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How now, what news: the Criterion Channel’s July lineup is here. Eight pop renditions of Shakespeare are on the docket: from movies you forgot were inspired by the Bard (Abel Ferrara’s China Girl) to ones you’d wish to forget altogether (Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing), with maybe my single favorite interpretation (Michael Almereyda’s Hamlet) alongside Paul Mazursky, Gus Van Sant, Baz Luhrmann, Derek Jarman, and (of course) Kenneth Branagh. A neonoir collection arrives four months ahead of Noirvember: two Ellroy adaptations, two from De Palma that are not his neonoir Ellroy adaptation, two from the Coen brothers (i.e. the chance to see a DVD-stranded The Man Who Wasn’t There in HD), and––finally––a Michael Winner picture given Criterion’s seal of approval.

Columbia screwballs run between classics to lesser-seens while Nicolas Roeg and Heisei-era Godzilla face off. A Times Square collection brings The Gods of Times Square,...

Production has started in the Philippines on Filipino-Australian artist James J. Robinson’s debut feature, First Light, starring Ruby Ruiz.

The UK’s Independent Entertainment is representing global sales, excluding Australia and New Zealand. Bonsai Films will distribute the film theatrically in Australia and New Zealand.

Ruiz, known for Lulu Wang’s Expats, stars alongside veteran Filipino star Maricel Soriano, whose credits include Mother Nanny. Rounding out the cast is Rez Cortez, Soliman Cruz and Kidlat Tahimik.

It is set in the remote mountains of the Philippines, where the death of a young construction worker forces an elderly nun to...

Multi award-winning Filipina actress Ruby Ruiz has landed her first major screen role following her appearance in Amazon’s “Expats.” She will lead “First Light,” the feature directorial debut of James. J. Robinson.

Principal photography is now underway on the Australian-Filipino co-production, which comes with funding from Screen Australia. Veteran actress Maricel Soriano (“Mother Nanny”), Rez Cortez (“Bukal”), Soliman Cruz (“Blue Room”) and Kidlat Tahimik round out the cast.

Set in the remote mountains of the Philippines, “First Light” sees the death of a young construction worker force an elderly nun to confront the muddied ethics of an institution she has dedicated her life to. The script, also by Robinson, is a deeply personal story exploring the intersection of duty, faith and institutional power.

“Developing ‘First Light’ over the past two years has been an incredibly profound journey into the heart of pre-colonial Filipino philosophy,” Robinson said. “To be able...

It takes a lot for a cinematic creative to do multiple jobs on one production. Many directors work closely with their actors over many years, building a rapport, maybe even a second language that allows them to develop and improve with each new work. It's tough to get closer than an actor and director being the same person, however, and a rare case across Asian cinema. Nevertheless, there are directors out there who have proven to be a cut above the rest by turning the camera on themselves and expanding their range in the process. Here are ten of the most striking self-directed performances Asian cinema has to offer.

1. Bruce Lee

Action stars don't get much more iconic than Bruce Lee, the Hong Kong superstar taken far too soon at the age of 32 and the height of his powers. His sole directorial effort is “The Way of the Dragon”, a...

Our tribute to Filipino cinema proved a great idea, since we managed to discover a truly underrated and very rarely mentioned part of international cinema, with the 70s and 80 in the Philippines in particular offering a series of movies that could easily be described as masterpieces. In contrary to European or even American films, the rather intriguing aspect of these films is that they manage to combine intense social commentary with mainstream and occasionally even horror and exploitation elements, thus results in a series of titles that could have universal appear, also because they are also quite artful.

Without further ado, here are 13 of the titles that truly stood out.

1. Manila in the Claws of Light (1975) by Lino Brocka

The main element of Lino Brocka’s narrative is, evidently, realism, with him implementing a documentary-like approach to the social circumstances of Manila in the 70’s. In this effort, he benefits...

Kidlat Tahimik counts as one of the most important and influential filmmakers from the Philippines. Similar to his aforementioned colleagues his works deal with the difficult and problematic legacy of colonialism as well as the process of adapting to modernity, in particular, the rise of capitalism and commercialism. His first, and arguably his most famous feature “Perfumed Nightmare” already set the groundwork for these themes, earning him not only critical praise but also international acclaim, such as awards at the Berlin Film Festival. However, in the light of recent developments such as gentrification, “Perfumed Nightmare” has become more relevant than ever, as its satirical approach highlights the pitfalls behind a rapidly growing economy and a form of globalization growing detached from the cultural roots of a nation.

“Jiseok” is screening at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema

Throughout the feature, Tahimik follows a semi-documentary approach telling the story of his life and eventual disillusionment,...

Vesoul Unveils Asian Lineup

The Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema has unveiled its 85-title lineup for the edition that starts later this month. Elements include a 10-film competition section, a 10-film documentary film section, a tribute to the Turkish director Semih Kaplanoglu; a thematic section “Asian Diaspora Cinema” offering a panorama of works by directors from Asian countries living in exile; and a Philippines cinema sidebar.

