The Cinema Lounge
On Monday, December 13 at 7:00pm please join the Cinema Lounge, the DC Film Society's monthly film discussion group. We will be online again.
TOPIC: New York, New York
Since silent movies, filmmakers have loved New York, or at least loved setting films there. In the classic studio era, it served as a perfect backdrop for high society comedies, immigrant stories, gangster movies, and later film noir. Some earlier films also showed New York as a dazzling place, full of life and wonder. In the 50s and 60s, filmmakers took a harder view of NYC and its people. Then in the 70s and early 80s the city on screen became hell on earth, full of crime, drugs, and other vices. Auteurs such as Sidney Lumet, Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese and Spike Lee took a more nuanced view, showing their love but also taking a critical eye to the city's flaws.
The many different boroughs, neighborhoods, cultures, ethnicities and attractions of New York City still offer an alluring cinematic canvas. For some the city remains romantic, while for others its tough and violent. What do you see in New York films, and how has that changed? There are more films than we could possibly cover in 90 minutes, but as a start we may discuss The Thin Man, 42nd Street, Angels with Dirty Faces, Miracle on 34th Street, On the Town, The Naked City, Marty, The Sweet Smell of Success, Midnight Cowboy, Serpico, Mean Streets, Dog Day Afternoon, Hester Street, Taxi Driver, Manhattan, Saturday Night Fever, The Warriors, Escape from New York, Ghostbusters, New York Stories, When Harry Met Sally, Crossing Delancey, Coming to America, Do the Right Thing, Goodfellas, Bad Lieutenant, Clockers, Gangs of New York, The 25th Hour, Brooklyn, and The King of Staten Island.
Please RSVP to atspector@hotmail.com and you'll get the Zoom link 1-2 days before the discussion.
The Cinema Lounge, a film discussion group, meets the third Monday of every month (unless otherwise noted) at 7:00pm at Teaism in Penn Quarter, 400 8th St., NW in Washington, DC (closest Metro stop is Archives, also near Metro Center and Gallery Place). NOTE: We will meet in the downstairs area. WE ARE MEETING ONLINE THIS MONTH. You do not need to be a member of the Washington DC Film Society to attend. Cinema Lounge is moderated by Adam Spector, author of the DC Film Society's Adam's Rib column.
The 65th BFI London Film Festival
By Ron Gordner, DC Film Society Member
The hybrid 65th BFI London Film Festival sponsored by American Express was held October 6-17, 2021. The festival originated in 1957 and is somewhat a festival of festivals since it has many of the better films not yet released from earlier important film festivals. A number of world premieres and British films are usually offered also. Rather than the much smaller collated group of 58 hybrid presentation of films that were chosen from 40 countries for the 2020 festival; this year again had a hybrid presence but most of the high-profile films did have some red carpets and primarily just on-site screenings with COVID restrictions. About 60 films were virtually offered to purchase tickets for streamed screenings limited within the UK, plus a larger number of the composite about 100 titles in screenings available at the BFI Southbank theatres and some other limited screens across the United Kingdom. This year there were 139,000 physical attendances and over 152,000 virtual attendances over the 12 days involving 10 partner cinema venues within the United Kingdom and online.
Categories or Sections of films included: Headline and Strand Galas, Special Presentations, Competitions, Love, Laugh, Debate, Thrill, Cult, Journey, Create, Family, Treasures, and Experimental films with smaller samples of films and highlighted films directed or co-directed by women and minorities.
Tricia Tuttle continued as festival director and the Opening Night gala with guests was The Harder They Fall and Closing Night gala The Tragedy of Macbeth with director and actors. In-person tickets were about 10 pounds each and available for only about 5 pounds for 18-25 year olds, and usually some complimentary access for young film students. Some free films are also available on the BFI YouTube. A number of industry and media programs and special event speakers were also available.
MUST SEE FILMS:
All About My Sisters (Qiong Wang, United States; 2021). A documentary about a troubled young woman in China looking for answers as to why she was given to relatives when young and her sisters were kept by their parents. Many issues are touched on including gender, parenting, birth control, state sanctions, and the role of a female born in China twenty years ago.
Belfast (Kenneth Branagh, United Kingdom; 2021). Set in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1969 is the story of young Buddy (somewhat based on Branagh’s childhood) living in a street shared by both Protestant and Catholic working-class families as the growing strife and violence begin. This is one of the top reviewed films and audience favorites of the year thus far.
Drive My Car (Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Japan; 2021). A finely layered film about grief and recovery. Nishijima Hidetoshi is a director and actor who has recently lost his playwright wife and is still lost without her. He accepts a job in Hiroshima to direct Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya and the theatre requires that he be driven by a chauffeur, against his will. The driver is a stoic woman and much of the film deals with the trips in the car and the slow unpeeling of the driver and passenger’s thoughts, truths, and revelations. This is Japan’s submission for the Best International Film for the Oscars.
