My Country, My Country (2006)

My Country, My Country was motivated by a sense of despair. Laura Poitras was determined to see the contradictions of the war in Iran from the perspective of the people living there. Filmmaker and crew are invited into the home and personal lives of Riyadh and his family. Poitras and her crew are granted behind-the-scenes access to the election preparations, too.

Working alone in Iraq over eight months, Poitras creates an extraordinarily intimate portrait of Iraqis living under U.S. occupation. Her principal focus is Dr. Riyadh, an Iraqi medical doctor, father of six and Sunni political candidate. My Country, My Country is, in fact, an impartial documentary depicting the controversial 2005 Iraqi national elections. The documentary follows the agonizing predicament of one man caught in the tragic contradictions of the U.S. occupation of Iraq and its effort to spread democracy in the Middle East.
Still the tale told here is not so much a political one as it is a human one, which is why this film rates a wide audience.
You can buy My Country, My Country.

Hommage

by Heidi Spicker.

You can buy her books: BANGKOK, Im Garten, Concrete. She's also coauthor of Asia City Strangers.

Dog (2002)

A moving tale from Suzie Templeton about a young boy who, grieving for his dead mother, seeks reassurance from his father.
This film is about a relationship between a father and son. To protect each other they bravely hold their agony inside, where it festers.

Suzie will intrigue you with this darkly comic film. Dog captures frail, complex emotions that teeter on the edge of darkness, like when the father rubs his temples or like the lifeless swing of his arm after he flicks off the bedroom light.
Everything about this animation is wonderfully subtle and delicate. The puppets are beautifully crafted and the music is just right!
Winner of the 2002 BAFTA for best short animation and of the Grand Prix at the Ottawa Student Animation Festival

Esu 2

If you want to read the previous E.S.U. strip, click here.

Censored (2005)

Censored is a Video Performance by Gruppo Sinestetico.

The distinction between a government censor and a private one is not always clear. Many private entities receive governmental support through funding and other means. With such support often comes some degree of governmental oversight or control.

Art is supposed to be the expression of feelings, the visual representation of what the artist is feeling or trying to show. All people need to have the freedom to express opinions and feelings to the extent that is acceptable, but who is to say what is acceptable? The public should have a choice in deciding whether to view the resulting content. Censorship is always a very blunt tool.
Today, some artists can only choose to censor themselves if they really want to be free.
Art represents a person’s identity. In such cases self-censure is the only identity left to artists.

William Wegman's photography

William Wegman has created a series of compositions involving dogs, primarily his own Weimaraners in various costumes and poses.
Wegman's photos are well-respected in the art world, they are kept in permanent collections of the Hammer Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. His photos and videos have also been a popular success and have appeared in books, advertisements, films, as well as on television programs like Sesame Street and Saturday Night Live. In 2006, Wegman's work was featured in a retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Norton Museum of Art, and the Addison Gallery. The 2007 solo exhibition Funny/ Strange runs at the Wexner Center for the Arts from September 28 through December 10.
His books: Cinderella (Fay's Fairy Tales), Dress Up Batty, Everyday Problems, Farm Days, Mother Goose, Polaroids.
His dvds: William Wegman's Alphabet Soup, Fay's Twelve Days of Christmas, ARTPIX Notebooks: William Wegman Video Works 1970-1999, The Hardly Boys in Hardly Gold, Selected Video Works 1970-78, Dog Baseball 1986

Man and Whale (校長先生とクジラ, 2007)

Greenpeace commissioned Yamamura to make Man and Whale (校長先生とクジラ) as a part of their campaign to end Japanese whaling. Koji Yamamura has only 2 minutes to get his message across and he does so with great subtlety and his usual attention to detail.
Today, only one country in the world continues to conduct whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary: Japan.There was a time in Japan during the food shortage hardships of the postwar period when whale meat was taken as a valuable source of protein. We are alive today thanks in a very real sense to this gift, so should we not reach out in gratitude to whales now and seek a path of peaceful coexistence?
You can buy Koji Yamamura dvd.

Chiron

This is a page from Chiron, a self-published comic by Filippo Messina.

Sicko (2006)

Michael Moore interviews medics and investigators from private health insurance companies who admit denying legitimate claims for the most spurious technical reasons. According to Moore, it’s a scandal that can be traced back to Richard Nixon.
Health care isn't healthcare; bureaucracy, the labyrinth of paperwork and all legal language about pre-existing conditions and denial of service make having coverage as much of a challenge as lacking it.

