Monsters (2010) Dir. Gareth Edwards

‘Gareth Edwards is known for his successes with "Godzilla" and "Rogue One: A Star Wars Movie™", but many people still refer to his breakout independent film, "Monsters". Hear Gareth talk about how working in tools like Premiere Pro and After Effects enabled him to work quickly in multiple locations and deliver his film "Monsters". (Interview from 2010).’ Adobe CC

On Friday 1/5/20 we were joined by Gareth Edwards (Director - Star Wars - Rogue One, Godzilla, Monsters) - Live from Los Angeles - for an online guest seminar.

Recording is on Teams for UCW/ Weston College students to watch (again), please email us if you would like the link.

Other Interviews

Reviews

Can't Get you out of my Head - Adam Curtis (2021) - BBC iPlayer

Love, power, money, ghosts of empire, conspiracies, artificial intelligence – and You. An emotional history of the modern world by Adam Curtis.

‘Can't Get you out of my Head’ new film series by Adam Curtis now on iPlayer. Watch here

WATCH at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p093wp6h/cant-get-you-out-of-my-head

Trailer:

Interviews, Articles and Reviews

Leave your thoughts on the films in the comments below

Tiger King - TV Documentary Series (2020)

‘A zoo owner spirals out of control amid a cast of eccentric characters in this true murder-for-hire story from the underworld of big cat breeding.’

One of the most watched documentaries (‘The Last Dance’ has since topped these viewing figures), if you’ve not seen it yet it is worth catching up on.

It sure is compelling viewing. Is it a good documentary ? Gregory Cameron in an essay on Medium argues it is not. What do you think?

Burma VJ (2008)

Going beyond the occasional news clip from Burma (Myanmar) , the acclaimed filmmaker Anders Østergaard combines original footage recorded by undercover video journalists from the Oslo-based publication, Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), with a controversial reconstruction of scenes from the Saffron Revolution that launched in 2007. As explored by Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist Andrew Marshall wrote in his critical review of this riveting film, those elements of the film that are reconstructed challenge the viewer to make up their own minds on the role of the film-maker and artistic liberty in documenting what the Burmese state does not want documented. Read More - Cinema Politica

Cold War Steve Meets the Outside World

Cold War Steve Meets the Outside World airs Tonight, 24 November at 9pm on Sky Arts, Freeview Channel 11

'Famed for his collages that have been making Twitter a better place, Cold War Steve has an eye for the obscure. His artwork, Monty Python esque, nails a political moment every time with a laugh-out-loud funny hell-scape usually involving Boris Johnson in a state of duress and undress and world leaders rubbing shoulders with a whole host British TV stars including Jeremy Beadle and Eastenders’ Phil Mitchell.

Beyond Twitter, Cold War Steve has taken his work on a tour of the UK. Followed by a documentary crew, he jumped in his motorhome and visited Medway, Coventry, Liverpool and Bournemouth, showcasing four pieces out in the open. These Covid safe installations were free for everyone to visit and, well, caused a little bit of controversy along the way.' Shortlist

Gideon Soames of The Fast Show fame (Actor - Simon Day) deep dives into an artistic critique of the work of Cold War Steve.
’Cold War Steve meets The Outside World’ is now on Sky Arts. This is an additional 11 min extra.

Small Axe (2020) Steve McQueen

Watch Steve McQueen’s first of a series of Films ‘Small Axe’ now showing on BBC iPlayer. Superb, powerful and timely film, the first film is ‘Mangrove’.

’Fifty years ago, on 9 August 1970, 150 protestors marched against police harassment in Notting Hill. This is the true story of the Mangrove 9, a group of Black activists who were arrested for leading the protest and who changed British history by taking a stand against racial discrimination.’

The second film ‘Lovers Rock’ tells a fictional story of young love at a blues party in 1980. The film is an ode to the romantic reggae genre called lovers rock, and to the black youth who found freedom and love in its sound at London house parties, at a time when they were unwelcome in white nightclubs.

The third film 'Red, White and Blue' starring John Boyega airs Sunday 29th November at 9pm.

There’s more about Steve McQueen including his other films and exhibitions on this Poool page
.

Small Axe Q&A - BFI London Film Festival
Steve McQueen talks to BFI London Film Festival programmer Tega Okiti about Mangrove and Lovers Rock

More Q&A and talks about Small Axe from New York Film Festival

New York Film Festival hosted this talk, below, about The Making of Small Axe, ‘In this lively conversation with NYFF Director of Programming Dennis Lim , McQueen and his collaborators—including co-writers Courttia Newland and Alastair Siddons, cinematographer Shabier Kirchner, and actors Shaun Parkes and Letitia Wright—dug into the making of this sprawling project and the artistic and political ambitions that have shaped it.’