The First Wave (Matthew Heineman, United States; 2021). March 2020 and the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City are shown in this essential documentary following emergency and medical responders in a hospital and also with the mix of Black Lives Matter movement issues and protests. The exhaustion and burn out of health care workers and personal stories of staff and patients is inspirational for their dedication and commitment to providing care.
Flee (Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Denmark/France/Norway/Sweden, 2021). An animated documentary about the journey of an Afghan young man, Amin, over years to escape childhood war in Afghanistan and survive numerous dangerous refugee escape channels into many lands until he reached Denmark. It was the World Cinema Grand Jury Winner for Documentary at this year’s Sundance festival and is Denmark’s submission for Oscar’s Best International Film and could garner other nominations as a documentary, script or even best film. It will screen also at this year’s European Union Film Showcase at AFI Silver in December.
Hit the Road (Panah Panahi, Iran; 2021). The debut feature film from renowned director Jafar Panahi’s son is a claustrophobic trip to somewhere in rural Iran for a family with an injured father, mother, and two sons. One son is a stoic young adult and the other is an incredibly energetic, moving and talking child that questions many things without getting answers. What seems an intimate family drama also becomes a political and social commentary. This was BFI London Festival’s winner for best competition film.
Leave No Traces (Jan Matuszyriski, Poland/France/Czech Republic; 2021). A feature film based on the real beating and death in 1983 of a student protestor in police custody. The death quickly becomes a national scandal despite martial law and became politicized to attack the victim’s character and try to find the hidden friend who witnessed the atrocities. This is Poland’s submission for Oscar’s Best International Film. It will screen also at this year’s European Union Film Showcase at AFI Silver in December.
Les Enfants Terribles (Ahmed Necdet Cupur, Turkey/France/Germany; 2021). A gripping family drama of young adults who want to break free of the traditions of small village life in Turkey including arranged marriages, the changing role of women, and their authoritarian father and submissive mother.
Luzzu (Alex Cameleri; Malta; 2021). A powerful neorealist film about a young fisherman trying to still fish like his ancestors and make a living despite EU fishing legislation and other local obstacles. Malta’s submission for Oscar’s Best International Film. It will screen also at this year’s European Union Film Showcase at AFI Silver in December.
Mr. Bachmann and His Class (Maria Speth, Germany; 2021). A documentary about a teacher of middle school age children, including many from generations of economic migrants, in an industrial German town. While teaching he also gets personal stories from students and gets others to listen and empathize with their classmates' problems and aspirations over a six month filming period.
Petite Maman (Celine Sciamma, France; 2021). Lovely magical tale of Nelly, a little girl who with her parents goes to the rural house where her grandmother recently died. It will screen also at this year’s European Union Film Showcase at AFI Silver in December.
Playground (Laura Wandel, Belgium; 2021). In school, 7 year old sister Nora sees her older brother Abel bullied and reports the issue making matters worse. A poignant web of bullying and continued passed on consequences from a child’s viewpoint says more also about the adults. Belgium’s submission to the Oscar International Feature Film award.
Real Charlie Chaplin (Peter Middleton and James Spinney, United States; 2021). A documentary which had access to Chaplin archives, so Chaplin’s voice from archival film and recordings including home movies are used to trace his early beginnings in England to fame in the US and scandalous fall. A must see for silent film fans but leaves still some unanswered questions or insight on the who was the real Chaplin.
Rehana (Abdullah Mohammad Saad, Bangladesh/Singapore/Qatar; 2021). The first Bangladeshi movie to be seen at a Cannes Film Festival. A female assistant professor at a medical college witnesses a sexual assault but must determine if she can report her supervisor and the student may not want to press charges. She knows both the perpetrator and victim well and has a strange relationship with both.
VERY GOOD FILMS:
Babi Yar, Context (Sergey Loznitsa, Netherlands/Ukraine; 2021). Created from archival footage for the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center shows the ravine in Kiev where on September 29 and 30, 1941, 33,771 Jews were rounded up and marched and shot and buried. The cinematography seems almost present with the confusion of people on the streets, animals, captured Soviet young soldiers and the Nazis Sonderkommando who occupy the city and carry out the massacre. Silver Hugo Award at Chicago International Film Festival.
Benedetta (Paul Verhoeven, France/Belgium/Netherlands; 2021). Biopic loosely based on a young novice in 17th century Pescia near Tuscany who has strange spiritual and erotic experiences. Has she experienced stigmata or is it all a ruse? It will also screen also at this year’s European Union Film Showcase at AFI Silver in December.
Boiling Point (Philip Barantini, United Kingdom; 2021). A suspenseful drama about a chef in an upscale London restaurant on a busy day with work, economic and family stressors already and then the owner shows up with special guests.
