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Boris Karloff: The Universal Face of Horror
Karloff Double Bill: The Black Cat & Bride of Frankenstein James Whale, USA, 1934THE BLACK CAT (CFF 15) Director: Edgar G. Ulmer. Starring: Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, David Manners, Julie Bishop. USA 1934. 65 mins. Karloff is the evil architect, luring a young American... |
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CFC: Frankenstein, The Gothic and The Horror Film James Whale, USA, 1931James Whale drew on stylistic references to German Expressionism for his 1931 film based on Mary Shelley’s Gothic novel FRANKENSTEIN. Chief make-up artist Jack Pierce’s design of the... |
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The Old Dark House James Whale, USA, 1932Loosely based on a J.B. Priestley play, an assorted cast find themselves stranded overnight in a sinister Welsh house in this splendidly eccentric comedy. There’s the butler Karloff ("an... |
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Karloff Double Bill: Frankenstein & The Mummy James Whale, Karl Freund, USA, 1931FRANKENSTEIN (PG) Director: James Whale. Starring: Colin Clive, Boris Karloff, Mae Clarke, Dwight Frye. USA 1931. 71 mins. The story of the mad scientist Dr Frankenstein who stitches together... |
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The Raven Roger Corman, USA, 1963Very loosely based on a poem by director Roger Corman’s frequent muse, Edgar Allen Poe, THE RAVEN tells of a trio of sorcerors – one good (Vincent Price), one bad (Peter Lorre) and one ugly... |
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CFC: Monsters on Film: Young People's Special Effects Film Workshop UK, 2008Learn the tricks of special effects and make-up to create your own Film Monster, then watch your creation on screen. The best monster will be screened before Boris Karloff films in the Festival!... |
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Celebrating Warner Bros.
White Heat Raoul Walsh, USA, 1949One of the greatest gangster movies of the post-war period, WHITE HEAT’s influence can be found in countless other classics of the genre. James Cagney turns in perhaps his greatest role as Cody... |
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You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story Richard Schickel, USA, 2008This new documentary forms the centrepiece of Warner Bros. Studios' 85th Anniversary celebrations, as the award-winning filmmaker and Time magazine senior film critic takes a look at the history... |
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I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang Mervyn LeRoy, USA, 1932Based on the true story of Robert E Burns, Mervyn LeRoy’s film tells the story of Sgt James Allen a WWI veteran unwittingly caught up in a robbery and wrongly sentenced to 10 years in a brutal... |
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Captain Blood Michael Curtiz, USA, 1935A swashbuckling adventure, CAPTAIN BLOOD stars Errol Flynn as Dr Blood, convicted of treason and sold into slavery. Dr Blood leads a mutiny of the slaves on a Spanish ship and under his leadership... |
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Strangers on a Train Alfred Hitchcock, USA, 1951It starts with a shriek of a train whistle... and ends with shrieking excitement! Tennis star Guy Haines meets a stranger on the Washington-to-New York train who offers to exchange murders. The... |
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Black Legion Archie Mayo, USA, 1937This hard-hitting, socially conscious drama, the sort of story that Warner Bros. made their hallmark in the 1930s, stars Humphrey Bogart and Erin O’Brien Moore. Bogart plays Frank Taylor, a... |
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Yankee Doodle Dandy Michael Curtiz, USA, 1954This dynamic and patriotic film tells the story of George M Cohan, the theatrical everyman who is considered to be the father of American musicals. From the his days as a child star to vaudeville... |
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Baby Face Alfred E Green, USA, 1933Alfred Green’s gritty tale of post-Depression amorality tells the story of Lily Powers, a prostitute who leaves rural Pennsylvania for the bright lights of Manhattan after the death of her... |
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Derek Jarman: Remembered
Julia Erick Zonca, Belgium, 2008Tilda Swinton plays Julia, a 40 year old alcoholic just scraping through a life of vodka and one night stands. Her only friend Mitch, himself a recovering alcoholic, encourages her to attend an AA... |
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War Requiem Derek Jarman, UK, 1989Jarman’s movingly innovative vision of the challenging choral work by Benjamin Britten remains one of his most intriguing and ambitious works. Britten’s lyrical and religious reflection on the... |
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Blue & Ostia Derek Jarman, Julien Cole, UK, 1993A film at the very limit of what cinema is and can be – and, as a result, a remarkable incarnation of the most essential qualities of the medium – Jarman’s final work is both a startlingly... |
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La Rabbia Pier Paolo Pasolini, Giovanni Guareschi, Italy, 1963In 1963 newsreel producer Gastone Ferranti commissioned Marxist Pier Paolo Pasolini and conservative Giovannino Guareschi to each make a one hour document about the state of things as they saw it.... |
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Derek Isaac Julien, UK, 2008A lovingly assembled tribute to Jarman’s life and work – built around Colin MacCabe’s interview with the film-maker at his retreat in Dungeness – Isaac Julien’s film draws on the... |