To prepare for the film, Moore used the Internet to solicit health-care horror stories, not just from the 47 million Americans who don’t have insurance but from those who do. So he travels around to a bunch of countries that already have socialized medicine to see how they work and shows us how France, England, Canada and Cuba actually help sick people instead of letting them wither and die for lack of health insurance.

I don't know if we can accept Michael Moore's selected anecdotes as "proof", but the movie is very funny: only Moore can talk about political issues and make you laugh until you cry !
You can buy Sicko.

Tapeworks

by MARK KHAISMAN


AWARDS

International Animation Festival, Best Art Director Prize, Paris, 1988

OISTT competition "The Tour Theatre", Second Prize, Stockholm, 1986
UNESCO "Rehabilitation of a Decayed Urban Environment", Third Prize, Warsaw, 1982
World Architectural Biennale "The New Urban Space", Second Prize, Sofia, 1981

Vache Folle (1997)

Vache Folle is the first of Samuel Toruneux's short films. It won the Grand Prix IMAGINA 1997.
The picture quality is nice and bright. The sound is well done and uses the stereo mix very well.
A mad cow takes off from the prairie and flies away into a foolish trip. This is a very fun piece that takes you by surprise. I actually laughed a bit while I watched it.
You can also watch Meme le Pigeons vont au paradise.
You can buy Computer Animation Marvels.

E.S.U.

E.S.U. is a comic strip created by Carlo Coratelli and Davide Zamberlan. They began to issue E.S.U. on Il giornale dei fumetti (Free Comics Club) in October 2000. In June 2001, Cronaca di Topolinia issued new comic strips of E.S.U.; while the old stories are reprinted on the website ComicUs (where Coratelli is also editor and writes the column Movie Comics) and on the web-zine Cartaigienica. After five years of publications, Zamberlan retired, and Coratelli continued to issue E.S.U. with Eros Righetti, who is the author of 20, a comic series issued on Antani Comics.
Carlo Coratelli issued other webcomics: Distretto 41 (with Raffaele Aversa) and John Sanders: Reporter (with Andrea Briganti).

Berlin Film Festival 2008 - main prizes

The Golden Bear: "Tropa de Elite," directed by Jose Padilha

Silver Bear - The Jury Grand Prix: "Standard Operating Procedure," directed by Errol Morris

Silver Bear - Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood"

Silver Bear - Best Actress:: Sally Hawkins in "Happy-Go-Lucky"

Silver Bear - Best Actor: Reja Nazi for "Song of Sparrows"

Silver Bear - Best Screenplay: Wang Ziaoshuai for "In Love We Trust" (Zuo You)

Silver Bear - Artistic Contribution: Jonny Greenwood for the score from "There Will Be Blood"

Best First Feature Award: "Asyl -- Park and Love Hotel," directed by Kumasaka Izuru

Alfred Bauer Prize: "Lake Tahoe," directed by Fernando Eimbcke

If you want to know who won the other prize, please click here.

Altavista (2006)

My dreams are of my dad, alive doing mundane things

Tealia Ellis Ritter

Selected Awards:

First Place Award at the Photographic Center Northwest Juried Member's Exhibition 2008,Awarded by Juror Marisa Sanchez, Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seattle Art Museum
Awarded By The School of Art and Art History, The University of Iowa, the MFA Degree with the Schools Highest Honors of Commendation, May 2004
Awarded the Virgin M. Beall Fellowship for the 2003-2004 academic year, University of Iowa, School of Art and Art History
Recipient of Outstanding Columbia College Student Award May 24, 2000
First Place Award/Scholarship, Columbia College Chicago, 2000 Annual Hokin Honors Exhibit
Academic Excellence in Photography Scholarship, Columbia College Chicago, 1999

Kogepan

Kogepan (こげぱん, Kogepan) is a Japanese character from the company San-X. Kogepan, who lives in a panya (Japanese bakery), is a red bean bread who was accidentally burnt by a careless baker. No one would buy burnt bread or be nice to him, so Kogepan became an outcast with no emotion for others. He runs away from home, gets drunk off milk, smokes, and always says negative things about himself. Disillusioned with life, he roams the bakery making friends and being jealous of other bread items.

