35 Cows and a Kalashnikov is a joyously made triptych about warrior-farmers, colorful dandies and voodoo wrestlers in Ethiopia, Brazzaville and Kinshasa. It paints a loving and attentive portrait of African pride and beauty.
35 Cows and a Kalashnikov is a joyously made triptych about warrior-farmers, colorful dandies and voodoo wrestlers in Ethiopia, Brazzaville and Kinshasa. It paints a loving and attentive portrait of African pride and beauty.
2014-05-10
2
An exploration of the cinematic history of the folk horror, from its beginnings in the UK in the late sixties; through its proliferation on British television in the seventies and its many manifestations, culturally specific, in other countries; to its resurgence in the last decade.
Lucha libre is part of Mexican culture, but how did something that was shown in circuses and fairs become a cinematic genre? Join us to learn about this trajectory.
Sven Nykvist, best known as Ingmar Bergman cinematographer, made this film as a tribute to his father who was a missionary in Kongo in the early 20th century. The story of his father Gustav Natanael Nykvist is told through his own photos, letters, and films. Director & cinematographer: Sven Nykvist. Narrators in the English dubbed version: Liv Ullmann & Sean Connery. Produced by Ingmar Bergman (Cinematograph AB). Digitally restored in 2022.
The evolution of the zombie from its roots in Haitian voodoo to its coveted role as the world's most popular monster: from being a clumsy corpse to becoming a cannibal killer and the main agent of every infectious pandemic, the zombie has come a long way in seventy years. A look at the rising tide of zombie culture examining why something so dead has so much life in viewers' nightmares and at the box office.
A chronicle of the violence that occurred in much of the African continent throughout the 1960s. As many African countries were transitioning from colonial rule to other forms of government, violent political upheavals were frequent. Revolutions in Zanzibar and Kenya in which thousands were killed are shown, the violence not only political; there is also extensive footage of hunters and poachers slaughtering different types of wild animals.
A moving, inspirational story that gives viewers a rare glimpse into the world of high school wrestling at one of Los Angeles' most elite and highly touted prep schools. Filled with drama, laughter, and heart, "Junkyard Dogs" is an underdog story that captures the essence of what it takes to be a champion and sheds light on the power and importance of one of the world's oldest sports.
This intimate ethnographic study of Voudoun dances and rituals was shot by Maya Deren during her years in Haiti (1947-1951); she never edited the footage, so this “finished” version was made by Teiji Ito and Cherel Ito after Deren’s death.
This documentary follows superstar Bret Hart during his last year in the WWF. The film documents the tensions that resulted in The Montreal Screwjob, one of the most controversial events in the history of professional wrestling, in which Vince McMahon, Shawn Micheals, and others, legitimately conspired behind the scenes to go against the script and remove Bret Hart as champion.
The strange career of one of the wrestling world's most controversial figures is explored in this WWE Home Video release focusing on eccentric brawler The Ultimate Warrior.
Filmmaker Herbert Alfonso and musician Glenn de Randamie travel to Ghana to do some research on polyrhythm and the West-African spirituality. However, their trip to The Motherland makes them realize that home is more than the place where they grew up. Years later, they recollect their faded memories and try to find the right words to describe their intense experience. What exactly made them feel at home and lost at the same time? What does being home actually mean for a black individual from Europe while visiting Africa? Only abstractions seem to persevere as this colourful and musically-charged collage serves to show how a life-changing experience can leave us with nothing but fragments of a truth that has yet to be discovered.
"A Walk to Beautiful" tells the story of five women in Ethiopia suffering from devastating childbirth injuries. Rejected by their husbands and ostracized by their communities, these women are left to spend the rest of their lives in loneliness and shame. The trials they endure and their attempts to rebuild their lives tell a universal story of hope, courage, and transformation.
An investigation of the emotional and economic value of Africa's most lucrative export: filmed poverty. Deep in the interiors of the Congo, Dutch artist Renzo Martens single-handedly undertakes an epic journey and launches an emancipatory program that helps the poor become aware of what is their primary capital resource: Poverty. After three years of traveling through the Democratic Republic of the Congo he asks the question: "Who owns poverty?
Jazz and decolonization are intertwined in a powerful narrative that recounts one of the tensest episodes of the Cold War. In 1960, the UN became the stage for a political earthquake as the struggle for independence in the Congo put the world on high alert. The newly independent nation faced its first coup d'état, orchestrated by Western forces and Belgium, which were reluctant to relinquish control over their resource-rich former colony. The US tried to divert attention by sending jazz ambassador Louis Armstrong to the African continent. In 1961, Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba was brutally assassinated, silencing a key voice in the fight against colonialism; his death was facilitated by Belgian and CIA operatives. Musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach took action, denouncing imperialism and structural racism. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev intensified his criticism of the US, highlighting the racial barriers that characterized American society.
As if they were showing their film to a few friends in their home, the Johnsons describe their trip across the world, which begins in the South Pacific islands of Hawaii, Samoa, Australia, the Solomons (where they seek and find cannibals), and New Hebrides. Thence on to Africa via the Indian Ocean, Suez Canal, North Africa, and the Nile River to lion country in Tanganyika. (They are briefly joined in Khartum by George Eastman and Dr. Al Kayser.) Taking a safari in the Congo, the Johnsons see animals and pygmies, and travel back to Uganda, British East Africa, and Kenya.
Documentary film about Tony Halme, masculinity and populism. The film follows how Tony Halme created a mythical, highly masculine freestyle wrestling character, The Viking, who gained fame both in the ring and in the public eye and eventually became captivated by it. With his brash speeches, Halme fired the starting shot for the rise of the Finns Party. The voice of a forgotten section of the population, a protest against the ruling elite, were the building blocks of Halme's popularity. Halme's great popularity has served as a good example of a populist figure, admired within the deep ranks of the nation, who comes from outside the political elite and changes the direction of politics. Also, despite - or perhaps because of - his openly racist statements, he was part of changing the political climate in Finland to a more acrimonious one.
Why are there so many ghosts on the island of Jamaica? Why is the island so notoriously haunted by tales of voodoo and dark mystical lore? "Haunted Jamaica" seeks to answer these questions ...
The Pierced Heart & The Machete is a vivid, unflinching exploration of two annual Vodou pilgrimages in Haiti. The first is for Èzili Danto, goddess of love, art and passion; worshipers from all over the world descend on the southwestern town of Ville-Bonheur to bathe in the sacred waterfall where Dantò resides. The second pilgrimage is for Dantòs' husband Ogoun, god of war, iron and healing. It takes place at the end of July in the northern town of Plaine du Nord, where practitioners bathe in a mud pool and make flamboyant sacrifices. This beautifully shot film offers disorienting yet illuminating glimpses of the contradictory and complementary aspects of these two lwa, the electrifying rites that honor them, and the intense music that accompanies these ecstatic and bloody ceremonies.
Follow the rise, fall, and reinvention of controversial and revered '90s television psychic Miss Cleo. Featuring interviews with celebrities and those closest to the self-proclaimed voodoo priestess, this documentary explores the many layers behind a complicated and charismatic figure.
A visual travel diary on the expedition led by Brondeel in 1934. This expedition to Belgian Congo, by truck, became a testimony to the social conditions of Africans during the colonial era.