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Edward II Derek Jarman, UK, 1991Jarman was, despite – or perhaps because of – his iconoclasm, a genuinely English artist, and mined the canon on several occasions, here tackling Marlowe’s regal tragedy head-on in a visceral... |
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The Devils Derek Jarman, UK, 1977Ken Russell’s camp-horror psychodrama, a riff on the Huxley chronicle The Devils of Loudun and John Whiting’s play of the same, found its crucial production designer in Jarman, on a... |
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Jarman Shorts 2 Derek Jarman, UK, 2008The second programme of Jarman’s early work starts with two films that are bound with his first works as Director (instead of Artist). SEBASTIANE WRAP is an abstract film shot on the set... |
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The Garden & A Piece of My Sky is Missing Derek Jarman, Davide Pepe, Germany, 1990By the time he made this remarkable cine-poem to life, love and landscape, Jarman knew the score and had made some major choices. Prospect Cottage, his Dungeness dreamscape, offered the perfect... |
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Jarman Shorts 1 Derek Jarman, UK, 2008In the years between 1969 and 1982, Derek Jarman made over 72 longer and shorter films using S8mm. In this programme we see some of his earliest work. STUDIO BANKSIDE, edited entirely in... |
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Richard Heslop Programme Richard Heslop, UK, 2008This glimpse into the cinema of Richard Heslop – one of the most exciting film-makers to emerge in the post-punk 80s – includes a rare screening of THE CHILD AND THE SAW, his graduation film,... |
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The Jarman Award UK, 2008In January 2008, Film London and More4, in partnership with the Serpentine Gallery, launched the first Jarman Award, a major annual prize inspired by one of Britain's most innovative, esteemed and... |
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Documentaries
Patti Smith: Dream of Life Steven Sebring, USA, 2008The iconoclastic punk songwriter, artist and poet Patti Smith is profiled in this extraordinary documentary created by acclaimed fashion photographer Steven Sebring. Following Smith’s return to... |
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Sleep Furiously Gideon Koppel, UK, 2008SLEEP FURIOUSLY is set in a small farming community in mid Wales, about 50 miles north of Dylan Thomas’ fictional village of Llareggub. This is a place where Koppel’s parents – both... |
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The Dancing Forest Brice Lainé, UK, 2008Long abandoned as a land without hope, Africa has battled to overcome the negative stereotypes that have condemned it to the periphery of civilization. The damning lie is of a people trapped in... |
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Running the Sahara James Moll, USA, 2008In 2006, an international expedition team of three men undertook a quest never before attempted by man: to run across the Sahara. Making its way from village to oasis to nomadic settlement, the... |
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The New Ten Commandments Kenny Glenaan, Douglas Gordon, Nick Higgins, Irvine Welsh, Mark Cousins, Tilda Swinton, Sana Bilgrami, Alice Nelson, Doug Aubrey, David Graham Scott, Anna Jone, UK, 2008To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Lansdowne Productions and the Scottish Documentary Institute have gathered together some of the most talented... |
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Trip to Asia (Die Suche nach dem Einklang) Thomas Grube, Germany, 2008This compelling documentary follows the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra on a concert tour of Asia, offering a unique insight into the internal dynamic of one of the world’s leading musical... |
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Where the Water Meets the Sky David Eberts, Helen Cotton, UK, 2008Narrated by Academy Award winning actor, Morgan Freeman, this documentary tells the inspiring story of a group of women from northern Zambia. In a place where women rarely have the chance to speak... |
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Encounters at the End of the World Werner Herzog, USA, 2007There is a hidden society at the end of the world. One thousand men and women live together under unbelievably close quarters in Antarctica, risking their lives and sanity in search of cutting-edge... |
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God Made Them Blind Richard Todd, Australia, 2008GOD MADE THEM BLIND is an observational documentary about how Australian ceramicist, John Fawcett, is devoting his life to reducing the enormous number of cataract blind people in Indonesia, after... |
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Weltstadt Christian Klandt, Germany, 2008On the night of 16 June 2004, in a picturesque East German town, two drunk teenage boys attacked a homeless man in the streets. When they realised that he had no valuables, they beat him up and... |
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Alone in Four Walls (Allein in Vier Wanden) Alexandra Westmeier, Germany, 2007Handsomely photographed – and delivered in an almost uncomfortably dispassionate tone – this documentary follows the lives of a handful of Russian boys, all under the age of 14, who are serving... |
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Crawford David Modigliani, USA, 2008In 1999, Governor George W. Bush buys a ranch in Crawford, Texas, and calls it "home"; overnight, an insular community explodes. Bush declares candidacy for President, using Crawford as the perfect... |
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Jump! Helen Hood Scheer, USA, 2007A fun and fast-paced documentary about competitive jump rope, JUMP! follows five teams from around the United States who push their physical and psychological limits in pursuit of winning the... |
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Pageant Ron Davis, Stewart Halpern, USA, 2008For 34 years the Miss Gay America Pageant® has been the premier pageant system in the art of female impersonation. It is for male artists who create the female “illusion” – no hormones or... |
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Double Bill: She Should Have Gone to the Moon & Faceless Manu Luksch, Ulrike Kubatta, UK/USA & UK/Austria, 2007SHE SHOULD HAVE GONE TO THE MOON (CFF PG) Director: Ulrike Kubatta. UK/USA 2007. 58 mins. A unique blend of interviews, archive material and stylised dramatic sequences, this documentary tells... |
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Bi The Way Brittany Blockman, Josephine Decker, USA, 2008Following the personal stories of five young people, BI THE WAY explores the changing sexual landscape of America. In a road trip across the States, this documentary attempts to uncover the... |
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1000 Journals Andrea Kreuzhage, USA, 2007This intriguing documentary is part of the international phenomenon that is the 1,000 JOURNALS project: a 21st century take on releasing a message in a bottle. In 2000, a graphic artist, Someguy,... |
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Burma All Inclusive Roland Wehap, Austria, 2007Burma, once isolated from the outside world, is now slowly opening up to tourism and, in turn, corruption. The country has been taken hostage by those in power: this documentary goes behind the... |
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Café de los Maestros Miguel Kohan, Argentina, 2008With the return to democracy, Argentina is experiencing an extraordinary rebirth of its main national musical tradition, the Tango. CAFÉ DE LOS MAESTROS is the gathering of the greatest living... |
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Education
CFC: Censorship, Film and the British Board of Film Classification UK, 2008Video Nasties, Pornography, Grand Theft Auto and Teletubbies. All in a day’s work at the British Board of Film Classification. Find out how the BBFC gets to make its decisions at a special... |
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CFC: I Made This UK, 2008A screening of films produced for the Cambridgeshire Film Consortium 2007-08, including delightful animations, documentaries and film drama, CFC film projects with British Antarctic Survey,... |
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CFC: Frankenstein, The Gothic and The Horror Film James Whale, USA, 1931James Whale drew on stylistic references to German Expressionism for his 1931 film based on Mary Shelley’s Gothic novel FRANKENSTEIN. Chief make-up artist Jack Pierce’s design of the... |
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The Black Balloon Elissa Down, Australia, 2008A story about fitting in, discovering love and accepting your family. When Thomas (Rhys Wakefield) and his family move to a new home and he has to start at a new school, all he wants is to fit in.... |
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CFC: Cambridgeshire On Film UK, 2008Join us for a screening of films from the national, regional and county film archives, featuring Cambridge City and County, including past Cambridge street scenes and clips of students in the... |
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The Olympic Games on Film, 1906 - 1924 Luke McKernan, UK, 2008* A screening of rare films with live piano accompaniment from the acclaimed Neil Brand. An enlightening commentary from Dr Luke McKernan, tracing the Olympic Games from 1906-1924, including:... |
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CFC: Monsters on Film: Young People's Special Effects Film Workshop UK, 2008Learn the tricks of special effects and make-up to create your own Film Monster, then watch your creation on screen. The best monster will be screened before Boris Karloff films in the Festival!... |
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Game, Set and Machinima
Machinima: Synthetic Cinema UK, 2008Machinima, borne out of games, has started a love affair with film. Although lacking the detail, dynamic range and sumptuousness of film stock, “machinimators” have made up for this with... |
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Machinima: Dreams and Shadows UK, 2008Machinimators are not bound by the resources or rendering time constraints animators commonly endure to achieve their vision. The ability to change images rapidly in 3D space has led to an... |
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Machinima: Zero Budget, Big Audience UK, 2008Making a Machinima movie on zero budget doesn’t mean that you can’t reach as many people as a TV channel. Come and see the most successful Machinima movies ever made, and listen to leading... |
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Play's the Thing: Machinima in the Gameworld UK, 2008Games are now mainstream and the games industry outstrips film and TV in terms of size; more people play World of Warcraft on any given day than see a new blockbuster film on its first weekend,... |
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Machinima: Screen Stories: Narrative in Games and Film UK, 2008“We tell ourselves stories in order to live” Joan Didion. Narrative in games has become more sophisticated thanks to photo-real graphics, surround-sound audio, larger screens and professional... |
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Music at the Movies
The Last Laugh (Der Letzte Mann) F.W. Murnau, Germany, 1924* With live accompaniment by jazz pianist John Law. Often considered to be the greatest film of the silent era, Friedrich Murnau’s classic tells the story of a proud hotel worker whose life is... |
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We Dreamed America Alex Walker, UK, 2008WE DREAMED AMERICA examines the influence of American country music on a new breed of British artists. Featuring six UK bands, from the country-tinged rock of Alabama 3 to the exuberant... |
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Patti Smith: Dream of Life Steven Sebring, USA, 2008The iconoclastic punk songwriter, artist and poet Patti Smith is profiled in this extraordinary documentary created by acclaimed fashion photographer Steven Sebring. Following Smith’s return to... |
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Trip to Asia (Die Suche nach dem Einklang) Thomas Grube, Germany, 2008This compelling documentary follows the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra on a concert tour of Asia, offering a unique insight into the internal dynamic of one of the world’s leading musical... |
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Masterclass with Carl Davis UK, 2008The Festival is proud to present a masterclass with Carl Davis, one of the UK’s leading personalities from the world of music who has composed extensively for films, television, ballet and the... |
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Blind Husbands Erich von Stroheim, USA, 1919* With live piano accompaniment by Neil Brand. BLIND HUSBANDS is the remarkable directorial debut of Erich von Stroheim, one of the most celebrated filmmakers of the silent era. The film... |
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Heavy Metal in Baghdad Suroosh Alvi, Eddy Moretti, USA, 2007HEAVY METAL IN BAGHDAD is a feature-length documentary that follows the Iraqi heavy metal band Acrassicauda from the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 to the present day. Playing heavy metal in a... |
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A Life in the Death of Joe Meek Howard S. Berger, Susan Stahman, USA, 2008Often considered to be Britain’s finest music producer, Joe Meek was a creative maverick with remarkable aptitude for making and producing successful pop records from his small studio in a flat... |
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Heavy Load Jerry Rothwell, UK, 2008Calling themselves Brighton’s answer to the Ramones, HEAVY LOAD is a band fuelled by the same energy and attitude that made the original New York punks great. Yet Heavy Load are unique in the UK... |
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One Man in the Band Adam Clitheroe, UK, 2008One-man bands. Showmen, eccentrics, loners. But whatever you do, don’t call them buskers. Adam Clitheroe’s new feature documentary is a funny and moving portrait of contemporary musicians who... |
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New features
Gomorrah Matteo Garrone, Italy, 2008A powerful depiction of the destructive and pervasive impact of organised crime on ordinary people, GOMORRAH focuses on five inter-linked stories in the working-class suburbs of Naples. Winner of... |
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Linha de Passe Walter Salles, Daniela Thomas, Brazil, 2008Sao Paulo. 20 million inhabitants, 200 kilometres of traffic, 300,000 messengers on motorcycles. At the heart of one of the toughest, most chaotic cities in the world, four brothers try to reinvent... |
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Eden Declan Recks, Ireland, 2008Set in a thriving town in the midlands of Ireland, EDEN tells the story of a week in the lives of Billy and Breda Farrell as they approach their 10th wedding anniversary. Breda is determined that... |
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The Understudy David Conolly, Hannah Davis, USA, 2008The perfect film for all of those who ever thought that if they could just get one shot at their big break, then everything would be okay… After years of scratching around for small acting parts,... |
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Julia Erick Zonca, Belgium, 2008Tilda Swinton plays Julia, a 40 year old alcoholic just scraping through a life of vodka and one night stands. Her only friend Mitch, himself a recovering alcoholic, encourages her to attend an AA... |
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Faintheart Vito Rocco, UK, 2008User generated content charges forward with FAINTHEART, the new UK comedy for our socially networked times. Mild-mannered Richard (played by the Eddie Marsan, last seen as the psycho driver... |
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I've Loved You So Long Philippe Claudel, France, 2008In this gentle yet suspenseful drama, two sisters attempt to reconstruct their relationship after a long separation, as haunting family secrets slowly emerge. Juliette (Scott Thomas) has been... |
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The Broken Sean Ellis, France/UK, 2008In the sprawling metropolis of a grey London, Gina sees herself drive past in her own car. Stunned, she follows the woman up to her apartment and an eerie series of events ensue as Gina soon... |