The anime series, animated by Studio Pierrot and produced by Pony Canyon, consisted of ten 4-minute shorts, the majority of which introduces simple aspects of the character.
The name comes from kogeru, meaning to burn or char, and pan, a word taken from the Portuguese and meaning bread.
You can download the other episodes, by clicking here.
You can buy Kogepan doll.

New Haircut

by Masha Krasnova-Shabaeva. She works as an illustrator for many magazines. She took part in more than 20 different exhibitions around the world.

No End in Sight (2007)

No End in Sight, which won the 2007 Special Jury Prize at Sundance (although it was released practically in secrecy), examines the failures of America’s ongoing occupation of Iraq. Narrated by actor Campbell Scott, this film retraces the U.S. government’s steps after the "fall" of Baghdad in April 2003.
Charles Ferguson utilizes on-camera interviews with key personnel intimately involved with the rebuilding of Iraq, including former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, Ambassador Barbara Bodine, Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, former Chief of Staff to Colin Powell, and General Jay Garner , as well as Iraqi civilians, American soldiers and prominent analysts.

Emphasizing analysis over manipulation, the film details mistakes of the Bush administration. With a journalistic tone, Scott mostly recounts the facts of the occupation: one of the reasons for the postwar reconstruction’s collapse seems to be the administration’s lack of experience.
This documentary confirms what we thought we knew: American policy in Iraq was flawed from the start.
You can buy No End in Sight.

Three Portrait , Study 6

by Michael Kenna

AWARDS:
2003
Honorary Master of Arts, Brooks Institute, Santa Barbara, California, USA
2000
Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters, Ministry of Culture, France
1996
Golden Saffron Award, Consuegra, Spain
1989
Institute for Aesthetic Development Award, Pasadena, California, USA
1987
Art in Public Buildings Award, California Arts Council Commission, Sacramento, California, USA
1981
Imogen Cunningham Award, San Francisco, California, USA

BOOKS AND CATALOGS

2006 Hokkaido. Publishers: Nazraeli Press, USA. (English edition) and Shuppan Kyodosha (Japan edition). Text by Daido Moriyama. 84 photographs.
2006 In Japan . Publisher: RAM, Japan. Text by Ryuichi Kaneko. 53 photographs.
2004Retrospective Two. Publisher: Nazraeli Press, USA. Text by Anne W. Tucker. 130 photographs
2004 Ratcliffe Power Station. Publisher: Nazraeli Press, USA. Introduction by Jeremy Reed. 49 Photographs
2003 Boarding School. Publisher: Nazraeli Press, USA. Text by Michael Kenna. Limited edition. 8 Photographs.
2003 En Quete d’Horizon. Publisher: Chateau d’Eau Museum, France. Text by Jerome Bel. 18 Photographs
2003Et la Dentelle? Publishers: Marval, France (French edition) and Calais Lace, Nazraeli Press, USA (English edition). Preface by Frederic Mathieu. Text by Noel Jouenne. 50 Photographs
2002 Japan. Publishers: Nazraeli Press, USA (English edition) and Editions Treville, Japan (Japanese edition). Introduction by Kohtaro Iizawa. 95 Photographs
2002 A Twenty Year Retrospective. Publishers: Nazraeli Press, USA (English edition) and Editions Treville, Japan (Japanese edition). Reprint of 1994 Treville book. Essay by Ruth Bernhard. Introduction by Peter C. Bunnell. 130 photographs
2001 Easter Island. Publisher: Nazraeli Press, USA. Text by Michael Kenna. 44 Photographs
2001 L'impossible oubli. Publishers: Marval, France (French edition) and Impossible to Forget. Nazraeli Press, USA (English edition).Texts by Pierre Borhan and Clement Cheroux. 110 Photographs
2000 Night Work. Publisher: Nazraeli Press, USA. Preface by Debra Klochko. Text by Bill Jay, Tim Baskerville and Michael Kenna. 80 photographs
1999 Le Notre's Gardens. Publishers: The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Library, USA and Ram, USA. Text by Eric T. Haskell. Reprint with 60 photographs
1997 Monique's Kindergarten. Publisher: Nazraeli Press, USA. Text by John Bloom and Monique Grund. 63 photographs.
1997 The Rouge. Publishers: The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Library, USA and Ram, USA. Text by Eric T. Haskell. 40 photographs
1996 The Silverado Squatters by Robert Louis Stevenson. Publisher: Arion Press, USA. Limited Edition. Illustrated with 16 photographs.
1995 The Rouge. Publisher: Ram, USA. Preface by Ellen Sharp. Text by Lee R. Kollins.
50 photographs
1994 Michael Kenna: A 20 Year Retrospective. Publisher: Treville, Japan. Preface by Ruth Bernhard. Introduction by Peter C. Bunnell. 130 photographs.
1991 The Elkhorn Slough and Moss Landing. Publisher: The Elkhorn Slough Foundation, USA. Introduction by Mark Silberstein. 30 photographs.
1990 Le Desert de Retz. Publisher: Arion Press, USA. Preface by Olivier Choppin de Janvry. Introduction by Diana Ketcham. Limited edition. 37 photographs.
1990 Michael Kenna. Publisher: Min Gallery, Japan. Preface by Mayumi Shinohara. Introduction by Kohtaro Iizawa. 37 photographs.
1989 The Hound of the Baskervilles. by Arthur Conan Doyle. Publisher: Northpoint Press, USA. Reprint of 1985 Arion Press book. Illustrated with 53 photographs
1988 Night Walk. Publisher: Friends of Photography, USA. Preface by David Featherstone. Introduction by Jerome Tarshis. 44 photographs.
1987 MICHAEL KENNA 1977-1987. Publisher: Min Gallery, Japan. Preface by Robert Lassam. Introduction by Mark Johnstone. 37 photographs.
1985 The Hound of the Baskervilles. by Arthur Conan Doyle. Publisher: Arion Press, USA. Limited edition. Illustrated with 53 photographs.
1984 Michael Kenna: Photographs. Publisher: Stephen Wirtz Gallery and Weston Gallery, USA. Introduction by Jean Francois Chevrier. 18 photographs.