With his bold and multifaceted Small Axe anthology, Steve McQueen has made the films of the moment. The three parts screened in the NYFF58 Main Slate-Lovers ...

At around 17m 10s in talk above Steve McQueen talks about the ‘Silly Games’ acapella sequence in Lovers Rock.

1 Second Everyday - Cesar Kuriyama

‘1 Second Everyday is a video journal that makes it easy for people around the world to create meaningful movies that include every day of their lives.

It all started in 2011, when video and VFX artist Cesar Kuriyama decided to take a year off from work to spend more time with family and friends and see the country on a 95-day road trip. To document the year, Cesar began recording short snippets of video every day, which he compiled into a six-minute video to encapsulate that entire year of his life.’

Self-filming: from Video Diaries to Mobile Journalism

Origins of Self-filming: Video diaries of Nelson Sullivan

‘Mobile Journalism has introduced a specific audiovisual language with self-filming as the main characteristic element.

If self-filming is fully associated with the Mojo movement and the era of social media, especially with the selfie in photography, this method of filming has already seen its appearance in the form of video diaries and vlogs.

This new culture of “Picture of Self” and communication with others has been able to flourish for some three decades.’
Read Essay’s by Terence Jarosz on Medium: Part 1 , Part 2, Part 3

Nelson Sullivan — Sunday Afternoon in Central Park in 1988

Related articles

Also see:

The Academy’s section on filming and recording, including on smartphone (BBC)

BBC Academy blogs by:

BBC smartphone reporting specialist Marc Settle, who offers a fuller guide to working with a range of smartphone apps

Mobile journalism specialist Nick Garnett

Be a Lady they Said’, feat Cynthia Nixon

“Claire Rothstein’s Be a Lady They Said is a fashion film for the #MeToo generation and an unflinching look at the impossible standards forced on women” - Kate Finnigan, Guardian (28/2/2020)

Claire Rothstein, the British photographer and publisher of the fashion magazine Girls Girls Girls, is behind the ‘Be a Lady They Said’ video. The video is directed by Rothstein’s partner, Paul McLean.

Source and Owner Magazine: Girls. Girls. Girls.

Review (Independent) Review (Guardian)  

Film on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/393253445 

73 Cows (2018) Alex Lockwood

73 Cows is the story of Jay Wilde, a beef farmer who battles with his conscience every time he takes his cows to slaughter. Feeling trapped within an industry he no longer believes in, Jay knows he must make a change and do what no other farmer from the UK has ever done before. © Lockwood Film.

Below is video from conversation with Documentary Film maker Alex Lockwood, director of 73 cows and Freya (TeaAt3).

My America (2018) Barnaby Roper

My America is a 17-minute short documentary that raises the voices of a group that are often accounted for, but seldom listened to: youth. The film follows a small group of disenfranchised young people as they describe what their personal America looks like, and how they are trying to enact change in their own way.

My heartfelt thanks to everyone that came together to make this film happen - for sharing and trusting us with your stories and hope for America’s future. To our team, for making a 6,600 mile trip in 10 short days, one of the most enjoyable experiences in my life - your talent, drive, selflessness and ability to sleep for 10 hours a day in a 15 seat pass van will never be forgotten.

Director: Barnaby Roper
Editor: Matt Nee
Producer: Taylor Vandegrift
UPM: Brandon Robinson
DP: Isaac Bauman
AC: Payam Yazdandoost
Sound Mixer: Clint Allday
Drone Pilot: Gabe de la Parra
Music: Tristan Bechet

Black Sheep - (Oscars 2019 Short Documentary Nominee) - Directed by Ed Perkins

Everything changed for Cornelius Walker on 27 November 2000 when Damilola Taylor was killed. Damilola was 11, the same age as Cornelius. He lived five minutes away. He had the same skin colour. Cornelius’s mother, scared for her son’s safety, moved their family out of London. Cornelius suddenly found himself living on a white estate run by racists. But rather than fight them, Cornelius decided to become more like the people who hated him. They became his family and kept him safe. And in return, Cornelius became submerged in a culture of violence and hatred. But as the violence and racism against other black people continued, Cornelius struggled to marry his real identity with the one he had acquired.