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In Memory of Us (En souvenir de nous) Michel Léviant, France, 2007When Michel Léviant made THE FAIRY WALL in 1994, a light but beautifully shot TV film deemed too artistic for television, he could hardly have imagined its future incarnation. Years later, having... |
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Fear(s) of the Dark (Peur(s) du noir) Blutch, Marie Caillou, Pierre Di Sciullo, Jerry Kramski, Lorenzo Mattotti, Richard McGuire, Michel Pirus, Romaine Slocombe, France, 2007Spiders’ legs brushing against naked skin… Unexplained noises heard at night in a dark bedroom… A big, empty house where you feel a definite presence… A hypodermic needle getting closer... |
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Strength and Honour Mark Mahon, Ireland, 2007STRENGTH AND HONOUR is a story of hope and love, sacrifice and devotion, set against the violent underground world of bare-knuckle boxing. It tells the story of an Irish-American boxer, Sean... |
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Good Dick Marianna Palka, USA, 2008An unpredictable and darkly funny slice of Americana, where the usual tropes of small-town life – frustrated video store clerk, in love with a shy, awkward yet strangely attractive young girl –... |
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How to Lose Friends and Alienate People Robert B. Weide, UK, 2008Frequent Curb Your Enthusiasm director Robert B. Weide makes his feature directorial debut with this screen adaptation of British writer Toby Young's memoir of the same name. When self-promoting... |
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The Black Balloon Elissa Down, Australia, 2008A story about fitting in, discovering love and accepting your family. When Thomas (Rhys Wakefield) and his family move to a new home and he has to start at a new school, all he wants is to fit in.... |
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In the City of Sylvia (En la ciudad de Sylvia) Jose Luis Guerin, Spain, 2007A young man arrives in Strasbourg and spends his days sitting at an outdoor café, sketching the figures of the women around him, patiently waiting for Sylvia, the woman that he fell in love with... |
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Brideshead Revisited Julian Jarrold, UK, 2008A provocative and suspenseful drama, BRIDESHEAD REVISITED tells a story of forbidden love and the loss of innocence set in the pre-WWII era. Charles Ryder becomes entranced with the noble Marchmain... |
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Cycles (Les murs porteurs) Cyril Gelblat, France, 2008In this brilliantly accomplished debut feature, Gelblat weaves together the lives of three different generations of a Jewish family in Paris, each contending with family relationships at a critical... |
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Fermat's Room (La Habitación de Fermat) Luis Piedrahita, Rodrigo Sopena, Spain, 2007SAW for the mathematically minded, with less blood and more brains. Spanish film FERMAT’S ROOM brings together four mathematicians, locks them in a room and lets the walls crush them. The... |
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The Wave Dennis Gansel, Germany, 2008Based on the social experiment undertaken by US history teacher Ron Jones in the 1960s when he attempted to demonstrate to pupils how Germany fell under the spell of Adolf Hitler, THE WAVE is a... |
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Summer Scars Julian Richards, UK, 2007In this disturbing British thriller, the fate of a gang of urban kids who skip school to play in the woods with a souped-up stolen moped is changed forever when they crash into Peter. A dishevelled... |
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The Lark Steve Tanner, Paul Farmer, UK, 2007An absolutely riveting tour-de-force, on a minute budget of £12k, from the blossoming Cornish filmmaking scene. THE LARK is a disorientating and disturbing journey into the world of Niamh and her... |
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Feature Shezad Dawood, UK, 2008What do Chief Crazy Horse, Krishna, a Valkyrie, a bunch of Zombies and some fetish cowboys have in common with a donkey and an albino snake? Nothing, when we rely on our conventional way of... |
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Piano, Solo Riccardo Milani, Italy, 2007PIANO, SOLO is based on the heartrending true story of the life of Italian jazz pianist Luca Flores. A tragic destiny awaits Luca on a road in Africa when, at a young age, he sees his mother die... |
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Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in) Tomas Alfredson, Sweden, 2008A fragile, anxious boy, 12-year-old Oskar is regularly bullied by his stronger classmates but never strikes back. His wish for a friend seems to come true when he meets Eli, also 12, who moves in... |
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Savage Grace Tom Kalin, Spain/USA/France, 2008Kalin's long-awaited new feature is based on the award-winning book of the same title, and like his earlier and influential SWOON, it draws on a real-life crime story tinged with sexual undertones.... |
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Algeria, Unspoken Stories Jean-Pierre Lledo, France, 2007In 1962 Algeria gained its independence, after 132 years of French colonisation ended in a bitterly violent war. Thus began one of the largest migrations in human history, as a million... |
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The Grocer's Son (Le fils de l'épicier) Eric Guirado, France, 2007Having left his village for the city ten years ago, Antoine finds himself thrust back into rural life when his estranged father is taken ill and he is enlisted to drive the travelling grocery van... |
