Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: Sambizanga (Sarah Maldoror, 1972)

By: börek - November 10th, 2023  Filed under: Filmavond

Sunday 12 November 2023, Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: SAMBIZANGA * 1972 * Directed by Sarah Maldoror * 97 Minutes * In Lingala and Portuguese, with English subtitles * Doors open at 20:00, intro & film start at 20:30.

This flick takes place during the Portuguese occupation of Angola and focuses on the liberation struggle of African people living under a dictatorship and secret police force. And although there are freedom fighters that are being rounded up and arrested, this film was directed by a woman and therefore she gives it a more unusual and personal perspective. Different from most movies about colonialism, this one is much more intimate, moves at a human speed, and follows the plight of a single mother’s experience when her husband is arrested and disappears. She goes from police station to police station, from prison to prison, searching for him and what she experiences is a labyrinthine Kafkaesque bureaucracy.

It is based on the 1961 novella The Real Life of Domingos Xavier by José Luandino Vieira. When the film was made Angola was still under a dictatorship, and therefore the film had to be shot in the Congo. Many of the so-called actors in the film are real people that were working in the liberation movements at the time. Two years after the film was made a left-wing coup overthrew the government and liberated the country from the Portuguese. This film created an incredible historical president, helping people to understand what was happening on a grass-roots cultural level. Although the situation is harsh, director Sarah Maldoror was able to create a film of pure poetry. The cinematography shimmers, and one critic compared it to a Caravaggio painting.

This will be a high definition screening.

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

Tags: , ,

Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: Nola Darling (Spike Lee, 1986)

By: börek - October 13th, 2023  Filed under: Filmavond

Sunday 15 October 2023, Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: NOLA DARLING 1986 * Spike Lee * 82 minutes * In English * Doors open at 20:00, intro & film start at 20:30.

Maybe the best feature film by Spike Lee is the one he made at the very beginning, the one that has been kind of dumped, left behind and forgotten about. The one before he started getting more money, and before he started doing the Hollywood shtick (שטיק). In a sense, it is an ode to the spirit of women, and the right for a woman to own her own body and decide her own fate.

The main character of this movie is Nola Darling, who has an ongoing relationship with three different men. It must’ve been almost impossible to find an unknown actress that would be able to handle a role like this, and Tracy Camilla Johns absolutely sparkles in an incredibly naturalistic way. This being a Spike Lee joint means that it is also about urban black culture, but that is actually in the background in relation to the film’s real focus – Nola Darling’s struggle for autonomy. It’s a surprisingly playful film, not only in its content, but also in its style and structure. Like I said, this was made before Spike went straight. Having said that, there is one sensitive scene that was rushed through insensitively, and Lee says in hindsight he regrets it. Once again, the great thing about these community cinemas is that it gives us the opportunity to discuss these issues after the screening.

It was shot in shimmering black-and-white, and there is a kind of lush sensuality in its camerawork, giving respect to the human body in ways that we don’t see in cinema much these days. It keeps its rough edges and is leagues away from a glossy CGI’d, photoshopped look, offering us a great alternative to the Barbie sham that is being hyped at the moment. This first film by Spike Lee was considered to be groundbreaking when it came out and a triumph of independent cinema, but for years now it’s been almost impossible to see. It’s snappy, clever, charming, and creative, but it’s Tracy Camilla Johns’ disarming performance as Nola that ignites the entire project and sets it ablaze.

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

Tags: ,

Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: Air-doll (Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2009)

By: börek - September 3rd, 2023  Filed under: Filmavond

Sunday 10 September 2023, Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: AIR DOLL * (空気人形, Kūki Ningyō) * Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda * 2009 * 116 minutes * In Japanese with English subtitles * Doors open at 20:00, intro & film start at 20:30.

The premise of this flick is quite simple. A middle-aged man has a life-size sex doll he calls Nozomi at home that he makes love to every night. He doesn’t only have sex with Nozomi, he also dresses her up and has dinner with her. What can I say? People are lonely in this overcrowded modern world we live in, especially in big cities like Tokyo that are ironically packed with people. Seems like a contradiction, but is certainly true.

Then something unusual happens – one day the lifeless doll begins to come to life, as if she is suddenly filled with human feelings and a soul. Once this doll starts breathing and moving, she is as confused as anyone else about who she is. Since her owner is away at work, she goes out for a walk trying to understand the world around her, and the story unfolds from there.

As you approach the film, you must remember this is not an American film, which would take cheap shots with such a story and exploit it. Instead, this flick is weirdly humanist, with a sort of melancholic bent. It is Japanese director Kore-eda’s way of mapping out modern life, an attempt to help us see the world around us differently. Starring Korean actress Bae Doo-na as the titular air doll.

