Le cahier de Danièle Kahn

Days of Glory

2006 · ★ 6.7

1943. They have never stepped foot on French soil but because France was at war, Said, Abdelkader, Messaoud and Yassir enlist in the French Army, along with 130,000 other “indigenous” soldiers, to liberate the “fatherland” from the Nazi enemy. Heroes that history has forgotten...

Games '74: Official Film of the Xth British Commonwealth Games, Christchurch, New Zealand, 1974

1974

This chronicle of the Christchurch Commonwealth Games marked one of the National Film Unit's most ambitious productions. Though a range of events (including famous runs by John Walker and Dick Tayler), are covered, the film often bypasses the pomp and glory approach; instead it dares to talk to the injured and mention that most competitors lose. The closing ceremonies of the "friendly games" feature the athletes gathering to — as the official song's chorus put it — "join together". Four directors joined together to work on it: Arthur Everard, John King, Paul Maunder and Sam Pillsbury.

A Family Film

2019 · ★ 10

Based on home movies shot on Super 8mm film, A Family Film places the mother at its center as the narrator while tracing the memories of a family living in Istanbul in the 70s.

Más allá de la alambrada: la memoria del horror

2005 · ★ 8

No synopsis available.

Lo zebù e la stella

2007 · ★ 7

A zebu disappears while children are drawing it. They find it again in the woods. The notes of a harp accompany their multi-coloured joy. This short was made with children from a nursery school in Mantua. Playing with colours, the children seem to conquer the world.

La doble vida del faquir

2005 · ★ 6.4

La doble vida del faquir (The magicians) returns to the scene of a school in the Catalan town of Sant Julià de Vilatorta where, in 1937, in the midst of civil war, a film-maker in hiding and a group of orphaned children dressed up as sultans and explorers shot an exotic adventure film. The films protagonists relive those childhood days when they were able to switch their school smocks for oriental turbans, while reality imposed its own fancy dress ball with military uniforms and priests dressed in civilian garb.

Manzanar

1972 · ★ 6.5

Short film about the Manzanar Japanese American internment camp. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2011.

Play Dead!

2023 · ★ 6

If there is one person Matthew Lancit can’t get out of his mind, it is his uncle Harvey. Dark rings around his eyes, pale, blind, his legs amputated. Like Harvey, the filmmaker also suffers from diabetes. He has the disease under control, but one question is always nagging at him: How much longer? His long-term (self-)observation reliably revolves around fears of infirmity and mutilation. He translates the feared body horror into film, stages himself as a zombie, vampire, a desolate figure. Lancit playfully anticipates his potential decline, serving up a whole arsenal of effects which – as video recordings prove – go back to his youth. It is not for nothing that the “dead” in the title is also reminiscent of “dad.” Because “Play Dead!” also negotiates his own role as a father.

Giraffes: The Forgotten Giants

2015 · ★ 10

"Giraffes: The Forgotten Giants" delves into the reasons behind the "silent" extinction of giraffes worldwide, and introduces us to the scientists who are gathering new information that may stave off their decline.

Extranjeros de sí mismos

2000 · ★ 8

No synopsis available.

Making of the Genie in a Ravioli Can

2007

A short behind the scenes documentary showing the creation of the short claymation film The Genie in a Ravioli Can (Le génie de la boîte de raviolis).

Passion Plays

An annual battle of Dresden’s culture of commemoration and the question of authority to interpret history breaks out.