Category: Contemporary Film

Exile (2017) Directed by Zoe Beloff

At the International Film Festival Rotterdam

On IMDB

An interesting case of reincarnation: Walter Benjamin and Bertold Brecht (who were in Denmark together in the 1930s, fleeing the Nazi regime) are alive and kicking in 2017 in New York and take the Staten Island Ferry together. Only, their travel in time has introduced a few minor corrections: Brecht is now an Iranian, Benjamin has returned as an African American. “So what?” asks Brecht. “Refugees look different today.”

The two roam New York, where Uber taxis drive around and Trump is presented as a ventriloquist’s dummy. The streets have changed, but the fascism of the 1930s has not been frozen in time. On occasions a comic duo, on others the voice of our conscience, the babbling Brecht-Benjamin duo still provides good weapons to attack the world. And that is necessary, according to director Zoe Beloff: “We are not finished with the past, and the past is not finished with us.” (synopsis from IFFR)

Shock Room (2015) won Best Australian Documentary at its premiere at the Antenna Documentary Film Festival

Read more about it here at the film’s web site.

Watch the trailer.

Read about it on IMDB.

Mr. Sin: The Abe Saffron Story

A documentary for the ABC, directed by Hugh Piper, about Australian crime figure Abe Saffron.

Mr. Sin on IMDB

Stolen Life (2007) Directed by Jackie Turnure/Peter Rasmussen

Stolen life was the first Australian feature-length machinima film, and it starred Claudia Black and Chris Jones. It won the award for Best Music Score at the 2007 Machinima Film Festival.

Stolen Life on IMDB

Noise (2008), directed by Henry Bean

Noise is a feature film, starring Tim Robbins, William Hurt and Bridget Moynahan; IMDB summarises the plot thusly: “A man who is being driven crazy by the noise in New York City decides to take vigilante action against it.”

Noise on IMDB

Mackenheim (2002) Directed by Adam Barr 

Starring Veronica Cartwright

Read more on IMDB.

Trivia: The tune ‘Cat Toys’ on the Microscopic Septet CD Been Up So Long It Looks Like Down To Me: The Micros Play The Blues is an arrangement of the Main Titles from this short film.

Faithful (1996) Directed by Paul Mazursky

Starring Cher, Chazz Palminteri and Ryan O’Neal. Written by Chazz Palminteri.

Read about on IMDB.

Umbrellas (1994) Directed by Henry Corra, Albert Maysles and Grahame Weinbren

Starring Christo and Jeanne-Claude

Read more on IMDB

The controversial story of the artist Christo’s grand-scale environmental art project in Japan and California that ended in the tragic death of two of its spectators. At its world premiere in 1994 at the Berlin International Film Festival, Howard Feinstein of Variety praised the film as, “highly original and structurally flawless . . . an ambitious documentary about an ambitious project.” Umbrellas won The Grand Prize at the Montreal International Film Festival. It was shown at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. and The Louvre Museum, Paris and on the European network ARTE. (Summary by Ore Shalhav)

The Music of Chance (1993) Directed by Philip Haas

Starrinf James Spader and Mandy Patinkin

Read about on IMDB

Money Man (1992) Directed by Phillip Haas

Starring J.S.G. Boggs

Read about on IMDB.

Money Man is a feature-length documentary produced by the BBC about the artist J.S.G. Boggs. For more on Boggs, see Lawrence Weschler’s terrific book, Boggs: A Comedy of Values (University of Chicago Press)