Peter and the Wolf (1946)

Before Suzie Templeton, Walt Disney produced an animated version of Peter and the Wolf .
Featuring narration by Sterling Holloway, Peter & the Wolf adds Walt Disney's touch to Prokofiev's masterpiece, telling the story of the brave young boy who takes it upon himself to go out hunting for a dangerous wolf, while accompanied by a bird, a duck, and a cat. Rather than featuring dialogue, each character is voiced by a different musical instrument.
The design of Peter is particularly generic, kind of a mix between Pinocchio and Wendy's brother in Peter Pan. But this 1946 version of Prokofiev's "Musical Fairy-Tale" is probably my favourite of Disney's adaptations, but it isn't my favourite Peter and the Wolf adpatation: I prefer the Suzie Templeton adaptation.
It was released theatrically as a segment in Make Mine Music, then re-issued the following year accompanying a re-issue of Fantasia (as a short subject before the film), then separately on home video in the 1990s.
You can buy Peter & the Wolf.

Virus 2

You can read other stories about Agent Rocco on the Agente Rocco website.

Chimps

Beagles & Ramsay have worked collaboratively since 1997. Their works have been exhibited internationally.
The anxieties, both cultural and social, that run through the work of Beagles and Ramsay read like a contemporary chronology of perceived malaise. They create a body of work capable of articulating the absurd, disturbing and humorous character of contemporary culture. Ultra-violence and other forms of poor taste in our culture signal the end of that patronizing and paternalistic cultural leadership which had hoped to use the technologies of mass culture to improve the impoverished and raise the moral standards of the nation.

Hotel Room

by Jennifer Loeber

AWARDS
2007, Honorable Mention, PX3 Prix De La Photographie Paris, Paris, France

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Group-show.com, Glamour Magazine, File Magazine, F-Stop Magazine

FILMOGRAPHY
2007, Fish Kill Flea, feature-length documentary (Co-Director)

Kumo to churippu (1943)

Kenzo Masaoka's The Spider and the Tulip (Kumo to churippu, 1943) is a legendary title which would influence Isao Takahato's works in the future.
This short film reminds one of the style of a "Silly Symphony" and it isn't very original: it doesn't seem Japanese, it's too "American". However, it deserves attention because the animation is particularly brilliant in technique.