Also see, other documentary films on Guardian Documentary including":

After Windrush Betrayl - Paulette Wilson

GIRLHOOD (BANDE DE FILLES) Directed by CÉLINE SCIAMMA. (2014) France

‘One of the best coming-of-age films of our times, Céline Sciamma’s Girlhood follows a journey of self-discovery through the power of female friendship. By focusing on the lives of young Black women in Paris’ banlieue, Sciamma provides a kind of on-screen representation still too absent in cinema.’ MUBI

MUBI FILM STUDENT PROGRAM

MUBI is offering film students around the world free access to their streaming service for the duration of their studies. Click on links below to find out more and join for free.

MULHOLLAND DRIVE (2001) - Dir. David Lynch

SYNOPSIS

After arriving in Hollywood, aspiring actress Betty (Naomi Watts) befriends an amnesiac woman (Laura Harring) and tries to help her recover her memory. The film establishes these characters but then proceeds to subvert any certainty about them, weaving its plot around L.A.’s signature industry.

MUBI’s TAKE

Initially conceived as a TV pilot, only to be transformed into a feature film, Mulholland Drive is lightning in a bottle of Hollywood fantasies, baroque emotions, and noir dreamscapes. Lynch’s surrealist masterpiece is a nightmarish puzzle box of doubles and desires, where nothing is what it seems.

The Long Goodbye (2020) - Created by: Aneil Karia & Riz Ahmed

Actor, musician and activist Riz Ahmed has never been afraid to speak his mind. Whether in the roles he chooses or giving impassioned speeches in parliament, his work is reflective of what is happening in the world today. Now to coincide with the release of his new album, The Long Goodbye, Riz is releasing a new short film of the same name, as part of a collaboration with WePresent and directed by Aneil Karia. A sobering and powerful watch, The Long Goodbye imagines a dystopian near future and sees Riz unpack his feelings towards his country.

This film contains sensitive material, viewer discretion is advised.

In an online article for WeTransfer, Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff goes behind the scenes with Riz and Aneil during filming.

The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 - GÖRAN OLSSON (2011)

‘From 1967 to 1975, fueled by curiosity and naïveté, Swedish journalists traversed the ocean to film the black power movement in America. The Black Power Mixtape mobilizes a mosaic of images, music, and narration to chronicle the movement’s evolution.’ - MUBI

Pressure (1976) - Horace Ove

Excerpt from Horace Ové's film Pressure available on nice DVD set from the BFI.

‘As UK Black Lives Matter protests roar, and the foulness of the Windrush scandal festers, it is a crucial time to dive into black British history. “Historic” certainly describes the first ever black British feature film: Horace Ové’s Pressure, an absorbing 1976 drama about the everyday struggles of a London-born son (Herbert Norville) of Trinidadian parents.’ - Ashley Clark, Guardian

I am not your Negro (2016) - Raoul Peck

Narrated entirely in the words of James Baldwin, through both personal appearances and the text of his final unfinished book project, this film touches on the lives and assassinations of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr and Medgar Evers. The film brings powerful clarity to how the images and reality of black lives in America today are fabricated and enforced. 

Handsworth Songs - John Akomfrah (1986)

Black Audio Film Collective, John Akomfrah, Handsworth Songs, 1986, single channel 16mm colour film transferred to video, sound, 58 minutes 33 seconds. © Smoking Dogs Films. Courtesy Lisson Gallery

‘A film essay on race and civil disorder in 1980s Britain and the inner city riots of 1985, Handsworth Songs takes as its point of departure the civil disturbances of September and October 1985 in the Birmingham district of Handsworth and in the urban centres of London. Running throughout the film is the idea that the riots were the outcome of a protracted suppression by British society of black presence. The film portrays civil disorder as an opening onto a secret history of dissatisfaction that is connected to the national drama of industrial decline. Handsworth Songs won Britain’s most prestigious award for Documentaries, the British Film Institute Grierson Award Best Documentary in 1986.’

The film features photography by Vanley Burke and was shot on his bolex camera as discussed in recent guest seminar with us.

The film is a Black Audio Film Collective production. Artists, filmmakers and writers associated with the group include John Akomfrah, Reece Auguiste, Edward George Lina Gopaul, Avril Johnson, David Lawson, Trevor Mathison .

John Akomfrah talks about his practice as a filmmaker, how he navigates between the gallery and cinema, what compelled him to make his 2015 work Vertigo Sea,...

Also see: