New Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 235

Bulky Trash

1991

Bulky Trash

1991
In early summer 1989, Helke Misselwitz portrays young musicians in a band who produce their music on other people’s waste items. The four boys call themselves "Bulk Rubbish" and they drum out their resentment, having grown up on the new housing estates of East Berlin. A straight-up picture of the GDR youth is presented here, which in no way conforms to the official image. The film crew concentrates on the observation of the boy Enrico and his mother Erika: when the mother marries in the West, her son decides to stay in East Berlin, bidding her farewell at the border-crossing. Only shortly after, the tables are turned again: as the events in Berlin leading up to the fall of the Wall are practically captured live from the film crew, Enrico insists on maintaining his cultural identity, even after the fall of the Wall. The "Bulk Rubbish" musicians want to remain citizens of their own state and perceive the looming reunification with scepticism.
Coney Island

1991

Coney Island

1991
6
Before there was Disneyland, there was Coney Island. By the turn of the century, this tiny piece of New York real estate was internationally famous. On summer Sundays, three great pleasure domes--Steeplechase, Luna Park and Dreamland--competed for the patronage of a half-million people. By day it was the world's most amazing amusement park, by night, an electric "Eden".
The Japanese Version

1991

The Japanese Version

1991
7
How the Japanese process American pop culture and make it their own -- a mind-bending odyssey through cultural mixing.
Time Loops - A Conversation with Christa Wolf

1991

Time Loops - A Conversation with Christa Wolf

1991
8
Journalist Daniela Dahn interviews the East-German author Christa Wolf during the German reunification: reflections on history, changing politics, life and work.
Thomas Sankara

1991

Thomas Sankara

1991
6
Captain Thomas Sankara was the leader of the Burkinabe Revolution. This film is a biographical profile of the revolutionary, the improvements he generated in his country and the new socio-political dimension he instituted in Burkina Faso.
Wolfgang Mattheuer

1991

Wolfgang Mattheuer

1991
Wolfgang Mattheuer, together with Bernhard Heisig and Werner Tübke, is one of the main protagonists of the Leipzig School. With works such as Behind the Seven Mountains (1973) the graphic artist, painter and sculptor is one of the most controversial and yet most celebrated artists of the former GDR. With the use of mythology, literary references, and ambiguous details, he subverted the ideological edicts of the system. This film presents the great works of this reserved, yet perceptive ‘picture maker’. An insightful interview with Mattheuer introduces us to his eclectic visual world and his metaphorical response to contemporary events and the GDR regime.
Willi Sitte

1991

Willi Sitte

1991
Painter and government official – the two sides of Willi Sitte which made him the most important yet most controversial East German artist. Portraying the working class, defying imperialism or revealing intimate togetherness, he became the leading figure of Socialist Realism. His career in the Association of Fine Artists (VBK) and the Central Committee (ZK) of the SED elevated his status to that of ‘Prince of East German Painting’. Reiner Moritz met the controversial, first-rate draughtsman in his studio after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Through his life and work, he traces the story of Sitte’s artistic development in the service of socialist ideology.
Werner Tübke

1991

Werner Tübke

1991
Step right up into the world of Werner Tübke! The painter and illustrator from Leipzig created fantastical imagery, replete with virtuosity and a love of storytelling. In the style of the old masters, he transformed the everyday and the political into something that transcends time, and in that way developed his own distinct, anachronistic viewpoint. As a co-founder of the Leipziger Schule, Tübke paved the way for a figurative art, which has earned him international recognition since the 1970s. Reiner E. Moritz met with the GDR’s extravagant prince of painting in his studio and accompanied him at work on his showpiece, the German Peasants' War panorama in Bad Frankenhausen.
Bernhard Heisig

1991

Bernhard Heisig

1991
In the mists of war and violence, the Harlequin, trumpet in hand, drifts through ravaged landscape passing a cripple and a marionette: Bernhard Heisig's pictorial worlds shock the viewer by depicting the great dramas of German history. Both a victim and a perpetrator in World War II and in the GDR dictatorship, the artist's search for sense and truth led him to his moving image formulas. Director Reiner E. Moritz converses with the renowned ex-principal of the Leipzig Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst (Academy of Visual Arts) about his work, which influenced the development of art for many decades in the rigid GDR system.
To Hold Our Ground: A Field Report

1991

To Hold Our Ground: A Field Report

1991
For thousands of years Ju/'hoansi have lived in the Nyae Nyae region in northeastern Namibia. In the 1950s, most Ju/'hoansi had been exterminated or were dispossessed by white colonists and black farmers, but in Nyae Nyae Ju/'hoansi were still the only permanent inhabitants. Waterless approaches isolated their ancient communal land and protected them from enslavement.
Art in an Age of Mass Culture

