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A masterpiece of the silent film era. "One of the most poignant, terrifying, and unrelenting historical documents ever filmed. Called an austere masterpiece in reference to the stark sets and extreme close-up photography. Joan of Arc is brilliantly played by Maria Falconetti."
Thurs. 12/2, 10:00 am.
2. "Pather Panchali": Satyajit Ray, India, 1955. 112 min.
One of the great achievements of post-war humanistic world cinema, a movie of great precision and great copmpassion. "The opening entry of Satyajit Ray's extraordinary "Apu" trilogy…is a fiercely naturalistic, devastating portrait of poverty and despair. Ray uses his considerable storytelling powers of detail, incident, and observation to interpret the relationship of a young Bengali boy and his family. The film has an emotional rhythm and fluid, precise lyricism."
Thurs. 12/2, 2 pm.
Using an ancient myth to reveal the hidden, sacred dimension behind everyday life. "Marcel Camus' quinressential love story based on the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is set against the backdrop of carnival in Rio de Janeiro. Orpheus, the streetcar conductor, falls in love with Eurydice. Winner of the Grand Prize at Cannes as well as an Oscar for Best Foreign Film.
Thurs. 12/2, 4 pm.
"Non-actors, rugged, Southern Italian landscapes and towns, cinema-verité techniques, expressive close-ups are some of the elements of Pasolini's moving sacred and mythic epic. His Christ is anguished, determined, a peripatetic preacher against the afflictions of social injustice, whose miracles are matter-of-fact."
Fri. 12/3, 10 am.
"A celebrated film from Cuba, photographed in a lush pallette, this startlingly beautiful masterpiece is based on an incident from 18th century Cuban history. The film is also a dazzling moral tale of a pious slaveholder who decides to improve his soul and instruct his slaves in the glories of Christianity by inviting 12 of them to participate in a reenactment of the Last Supper."
Fri. 12/3, 2 pm.
"The measured rhythms and formal compositions of African oral traditions give shape to this metaphoric film about Mossi [tribal] values. A young mute boy, orphaned when his mother refuses to marry, is found and adopted by a village, which names him "Wend Kuuni," or "God's Gift." This remarkable film won a César and numerous other international awards."
Fri. 12/3, 4 pm.
Experimental, imagistic, flowing like the movement of consciousness itself, "Koyaanosqatsi" is both moving and mysterious. A departure from "dramatic" movies, this film shows that it is possible in the cinematic art to approach the sacred from the direction of meditation. "With no dialog, only the music of Phillip Glass, and no characters other then the entire human race and the five elements, this years-in-the-making film is a symphony of sound and image, fast-paced, dazzling, hypnotic."
Sat. 12/4, 2 pm.
"Jamie Uys' unlikely comedy is the story of an African Bushman who discovers a discarded coke bottle which ultimately brings him face to face with modern man for the first time. Very heartwarming, entertaining, full of non-stop high-jinks…." This movie derives its tone and point of view from the life-attitude of the main character, and shows us how the sacred story can come to us in comic form.
Sat. 12/4, 4 pm.
In a time when movies generally are pressured to obey "the laws of the market," which means segmenting and dividing the market into "targets," this "family" movie takes us deep into the human mysteries of wounding and healing, separation and belonging. It is equally riveting in its portrayal of how childhood trauma can beget a tragic life myth, and in the magical moments of opening and grace that bring young Ingemar back to life. "More than just a movie, a phenomenon that has captured the hearts of America. A funny and touching tale of one boy's special growing-up year."
Sun. 12/5, 2 pm.
Wim Wenders classic movie about the transcendent power of love and of the desire to be alive was also wonderfully prophetic. Made in divided Berlin in 1988, the story shows us how the angelic "imagination" can soar over and move right through the barriers we erect between us. In the "angelic" context, the Berlin Wall did not exist, and within a year of the release of the movie, the Berlin Wall did in fact come down. Damiel, played by Bruno Ganz, is an angel who has grown tired of his inability to affect people's lives. When he falls in love with a beautiful trapeze artist, he decides to leave the heavens and enter the mortal world. With incredible cinematography by Henri Alekan, "Wings of Desire" is one of the rare movies in the past decade that actually stretch, break, and reform the boundaries of the medium."
Sun. 12/5, 4 pm.
"From master director Akira Kurasawa ("Rashomon," "The Seven Samurai," "Kagemusha"), comes perhaps his most personal film. Eight fascinating episodes dealing with war, childhood fears, the nuclear power question, and man's never-ending need to harmonize with nature."
Mon. 12/6, 10 am.