Fiction films in competition include: Azerbaijan’s “Cold as Marble,” by Asif Rustamov; China’s “In Our Prime,” by Liu Yulin; Korea’s “A Letter from Kyoto,” by Kim Min-ju; India’s: “Behind Veils,” by Praveen Morshhale; Iran’s “No End,” by Nader Saievar; Mongolia’s “The Sales Girl,” by Sengedorj Janchivdorj; The Philippines’s “Feast,” by Brillante Mendoza; Singapore’s “#LookAtMe,” by Ken Kwek; and Vietnam’s “Memento Mori: Earth,” by Marcus Vu Manh Cuong. The president of the jury is Lee Yong-kwan,...

In selection, at the 29th Festival International des Cinémas d’Asie de Vesoul, 85 films including 38 new ones, from 31 countries.

The president of the Jury will be Mr Lee Yong-kwan (Korea), president of the prestigious Busan festival, the Cannes of Asia.

A tribute will be paid to the Turkish director Semih Kaplanoglu, in his presence. The entirety of his work will be presented, from his first film Away From Home, in competition at Vesoul 2002, to his latest opus Hasan’s Promises, Cannes 2021, including Honey, Golden Bear Berlin 2010.

20 films in competition, in French, European, international or world premiere, will be judged by 7 juries. The competitive sections are composed of films from rare cinematographies, and films from major cinematographies.

Replay of award-winning films at the Guimet Museum of Asian Arts in Paris on April 21, 22 and 23, 2023 and at the Inalco (Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales).

To celebrate the 75th anniversary...

The Film Development Council of the Philippines launched the Fdcp Channel streaming platform at the Cannes Film Market on Tuesday.

Available at launch will be 140 films, including 100 Filipino titles from the country’s masters including Lino Brocka, Ishmael Bernal, Kidlat Tahimik, Chito Rono, Brillante Mendoza and Dodo Dayao.

In addition, there will be 41,000 film heritage elements available on the platform including news reels and documentaries.

The platform has several tiers. The basic access service is free and has short films, panel discussions and special events. An SVOD tier that costs PHP99 (1.90) per month provides access to local and international films. Tvod access makes curated local and international films available. In addition the platform also offers event access to free or paid-for live-streamed special events.

The channel began life in the middle of the pandemic in Sept. 2020 as an online platform for the Pista Ng Pelikulang Pilipino, the Philippines’ national film festival,...

Kim Maxime Baglieri on In Order To Escort Her: “I wanted to work on a story that would be healing for everyone, or at least help bridge the cultural divides in family alone.”

In the third in a series of Doc NYC conversations with filmmakers from the Hunter College Mfa Program in Integrated Media Arts (see Neville Elder on his Anamnesis [Part One] and Lidiya Kan on Morkovcha (Korean Carrot Salad)), I discussed with Kim Maxime Baglieri the influence of Aleph director Iva Radivojevic, Michael Gitlin, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Kidlat Tahimik, and Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko, the impact of migration and family separation, generational storytelling, resilience, hope and magic, belief in the supernatural, the malunggay plant, and the mysterious nature of her title In Order To Escort Her. Kim brought up that she watched Brett Morgen’s documentary Jane on Jane Goodall while in the process of making her film.

Kim Maxime...

The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) added 65 titles to its lineup Tuesday, unveiling the non-competitive program sections Best of Fests, Masters and Paradocs. The 34th edition of IDFA takes place from Nov. 17-28 in Amsterdam.

Best of Fests honors award winners, critics’ picks and audience favorites from the year’s festivals. The 46 strong selection includes India-set story about estranged lovers “A Night of Knowing Nothing” by Payal Kapadia, documentary award winner at Cannes, wildlife film “The Velvet Queen,” by debut director Marie Amiguet, “Users,” an exploration of humanity’s future by Natalia Almada, and “Taming the Garden,” the slow-cinema feature by Salomé Jashi.

These are joined by buzzy audience films such as Alison Klayman’s Alanis Morissette biopic “Jagged,” and Bing Liu and Joshua Altman’s “All These Sons,” from the filmmaking team behind “Minding the Gap.” The section also pays tribute to the surprise gems from the festival circuit,...

Kidlat Tahimik counts as one of the most important and influential filmmakers from the Philippines. Similar to his aforementioned colleagues his works deal with the difficult and problematic legacy of colonialism as well as the process of adapting to modernity, in particular, the rise of capitalism and commercialism. His first, and arguably his most famous feature “Perfumed Nightmare” already set the groundwork for these themes, earning him not only critical praise but also international acclaim, such as awards at the Berlin Film Festival. However, in the light of recent developments such as gentrification, “Perfumed Nightmare” has become more relevant than ever, as its satirical approach highlights the pitfalls behind a rapidly growing economy and a form of globalization growing detached from the cultural roots of a nation.

“Perfumed Nightmare” is streaming on Mubi

Throughout the feature, Tahimik follows a semi-documentary approach telling the story of his life and eventual disillusionment,...

For the last five months, Film Comment — the house organ of Film at Lincoln Center, a repository for erudite film coverage, and a thought leader in specialty film — has existed in limbo. It’s not dead; while the staff was put on hiatus in March, publisher Eugene Hernandez is working to determine next steps. It’s not in print; its last physical edition was March/April. It’s not quite digital: Content for the May/June issue is available at the Film Comment site and at Zinio, but any internet consumer knows that online publications can’t survive on bimonthly updates.

From the critical brickbats of Pauline Kael vs. Andrew Sarris to defining identities for seminal filmmakers like Max Ophüls, John Huston, and Martin Scorsese, Film Comment has been at the center of a vital global film conversation for 58 years. Embraced by cinephiles and academics, it also saw the art...

