The Dream Machine

It would be nice to think that, if the 1991 film “Daughters of the Dust” (which I discuss in this clip) were released today, it would instantly propel its director, Julie Dash, to the contemporary pantheon and launch her on a long, busy, and celebrated career. Instead, she said in a 2011 interview, “I have done cable movies. But since then, coming off the Sundance stage, I have never gotten a motion-picture deal.” This is a shock: “Daughters of the Dust” is one of the most distinctive, original independent films of the time. Richard Linklater released “Slacker” in the same year and has made fifteen features since then; some of them are excellent, but neither “Slacker” nor any of the others can hold a candle to the inventiveness of “Daughters of the Dust.” Granted, it’s not a film that has what may be called the popular touch. By way of quick comparison, it’s similar in tone to the work of Terrence Malick. But it’s worth recalling that, at the time of “Daughters of the Dust,” Malick had made only “Badlands” and “Days of Heaven,” from 1973 and 1978, respectively. There’s nothing derivative about Dash’s work; every image, every moment is a full creation. And, for all its wonder, “Daughters of the Dust,” at two decades’ remove, packs a howl of loss for the world at large and for the movies that Dash should have been making since its release. Dash is one of the heroines of the modern cinema; the closed doors that she, as a black woman, has faced should resound with reproach to the industry and should be pointed to whenever nostalgists for the studio-backed midrange drama start their laments. Today’s system of independent financing isn’t perfect, but the independent-filmmaking scene has become much more vigorous since the nineteen-nineties. On the other hand, it’s worth keeping an eye on today’s great young first-time directors, seeing how they manage to keep going—and making some noise if they seem to be silent too long.

Zadie Smith on beauty, racism, militarism, & perfectionism in the work of four great American dancers: Fred Astaire, Sammy Davis Jr., Beyoncé & Michael Jackson

Lizzie Borden

Inspired by a dream director Haile Gerima had after seeing Angela Davis handcuffed on television, Child of Resistance follows a woman (Barbara O. Jones) who has been imprisoned as a result of her fight for social justice.  In a film that challenges linear norms of time and space, Gerima explores the woman’s dreams for liberation and fears for her people through a series of abstractly rendered fantasies.

Carrie Mae Weems challenges stereotypes about race and gender in powerful works of photography, video, and performance that blend the personal and the political. Since her iconic “Kitchen Table Series” (1990) debuted almost three decades ago, she has influenced generations of artists. Her influence has been recognized by the MacArthur Foundation, which, in 2013, awarded her one of its prestigious “genius” grants, and she was celebrated by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum with a 2014 retrospective—a first for an African-American female artist. As an artist who has broken barriers in a field that has historically excluded women and people of color, Weems both acknowledges her overlooked predecessors and recognizes her own capacity to empower the next generation. “I have to use my skin and my body to push for an even wider path, so that another group of young artists who are coming behind me can work, and live, and be, and produce more easily than ever before,” she says in this film. She also celebrates the increased effort among institutions to include marginalized voices, and ultimately envisions a future of art that is enriched by the diversity of its participants.                                                                    Director and Editor  William Silva Reddington

Emotion dir. by Nobuhiko Ôbayashi

Sofia Coppola Interview

Clair Denis

Agnes Varda

Agnes Varda and Jaques Demy 

The Austrian artist Maria Lassnig tells us the story of her life in 14 verses, beginning with her birth and ending with her life as it is today. Simultaneously - in the background - we see the story as animated drawings, full of irony, humour and wisdom. This touching, funny, and insightful experimental film was directed by Hubert Sielecki.

Spike and his sister Anjela live in the Terrordome, a huge ghetto that all the blacks have been forced to live in. Jodie, Spike's pregnant white girlfriend, ran away from an abusive white boyfriend who, after seeing her with Spike, sets up a trap for her. Spike's 11-year old nephew Hector dies as a result of this trap, and Anjela, finding the body of her son, goes on a police-killing rampage. Her apprehension sets off tension between Spike and his brother-in-law, as a race war broods inside the Terrordome

But Life had different plans for her. As a young woman she decided to make a living out of painting. Between 1941 and 1943 Maria Lassnig studied at the academy of fine arts in Vienna. Later on she lived in Paris and New York. While living in the United States she started making animated films because her paintings were not understood. In the year 1980 she accepted a teaching position at the University for applied arts in Vienna. She was the first female professor for Painting at an academy in the German speaking world. Between 1982 and 1997 her works were shown at the documenta in Kassel. In the year 1988 she receives the Austrian State Art Prize and in 2004 she was awarded with the Max-Beckmann prize of the city of Frankfurt

The Body Beautiful by Ngozi Onwurah