Kinopoezd or Cinetrain (also Agit-train), a moving film production train with the sole purpose to create Agitprop while documenting the Five Year Plan.

Someone is snubbed or rejected on Pluto [Discovery] Day*.

“His body is golden like molten gold. This hand of his… will smooth away these wounds. Justin, he is as beautiful as the sun. This sun which caresses me… is his burning desire. He is Phoebus Apollo. The sun… is his… burning kiss.”

– Sebastian

Sebastian, member of the Emperor's personal guard, is exiled after an incident. He finds himself on a rocky outpost, and the object of the other men's lust. One of them – a centurion rejected by the Christian boy – subjects Sebastian to torture and eventually lifts him up martyrdom.

 

* Pluto Demoted Day is on August 24

Trying to stay out of conflict on the International Day of Neutrality.

“Whoever dies for the country hasn't lived in vain. I, on the contrary, will live for the country because I'm not that stupid.”

– George A. Custer

“Soyez réalistes, demandez l'impossible”

– May 68 slogan