For the last five months, Film Comment — the house organ of Film at Lincoln Center, a repository for erudite film coverage, and a thought leader in specialty film — has existed in limbo. It’s not dead; while the staff was put on hiatus in March, publisher Eugene Hernandez is working to determine next steps. It’s not in print; its last physical edition was March/April. It’s not quite digital: Content for the May/June issue is available at the Film Comment site and at Zinio, but any internet consumer knows that online publications can’t survive on bimonthly updates.

From the critical brickbats of Pauline Kael vs. Andrew Sarris to defining identities for seminal filmmakers like Max Ophüls, John Huston, and Martin Scorsese, Film Comment has been at the center of a vital global film conversation for 58 years. Embraced by cinephiles and academics, it also saw the art...

Like most film festivals this year, Locarno Film Festival will not be moving ahead as usual. However, they’ve found inventive ways to both celebrate filmmakers they’ve long admired and present films physically and digitally. After announcing a new initiative to support new films by Lucrecia Martel, Lisandro Alonso, Lav Diaz, Wang Bing, Miguel Gomes, and more, they’ve asked this class of talented directors to select their favorite films in Locarno history.

A Journey in the Festival’s History is devoted to Locarno’s 73-year history of showing the best in international cinema. Made up of twenty films, a selection will screen online for those in Switzerland as well as Mubi internationally. On August 5-15, they will also screen in person at Locarno’s theaters.

Lili Hinstin, Artistic Director of the Locarno Film Festival, said, “It would be an impossible task to present a review of the history...

Films by Roberto Rossellini, Chantel Akerman and Marguerite Duras feature in selection.

The Locarno Film Festival has unveiled the selection of 20 classic film titles that will be showcased in its A Journey In The Festival’s History sidebar as part of its special hybrid edition running August 5 to 15.

The line-up is part of the festival’s ’Locarno 2020 – For the Future of Films’ edition which was created after it was forced to cancel its 73rd edition due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The titles have been selected by the directors taking part in its festival’s exceptional The Films After Tomorrow initiative...

High-profile filmmakers including Lucrecia Martel and Lav Diaz have contributed to a retrospective program for the Locarno Film Festival (August 5-15), selecting 20 titles from the event’s 74-year history that will have online and physical screenings next month.

Due to ongoing pandemic disruption Locarno shifted the majority of its festival online this year, though ten of the below list of titles will still have physical screenings in Switzerland. The entire program will be shown online for free in Switzerland by the fest, while it is partnering with streamer Mubi to stream the films outside of the country.

Ranging from 1948 (Locarno’s third edition) to 2018 (its 71st), the titles offer a broad insight into the fest’s history and are directed by filmmakers such as Roberto Rossellini, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Jim Jarmusch, Michael Haneke, and Whit Stillman. The selectees are all participating in Locarno’s ‘The Films After Tomorrow’ initiative this year,...

One of the pioneers of independent cinema in the Philippines, Kidlat Tahimik has been tinkering away on his latest film since 1979. Like much of his output, the pugnaciously titled BalikBayan #1: Memories of Overdevelopment, Redux IV (2017), resembles as much a collage of moods, periods, film stocks and video formats as it does any kind of coherent movie. Working from an original 33-minute cut assembled in the early 1980s, the film is in part about Enrique of Malacca, a slave who accompanied his master Ferdinand Magellan on the first circumnavigation of the globe. What showed at Play-Doc, the small […]...

One of the pioneers of independent cinema in the Philippines, Kidlat Tahimik has been tinkering away on his latest film since 1979. Like much of his output, the pugnaciously titled BalikBayan #1: Memories of Overdevelopment, Redux IV (2017), resembles as much a collage of moods, periods, film stocks and video formats as it does any kind of coherent movie. Working from an original 33-minute cut assembled in the early 1980s, the film is in part about Enrique of Malacca, a slave who accompanied his master Ferdinand Magellan on the first circumnavigation of the globe. What showed at Play-Doc, the small […]...

In 2018, Kidlat Tahimik (which means “quiet lightning” in Tagalog) was honored with the order of the National Artist of the Philippines in Film, the highest state’s award for artists. Now his best-known work, “Perfumed Nightmare,” comes back to Berlin Festival, 42 years after receiving International Critics Award there. Upon its release, critics saw it as a breath of fresh air and it was considered a pioneering work of Filipino independent cinema. Some film historians associated it with the rebellious Third Cinema movement. Sincere yet conceptual in its formal jugglery, stunning with eccentric aesthetics, it was the distinctive manifesto of a budding director. With passing time, the film, proclaimed by Werner Herzog as one of the most original and poetic works of cinema made anywhere in the seventies, hasn’t lost its rough charm and ability to mesmerize international audiences. Also, because of the heyday of the post-colonial discourse and growing...

Three men’s slow trek through the wild unfolding in black and white; a scathing critique of the Philippine elite in the form of a gritty, dramatic re-enactment of a real-life protest march; a funny documentary about a filmmaker’s meetings with local artists as he makes his way across the country in a camper van. These three shorts making up Lakbayan are very representative of their creators’ wildly different approaches in producing politically charged art.

Bringing together slow-cinema stalwart Lav Diaz, social realist Brillante Mendoza and the self-reflexive satirist Kidlat Tahimik, the omnibus is part of the celebrations marking the ...

