The Ozu Diaries

North Bergen, North Bergen(en)

Footage shot in and around North Bergen, New Jersey presented in a minimalist series of fixed camera angles and long-takes accompanied by the ambient noise of city streets.

I Lived, But...(ja)

An extremely lovely tribute to Ozu, on the 20th anniversary of his death. It uses a combination of footage from vintage films and new material (both interviews and Ozu-related locations) shot by Ozu's long-time camera-man (who came out of retirement to work on this). Surprisingly (or perhaps not), it focuses less on Ozu's accomplishments as a film-maker than on his impact on the lives of the people he worked with..

A Train Arrives at the Station(en)

“This film was a gift to me. I make no claims for it, nor do I offer any apologies. It comes from work on The Thoughts That Once We Had. There was one shot we had to cut whose loss I particularly regretted. It was a shot of a train pulling into Tokyo Station from Ozu’s The Only Son (1936). So I decided to make a film around this shot, an anthology of train arrivals. It comprises 26 scenes or shots from movies, 1904-2015. It has a simple serial structure: each black & white sequence in the first half rhymes with a color sequence in the second half. Thus the first shot and the final shot show trains arriving at stations in Japan from a low camera height. In the first shot (The Only Son), the train moves toward the right; in the last shot, it moves toward the left. A bullet train has replaced a steam locomotive. So after all these years, I’ve made another structural film, although that was not my original intention.”

Rupture(fr)

Every winter, a group of young people from the rough neighbourhood Peterbos in Anderlecht make a trip to the Pyrenees. Rupture follows these youngsters, on the brink of adulthood.

Inferno Rosso: Joe D'Amato on the Road of Excess(it)

Who was Joe D'Amato aka. Aristide Massaccesi? A genius of horror in the USA, a master of eroticism in France, the king of porn in Italy. A man with a thousand pseudonyms capable of making over 200 films while simultaneously holding the roles of producer, director, author, director of photography and even camera operator. An artisan of cinema as he liked to call himself, capable of working on all film genres. From spaghetti western to post-atomic, decamerotic to glossy eroticism, and blockbuster porn to bloody horror. Guided by the aesthetics of extremes and supported by an undeniable technical ability, Joe D’Amato pushed himself, and the viewer, beyond all limits following with dedication three rigid principles that have become his stylistic code: Amaze, Shock, Scandalize.

I Don't Know(ro)

Invited by the goEast Film Festival in Wiesbaden (Germany), Radu Jude created a self-portrait. A confinement diary made of his thoughts, his relationship to cinema, his inspirations or the streets, objects and people that surround him.

Long Distance Love(uz)

Alisher and Dildora are in love in Osh, Kyrgyzstan. Soon they are married and even sooner they have a baby on the way. At just 18, the smitten couple had considered only romance, but now Alisher finds himself struggling to provide for his young family in the harsh economic climate of Osh. The only option left for Alisher, like so many of his generation, is to leave his new bride to try to make it big in Moscow. While the earnest love between the newlyweds has a sweetness stronger than their 3,500 mile divide, their relationship is now beset by challenges more dire than distance alone.

A Tale of Old Cities(ko)

Jung-gu, the old original downtown of the city of Incheon, is the place where the first port was opened to foreign trades during the Japanese colonial period, and it is also the starting point of the construction of modern buildings, old Japanese houses(so-called enemy's house), railways, shipping, and airports. Currently, this area is also a place where the two concepts of development and reconstruction/regeneration are in sharp conflict. The film contains the story of those who pursue desirable regeneration, revolving around this neighborhood in Incheon.

Discrimination(ko)

Since 2013, Japan has implemented the free high school policy. However, only 10 Chongryon Korean high schools are excluded from this policy. The reason is that there are suspicions that the grant for free education will be misused by Chochongryon and others. Five of these schools protested about this measure and filed a claim for damages against the government in 2013. After four years of hearings, the first trial decision was made on July 19, 2017, starting with the case of Hiroshima Chongryon Korean high school.

Vettel, le pionnier(fr)

Ukraine-Poland: The Border of Solidarity(fr)

Since 24 February 2022, when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, several million refugees have already been taken in by Poles. In the Lublin region, near the Bug River, which marks the border with Ukraine and Belarus, farmers, shopkeepers, a photographer, and a teacher tell how their daily lives have been transformed by the outbreak of this war.

A Conversation with the Masters: The Empire Strikes Back 30 Years Later(en)

George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Lawrence Kasdan and John Williams look back at The Empire Strikes Back 30 years later.

Zugkraft mit Strom – Die Hightech-E-Lok(de)

Redefining the Line: The Making of One Hundred and One Dalmatians(en)

Making of documentary for Disney's animated feature 101 Dalmatians

Tatami(fr)

Within the French judo team, which accepts a camera for the first time, Larbi Benboudaoud, the great favorite, prepares the next world championships. Every day, he sharpens his body and his mind for the fight. The competition is tough. Will he keep his title?

Le Commandant Charcot, croisière hi-tech dans les glaces(fr)

Île de la Réunion - L'incroyable route qui défie l'Océan(fr)

Unfinished Diary(fr)

In this heartwarming docudrama, Chilean immigrant Marilú Mallet strives to make a film about her experience of deep isolation. Her English-speaking husband, a prominent film director, criticizes her subjective approach to filmmaking; her young son, raised in Quebec, speaks only French. Interviews with Isabel Allende and other Chilean exiles reveal a deep bond in this powerful and resonant film about language and genre, exile and immigration.

Kafr Kassem(ar)

On the eve of the Israeli attack on Egypt in 1956, Israel declares martial law in all the occupied Arab territories without any previous notice. When the villagers of Kafr Kassem returned home from the fields, they were butchered and killed in what is known today as the massacre of “Kafr Kassem”.

Tupelo's Own Elvis Presley(en)

This film features unreleased concert footage of Elvis Presley's afternoon performance at the 'Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show' held at the Fairgrounds in Tupelo, Mississippi on September 26, 1956. The professionally filmed black and white newsreel footage was synchronized with an amateur audio recording of the concert that had previously appeared on the 'Elvis Presley: A Golden Celebration' LP/CD box set.