Stories about Film from May, 2011
Thailand: 9 Film Festival
Wise Kwai reviews the 9 Film Festival in Thailand. The event features “nine short films, each nine minutes long and incorporating something about the No 9 in them.”
Russia: “My Perestroika”
Dina Fainberg of The Dustbin of History writes about My Perestroika – “a lovely documentary by an American film-maker [Robin Hessman] about how four classmates were affected by the changes in Russia from Brezhnev to Putin” – and the Q&A that followed the film's screening in London.
Philippines: Short films of Kidlat Tahimik
Francis Cruz reviews the notable short films made by Filipino filmmaker Kidlat Tahimik.
Mexico: Teacher Sings with Students During Shooting
The YouTube video showing a kindergarten teacher singing with her students to keep them calm during a shooting in Monterrey, Mexico has spread almost virally through the Spanish speaking countries.
Africa: The role of music in African cinema
Beatriz Leal Riesco explores the role of music in African cinema: “Since the early days of African cinema, music has formed part of a (self) conscious discourse concerning the problematic realities of Africa. Its use has rarely been gratuitous and goes far beyond the traditional—and much less experimental—Western customs of...
Japan: Video Haiku
Vimeo user Stephen Niebauer presents a project called Video Haiku. A haiku is a short form of Japanese poetry that usually consists of three verses of 5,7 and 5 morae. “So, for this project, your video structure should be like this: 5 second shot, 7 second shot, 5 second shot.”
North Africa: Manifesto for a Maghreb of Cinema
The Arab revolution has also impacted the cinema world. Filmmakers from Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia have just launched on their blog Maghreb du cinéma [fr], a suggestion box to reinvigorate the creation, production and distribution of their work. Their manifesto can be signed here [fr].
Cuba: Effects of a Beating
Crossing the Barbed Wire blogs about his efforts to make a film about “Alberto Lairo Castro, a young Holguin native who in 2007 was a victim of a ‘Double Nelson’ lock applied onto him by the National Revolutionary Police” and was left disabled as a result.
Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago: More on Bocas
More on the Bocas Lit Fest, from Annie Paul.
Brazil: How a Blog Post Ended Up in the Cannes Festival
A brazilian blogger, Alê Felix, unintentionally made it to the Cannes Festival, after writing [pt] about a moving and random conversation she had had with a boy in Rio de Janeiro. Her post was picked up by the film-maker Felipe Joffily who is presenting a short film on it today...
Puerto Rico: New Documentary
@sire_damiano interviews musician and filmmaker Guillermo Gómez Alvarez [es] about his most recent documentary “Una identidad en absurdo” for the music blog Puerto Rico Indie [es].
Africa: Helsinki Africa Film Festival
Wanjiku wa Ngugi, the founder of the Helsinki African Film Festival talks to Beti Ellerson about the representation of Africa in Finland and this year’s theme “Women’s Voices and Visions”
North Korea in the Grip of South Korean Soap Fever
South Korean soap operas have gained a huge popularity in North Korea nowadays, even to create new slang among teens, Hanciema posted on the new trends in one of the world's reclusive state.
Greece: Documentary Film “Debtocracy” Available in English
Debtocracy, a documentary by Katerina Kitidi and Aris Hatzistefanou about the causes and possible solutions of the Greek debt crisis, can be viewed with the English subtitles beginning today. It's distributed under Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0 license and allegedly has had over 1 million views so far. This “documentary produced...
Cape Verde: Unheard Stories from Marginalized Youth
The website For CV introduces a theatre and film project in Cape Verde called Mim’delo [pt]. According to the non-profit association behind it, 10 pt, Mim'delo aims to involve marginalized youth who “[struggle] to find their identity, space and voice under the pressure of poverty, the lack of job opportunities, crime,...
