Author: Doc Studies

Critic Jim Hoberman on Julia Loktev’s new feature THE LONELIEST PLANET —

“The Russian-born filmmaker isn’t exactly a disciple of Sergei Eisenstein, but her approach is suggestive of an assertion Eisenstein made in his first published article “Montage of Attractions.” He was writing on theater but soon applied his ideas to cinema: The medium’s “basic materials” are found in the spectator and arise “from our guiding of the spectator into a desired direction (or a desired mood).” Accordingly, the audience is subjected to a calculated series of surprises or jolts. Continue reading “Sergei Eisenstein and Julia Loktev” →

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1 at 7:30 PM.

“The Cinema Novo movement emphasized social equality in Brazilian and Latin American cinema in the 1960’s and 70’s. Saturday evening we will present three important works from this period: two short pieces by cinema legend Glauber Rocha (Maranhao 66 and a clip from his television series Abertura), and Joaquim Pedro de Andrade’s essential document of the era Cinema Novo, produced for German Television in 1967. Continue reading “Brazil’s Cinema Novo — Union Docs” →

A rare screening of landmark New York place films by the great postwar photodocumentarians Rudy Burckhardt, Lionel Rogosin, Helen Levitt and James Agee. Continue reading “The New York Street — MOMA” →

In 1995, four Danish filmmakers led by the director Lars von Trier issued a manifesto, for film a proclamation declaring a set of aesthetic ‘rules’ for cinema.
According to author Patrick Kinsley, in his new book How To Be Danish, the Dogme manifesto inspired a renaissance in Danish culture. Continue reading “The Dogme Manifesto — How It Reinvented Denmark” →

The 2012 Margaret Mead Film Festival of contemporary cultural storytelling will screen 29 films and host special multi-media events and performances.

Continue reading “Margaret Mead Film Festival: November 29 – December 2” →