Category: Documentary

Documentary films are a valuable educational resource. It provides in-depth insights into various subjects and a window to different cultures.

Categories
Comedy Documentary

Analogue People in a Digital Age (2013)

Analogue People in a Digital Age (2013)
Analogue People in a Digital Age (2013)

When Ireland’s TV signal went fully digital, a camera crew went to local Irish pub in South Galway to discuss this change with the patrons – and whatever else is on their minds.

Since we have a load of blokes gently drinking and discussing themselves into the day, there is a certain relaxed spirit to the conversations and it is fun to see where they go to. Taking inspiration from that little piece of information that is lost in the transfer from analogue to digital, the film examines who and what is lost in the relentless rush forward. This film was made as part of the Irish Film Board/Bord Scannán na hÉireann Reality Bites short documentary scheme 2013. There are discussions over changes in life generally, about how old ways seem to be being pushed away, about reincarnation and the nature of death, about how to retune a television and Einstein’s Theory of Relativity (the conclusion is Einstein was a “fecking eejit” by the way). The key thing is that it never is just a load of drunk people spouting off but rather it has quite a poetic spirit to it – and indeed the film perfectly encapsulates this as one of the subjects bows out the film with a piece of prose apropos of nothing and off the top of his head!

Directed by Keith Walsh.
Starring: Zac Clark, Silk Clark, Patrick O’Shaughnessy

Categories
Comedy Documentary

Wes Anderson: A Mini Documentary (2013)

Wes Anderson: A Mini Documentary (2013)

A short documentary by Paul Waters of Brown Elephant Collective that explores the different facets of commercial and film work from director and screenwriter Wes Anderson. Anderson has a very distinctive deep-rooted melancholy and deadpan slapstick style. With 8 feature films under his belt as a director, his idiosyncratic style is becoming widely recognized. Much like the criticism Tarantino receives for his films, they are being identified to the point where some critics will criticize his films for being ‘too Wes Anderson’. The Grand Budapest Hotel opened last weekend to a record breaking debut. Initially only opening in 4 theaters, now 66, the film has made it’s way into the top 10 box office chart. The film which stars Anderson regulars; Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe and many others, grossed $1,087,000 on Friday. This places the film in 8th place on the overall box office chart, ahead of films playing in over 1,000 more theaters.

Wes Anderson is the son of Melver, an advertising and PR executive, and Anne, an archaeologist turned real estate agent. He has two brothers, Eric and Mel. Anderson’s parents divorced when he was a young child, an event that he described as the most crucial event of my brothers and my growing up. During childhood, Anderson also began writing plays and making super-8 movies. He was educated at Westchester High School and then St. John’s, a private prep school in Houston, Texas, which was later to prove an inspiration for the film Rushmore (1998). Anderson attended the University of Texas in Austin, where he majored in philosophy. It was there that he met Owen Wilson. They became friends and began making short films, some of which aired on a local cable-access station. One of their shorts was Bottle Rocket (1994), which starred Owen and his brother Luke Wilson. The short was screened at the Sundance Film Festival, where it was successfully received, so much so that they received funding to make a feature-length version. Bottle Rocket (1996) was not a commercial hit, but it gained a cult audience and high-profile fans, which included Martin Scorsese. Success followed with films such as Rushmore (1998), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) and an animated feature, Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009). The latter two films earned Anderson Oscar nominations.

Directed by Paul Waters

via indietips

Categories
Comedy Documentary

Plastic Bag (2009)

Plastic Bag (2009)

Plastic Bag (2009) – the plastic bag with the voice of legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog drifts across the USA, to finally arrive at the ocean!

Plastic Bag (2009) – In a not too distant future, a Plastic Bag (voice of Werner Herzog) goes on an epic journey in search of its lost Maker, wondering if there is any point to life without her. Abandoned by his maker, the plastic bag drifts across the landscapes of rural America (North Carolina), to finally arrive at his final destination: The ocean. Or as plastic bags call it: The vortex. The Bag encounters strange creatures, brief love in the sky, a colony of prophetic torn bags on a fence and the unknown. To be with its own kind, the Bag goes deep under the oceans into 500 nautical miles of spinning garbage known as the North Pacific Trash Vortex. Will our Plastic Bag be able to forget its Maker there?

Ramin Bahrani is one of the world’s most promising filmmakers right now – his first three features, Man Push Cart, Chop Shop, and Goodbye Solo, reveal an artist at work who is interested in showing lives as they are, or how they should be, even in the unfortunate circumstances the characters are in (working a cart, living in a Queens ghetto, readying to die). With Plastic Bag, one might think this is going to be a short-film version of what Wes Bentley’s character did in American Beauty, filming “the most beautiful thing in the world”. But it’s deeper than that, more touching. As silly or gimmicky the idea of a short film with a plastic bag as the central character might sound it works perfectly. Not only does Werner Herzog manage to make you care about a piece of plastic, but the film also makes you think. The plastic bag becomes a symbol for humanity. Like the plastic bag we can feel lost and abandoned to ourselves on this planet. The bag is looking for his maker, or in other words: God. Is there a God? Why did he create us? Why did he put us in such a hostile place? These are some of the questions that Ramin Baharni’s film asks. It takes a rare eye and heart to make something this moving, a saga of a bag that, by way of a ‘voice’ by Werner Herzog (that unmistakable Bavarian soul put into it). The film comes full circle. A film like this one works perfectly as a short, because no matter how much you love Herzog’s voice and German accent a 90 minutes version would be tiring and wear out its original premise. Plastic Bag works so well, because it presents us with strangely haunting imagery of desolated and abandoned places. Kjartan Sveinsson’s (of Sigur Ros) music turns the plastic bag’s journey becomes almost a spiritual voyage, with mystical overtones and epic proportions.