Three men’s slow trek through the wild unfolding in black and white; a scathing critique of the Philippine elite in the form of a gritty, dramatic re-enactment of a real-life protest march; a funny documentary about a filmmaker’s meetings with local artists as he makes his way across the country in a camper van. These three shorts making up Lakbayan are very representative of their creators’ wildly different approaches in producing politically charged art.

Bringing together slow-cinema stalwart Lav Diaz, social realist Brillante Mendoza and the self-reflexive satirist Kidlat Tahimik, the omnibus is part of the celebrations marking the ...

Mubi is proud to present the first-ever online retrospective of renowned Filipino auteur Lav Diaz. To give audiences the proper time to spend immersed in Diaz’s cinema, Mubi will debut one film each month during the retrospective.Illustration by Leah BravoFilmmaker Lavrente Indico Diaz, named after Soviet statesman Lavrentiy Beria (1899-1953), was born on December 30th 1958 in the municipality of Datu Paglas, province of Maguindanao, Mindanao Island, Southern Philippines. The son of a fervently Catholic woman from the Visayas (Central Philippines) and a Socialist intellectual from Ilocos (Northern Philippines) who, firmly believing that education is the key to improve Man's condition, devoted their lives to schooling peasants in the poorest, remotest Maguindanao villages, Diaz has always had an utilitarian conception of culture and, by extension, of all forms of artistic expression. To Diaz, art should not be an end to itself, a purely formalist exercise, but—to paraphrase a...

One of the most interesting collisions of the public perception of Iran’s Islamic state and its reality is how, out of an apparently repressive state hostile to the creative arts, Abbas Kiarostami became the essential free filmmaker. “Freedom” is always a relative term when it comes to cinema, which, like politics, unfortunately runs on money. But it’s easy to spot the genuinely free filmmakers when they come along. Despite their varying struggles to get their movies made, the work that results is directly personal and unbound by prevailing cultural trends and diktats. They range from Jean Vigo to Kidlat Tahimik, Pedro Costa to Shirley Clarke, Stan Brakhage to Jose Luis Guerin. Kiarostami was the free filmmaker par excellence, since he managed to find his ever-developing acute approach to modernism through whatever system in which he might find himself working.

Read More: Abbas Kiarostami, Palme d’Or-Winning Director Of...

Edited by Adam CookThe first issue of Cinema Scope of 2015 has arrived and with it their annual top ten list, always an endearing straggler. Much of the content is online including an interview with Filipino director Kidlat Tahimik by yours truly and Daniel Kasman, Shelly Kraicer on the cinema of Luo Li, and more. Don Hertzfeldt's latest film, World of Tomorrow, is available on demand via Vimeo. In his latest entry, David Bordwell writes on the "unexpected virtues of long-winded blogging", and shines a spotlight on some of his blog pieces that have found their way into print—as well as some insight into Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Penance:"Penance would be something for young filmmakers to study. It shows how locations can be used elegantly and economically, and how the inability to get extreme long shots in cramped quarters can actually be an advantage. Classrooms, offices, and gymnasiums are used with a sober restraint,...

"There truly is no such thing as a bad Guy Maddin interview," writes editor tag>Mark Peranson, introducing the new issue of Cinema Scope, which also features the magazine's top ten of 2014 (#1 is tag>Pedro Costa's tag>Horse Money). Issue 62 also features pieces on new work by tag>Kidlat Tahimik, tag>Kevin Jerome Everson, tag>Michael Mann, tag>Luo Li, tag>Rick Alverson, tag>Kornél Mundruczó and more. The Nation's 150th anniversary issue is full of treasures from the archive, including tag>James Agee's 1946 review of tag>Frank Capra's tag>It's a Wonderful Life. Also in today's roundup of news and views: tag>Adrian Martin on tag>Better Call Saul and much more. » - David Hudson...

"There truly is no such thing as a bad Guy Maddin interview," writes editor tag>Mark Peranson, introducing the new issue of Cinema Scope, which also features the magazine's top ten of 2014 (#1 is tag>Pedro Costa's tag>Horse Money). Issue 62 also features pieces on new work by tag>Kidlat Tahimik, tag>Kevin Jerome Everson, tag>Michael Mann, tag>Luo Li, tag>Rick Alverson, tag>Kornél Mundruczó and more. The Nation's 150th anniversary issue is full of treasures from the archive, including tag>James Agee's 1946 review of tag>Frank Capra's tag>It's a Wonderful Life. Also in today's roundup of news and views: tag>Adrian Martin on tag>Better Call Saul and much more. » - David Hudson...

Below you will find our total coverage of the 2015 Berlin International Film Festival. New interviews will be added to the index as they are published.

Correspondences

Between Adam Cook and Daniel Kasman

#1

Introduction by Daniel Kasman

#2

Adam Cook continues the festival introduction

#3

Daniel Kasman on Guy Maddin and Evan Johnson's The Forbidden Room, Jafar Panahi's Taxi

#4

Adam Cook on Jem Cohen's Counting, Guy Maddin and Evan Johnson's The Forbidden Room, Jafar Panahi's Taxi

#5

Daniel Kasman on Berlin Critics' Week, Nathalie Nambot and Maki Berchache's Brûle la mer, Kevin B. Lee's Transformers: The Premake, Alex Ross Perry's Queen of Earth

#6

Adam Cook on Pablo Larraín's The Club, Kidlat Tahimik's Balikbayan #1 Memories of Overdevelopment Redux III, Andrew Haigh's 45 Years, Wim Wenders' Everything Will Be Fine

#7

Daniel Kasman on Werner Herzog's Queen of the Desert, Patricio Guzmán's The Pearl...

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Balikbayan #1 Memories of Overdevelopment Redux III

Dear Danny,

How silly is it that, as cinephiles, our happiness is so bound up with the films we watch? My mood fluctuates at festivals, often based on what film I watched last. One recent morning exemplified this. You and I went to see the press screening of Chilean director Pablo Larraín’s new film, The Club. I was keen on this one as his last film, No (2012), was superb (I recall the mysterious Celluloid Liberation Front wrote on it for us from Cannes). Unfortunately, this film was entirely different, not just in style, but in its relationship to its subject matter, its characters, the world. Where No was invested in people, The Club takes on a very heavy topic with a level of disdain that left me feeling cold. The film is about a group of priests,...

Experimental strand to open with Guy Maddin’s The Forbidden Room

The Berlinale (Feb 5-15) has unveiled the line-up for its 45th Forum strand, comprising 43 films in its main programme, of which 31 are world premieres and 10 international premieres.

The programme includes avant garde, experimental works, essays, long-term observations and political reportage.

Canadian director Guy Maddin’s The Forbidden Room will open this year’s programme. The film’s numerous plotlines are inspired by real, imaginary and photographic memories of films from the silent era, using a half-damaged nitrate print aesthetic in homage.

Films of the 45th Forum

Abaabi ba boda boda (The Boda Boda Thieves) by Yes! That’s Us,

Uganda / South Africa / Kenya / Germany - Wp

Al-wadi (The Valley) by Ghassan Salhab, Lebanon / France / Germany

Balikbayan #1 (Memories of Overdevelopment Redux) by Kidlat Tahimik, The Philippines - Wp

Beira-Mar (Seashore) by Filipe Matzembacher, Marcio Reolon, Brazil - Wp

Ben Zaken by Efrat Corem, Israel - IP[p...

The 18th annual Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival takes place 23-28 October 2014. From over 2,800 submissions, the programming committee has selected over 200 films from 42 countries, including 57 world, international or European premieres. These premieres include 10 Czech films in competition in the Czech Joy section.

Over the course of its existence, the Jihlava festival has become an indispensable Czech and worldwide documentary event, and an active contributor to the promotion and distribution of documentary films. The Jihlava festival is a co-founder and member of Doc Alliance, a prestigious union of seven important European documentary festivals.

Program – Year Eighteen

As in past years, the largest celebration of original documentary film in Central and Eastern Europe will present a diverse range of Czech and foreign films, with many world, international, European, and Czech premieres.

“This year’s festival is a true tribute to the artistic and independent film scene. This tribute will take place in the presence of such special guests as Kidlat Tahimik (which translates to “Quiet Lightning”), founder of independent Filipino cinema, whose films from the 1970s were declared by Werner Herzog to be among the most free to come out during that time, and noted Chinese director Wang Bing, winner of awards at festivals in Venice, Rotterdam, Yamagata and Marseilles,” said festival director Marek Hovorka.

The Face Of The Festival

The central motif of the 18th festival is a stark black-and-white symbol of a factory. It’s not only the dominant visual feature of the festival, but has also found its way into the films themselves. The poster was designed by artist, educator and publisher Juraj Horváth. This year’s festival trailer was created by the legend of Czech and world cinematography Jan Němec. This was his very first experience with this format; the intensity of the final form, however, can be felt in his short statement on the trailer’s filming:

“There are no ‘small’ or ‘big’ films. Twenty seconds expresses concern about the possible demise of film. I sound the alarm myself and the shadow of my hand is my signature.”

1. Organization And Awards

The festival is organized by the Jsaf civic association. In 2013, the festival issued more than 2,900 festival passes. Of these, 782 were for film professionals and festival guests from the Czech Republic and abroad, and 156 were for journalists. The festival screenings were attended by a total of more than 30,000 viewers.

The following awards will be presented as part of the 2014 Jihlava Idff:

· 2014 Best International Documentary Film Award (Opus Bonum competition)

· 2014 Best Central and Eastern European Documentary Film Award (Between the Seas competition)

· 2014 Best Czech Documentary Film Award (Czech Joy competition)

· 2014 Best Experimental Documentary Film Award (Fascinations competition)

· 2014 Best Debut Film Award (First Lights competition)

· 2014 Best Short Film Award (Short Joy competition)

· 2014 Contribution to World Cinematography

2014 Spectators Prize 2014 Respekt Award for the best television or video reportage · Silver Eye Award in the categories of short, mid-length, and feature documentary

(part of the East Silver market organized by the Institute of Documentary Film)

· 2014 Award for the Most Beautiful Festival Poster

· 2014 Audience Award for the Most Beautiful Festival Poster

2. New At The 18th Jihlava Idff

This year’s festival brings two new competitions: the former non-competition section Short Joy, focusing on short films, has received competition status, and in the new competition First Lights, the jury will choose the best debut film from the Opus Bonum, Between the Seas and Czech Joy sections. And of course there’s our annual retrospective of distinctive personalities and unique thematic sections.

