Lipstick Under My Burkha (Alankrita Shrivastava, 2016)

By: börek - March 29th, 2019  Filed under: Filmavond

Sunday April 7th 2019, Lipstick Under My Burkha by Alankrita Shrivastava, 2016, 117 minutes. Hindi with English subtitles. Doors open at 20.00, intro and film at 20.30.

An indian black comedy by Alankrita Shrivastava about four small-town Indian women their secret world – their acts of rebellion and their sex lives – and their trying to break free from the conservative society they live in. As a result, the Indian film certification initially banned the film as being too “lady-oriented”

“In a culture where female actors do ‘item songs’ – in which they dance among crowds of ogling men and the camera mindlessly moves up and down their bodies – a small, independent, spirited films like Lipstick Under My Burkha threatens to challenge the status quo.” – Alankrita Shrivastava

Film night at Joe’s Garage, cozy cinema! Free entrance. You want to play a movie, let us know: joe [at] squat [dot] net

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Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: Black and White in Colour (Jean-Jacques Annaud, 1976)

By: börek - March 7th, 2019  Filed under: Filmavond

Sunday March 31st 2019, Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: Black and White in Colour / La Victoire en chantant, Noirs et Blancs en couleur, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, 1976, 92 minutes. In French with English subtitles. Doors open at 20.00, Jeffrey’s intro and film start at 20.30

When I was attending university during the protest-fueled 1970s, this was one of the most popular films screened on campuses. It captured the spirit of the time, when people understood colonialism and the anti-war demonstrations were blazing. This film is set during 1915 and is a biting look at both colonialism and war, but one with a wicked sense of humor. Just the title of the film already shows a playful satirical wit. This was the first film by Jean-Jacques Annaud, who later went on to make The Lover and Name of the Rose.

This flick centers on two European outposts in central Africa, one French and one German. The French soldiers are pretty lazy and mostly concerned about food and sex, and are just waiting for retirement… while the Germans are more interested in regulations and disciplining their black servants (slaves) to march correctly. Communication is slow at such an outpost (no internet back then), it only comes in newspapers sent from Europe that arrive six months late. From such a newspaper the French discover something that the Germans don’t know yet – their two countries have been at war since August of 1914! The French decide they have to do something about this, take action first and defend their country. What unfolds is a devastating satire about imperialism and the tragic results of World War One.

Filmed on location on the Ivory Coast, it is based on Annaud’s own experiences while working in Cameroun as part of his French national service. While he was there he read a history book of the country, and about the great battle of Mora when Europeans caused African tribes to war with their own neighbors. In the last 30 years this film has almost completely vanished, which is pretty shameless… especially since this movie won the academy award for best foreign film in 1976.

And just to be clear: up to today only one film from sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa) has ever won an Academy Award for best foreign-language movie, and it was this one, a French production flying under the flag of the Ivory Coast. This pretty much shows how racism is alive as ever, and is still kicking. So I think it is about time we dust this flick off and throw it on the big screen again after decades of absence. It remains totally relevant today, since it seems our mentality about imperialism, racism and war haven’t improved even a bit.

Film night at Joe’s Garage, cozy cinema! Free entrance. You want to play a movie, let us know: joe [at] squat [dot] net

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Libertarias (Vicente Aranda, 1996)

By: börek - March 7th, 2019  Filed under: Filmavond

Sunday March 24th 2019, Libertarias (Vicente Aranda, 1996), 131 minutes, in Spanish with English subtitles. Doors open at 20.00, film at 20.30.

Spain, 19 July 1936. The revolution has begun in a city near Barcelona. María, an innocent young nun, flees her convent when revolutionaries invade the area and finds refuge in a brothel. Here she meets a group of “Libertarias,” anarchist militia women who are fighting not only Franco, but also the conservative attitudes toward women that prevail as well in the revolutionary ranks. The group is led by hard-liner Pilar, whose seconds-in-command are the clairvoyent Floren and the big-hearted prostitute Concha. Pilar quickly feels a strange fascination for this young nun whose father is a fascist. On their way to the front, the group runs into a defrocked priest who joins up with them and falls in love with María. There are three main locations: the vicinity of Barcelona, the trenches, and Saragossa. Aranda describes the daily existence of these anarchist freedom fighters, not without a touch of humor, as in the scene when Floren does an imitation of Linda Blair in The Exorcist. When the protagonists arrive in Saragossa, the streets are strewn with bodies and weeping women. María catches her first glimpse of the face of war and her sympathies, despite her background, go out to the freedom fighters. The defrocked priest arrive with the strange news that the anarchist leader Durutti has forbidden women to go to the front: the militarisation of politics has won out over utopian ideals.
Libertarias is an epic of sorts that mixes documentary, tragedy, romance, comedy, objectivity and introspection in order to dramatize not only a war for freedom, but also a more underground struggle, the war between the sexes.