Brother’s Keeper (Ferit Karahan, Turkey; 2021). Within a boys’ boarding school in the snowy Anatolian mountains the friendship of two twelve-year old boys is tested when one becomes mysteriously ill and the other tries his hardest to get him help in a world of institutional and societal corruption and neglect.
Citizen Ashe (Rex Miller and Sam Pollard, United States/United Kingdom; 2021). A documentary of Arthur Ashe and his sports and private life. As a superstar tennis athlete how did he approach racism and later HIV stigma and civil rights?
Lamb (Vladimar Johannsson, Iceland/Sweden/Poland; 2021). A farming couple who still grieves for the death of their child finds a strange lamb born with human features. The landscape is also an important character in this melodrama and possible horror tale. Iceland’s submission for Oscar Best International Feature Film.
Last Night in Soho (Edgar Wright, United Kingdom; 2021). Ellie leaves rural England to start fashion design school in London. She loves the 1960s clothes and music and soon her rented room creates dreams and nightmares about another young woman in the 1960s aspiring to be a singer.
Little Palestine (Diary of a Siege) (Abdallah Al-Khatib, Lebanon/France/Qatar; 2021). An engrossing documentary about Yarmouk, the largest Palestinian refugee camp cut off many times from aid and relief and the people’s courage and daily lives.
Mass (Fran Kranz, United States; 2021). Filmed in only 14 days this seems like a broadened play about two parental couples meeting for some kind of understanding, grief, or reconciliation on what has transpired with their two sons.
Prayers for the Stolen (Tatiana Huezo, Mexico/Germany/Brazil/Qatar/Argentina/ Switzerland/United States; 2021). The lives of three young adolescent girls in a small rural village are constantly on watch for when warring factions can kidnap children. This is Mexico’s Oscar submission for Best International Feature Film.
The Taking (Alexandre O. Philippe, United States; 2021). Another film fan’s favorite about the use of Monument Valley used in advertising and in movie sets through history. A Navajo land that became the main foreground of the essential Wild or Old West movies.
Two Friends (Prasun Chatterjee, India; 2021). Poignant tale of two 8 year old boys who are school mates and friends but come from different religious backgrounds which soon become a major factor in testing their families and friendship.
Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Japan; 2021). Three different stories of women encountering a love triangle, a seduction trap, and some general misunderstandings and the choices and consequences of each. It was the Silver Berlin Bear Jury Grand Prix Winner.
GOOD FILMS:
Seven Days (Roshan Sethi, United States; 2021). Ravi and Rita have a pre-arranged date via their Indian parents. The date isn’t going well with Rita, an outspoken young woman and Ravi, a mother’s boy intellectual, but they are forced to shelter in place together due to COVID-19 constraints.
All These Sons (Joshua Altman and Bing Liu, United States; 2021). A documentary about two men in Chicago’s South and West neighborhoods of guns and gangs empowering, healing, and educating young African American youth and men to get off the streets.
Between Two Worlds (Emmanuel Carrere, France; 2021). Juliette Binoche stars as an undercover journalist in Caen working with others as cleaners. It will screen also at this year’s European Union Film Showcase at AFI Silver in December.
Cannon Arm and Arcade Quest (Mads Hedegaard, Denmark; 2021). A sly documentary about a group of arcade game playing friends and one, Cannon Arm who wants to break the world record from the 1980s and play over 100 hours on one arcade machine.
The Harder They Fall (Jeymes Samuel, United States; 2021). A Black Western available on Netflix. When outlaw Nat Love finds out that Rufus Buck (Idris Elba) is no longer in prison rival gangs meet to outgun each other for revenge.
La Mif (The Fam) (Fred Bailif, Switzerland; 2021). A drama about a group of teen girls placed in the Fam, a residential care home, and the interactions of the girls and social workers.
Memory Box (Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, France/Lebanon/Canada/Qatar; 2021). Three women experience many changes after a box long thought lost resurfaces containing historical and personal notebooks, diaries, photos and audiotapes.
Natural Light (Denes Nagy, Hungary/Latvia/France/Germany; 2021). During World War II in the occupied Soviet Union a simple Hungarian farmer corporal is thrust into the leadership of his command patrol. It won the Silver Berlin Bear Award for Best Director and will screen also at this year’s European Union Film Showcase at AFI Silver in December.
Neutral Ground (C.J. Hunt, United States; 2021). A documentary about the 2015 decision of the New Orleans City Council to remove four Confederate statues from the city and the protests and problems with their removal.
Odd Job Men (Neus Ballus, Spain; 2021). A comedy about three handymen of varied backgrounds assigned jobs with equally odd clients.
Petrov’s Flu (Kiril Serebrennikov, Russia/France/Germany/Switzerland; 2021). Comic book artist Petrov has the flu but is pushed to attend parties and odd events, sometimes carried by his friend Igor as he passes in and out of reality and fantasy.