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Vanaja Rajnesh Domalpalli, India, 2006Vanaja is the 14 year-old daughter of a poor, low caste fisherman, struggling with dwindling catches and mounting debt in rural South India. When a sooth-sayer predicts that she will be a great... |
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Caught In The Act Matt Lipsey, UK, 2008CAUGHT IN THE ACT is a heart-warming comedy about deceit and integrity, friendship and folly and the triumph of humanity over greed. Set in the beautiful Welsh valleys, it tells the story of a... |
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Double Bill: Belle de Jour & Belle Toujours Manoel de Oliveira, Luis Bunuel, France, 1967BELLE DE JOUR (18): Re-issued in a new print, Buñuel’s most successful film stars a 24-year-old Catherine Deneuve as Severine, a beautiful middle-class Parisian wife who indulges her... |
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Unrelated Joanna Hogg, UK, 2007With the UK on the cusp of possible transition to a Tory government, do our films reflect this? Forty-something Anna arrives unexpectedly at a friend’s holiday villa in Tuscany minus her husband.... |
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Dressing Granite Bill Scott, UK, 2007Ben and Matthew are stonemasons, living and working in a remote Cornish quarry. It's a typical father and son relationship: love never shown, son's work never good enough, father set in his ways.... |
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Goodnight Irene Paulo Marinou-Blanco, Portugal, 2008In Lisbon, an ageing English actor and a young Portuguese locksmith live finding ways to fight off the tedium of solitude. But their paths cross when Irene, an attractive Portuguese painter,... |
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Alexandra Aleksandr Sokurov, France, 2007Perhaps most famous for his stunning feature RUSSIAN ARK, which was made up entirely of a 90-minute, continuous tracking shot, director Aleksandr Sokurov further strengthens his reputation as... |
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Blood Car Alex Orr, USA, 2007The price of petrol really raises eyebrows (and axes) in BLOOD CAR. Sometime in the near future no-one can afford to drive anymore. But vegan primary school teacher Archie finds an alternative. And... |
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Año Uña (The Year of the Nail) Jonas Cuaron, Mexico, 2007Executive produced by Alfonso Cuarón, AÑO UÑA (THE YEAR OF THE NAIL) marks an auspicious and remarkably assured debut for Alfonso’s son, Jonás. Jonás Cuarón began taking photographs... |
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Conversations with My Gardener (Dialogue avec mon jardinier) Jean Becker, France, 2007This finely observed film depicts a poignant friendship between two men from different walks of life. When a respected Parisian painter on the brink of divorce (Auteuil) returns to his childhood... |
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Just Another Love Story (Kaerlighed på film) Ole Bornedal, Denmark, 2007In some of our darkest, most conflicted moments lie the blackest instances of farce – a fact acknowledged here by Ole Bornedal in this compelling drama. Jonas is a married man with a family, and... |
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King of the Hill (El Rey de la Montaña) Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego, Spain, 2007This is a film that promises to have everyone talking. It takes the “rural menace in the woods” genre as epitomised by DELIVEREANCE (and cheekily parodied by SEVERANCE) and turns it absolutely... |
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Traces of the Trade Katrina Browne, USA, 2008In the documentary TRACES OF THE TRADE, filmmaker Katrina Browne discovers that her New England ancestors were the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history. She and nine cousins retrace the... |
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Nightwatching Peter Greenaway, Canada/France/Germany/Poland/Netherlands/UK, 2007The first feature in Greenaway's "Dutch Masters" film series has been described by co-producer Jean Labadie as "a return to the Greenaway of The Draughtsman's Contract". As his subject he chooses... |
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Polish Cinema
Katyn Andrzej Wajda, Poland, 2007Brutal and devastating, the latest film from one of Poland’s greatest directors revolves around the secret massacre of thousands of Polish officers by Soviet forces in the forests of Katyn in... |
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Time to Die (Pora Umierac) Dorota Kedzierzawska, Poland, 2007Adored by audiences at recent international festivals, this stunningly shot black-and-white film features a 93 year old Polish screen veteran as the feisty and spirited Aniela. Offset by sharp and... |
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Canal (Kanal) Andrzej Wajda, Poland, 1957One of Wajda’s first films, KANAŁ asks us to bear witness to the activities of a group of resistance fighters in the last hours of their lives, on the eve of the failure of the 1944 Warsaw... |
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Preserve (Rezerwat) Łukasz Palkowski, Poland, 2007After his girlfriend throws him out, photographer Marcin Wilczyński moves into the Praga district of Warsaw, the "preserve" of the title, infamously dilapidated and inhabited by drunks and... |
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Twists of Fate (Korowód) Jerzy Stuhr, Poland, 2007This gripping film spans the moral attitudes of two generations and their complex entanglements. A former secret police officer under Polish Socialism is facing the consequences for his past... |
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Revivals
The Last Laugh (Der Letzte Mann) F.W. Murnau, Germany, 1924* With live accompaniment by jazz pianist John Law. Often considered to be the greatest film of the silent era, Friedrich Murnau’s classic tells the story of a proud hotel worker whose life is... |
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Love Letters and Live Wires: Highlights from the GPO Film Unit UK, 2008In 1933, the General Post Office made history by founding its own film production unit. The GPO Film Unit would become internationally renowned as a centre for creative, exciting public-information... |
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White Christmas Michael Curtiz, USA, 1954When former Broadway entertainer Bob Wallace (Crosby) and his wannabe sidekick Phil (Danny Kaye) leave the army they decide to team up to become a song and dance act. As the pair start to hit the... |
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Bicycle Thieves (Ladri di Biciclette) Vittorio De Sica, Italy, 1948Vittorio de Sica’s remarkable drama of desperation and survival in Italy’s post-war depression earned a special Oscar for its affecting power. Shot in the streets and alleys of Rome, De Sica... |
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La Rabbia Pier Paolo Pasolini, Giovanni Guareschi, Italy, 1963In 1963 newsreel producer Gastone Ferranti commissioned Marxist Pier Paolo Pasolini and conservative Giovannino Guareschi to each make a one hour document about the state of things as they saw it.... |
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A Matter of Life and Death Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, USA, 1946Returning to England from a bombing run in May 1945, flyer Peter Carter's plane is damaged and his parachute ripped to shreds. He has his crew bail out safely, but figures it is curtains for... |
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A Streetcar Named Desire Elia Kazan, USA, 1951Vivien Leigh, Karl Malden and Kim Hunter were all awarded oscars opposite Marlon Brando (nominated) in Elia Kazan’s hothouse adaptation of the Tennessee William play which he had originally... |
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Shortfusion
UK Shorts 1 James Farrant, Piers Thompson, Harry Wootliff, Paul Gowers, Dan Susman, Felix Wiedemann, UK, 2008Three eclectic programmes with contrasting themes and ideas. From the deep and meaningful questions about love, death and life in the playgound, to the more frivolous side of human nature. This... |
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Best of Screen East Digital Shorts Jon Dunleavy, Jason Cuddy, Iain B Macdonald, Justin Coleman, Ian Claxton, UK, 2008Screen East’s Digital Shorts is a short film scheme in partnership with the UK Film Council. Each year emerging talent get the opportunity to make a fully funded short film using digital... |
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Clermont Ferrand Shorts 2008 Reto Caffi, Thierry Onillon, Matthieu Donck, Marc Roels, Wim Reygaert, Leo Marchand, Anne-Laure Daffis, Valentin Potier, France, 2008The best of the Clermont Ferrand Short Film Festival, presented in partnership with Alliance Française. AUF DER STRECKE Director: Reto Caffi. Germany/Switzerland 2007. German with English... |
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European Shorts Valentin Potier, Andrea Harkin, Michele Alhaique, Vlad Trandafir, Kei Ishikawa, Paul Zinder, Various, 2008The crème de la crème from Europe: from future Michel Gondrys (TONY ZEAR) and Lynne Ramseys (FLYER) to strange new hybrids of Tarkovsky and Kielslowski (THE END OF THE WORLD), you won’t be... |
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International Shorts 1: Sensitive Souls Sotiris Dounoukos, Antoine Bourges, Vincent Biron, Myna Joseph, Grant Sputore, Vlamyr Vizcaya, Carlos Bedoya, Various, 2008Globalisation conjures up images of bustling urban metropolises but this collection of shorts from around the world reveals the international language of cinema. Our first programme involves... |
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UK Shorts 3 James Cooper, Angus Gafraidh, Will Adams, Simon J Riley, Matthew Snyman, Pavel Prokopic, Marie Morgan, Anne Wilkins, Ru McArdle, Chiara Ambrosio, Sarah Bick, UK, 2008Three eclectic programmes with contrasting themes and ideas. From the deep and meaningful questions about love, death and life in the playgound, to the more frivolous side of human nature. This... |
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Late Night Shorts 1 Jennifer Harrington, Davy Sihali, Fernando Cordero, Jack Wareham, Elle Martini, Various, 2008A selection of mind-boggling chillers exploring the underbelly of modern society. A surreal world unearthed. CARGO Director: Jennifer Harrington. USA. 14 mins. Hidden inside a shipping... |
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International Shorts 2: Lost and Found Hsin-I Tseng, Greg Ivan Smith, Jose Pablo Gonzalez, Paul Negoescu, Aparna Kapur, Jeremy Sing, Various, 2008Globalisation conjures up images of bustling urban metropolises but this collection of shorts from around the world reveals the international language of cinema. Our second programme deals with... |
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New Romanian Shorts Alexandru Mavrodineanu, Marian Crisan, Gabriel Sarbu, Bogdan Mustata, Adrian Sitaru, Romania, 2008Romanian cinema has undergone a renaissance in recent years – witness 2007 Cannes winner 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, 2 DAYS and acclaimed releases such as THE DEATH OF MR LAZARESCU, 12:08 EAST OF... |
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Late Night Shorts 2 Shih-Ting Hung, Chihwen Lo, Alejandra Viejo Lopez de Roda, Taliesyn Brown, Various, 2008A selection of mind-boggling chillers exploring the underbelly of modern society. A surreal world unearthed. VIOLA Director: Shih-Ting Hung. USA. 9 mins. Stumbling on slippery moss at the... |
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UK Shorts 2 Natalie Brady, Mark Gillespie, Richard Porter, Debs Gardner-Paterson, Tom Martin, James Malcom, UK, 2008Three eclectic programmes with contrasting themes and ideas. From the deep and meaningful questions about love, death and life in the playgound, to the more frivolous side of human nature. This... |
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Special events
Riverside Screening: Riverrun UK, 2008For the all-encompassing downriver experience, the films shown in Riverrun will focus on artists’ engagement with water. What does water mean in the modern world: territory, non-territory, a... |
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Riverside Screening: Dream Screen UK, 2008As the sun sets and dusk settles over the landscape, Dream Screen lulls us downstream and delves into our collective unconscious. Take a journey into the twilight world of dreams, sleep and... |
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Transmission: Becoming Vera Mieke Bal, Netherlands, 2008This is an exceptional opportunity to see a powerful film by renowned cultural theorist, Mieke Bal. Born of a Cameroonian father and French-born mother of Russian descent, three year-old Vera is... |
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Transmission: La Vie Nouvelle Philippe Grandieux, France, 2002Grandrieux is one of the most innovative francophone filmmakers to emerge in recent years. LA VIE NOUVELLE, his second feature, generated a storm of critical acclaim on its release. A terrifyingly... |
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Masterclass with Carl Davis UK, 2008The Festival is proud to present a masterclass with Carl Davis, one of the UK’s leading personalities from the world of music who has composed extensively for films, television, ballet and the... |
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Big Pitch, Microbudget UK, 2008Fancy testing your microbudget feature film idea with a panel of producers, filmmakers and funders who might be able to help you go from pitch to feature? This event will give you the chance to... |
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2001: A Space Odyssey Stanley Kubrick, UK/USA, 1968The Festival is proud to present a spectacular screening of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY at the Institute of Astronomy on 13 and 14 September 2008 after dusk. For the first time in the... |
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Transmission: Ecology Sarah Turner, UK, 2007Through internal monologues and scenes of daily life infused with underlying violence, the themes of the environment, family psychic structures and technology are intertwined, in an original take... |
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Riverside Screening: Greenscape UK, 2008To get in the outdoor mood, a selection of short films looking at parks and open spaces, including Christine Molloy's WHO KILLED BROWN OWL and Bruce Weber's WINE AND CUPCAKES. Find out more... |
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Riverside Screening: Battlefield UK, 2008To contrast with the serenity of the Cam, BATTLEFIELD reflects on images of conflict and heroism, both in the form of archival shorts and documentary extracts. These include clips from FINEST... |
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Magdalene Street Screening UK, 2008On 21 September, the Festival will be making its way to Cambridge's oldest shopping street and setting up three screens to present a unique and diverse programme of entertainment that's completely... |
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Stop. Watch. UK, 2008Tuesday 23 September, 6.00-8.00pm As part of its INSIDE OUT season of events, Wysing Arts Centre presents new films by artists that address ecological emergencies. Animate Projects and RSA Arts... |
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The Films of Ulrich Seidl
Import/Export Ulrich Seidl, Austria, 2007Both confrontational and compassionate, Seidl’s tale of migration and social borders weaves its way through contemporary Europe as it interrogates the political, cultural and economic forces... |
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Losses To Be Expected Ulrich Seidl, Austria, 1992A foray into the East/West divide that Seidl would revisit fifteen years later in IMPORT/EXPORT, LOSSES TO BE EXPECTED explores the borders, both physical and social, that separate people from one... |
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Jesus, You Know Ulrich Seidl, Austria, 2003More immediately recognisable as a documentary than some of his earlier work, Seidl employs one of the most intimate of human experiences – prayer – as an entry point into revealing the... |
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Dog Days Ulrich Seidl, Austria, 2002The oppressive heat virtually emanates from the screen in Seidl’s Venice Film Festival-winning feature debut. Over several long, sweltering summer days in suburban Vienna, six sets of characters... |
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