The Complete Letters

This unique project is the brainchild of the Centre for Contemporary Culture in Barcelona, in which five pairs of world-renowned directors exchanged audio-visual “letters”. These letters will be presented at Jihlava in their Eastern European premiere. Filmmakers such as meditative artist Naomi Kawase, legend of the New York avant-garde Jonas Mekas, “lone wolf” Albert Serra and critical chronicler of contemporary China Wang Bing invite viewers into their private lives and into the secrets of their artistic poetics.

“It’s remarkable to see how much each letter reflects the personal style of each of the directors. Never have two directors with such radically different styles come together like this,” commented festival programmer David Čeněk.

Forgotten Filmmaker JIŘÍ PolÁK

This photographer, director and sensitive individual who escaped to the “place where dreams are made real” – the island of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf prior to the August occupation of Czechoslovakia – is one of the forgotten figures of Czech cinema. Jiří Polák was able to film Hospital in Kuks, but did not enjoy any domestic recognition. After his emigration and short stays in Vienna and Switzerland, he accepted film assignments in Iran.

Tribute: Alain Resnais

“Renowned French director passed away on 1 March 2014 at the age of 91. In memory of his work, we have prepared two screenings of his lesser-known or completely unknown films. He himself was instrumental to an unprecedented extent to the development of documentary filmmaking in France, and showed its new stylistic possibilities,” says festival programmer David Čeněk about this unique presentation of Resnais’ (mainly) early work. Alain Resnais The majority of Resnais’ works being presented at this year’s Jihlava Idff have been shown only a few times in France, and are being screened in the Czech Republic for the first time ever.

Retrospective: Kidlat Tahimik

A special guest at this year’s Jihlava festival will be the “father of Filipino independent film” – director, actor, screenwriter and producer Kidlat Tahimik, the founder of the so-called Filipino New Wave and an influential commentator on post-colonialism and power imbalances throughout the world, praised in the West by Werner Herzog when he said that [Tahimik’s] films from the 1970s are among some of the most free works on film of their time.

3. Jurors

The jury for the competition section Opus Bonum traditionally consists of just one person – a notable personality from world cinema. This year, this honour has been bestowed on a significant figure from the Yugoslav Black Wave – Želimir Žilnik.

The best film in the Between the Seas section will be chosen by:

· French film theoretician Raymond Bellour

· Spanish director Albert Serra

American artist Deborah Stratman Artist Kateřina Šedá Czech Joy Jury:

Poet Petr Hruška Former director of Czech Television Ivo Mathé Film historian Tereza Czesany Dvořáková Documentary filmmaker Bohdan Bláhovec The winner of the experimental competition Fascination will be determined by the Austrian master of found footage Peter Tscherkassky and his wife, filmmaker Eve Heller.

The historic first judging of the Short Joy section will be conducted by members of the art group Rafani.

4. Competition Sections

Czech Joy

Competition for the Best Czech Documentary Film 2014.

A prestigious selection of new Czech documentaries, including 10 world premieres. Films include Daniel’s World (Veronika Lišková), a look at the last taboo of modern society – paedophilia. The delightful film Long Live Hunting! (Jaroslav Kratochvíl) takes aim at Czech hunting. Shadows of the past are revealed in the film Pavel Wonka Commits to Cooperate ( Libuše Rudinská), which examines whether the last Communist prisoner was a dissident and symbol of the revolution – or an StB collaborator. The section also includes a pair of family portraits: Family Business / from Videodiary (Jakub Wagner), and Marislav Janek’s eagerly awaited new film The Gospel According to Brabenec, about Vratislav Brabenec of the Plastic People of the Universe.

World Premieres · Daniel’s World, Veronika Lišková, Czech Republic 2014, 75 min

· The Gospel According to Brabenec , Miroslav Janek, Czech Republic 2014, 85 min

· Long Live Hunting! , Jaroslav Kratochvíl, Czech Republic 2014, 62 min

· Pavel Wonka Commits to Cooperate , Libuše Rudínská, Czech Republic 2014, 73 min

· The Plan , Benjamin Tuček, Czech Republic 2014, 91 min

· The Czech Way , Martin Kohout, Czech Republic 2014, 90 min

· Family Business / from Videodiary , Jakub Wagner, Czech Republic 2014, 60 min

· František of His Own Kind , Jan Gogola Jr., Czech Republic 2014, 26 min

· Lets Block , Martina Malinová, Czech Republic 2014, 47 min

My Farm Is My Castle , Jiří Stejskal, Czech Republic 2014, 87 min

Opus Bonum

Competition for the 2014 Best World Documentary Film

Opus Bonum selects the best noteworthy documentaries representing diverse trends from around the world. Sixteen films are in the Opus Bonum competition for best world documentary film, including 5 world premieres, 5 international premieres and 1 European premiere. Films in this section include Rock On Bones, a personal view of the Russian independent music scene, and the film-poem Fovea Centralis, which skirts the fringe of video art, composed of multiplied images from the Fukushima nuclear power plant’s closed-circuit cameras.20 Cents shows what happens when public transportation fares in São Paulo are increased and the carnival atmosphere is replaced by one of guerrilla warfare.