Film night at Joe’s Garage, cozy cinema! Free entrance. You want to play a movie, let us know: joe [at] lists [dot] squat [dot] net

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Transit Levantkade

By: börek - January 27th, 2019  Filed under: Filmavond

Sunday 3rd february 2019, Film night: Transit Levantkade by Rosemarie Blank. 1991 | 82 minutes | In Dutch with English subtitles. Doors: 20:00, Film 20:30

This creative documentary captures, in a way, the end of Amsterdam’s wild three decade run of alternative culture. The Berlin wall has fallen, the east-block is no longer a viable possibility, and everything slides into the American de-regulated free-market ideology – and that means that everything that doesn’t make a profit has to be stamped out. Here in Amsterdam that change was more extreme and painful than most other places, simply because Amsterdam was so different than anywhere else.

The Levantekade in Amsterdam’s east harbor was one of the last large-scale alternative spaces to be destroyed. It was a place anyone who didn’t have money could go, a sort of no-man’s land where people could live and create freely. It was a place for those who didn’t fit in. It was a place for the homeless, emigrants and artists and they both created and lived their own alternative culture. Sure, it was rough to live there, but it could also be beautiful for those who valued freedom and had their own vision. This film documents these ‘urban Indians’ and charts the last days before the police came in to remove everyone for the bulldozers. In an act of ritualistic defiance some chose to set fire to their self-made homes, their own creations, rather than leave them to be destroyed by a wrecking-ball. Rosemarie Blank’s film is composed of flickering grainy black and white images which have a rough poetry about them. They depict a dark shadow that is overtaking this playground of the imagination. The mood is a haunting death fugue, and soon these people and the refuge they created, would soon be written off as road-kill for the gentrification and financialization of the city. This film, which digs deep into Amsterdam’s past, is more than anything else an ode to a special way of living… and is especially crucial to see today when even the ADM, leagues outside the city, isn’t allowed to exist as a free space.

Film night at Joe’s Garage, cozy cinema! Free entrance. You want to play a movie, let us know: joe [at] squat [dot] net

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Palestinian Film: Chronicle of Disappearance (Elia Suleiman, 1996)

By: börek - December 3rd, 2018  Filed under: Filmavond

Sunday 23 December 2018, Palestinian Film: Chronicle of Disappearance (Elia Suleiman, 1996). 88 minutes. In Arabic with English subtitles. Doors open at 20:00, Film starts 20:30.

After spending more than a decade in New York, Palestinian director Elia Suleiman returned to his homeland in 1992 to make his first feature film. Chronicle of a Disappearance is an extended meditation of the contemporary life of Palestinians in “the Holy Land.” Elders recount absurdly funny tales and jokes; Russian emigres talk about tourism’s ravaging of the country; tourists pontificate about Israeli politics; and a young Palestinian actress struggles to find an apartment, while Suleiman, himself a character, tries to figure out what kind of film he should make. Suleiman weaves these narratives together with extraordinary irony and grace.

Film night at Joe’s Garage, cozy cinema! Free entrance. You want to play a movie, let us know: joe [at] squat [dot] net

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Black Cat Cine presents: Moderne Tijden (Chaplin, 1936)

By: börek - December 1st, 2018  Filed under: Filmavond

Sunday 16 december 2018, Black Cat Cine presents: Moderne Tijden (Chaplin, 1936). Doors open at 20:00, Film starts 20:30.

This movie is all about fighting the system, falling down and getting up again. Called Chaplin’s last silent movie even though sound, vocal, and musical effects are used throughout. Brilliant slapstick with a strong message still valid in the present.

Film night at Joe’s Garage, cozy cinema! Free entrance. You want to play a movie, let us know: joe [at] squat [dot] net

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Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: Au Hasard, Balthazar (Robert Bresson, 1966)

By: börek - December 1st, 2018  Filed under: Filmavond

Sunday 9 december 2018, Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema. Doors open at 20:00, Film starts 20:30.
AU HASARD BALTHAZAR, directed by Robert Bresson, 1966. 99 minutes. In French with English subtitles.

“Everyone who sees this film will be absolutely astonished, because this film is really the world in an hour and a half.” – Jean-Luc Godard

And indeed Jean-Luc Godard was so in love with this film that he later married its main actress Anne Wiazemsky! A transcendental masterpiece from one of the most distinct filmmakers in the history of French cinema, Robert Bresson’s Au hasard Balthazar follows the long and winding tale of a much-abused donkey, Balthazar, whose life strangely parallels that of his owner, Marie (Anne Wiazemsky). A beast of burden suffering from the sins of man, we watch as the donkey is passed from the hands of one cruel owner to another. Because the movie is so stripped down, it becomes universal and almost archetypal with the donkey symbolizing so much of the suffering in this world.

You won’t find any cheap tricks that you normally come across in a Hollywood flick here. Bresson is able to design a sense of compassion that is free of sentimentality. He achieves this balance through, of all things, Russian cinema experiments of the 1920s by Lev Kuleshov. The end effect works differently on different people, but for many it is nothing short of cathartic. There is such a strange mixture of feelings and thoughts that one goes through while watching a film like this. I guess for me the film is about maintaining innocence in a ruthless and uncaring world. The entire film is set to a precisely edited soundtrack composed of nature sounds, narrative sound-cues, French rock and a Schubert piano sonata. Many female artists were somehow touched by this film, including Chantal Akerman and Patti Smith. It also features the writer/artist Pierre Klossowski in a rare acting role.