Virus 1

You can read other stories about Agent Rocco on the Agente Rocco website. The drawings and the story are by Federico Rettondini. He took a degree at the European Institute of Design. He works for Area Grafica of Match Music Satellite, where he produces tv post productions.

Operation Homecoming (2005)

Structured around the poetic, the comic and chilling writings of men and women posted in Iraq, this documentary explores firsthand accounts of American soldiers through their own words. The film is built upon a project created by the National Endowment for the Arts to gather the writing of soldiers and their families who have participated in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Through interviews and dramatic readings by such actors, the film transforms selections from this collection of writing into a deep examination of the experiences of the men and women who are serving in America's armed forces. Robbins is trying to present the soldiers' point-of-view without mixing it with politics. He offers a humanizing study of the soldiers who have suffered through the dehumanization of war.

At the core of the writing in Operation Homecoming is a deep desire by all those who have served in war to come to terms with their experiences. Through an extraordinary group of men and women it presents a profound window into the human side of America’s current conflicts.

Robbins steers clear of making judgments about the war itself; Operation Homecoming's message, on the other hand, seems to be simply that war is bad and that it kills people. The stories recounted here are sad, funny, violent and uplifting. Yet each one displays an honesty and intensity that is rarely seen in explorations of the war.
You can buy Operation Homecoming.

Bump

by Milton Knight

He writes and draws comic books and comic strips for magazines and small newspapers, illustrates and designs record covers, posters, candy and T-shirts, and exhibits paintings. He spent the 1980's on the outskirts of the "radical art scene" of the East Village.

Le Cadeau du Temps (2007)

Zune Arts has released a new video by Corey Godbey, a visual sculptor for Portland Studios. Le Cadeau du Temps explores the power of sharing and personal connection through the eyes of a man given the gift of eternal life. The use of texture and color in the animation blends seamlessly with the musical backdrop to create a deeply emotional connection with the viewer.
In his blog, Godbey describes the entire filmmaking process, along with visual references for each step of the procedure.

Holiday Happiness

by Joel Trussel

Catwoman Resolution (2006)

Everyone feels the pressure to improve their lifestyle for New Year's Eve, including Catwoman's alter ego, Seline Kyle. Reflecting on her existence leads her to give up her life of crime, but not before 'borrowing' a designer necklace for her New Year's Eve party. When a crime lord orders the return of the jewelry, can she keep her resolution while fighting for her life?

Colin Bankeston makes documentaries, promos and music videos. He's a skilled cameraman and editor, with work shown on many UK TV channels including the BBC and ITV.

Sex sells 04/09

by Klaus Muenzner, founder member of Neunplus.

UGOKIE-KO-RI-NO-TATEHIKI (動絵狐狸達引, 1933)

Repo man is back!

Do you remember the 1980's cult film “Repo Man”? Now it has an official sequel "Waldo's Hawaiian Holiday" - in graphic novel form... with a script by original writer/director Alex Cox. It issued by Gestalt Comics.

You can buy Repo Man, Waldo's Hawaiian Holiday.

Ulisse 3

by Gioma.
If you want to read the former strip, click here.

Taxi to the Dark Side (2007)

Taxi to the Dark Side is a serious film about the future of America. It may be shocking and disturbing as its title implies, because the subject matter is torture as a weapon of choice in the War Against Terror, but it has great visual grace and assurance: Gibney edits the material for maximum clarity and impact. His shots are beautiful and unexpectedly tranquil.

The case of Dilawar, an Afghan taxi driver, beaten to death in 2002 while in U.S. military custody forms the heart of this examination of the abuses committed during the detainment and interrogation of political prisoners. The film uncovers an inescapable link between the tragic incidents that unfolded in Bagram and the policies made at the very highest level of the United States government in Washington, D.C. Combining the cool detachment of a forensic expert with the heated indignation of a proud American who holds his country to a high standard, Gibney’s film reveals how the Bush administration has systematically betrayed the very ideals it professes to uphold.
From Dilawar's sad and purposeless death Gibney spirals his story outward to encompass the whole of the Bush administration's post-9/11 attitude toward torture, detention, and the rules of war. Far from being a leftist cry of hysteria, it deliberately and devastatingly lays out its case through interviews with and news footage about a wide range of subjects: fellow prisoners at Bagram; Carlotta Gall and Tim Golden, who reported on Dilawar’s story for The New York Times; etc.
You can buy Taxi to the Dark Side.