Stories about Film from May, 2008
Japan: Tokyo in 1935
Blogger mojix links to a film [ja] posted at YouTube showing Tokyo in the year 1935.
Egypt: On Caramel
Egyptian Arima has just watched Caramel – and has good things to say about the movie about five friends in Beirut, Lebanon.
D.R. Congo: European film festival and rising food prices
Du Cabiau a Kinshasa writes about the Kinshasa European Film Festival [Fr] and has more reflections on the effects of rising food prices on the Congolese capital.
Costa Rica: Local Film on YouTube
Cristian Cambronero of Fusil de Chispas [es] writes about the short film called Rápido y Engañado (Fast and Fooled) which has been posted on YouTube and has been one of the most widely viewed videos produced in Costa Rica.
Peru: Andean Film Conference in Arequipa
Gabriel Quispe of Cinencuentro [es] provides information regarding the next Andean Film Conference to be held in Arequipa May 29-31. The gathering will show examples of “the regional filmmaking, where long and short films will be shown, and there will be discussions regarding the expressive and technological aspects of film.”
Japan: The Secret of Mizuki Shigeru
At age 86, Mizuki Shigeru is one of the most well-known manga artists in Japan thanks to work that stretches over more than four decades, including among them some of the most popular Japanese manga and anime TV series. GeGeGe no Kitarō, a manga series he created in 1959, is Mizuki's most famous, featuring an orphaned yōkai (monster) named Kitaro who fights for peace between humans and monsters. In a post entitled “Why has GeGeGe no Kitaro remained popular for this long?”, blogger ta26 proposes an explanation for the popularity of this manga.
Israel: Religious Communities Object to “Sex” in Advertising
“[Blank] in the City?” An Israeli media company is protesting advertising promoting the release of the new “Sex and the City” movie, claiming the word “sex” is offensive and should be removed. “You really don’t know whether to get angry or just laugh at the ridiculousness of this whole thing,”...
Algeria, Unspoken Stories
Salim Bachi reviews Algérie, histoires à ne pas dire (Algeria, Unspoken Stories), a controversial 2007 film by Jean Piere-Lledo about the Algerian War. Of public reaction to the film, which is banned in Algeria, Bachi writes: “Jean-Pierre Lledo has been accused of ever evil on earth..[by a] population that didn't...
Saramago's reaction at the lauch of Blindness, the film
Bárbara Axt [pt] publishes a spot on video showing Jose Saramago‘s reaction just after watching Blindness, an adaptation of his book by Brazilian Fernando Meirelles, which was launched the Cannes film festival on Wednesday. “I am so happy to watch this film… as I was when I finished writing the...
Cuba, Bermuda: Who Was Che?
A Radical in Bermuda shares his views on who he thinks Che Guevara was, while Child of the Revolution warns that the director and stars of the new feature film Che “have been happily providing plenty of colourful quotes to the media, along with their own versions of the Che...
Jordan: Qwaider Movies Launched
Qwaider Movies went live today, announces Jordanian blogger Qwaider.
Russia, Latvia: Young Russia vs Edvīns Šņore
Latvian Abroad writes about Young Russia's protest against The Soviet Story, a documentary by a young Latvian director Edvīns Šņore.
Russia: Documentary on Politkovskaya
Sean's Russia Blog writes about a new documentary “on the life, work, and death of Anna Politkovskaya.”
Tanzania: Review of Bongoland II
The Star Tribune review a Swahili movie, Bongoland II: “The beauty of “Bongoland II” arises in its misleading simplicity. Although it could be said that the film tracks Juma's adaptation, it uses larger issues to highlight the ways in which Juma is not – and may never be – fully...
Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica: Telling Stories
As Trinidadian-born filmmaker Frances-Ann Solomon's A Winter Tale opens in local theatres, Jamaican blogger Geoffrey Philp quotes a particularly poignant review: “A storyteller is a shape-shifter who uses every tool, every image, every sense to draw you in, capture your imagination.”
Palestine: Balfour to Blair
Palestinian blogger Haitham Sabbah links to Al Jazeera special 30-minute film, Balfour to Blair, which investigates the role of British policy in the Middle East from the beginning of the 20th century to today.
Film censorship in Singapore
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly writes about efforts of the Singapore government to disrupt and stop the screening of a film about former Singapore leader Lee Kuan Yew.
Africa: Cannes International Film Festival
Leo Africanus wonders why there are not African films at the Cannes International Film Festival: “I may be missing something, but no African film or film with an African theme (including North Africa) made the official cut.”
Russia: May 9
Lyndon of Scraps of Moscow posts two informative and insightful entries on the complex politics and other dimensions of May 9 in Russia – here and here.
Poland: The Liban Quarry, Schindler, and Sendler
Polandian visits the Liban Quarry and posts pictures: “In 1992 Steven Spielberg built a replica of the Nazi’s Płaszów Labor Camp for his movie Schindler’s List. The remains of this highly realistic set can still be seen today a short distance from the center of Krakow.” In the comments section,...
Estonia: Film Reviews
AnTyx reviews two films that explain “the nature of Estonia's independence.”