World Premieres · Aged , Philip Hoffman, Canada 2014, 45 min

· Rock on Bones , Caroline Troubetzkoy, France 2014, 145 min

· I Am the People , Anna Roussillon, France 2014, 110 min

· In Your Eyes , Pietro Albino Di Pasquale, Italy 2014, 78 min

Fovea Centralis , Philippe Rouy, France 2014, 50 min International Premieres · Chasing After The Wind , Juan Camilo Olmos Feris, Colombia 2014, 60 min

· Water to Tabato , Paulo Carneiro, Guinea-Bissau, Portugal 2014, 45 min

· 20 Cents , Tiago Tambelli, Brazil 2014, 52 min

· Buenos Aires Free Party , Homero Cirelli, Argentina 2014, 74 min

The Shelter , Fernand Melgar, Switzerland 2014, 101 min European Premiere The Beijing Ants , Ryuji Otsuka, China 2014, 88 min

Between The Seas

Competition for the 2014 Best Documentary Film from Central and Eastern Europe.

Between the Seas is a competition section for the countries and nations of Central and Eastern Europe. Between the Seas presents 17 films, of which 4 are world premieres, 2 are international premieres, and 2 are European premieres. The Serbian Lawyer is one of the films seeing its world premiere at Jihlava – a film about the man who defended Slobodan Milošević and Radovan Karadžić, criminals from whom he had fled during the old regime. Another premiere in this section is Zuzana Piussi’s Transference , which sketches a dark picture of the state social care system for threatened children in Slovakia after the death of an abused child. Also in competition is the latest film by unsparing Austrian analyst Ulrich Seidl. In the Basement reveals that the basement is a rather important place for many Austrians, where you’ll find the usual hunting trophies and unusual bars, but also town council members and their swastikas, sadomasochism and other “hobbies”.

World Premieres · Transference , Zuzana Piussi, Slovakia/Czech Republic 2014, 57 min

· The Serbian Lawyer , Aleksandar Nikolić, Germany/Great Britain/Serbia 2014, 82 min

· Pill Junkies , Bartosz Staszewski, Poland 2014, 76 min

Ocean , Tamara Drakulić, Serbia 2014, 77 min International Premieres · 6 Degrees , Bartosz Dombrowski, Poland 2013, 81 min

A Last Year in 114 Minutes , Daniel Nicolae Djamo, Romania 2014, 114 min European Premieres Euromaidan: Rough Cut , Roman Bondarchuk et al., Ukraine 2014, 60 min Don’t Breathe, Nino Kirtadzé, France 2014, 86 min

Fascinations

Competition for the 2014 Best Experimental Documentary Film.

Fascinations is a competition screening of experimental films that offer us unique approaches to the depiction of reality. The section will present 33 films, including 7 world premieres, 6 international premieres, and 4 European premieres.

Premiere films include:

An animated work based on Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philisophicus (Active Image O directed by Becky James); the unguided choreography of white points in black space (Fascinating Moments by Yoshiki Nishimura); a memorial to one’s father using old photographs and chemical manipulation of the film itself using salt and seaweed (Dark Matter by Karel Doing); and a journey through a digitally manipulated landscape (L by Jacques Perconte).

World Premieres

· Active Image O , Becky James, USA 2014, 8 min

· Dark Matter , Karel Doing, Netherlands/Great Britain 2014, 20 min

· Fascinating Moments , Yoshiki Nishimura, Japan 2014, 4 min

· L , Jacques Perconte, France 2014, 15 min

· Our Hands Are Empty , Sj Ramir, Australia/New Zealand 2014, 10 min

· Jupiter Lolopop , Charlotte Dunker, Belgium 2014, 5 min

Study of Synchromy , Patrick Bergeron, Canada 2014, 3 min International Premieres

· Cut Out , Guli Silberstein, Great Britain 2014, 4 min

· The Civilization Desire , Carolina Astudillo, Spain 2014, 7 min

· A.D.A.M. , Vladislav Knežević, Croatia 2014, 13 min

· Digital Landscaping , Sangsok Ko, South Korea 2013, 4 min

· Field , Yi Myun, South Korea 2014, 6 min

Salers , Fernando Dominguez, Argentina/France 2014, 9 min European Premieres

· Beep , Kyungman Kim, South Korea 2014, 10 min

· Callisto , Youjin Moon, USA 2014, 14 min

· Droga! , Miko Revereza, Philippines 2013, 7 min

Frame Walk , Hayoung Jeon, South Korea 2014, 6 min Short Joy

Competition for the Best Short Film 2014 .

This year, this originally non-competition section devoted to short films has been transformed into a new competition section. The fifteen competition entries include films from all over the world, dealing with a wide spectrum of topics, and representing many current trends in contemporary documentary filmmaking. The Czech entry, Arguments by Andran Abramjan (who received an honourable mention in last year’s Czech Joy competition), considers the possibilities of dialogue on the Ukrainian crisis from both the eastern and western points of view. The purely observational film The Limits of Europe, underscored by the noise and sounds of protests, explores the spontaneous architecture of seven Kiev barricades erected in the streets leading to Independence Square. The contemplative and imaginatively filmed The Length enters the world of jazz legend Ted Curson.

First Lights

Competition for the Best Debut of 2014

Further evidence of Jihlava’s mission to support the film industry and share in the discovery of new talents is the presentation of a new competition section that rewards the best first work. Debut films presented as part of the traditional competition sections Opus Bonum, Czech Joy and Between the Seas have the opportunity to “battle it out” in a space that is not limited by territory. Comparing Czech and other Eastern European documentaries with their competition from the rest of the world can be a valuable experience, an opportunity to see commonalities and differences. It can also provide mutual inspiration not only for the films’ creators, but also for producers and other film professionals.