What do You See When You Look at the Sky? (Alexandre Koberize, Germany/Georgia; 2021). A FIPRESCI winner in Berlin, is a bit of a fairy tale with cursed starred lovers changed into different people. It will screen also at this year’s European Union Film Showcase at AFI Silver in December.
Wood and Water (Jonas Bak, Germany/France; 2021). When Anke’s son Max can’t make it back to Germany, she decides on the spur of the moment to visit him in Hong Kong against the backdrop of protest marches. Her interaction with local residents is very special.
Award Winners:
Official Competition Winner, Best Film: Hit the Road (Panah Panahi, Iran; 2021).
First Feature Competition (Sutherland Award): Playground (Laura Wandel, Belgium; 2012).
Audience Award: Costa Brava, Lebanon (Mounia Akl; Lebanon/France/Spain/Sweden/Denmark/Norway/Qatar; 2021).
Documentary Competition Winner (Grierson Award): Becoming Cousteau (Liz Garbus, United States; 2021).
Short Film Competition Winner, Best Short Film Award: Love Dad (Diana Cam Van Nguyen, Czech Republic/Slovakia; 2021).
Best XR/Immersive Art Film: Only Expansion (Duncan Speakman, United Kingdom; 2021).
See the website for more information.
We Need to Hear From YOU
We are always looking for film-related material for the Storyboard. Our enthusiastic and well-traveled members have written about their trips to the Cannes Film Festival, Karlovy Vary Film Festival, London Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, Austin Film Festival, Edinburgh Film Festival, the Berlin Film Festival, the Palm Springs Film Festival, the Reykjavik Film Festival, the Munich Film Festival, and the Locarno Film Festival. We also heard about what it's like being an extra in the movies. Have you gone to an interesting film festival? Have a favorite place to see movies that we aren't covering in the Calendar of Events? Seen a movie that blew you away? Read a film-related book? Gone to a film seminar? Interviewed a director? Taken notes at a Q&A? Read an article about something that didn't make our local news media? Send your contributions to Storyboard and share your stories with the membership. And we sincerely thank all our contributors for this issue of Storyboard.
Calendar of Events
FILMS
We list in-person films and events. Many other locations are still closed or online. Note that some locations require proof of vaccination and masks for entry.
American Film Institute Silver Theater
The 34th AFI European Union Film Showcase takes place December 1-19. This year's lineup includes 53 films from all 27 EU member states, 11 of the top contenders for this year's Academy Award® for Best International Feature Film and 13 U.S. and North American premieres. The Opening Night film is Flee, an animated documentary from Denmark and the Closing Night film is Parallel Mothers. A pass is available.
Special events include Gorillaz: Song Machine Live From Kong (Nicholas Jack Davies, 2020), a music documentary showing on December 8 only.
Washington Jewish Community Center
The 2021 Hanukkah Film Festival (November 28-December 5) screens a different film each night. On December 1 is the documentary Latter Day Jew (Aliza Rosen, 2020), about a gay Morman convert. On December 2 is Leona (Isaac Cherem, 2018) from Mexico; on December 3 and 4 is The Crossing (Johanne Helgeland, 2020) from Norway; on December 4 is A Starry Sky Above the Roman Ghetto (Giulio Base) from Italy; and on December 5 is Here We Are (Nir Bergman, 2020) from Israel.
Other films in December include Golden Voices (2021), a comedy from Israel, showing December 10-22 and The Magnificent Meyersons (Evan Oppenheimer, 2021) showing December 10-23. Check the website for showtimes.
FILM FESTIVALS
Gala Hispanic Theater Film Festival
Six films by female directors and one classic film are shown December 1-5. On December 1 is Identifying Features (Fernanda Valadez, 2020) from Mexico; on December 2 is the comedy Aleli (Leticia Jorge Romero, 2019) from Uruguay/Argentina; on December 3 is the documentary I'm Leaving Now (Lindsey Cordero, 2019) from Mexico; on December 4 is The Siamese Bond (Paula Hernandez, 2020) from Argentina and the documentary The Journey of Monalisa (Nicole Costa, 2019) from Chile/USA; on December 5 is Godfather Mendoza (Fernando de Fuentes, 1933) from Mexico and the documentaryThe Song of the Butterflies (Nuria Frigola Turrent, 2020) from Peru. Many films have discussions and receptions. A pass is available.
AFI European Union Film Showcase
The 34th AFI European Union Film Showcase takes place December 1-19. This year's lineup includes 53 films from all 27 EU member states, 11 of the top contenders for this year's Academy Award® for Best International Feature Film and 13 U.S. and North American premieres. The Opening Night film is Flee, an animated documentary from Denmark and the Closing Night film is Parallel Mothers. A pass is available.
Previous Storyboards
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
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