Eleven directors from 11 countries each contribute an 11-minute short reflecting on the events of 11 September 2001: A village teacher in Iran tries to explain to her young students what’s happened; city kids in Burkina Faso think they’ve spotted Osama bin Laden; a deaf Frenchwoman in Manhattan writes a Dear John letter to a man who left that morning for work at the World Trade Center; a Chilean remembers Allende; events recall other deaths; a mother endures more than her son’s death. The tones vary, as do the locales. Most stories are about others coming to terms with the events of the day, but at least one confronts the viewer with tragedy and death.
Tag: UK
A rabbi is murdered. Detective Llonrot is called in on the case and looks for a ‘rabbinical explanation’ for the murder. Other murders are committed and deliberate clues left in chosen locations. Llonrot, convinced he is on the trail of a ‘mystical intrigue’ is lured to the ‘crime scene’ when the tables are turned by his nemesis, the master criminal Red Scharlach.
Englishman Bruce Harris took on more than he bargained for when he accepted the job of boss at a refuge for street children in Guatemala City. He has now become the not-so-local hero. This film documents his investigations into violent acts, including murder, against Guatemala’s street children by the national police. His pursuit of justice on behalf of these children is legendary but has placed him in a personally dangerous position.
In A Hole in the Soul, director Dusan Makavejev’s free-form, autobiographical meditation on the nature of a place combines aspects of both physical place (the former Yugoslavia) and mental place (the cinematic avant-garde). Makavejev mixes styles and genres in order to explore his sense of himself and his physical environment. Makavejev’s bold contribution to BBC Scotland’s acclaimed TV series The Director’s Place allows audiences a highly personal look at the director as he explores his own hole in the soul.
The long and flamboyant career of the French filmmaker is depicted in Abel Gance: The Charm of Dynamite, a documentary created for the BBC by film historian and Abel Gance scholar Kevin Brownlow. A Blue Ribbon winner at the American Film Festival of 1976, this documentary, along with Brownlow’s history of silent film The Parade’s Gone By and his restoration of Gance’s 1927 Napoleon, was instrumental in bringing Gance’s cinematic genius to a new generation of film enthusiasts.
An in-depth look at the band during their first trip to China. George Michael and Andrew Ridgely tour China with their group WHAM! as the first Western band to tour the Communist country, beating out Queen for the privilege. Director Lindsay Anderson was the surprise choice to chronicle Wham!’s tour of Communist China, taking in performances in Hong Kong, Beijing and Canton for a two week period in the month of April, 1985.
Steven Dyer, an executive working for a giant multinational drugs company, decides to report his employer for breaches of Common Market trading regulations. One night in Basle, Switzerland, he leaves his home to post a letter, the start of a nightmare journey that leads to terrible consequences for his life, his career and for his wife and children.
After Larry Darrant accidentally kills his lover’s estranged blackmailing husband, someone else is arrested for the crime. Larry and Wanda have just three weeks together before the trial, and if the man is found guilty then Larry will give himself up and prevent an innocent man going to the gallows.