One of the great movies on the transcendental mystery of being, "Veronique" takes its structure from the archetypal idea, found in religions around the world, that when we are born into the world we come with a "spirit-double." The spirit- or "soul-double," may in various cases be a spirit-guide, totem animal, or guardian angel. "Two remarkable similar women, one in Warsaw and one in Paris, are acutely aware of each other's existence in this film about the linkage of souls. Veronika is a Polish music student with a beautiful voice and a heart condition. Veronique is a French schoolteacher paralyzed by doubt. Both are played by the beautiful Irene Jacob."
Mon. 12/6, 2 pm.
We underestimate how vividly popular movies frequently play out our own spiritual and psychological concerns, usually because we fail to appreciate that every story is a metaphor. "Groundhog Day" brings together an absurd situation with the idea of reincarnation to tell a story of what is essentially psychological growth and maturation. But in the telling of the tale, the movie challenges our views about all of the above. "Bill Murray stars as an obnoxious television weatherman caught in a time warp that forces him to relive the day he's stranded in a small Pennsylvania town."
Mon. 12/6, 4 pm.
The mystery of the ordinary. The hero of Abbas Kiarostami's film, which won the Grand Prize at Cannes, wants only one simple thing: to end his life. He has procured a cache of sleeping pills, chosen a site and dug his own grave: under a small cherry tree in the no-man's land surrounding sprawling Teheran. He just wants someone to do him the kindness of covering him over with dirt after he is dead. He is willing to pay for the service. The problem is that suicide is a crime, and abetting a suicide is also a crime. "The Taste of Cherries" follows the last day in the life of a man seeking a special kind of charity.
Tues. 12/7, 10 am.
"Smoke Signals" takes much of its power from its refusal to be sentimental about Native American life and spirituality. The main character is an awkward, orphaned adolescent who may have a shamanic gift and insight, but also has the burdens of sensitivity and alienation that go along with it. He must take on his shoulders as well the weight of the family "crime" that destroys his best friend's father.
Tues. 12/7, 2 pm.
NON-FICTION DOCUMENTARY FILMS AND VIDEOS
As the documentaries have different lengths and as Jane has collected some other documentaries there in Cape Town, I find it better to list the films with author and country and leave the scheduling up to Jane. There are quite a few documentaries from Brazil on the continuity of Afro-Brazilian spirituality, so maybe they can be combined with some of the African documentaries to form an African feature section.
1. "Millenium" - series: David Maybury-Lewis, England/USA, 5X120 min.
2. "Divine Horsemen": The Living Gods of Haiti: Maya Deren, USA, 52 min.
3. "Sukhavati: Place of Bliss": with Joseph Campbell, USA, 80 min.
4. "Sun Bear: Earth Changes": Bear Tribe, USA, 65 min.
5. "Atlantico Negro": Renato Barbieri, Brazil, 54 min.
6. "The Interfaith Message of the 1993 Parliament of the World's Religions": Andre Porto, Brazil, 33 min.
7. "One Day for the Earth": Andre Porto, Brazil, 30 min.
8. "Citron, Fruit of Splendor": Izza Genini, France/Morocco, 30 min.
9. "Embroidered Canticles": Izza Genini, France/Morocco, 30 min.
10. "Songs for a Sabbath": Izza Genini, France/Morocco, 30 min.
11. "Hymns of Praise": Izza Genini, France/Morocco, 30 min.
12. "The Seven Talents": Tanja Frank, Germany/Kenya, 76 min.
13. "Yle Xoroque": Raquel Gerber, Brazil, 30 min.
14. "Ori": Raquel Gerber, Brazil, 90 min.
15. "Aba": Raquel Gerber, Brazil, 4 min.
16. "Manas ki Jat - Recognize all People as One Human Race": Ralph Singh, India/USA, 36 min.
17. "There Should be No Poverty!": Ralph Singh, India/USA, 12 min.
18. "The Phoenix Rises": Sarah Pletts/Living Arts Found., USA, 37 min.
19. " A Dialogue on World Peace.": Don Riedel, USA, 15 min.
20. "A Life of Oneness": Keith Cunningham, USA, 20 min.
21. "The Peyote Road; Ancient Religion In Contemporary Crisis": Gary Rhine/DreamCatchers, USA, 60 min.
22. "Wiping the Tears of Seven Generations": Gary Rhine/DreamCatchers, USA, 57 min.
23. "The Red Road to Sobriety": Gary Rhine/DreamCatchers, USA, 90 min.
24. "Your Humble Serpent; the Wisdom of Reuben Snake": Gary Rhine/DreamCatchers, USA, 70 min.
25. "Rumi: Poet of the Heart": Haydn Reiss, USA, Approx. 60 min.