5. Non-competition Sections

Exprmntl.Cz

Experimental films from the Czech lands

This section is a non-competition survey of contemporary trends in Czech experimental film. Screenings will include films by renowned artists as well as filmmakers who just starting out.The unsettling video art of Zbyňek Baladrán, who focuses primarily on “archaeological” work with found material, can be seen in Dead Reckoning, showing the sterility of modern man’s life in four sequences featuring statistics, psychoanalysis, income and paranoia in the leading roles. Alice Růžičková’s film Autonomous Calábek takes a look into the plant kingdom. Made from a montage of scientific and film experiments, her portrait of a pioneer in plant physiology takes on surrealistic qualities.

Special Event

New world and Czech films, pre-premieres and festival hits

Alice Nellis presents Adoption: A Piece of Fortune, a kaleidoscope of stories with the same ending – a longed-for child. This opening film of the Jihlava Idff is a documentary exploration of a complex topic. In contrast, American master Errol Morris’ film The Unknown Known is a chilling look at former Us Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld. The Last of the Unjust by Claude Lanzmann captures the testimony of Benjamin Murmelstein, the “puppet king” appointed at the end of the Nazi era to the position of the last “Ältester” of the Judenrat at a model Jewish ghetto. Also worth mentioning is Regarding Susan Sontag, director Nancy Kates’s portrait of one the most important intellectuals of the 20th century.

Doc-fi

Documentary and fiction are not opposites

Doc-fi expresses the conviction that the boundary between documentary and fiction is permeable. This year, three unusual films will be screened. Requiem for Beauty by Chinese author and Nobel Prize winner Gao Xingjian examines the space between film, poetry and painting. His multi-language monologues touch on themes that people do not speak about much anymore. In Beyond Icebergland, a man, a woman and a child occupy an invisible common film space, but not the same reality. It’s an ephemeral chronicle of a frozen time and a collage of images from a disappearing world, a film on the frontier of documentary, mystification and delightful genre games. Czech filmmaker Ondřej Vavrečka’s Among Us is an experimentally tinged love story that takes place during the time when the country was coming to grips with the death of Václav Havel.

6. Doc Alliance

Doc Alliance is the result of a creative partnership of seven key European documentary film festivals: Cph:dox Copenhagen, Doclisboa, Dok Leipzig, Fid Marseille, Jihlava Idff, Planete Doc Film Festival and Visions du Réel Nyon.

The aim of Doc Alliance is to help documentary films reach as many viewers as possible, and to systematically support their distribution through their festival markets and through the alliance’s online platform www.DAFilms.com.

The world premiere of Czech fiction film-maker Alice Nellis’ documentary Auditioning For Parenthood will open the 18th Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival tonight (Oct 23).

The programme of more than 200 films from 42 countries includes world premieres of such titles as Martin Kohout’s The Czech Way, Jaroslav Kratochvil’s Long Live Hunting!, and Veronika Liškova’s story of paedophilia in Daniel’s World.

Other world premieres include French film-maker Caroline Troubetzkoy’s personal view of the Russian independent music scene Rock On Bones, Bartosz Staszewski’s Pill Junkies, Aleksandar Nikolić’s German-uk-Serbian co-production The Serbian Lawyer, and Anna Roussillon’s I Am The People.

Jihlava will have international premieres of Brazilian director Tiago Tambelli’s 20 Cents, Romanian Daniel Nicolae Djamo’s A Last Year in 114 Minutes, Swiss film-maker Fernand Melgar’s The Shelter (which premiered in Locarno and will travel on to Dok Leipzig next week), and Colombian Juan Camilo Olmos Feris’ Chasing After The Wind.

Ukrainian film-maker...

It's the still in a process of refinement, but Indiewire has expanded their gateway to film criticism with Criticwire 2.0, which works as a catalog of critics and criticism that offers a much needed alternative to Rotten Tomatoes. It's less about looking for consensus than it is about offering a simple way of following the critics that interest you and discovering new ones along the way.

The Vienna Film Festival is underway, and while all of us who are not attending lament not being able to check out Mike Ott's DJ set, we have only the coverage of others to turn to for consolation. Turns out there isn't much of that available either, unless you can read German, so for now check out our coverage here in the Notebook, and hopefully there will be more to share next week. Ti West is prepping his next horror film, The Sacrament,...

We at Mubi think that celebrating the films of 2010 should be a celebration of film viewing in 2010. Since all film and video is "old" one way or another, we present Out of a Past, a small (re-) collection of some of our favorite of 2010's retrospective viewings.

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This is a list of older movies I saw for the first time in 2010—not necessarily the best, but the ones that gave me the greatest sense of discovery. It’s a sad commentary on contemporary film culture that only five of the twelve films I mention are available on Netflix.

Routine Pleasures (Jean-Pierre Gorin, USA, 1986)

An essay film from the Godard’s former collaborator during his leftist Dziga Vertov Group days. The movie begins as a documentary about a group of model train enthusiasts in San Diego who have constructed an elaborate imaginary world with enormous and minutely detailed landscapes and a...