Directed by Ramin Bahrani. Starring: Werner Herzog, Barbara Weetman

Categories
Documentary

They Are The Last (2013)

They Are The Last (2013)

They Are The Last (2013) – Lighthouse Watchman Documentary

Leonardo Da Costa is a lighthouse keeper stationed in Cabo Polonio, a remote cape in a stretch of Uruguayan coastline rich in shipwrecks and sunken treasures. Cabo Polonio’s light has been guiding ships since 1881, and Da Costa is the latest in a long line of watchmen who have operated the tower with care and attention. He leads an unassuming life, the tranquility of the almost intact landscape keeping him company. Serenity and silence merge with the daily tasks and chores he carries out. Da Costa represents a rare profession that still survives in a few countries. Take some time to appreciate a gentle and enlightening way of life, for once it is gone, it will be missed.

There is no music and no narration. Just the sounds of the daily routine of one of the last lighthouse keepers in the world!

WINNER SPECIAL JURY AWARD, DC SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL 2014.

Made by the Spanish production team Kauri Multimedia

Official page | via

Categories
Documentary

The Magic Capital of the World (2014)

The Magic Capital of the World (2014)

The Magic Capital of the World (2014) – Most Magical place in the USA

Colon, Michigan, is a sleepy, one-streetlight town somewhere between Detroit and Chicago that proudly bills itself as “The Magic Capital of the World.” (The name comes from a pair of nearby lakes shaped like the punctuation mark.) It’s home to around 1,000 residents and holds at least 30 dead magicians in its single small graveyard. The Colon High School mascot is a giant bunny rabbit. Though it lacks the soaring Gothic cathedrals of Hogwarts, it just might be the most magical place in the United States.

For the past 80 years, Colon has hosted Abbott’s Magic Get Together, an annual gathering of several hundred magicians from all over the world who convene for a week of shows, lectures, and trick-jamming. At night, tipsy magicians mingle in bars and restaurants along Colon’s single block of downtown, practicing their craft on passersby. The Get Together is less a conference and more a “family reunion,” as nearly every person I spoke to there referred to it.

But like any good family reunion, the Get Together has its share of drama. Infighting over the town’s magical heritage has made it harder for aging magicians to cooperate in attracting new members to their community. And modern, everyday technology — not to mention the proliferation of the internet — has made it harder for magic to seem… well, magical. Still, when you throw hundreds of born-and-bred entertainers into this mecca of illusions, you’re bound to get a party.

via The Verge

Categories
Documentary

The Fox Of Bloody Women Island (2014)

The Fox Of Bloody Women Island (2014)

The Fox Of Bloody Women Island (2014) – Women fishing with their underwear

This source of curiosity took us to Nordland – a mystical Viking land of changing light, deep fjords and mountainous archipelagos. We arrived in the small town of Kjerringøy, where had we heard there was a man who built traditional boats. His name was Ulf, his house had the red trim around it, and he’ll meet us at the end of the drive in the freezing rain. This was all we knew. Could this mans belief in his work and connection to his environment be the root of his happiness? Shot entirely during the twilight hours of Norway’s northern Arctic, this is his story. Kjerringøy is a small community nestled in the Arctic Circle between steep Norwegian cliffs and by a sea inlet teeming with boats—a memento of the Vikings’ heyday. The town is also known as “bloody women island”: a name, says Ulf Mikalsen, the Norwegian boat builder profiled in the short The Fox of the Bloody Woman Island, that is “linked to how women waved off the men leaving for winter fishing with their underwear.”

Directed by Vern Cummins and Jamie Gallant.
With Bjorn Greve Alsos, Ingvild Greve Alsos, Ulf Mikalsen

Categories
Documentary

Sun Dog (2014)

Sun Dog (2014)

Sun Dog (2014) – two mountain souls sharing a day In the snow-capped Argentinian peaks

In the snow-capped Argentinian peaks, Refugio Frey is the only protection from the ravaging winds, drawing wanderers of all sorts to its doors. When a dog named Conga arrives and leads skier Santiago Guzman into the hills with her infectious energy, the windswept landscape becomes a backdrop for the pure joy of two mountain souls sharing a day in the wild.

We are proud to announce the beginning of an exciting new chapter in the DPS storyline, our new film wing, DPS Cinematic. DPS Cinematic has been in the works for several years. The vision has remained constant: to create an annual line-up of fresh, artistic, festival-worthy film shorts released online. Throughout the journey we’ve prioritized: meaningful storytelling amidst storm-chasing and deep powder riding, with using the latest and greatest camera equipment and leading cinematographers, all-the-while showcasing our skis on the feet of the DPS Koalas. – DPS cinematic.

Sun Dog, the latest film from Sturgefilm and DPS Cinematic, captures this unique and joyful bond between skier Santiago Guzman and his dog Conga in the rugged and wild peaks overlooking Bariloche, Argentina. Sun Dog is the third film in The Shadow Campaign series, presented by DPS Cinematic in association with Outdoor Research and Gore-Tex.

Directed by Ben Sturgulewski. Starring: Santiago Guzman and Conga

More info:

Sturgefilm?sturgefilm.com | Gore-Tex:? dpsskis.com/cinematic? | outdoorresearch.com? goretex.com/shadow

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