Category Archives: documentary
The Listening Project
The Listening Project (2008, 31.5MB, 2:43)
It feels a bit cliched, but I’ll give this one the
benefit of the doubt, of doing relevant and
important work about the current state of
global relations.
The Listening Project is a documentary feature film
that puts a human face to world opinion of the U.S.
Filmed in 14 countries, it explores many facets of
America
PJK productions – SF Culture
SF Culture (2007, 17 MB, 2:09 min.)
“Bumped into a street opera singer in San Francisco who saw my
camera and said, “Of course you can film me.” He didn’t know who I was,
but I told him afterwards and still gave me permission to show, so here is
live from Sutter Street, Robert Close!!!!”
From Paul Knight at – Pjkproductions.
Kill the Artist
Kill the Artist Trailer (2008, 17MB, 2:37 min)
Kill the Artist (excerpt) (2008, 12.7MB, 1:09 min)
Documentary from Andreas Troeger about ‘artists who got into trouble with the law
because of their art-works’.
Personally I don’t share what I understand to be the film’s implicit
libertarianism – I’m all in favour of shutting down, for example,
Holocaust deniers, or race hate merchants generally.
Niether did I see any work in the extracts sent that I gave a damn about artistically
but of course the point is that censorship operates salami style
& often by picking the most problematic, hard to defend, cases first,
so the discussion here matters.
Nonetheless when the definitive history of political censorship of/attacks upon art in the early
twenty first century is written I can’t help feeling the Steve Kurtz case
will figure more largely than the stuff on display here.
Interested what others think.
Sex Positive
Daryl Wein – Sex Positive (2008, 16MB, 2:43)
Groundbreaking film from 24-year-old Daryl Wein.
I hate it when people mention my youthful age, but
I think since I know my motivations for doing it, I’ll
just accept that we all mean it as a compliment.
Wein’s portrait of 1980s AIDS activist Richard Berkowitz
is such a contribution to our modern understanding of the
history of AIDS and gay rights activism. One of the first
to speak out about the need for safe sex in the gay
community, Berkowitz was ridiculed and ostracized.
This excellent documentary finds Berkowitz today and
revisits his time as an S&M sex worker before becoming
an outspoken critic of the AIDS epidemic. Much of the older
footage is also courtesy of Berkowitz.
An outstanding collaboration.
Standard Operating Procedure
Errol Morris – Standard Operating Procedure (2008, 11.2MB, 2:00)
We don’t hide our love for Errol Morris – see here
and here – but there’s no need for us to apologize.
The man is a genius. His latest feature, Standard
Operating Procedure, interviews Abu Ghraib prison
guards and tells the story behind the now-infamous
photographs of abuse from the prison, uncovered in
2003. Dubbed a “nonfiction horror film” by Morris,
this investigative film, much like A Thin Blue Line,
helped Morris once again dig deeper into a crime
file, this one just more contemporary.
When you see a picture, you don’t see outside the frame.
With the frightening pictures as a jumping off point,
Morris interviews those involved with the scandal to
get the whole story.
Can’t wait to see this one.
The Intimacy of Strangers – Eva Weber
Eva Weber – The Intimacy of Strangers (2007, 7.4MB, 2:23)
Trailer for the innovative The Intimacy of Strangers,
“a story of life, love, loss and hope – told entirely
through overheard mobile phone conversations of
random strangers.”
Winner of several festival awards, including the President’s
Award at the 2007 Full Frame Film Festival, which is extra
exciting as Full Frame is one of the first festivals that has
started showing videoblog work within the last year. Be sure
to check out the excellent IoS website, a wonderful complement
to the actual film.
Day of Ashurah (Day of Tenth)
Day of Tenth (2006, 13.6MB, 1:40 min.)
Europe January 2006.
Sunnis and Shi’a Muslims commemorating ‘Day of Ashurah‘.
Lossy Video
Hollywood News (2006, 2.7MB, 1:06 min. )
Saddam on Trial (2006, 1.9MB, 52 sec)
Two pieces from the Montreal based video collective Lossy Video.
The idea being to take news footage & ..er..look at it closely.
The results are undeniably capable, attractive & interesting.
Reminds me, conceptually, of Mark Tribe
Two from Human Dog
Garage Door (2006, 4.4MB, 0:47)
Human Dog was one of the first videoblogs and has
been closed down since early 2007. Luckily, all of
the media remains online (so far). One of the best
things about the entire series of videos (and the various
serials therein) was creator Chris Weagel’s ability
to tease out the absurdity of everyday life without
hitting the audience over the head with his message.
Video that was made specifically to live online, this
is some of the best work ever produced in videoblog
format.