1991

Art in an Age of Mass Culture

1991
Art in an Age of Mass Culture pulls back the curtain and takes a look at the cultural climate surrounding MoMA's now famed exhibition, "High and Low: High Art and Popular Culture". Opening in the fall of 1990, the show placed a spotlight on the rapid merging of consumerism and the artistic avant-garde. Curated by Kirk Varnedoe and Adam Gopnik and featuring work from artists such as Jeff Koons and Roy Lichtenstein, "High and Low" ignites conversations of mass culture and our society's ever-changing relationship with the arts.
Horses of Life and Death

1991

Horses of Life and Death

1991
The Pasola, a traditional jousting battle with hundreds of horses and riders, is the Sumbanese New Year celebration, and also a ritual that anticipates the rice harvest. It is staged to welcome the annual swarming of sea worms on the western beaches, since the worms are seen as representing the spirit of the rice crop. The spirit of the fertility of the seas and the land comes from the body of a sacrificed girl, and her return each year is celebrated with a dramatic display of masculine virility, courage, and horsemanship.
Releasing the Spirits: A Village Cremation in Bali

1991

Releasing the Spirits: A Village Cremation in Bali

1991
Cremation rites are the most elaborate rites of passage performed by Balinese householders. Poor families may wait years before accumulating enough resources to cremate their dead, who are buried in the meantime. In 1978 many more cremations than usual were carried out because of the great purification cermony, Eka Dasa Rudra, held at Bali's main temple, Besakih, in 1979. Religious officials recommended that all Balinese cleanse the island by cremating their dead, as part of the preparations for the great Besakih ceremony. Villagers of limited means pooled their resources to perform group cremations which greatly reduced the cost for each family. This film is about a group of villagers in Central Bali who cooperated to carry out a group cremation.
Dear Lisa: A Letter to My Sister

1991

Dear Lisa: A Letter to My Sister

1991
The filmmaker questions her sister, herself and others about the dreams and hopes they had growing up as girls in contrast to the reality they face as women.
The Real Rembrandt

1991

The Real Rembrandt

1991
Scientific methods of verifying works of art have drastically reduced the number of paintings attributed to Rembrandt (1606-1669). Many canvases, hitherto believed to be by the hand of the Master, are now thought to be the work of artists who learnt their craft in his studio by copying his style. The film is a fascinating study of modern scientific techniques, a comprehensive art historical view of Rembrandt’s work over the centuries and a reaffirmation of his genius.
Butoh: Piercing the Mask

1991

Butoh: Piercing the Mask

1991
This documentary pierces the mystery and mystique of a dance movement adored by the West and largely ignored by the Japanese. It uses archival and modern footage of leading Butoh performers and interviews Butoh specialists to throw light on the essential Butoh themes of darkness, violence and eroticism to get to the core of the nature of Butoh.
Marc and Ann

1991

Marc and Ann

1991
4
Legendary filmmaker Les Blank's toe-tapping film treats us to a portrait of a musical Louisiana couple committed to celebrating and preserving Cajun culture.
Something Like a War

1991

Something Like a War

1991
An examination of India’s family planning program from the point of view of the women who are its primary targets. It traces the history of the family planning program and exposes the cynicism, corruption and brutality which characterizes its implementation. As the women themselves discuss their status, sexuality, fertility control and health, it is clear that their perceptions are in conflict with those of the program.
Cowboy and Maria in Town

1991

Cowboy and Maria in Town

1991
Exploring individual responses to rapid social change, Cowboy and Maria in town follows the parallel lives of its two central characters. Cowboy and Maria have independently landed in Port Moresby, negotiating ways to survive urban life in a city ranked as one of the most dangerous in the world. Cowboy is an ex-raskol (urban bandit) and Maria an inhabitant of a squatter settlement. Unemployed and with a jail record, Cowboy has constructed an electric guitar out of scrap materials and plays on street corners. Maria lives an equally precarious existence, cultivating a seasonal garden in an urban settlement inflamed by frustration and intertribal conflicts. Far from being third world victims, they go about their daily lives with humour and imagination, rising to the challenge of enormous cultural upheaval.
Aspen

1991

Aspen

1991
6.1
A film about a town famous in the 19th century for silver mining and now known for its scenic splendor, mountains, skiing, hiking, music, intellectual activity and fashionable people. The film documents the daily life and activities of the people who live, work, visit and play in Aspen in the winter.