This will be a high-definition screening.
Film night at Joe’s Garage, cozy cinema! Free entrance. You want to play a movie, let us know: joe [at] squat [dot] net

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L’AMOUR ET LA RÉVOLUTION: No, nothing is over in Greece (Yannis Youlountas, 2018) — ΑΓΆΠΗ ΚΑΙ ΕΠΑΝΆΣΤΑΣΗ: Όχι, τίποτα δεν έχει τελειώσει στην Ελλάδα (ΓΙΆΝΝΗΣ ΓΙΟΥΛΟΥΝΤΑΣ)

By: börek - November 1st, 2018  Filed under: Filmavond

Sunday 18 November 2018, Movie night | ΑΓΆΠΗ ΚΑΙ ΕΠΑΝΆΣΤΑΣΗ: Όχι, τίποτα δεν έχει τελειώσει στην Ελλάδα (ΓΙΆΝΝΗΣ ΓΙΟΥΛΟΥΝΤΑΣ) | L’AMOUR ET LA RÉVOLUTION: No, nothing is over in Greece | directed by Yannis Youlountas | 2018 | 84 minutes | Mainly in Greek and French | English subtitles | Door opens at 8pm, film starts at 8:30.

‘To fight is like falling in love. You lose all control. You do not know what will happen the next day. You leave behind any fear you might have. Fear vanishes when fighting or loving. “LOVE AND REVOLUTION”

The media no longer talk about Greece, suggesting that the austerity cure has been successful and that peace has returned. This film proves the opposite.

People fighting, and loving: Cooking for thousands, teaching children, securing the anarchist neighbourhood, stopping the airport, fighting the cops, and bashing in fascists.

A musical journey, from the north to the south of Greece, among those who dream of love and revolution.

Yannis Youlountas, a Franco-Greek author and film-maker, is also the organizer of philosophical debates for children, criticising the formation of media influenced opinions. Since 2008, He has been participating in the events in Greece, reporting them in his articles, photos, books and films, while also organising actions and solidarity convoys. In 2013, his film Let’s not live like slaves carried the word of the Greek social movement to all the continents, followed, two years later, by his film I fight therefore I am.

ΑΓΆΠΗ ΚΑΙ ΕΠΑΝΆΣΤΑΣΗ: Όχι, τίποτα δεν έχει τελειώσει στην Ελλάδα (ΓΙΆΝΝΗΣ ΓΙΟΥΛΟΥΝΤΑΣ)

Το να αγωνίζεσαι είναι σαν να αγαπάς. Χάνεις όλο τον έλεγχο. Δεν ξέρεις τι θα συμβεί την επόμενη μέρα. Αφήνεις πίσω κάθε φόβο που μπορεί να έχεις. Ο φόβος εξαφανίζεται όταν αγωνίζεσαι ή αγαπάς. ΑΓΆΠΗ ΚΑΙ Η ΕΠΑΝΆΣΤΑΣΗ.
Τα μέσα ενημέρωσης δεν μιλάνε πια για την Ελλάδα, προτείνοντας οτι τα μέτρα λιτότητας είχαν επιτυχία και πως η ευημερία έχει επιστρέψει. Αυτή η ταινία αποδεικνύει το αντίθετο.

Οι άνθρωποι αγωνίζονται και αγαπούν: μαγειρεύοντας για χιλιάδες, διδάσκοντας παιδιά, προστατεύοντας τις αναρχικές γειτονιές, σταματώντας το αεροδρόμιο, παλεύοντας με μπάτσους και φασίστες.

Ένα μουσικό ταξίδι, από τον βορά ως τον νότο, για εκείνους που ονειρεύονται αγάπη και επανάσταση.

Ο Γιάννης Γιουλούντας, Γάλλο-Έλληνας συγγραφέας και σκηνοθέτης, οργανώνει και φιλοσοφικά debates για παιδιά κάνοντας κριτική στην επιρροή των μέσων ενημέρωσής στην κοινή γνώμη. Από το 2008, συμμετάσχει σε γεγονότα που συμβαίνουν στην Ελλάδα, σθμπεριλαμβάνοντάς τα στα άρθρα, στις φωτογραφίες και στα στα βιβλία του, ενώ οργανώνει παράλληλα δράσεις αλληλεγγύης. Το 2013, η ταινία του ‘Ας μην ζήσουμε σαν δούλοι’ μετέδωσε το μήνυμα του ελληνικού κινήματος σε όλες τις ηπείρους, ακολουθούμενο, δυο χρόνια μετά, από την ταινία του ‘αγωνίζομαι άρα υπάρχω’.

Film night at Joe’s Garage, cozy cinema! Free entrance. You want to play a movie, let us know: joe [at] squat [dot] net

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