Tag: 1990s

May 14, 2024 / Arthouse

A film set in a small Polish village in the ’60s that deals with a young girl’s awakening sexuality. Mala, about 13, lives with her unmarried mother and has a boyfriend of her own age. The village is sent into a turmoil by the arrival of the clan of Gypsies, who set up camp in the field. Gypsies are ostracized and damned as ‘devils’ by the conservative villagers. Mala is attracted to the Gypsies…

May 14, 2024 / Animation

Originating from the filmmaker’s childhood confusion over an English expression regarding sex, Marie Paccou’s 1998 animation is the absurd, yet emotive tale of a woman who wakes one day to find a small man growing out of her abdomen. Telling her surreal story through sketchy black-and-white animation, complemented by a philosophical voiceover, at the center of Un Jour is a thought-provoking metaphor that is bound to provoke many different readings.

May 14, 2024 / Animation

Through a meaningful hail of bullets, flying glass and bloodshed, this animated film poses many profound questions about watching and responding to TV violence. Its images and sounds are disturbing and provocative, forcing viewers to examine what, why and how they watch TV, and to examine the effects of television violence on themselves and others.

April 5, 2024 / Action

When a naïve young man and his lazy best friend attempt to rob a bank, they find another robber has beaten them to the punch. After the original robber and the best friend are killed, the young man serendipitously gets the 80 million yen. But when he accidentally stabs an innocent hairdresser, a cause-and-effect situation quickly spirals out of control. Meanwhile, a trio of yakuzas mistakenly kills a powerful mob boss. As their paths continue to cross, the story displays some interesting parallels about just-out-of-reach redemption and the unlikelihood of atoning for one’s sins, all delivered in a black comedy package.

April 5, 2024 / Short

A prisoner is found unconscious in his cell after an attempted suicide. The prison doctor is called to resuscitate the man and so must face an ethical dilemma.

April 3, 2024 / Documentary

Leading statesmen, generals, terrorists and others who made the headlines in one of history’s most bitter and enduring struggles tell the story of the Arab-Israeli conflict in The 50 Years War: Israel and the Arabs. Opening with the U.N decision to partition Palestine in 1947, the program charts the ensuing half-century of enmity, warfare, mediation and negotiation.

April 1, 2024 / Fantasy

This short, written and directed by Christine Parker (Channelling Baby) takes an allegorical look at the creative process. A writer has a korero with a trickster spirit guide Hinekaro (voiced by Rena Owen), and conjures worlds from the words she inks on a page. In her imaginative struggles she’s visited by a ruru owl and her younger self, and other creatures are brought strikingly to life via special effects (beetles from a book, an eel hiding in a toilet bowl). Hinekaro was adapted from a 1991 short story by Booker Prize-winner Keri Hulme.

March 28, 2024 / Drama