This will be a high-definition screening.

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

Tags: , ,

Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: Zahrada (Martin Sulik, 1995)

By: börek - August 3rd, 2023  Filed under: Filmavond

Sunday 20 august 2023, Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: ZAHRADA * The Garden * 1995 * Directed by Martin Sulik * 99 minutes * In Slovak with English subtitles * Doors open at 20:30, intro & film start at 21:00.

Wow, here is a very special film which is hardly ever screened, despite the fact that it was a multiple award-winner when it came out. The kind of magical film that many people feel the urge to see it over and over again….. Zahrada is deeply loved in its home country, and its a wonderful example of magic realism in contemporary cinema.

The main character’s life in this film has reached a dead-end. He decides to leave his job, and then gets into a fight with his father. The trouble is compounded by his affair with a married woman. An affair that doesn’t make him happy. Breaking out, he escapes from his previous world to retreat to a small country house in the countryside which had been his grandfather’s garden. There he finds his life transforming through the powers of nature.

Some people have called this film a comedy, but its humor works on such a subtle level that it can’t be compared to the blunt comedies from Hollywood, for example. It’s ingenuous, transcendent and spellbinding. It gives you the feeling of entering a new dimension where the distinction between reality and fiction gradually vanishes. The pace of the film is unrushed and almost dreamlike, slowly unfolding in totally unexpected directions.

One viewer’s comment:

“The powerful images of the mystical garden are dream-like, but also very real. It takes you to a place where you feel it touches your innermost wishes of tranquillity and peace. A dream within a dream, a fantasy that becomes reality. Let this movie take you to a place you never imagined existed…..and enjoy the ride.”

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

Tags: , ,

Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: The Favourites of the Moon (Otar Iosseliani, 1984)

By: börek - August 3rd, 2023  Filed under: Filmavond

Sunday 6 august 2023, Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: FAVORITES OF THE MOON * 1984 * (Les favoris de la lune) * Directed by Otar Iosseliani * 101 minutes * In French with English subtitles * Doors open at 20:30, intro & film start at 21:00.

Director Otar Iosseliani made films in his homeland of Georgia, under Soviet rule back in the 60s. He eventually moved to France and continued to unleash his unique vision of cinema, carrying over his own Georgian humor and crafted surrealism into a French setting.

This movie is largely visual, and consists of a long string of seeming random situations that occur throughout Paris. In the course of the film we follow a patchwork of scenarios that range from the chic high-art world to tramps living on the street to the dark underworld of terrorists. The link between them all are two objects… an 18th-century chinaware set, and a 19th-century nude portrait. The director himself called this elliptical journey “an abstract comedy” and indeed it is a movie that speaks to the imagination rather than stereotyped storytelling. This is an example of free cinema, where anything can happen. It takes its title from Shakespeare’s description of thieves: “Diana’s foresters, gentlemen of the shade, favorites of the moon.”

Since it drifts in and out of so many lives and events, and because of its beautifully kaleidoscopic story line, this particular movie has often been compared to Luis Buñuel, Jacques Tati and Robert Altman. And because of its openness, it can be watched as either a wild trip, or as a commentary on the senselessness of our modern society that respects objects more than life itself. This film was winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 41st Venice International Film Festival. Starring Mathieu Amalric.

This will be a high-definition screening.

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

Tags: , ,

Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: Who’s Singin’ Over There? (Slobodan Sijan, 1980)

By: börek - July 11th, 2023  Filed under: Filmavond

Sunday 16 july 2023, Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: WHO’S SINGIN’ OVER THERE? * 1980 * (Ko to Tamo Peva) * Directed by Slobodan Sijan * 83 minutes * In Serbo-Croatian with English subtitles * Doors open at 20:30, intro & film start at 21:00.

This is as close to a perfect movie as you’re ever going to see. Ko to tamo peva has it all – historical significance, a great story that keeps you on the move from one event to the next, fabulous social commentary, a string of bittersweet comic moments, and to top it off, a fiery Balkan soundtrack. What more could you possibly want?

The story is simple…in an old, broken down bus en route to Belgrade, a diverse group of passengers have to put up with each other as the bus slowly makes its way through the rough country roads. Within the confines of this thin narrative, the director Slobodan Sijan paints a picture of a society torn by one war (World War I) and bracing itself for another, as the shadow of World War II looms over the countryside. Two of the passengers are Gypsy musicians who every once in a while will sing of their miserable life, and they also foresee the tragedy to come. Their songs are magical and work like a Greek reflecting upon the events as they are taking place.

Years later, another director, Emir Kusturica (Arizona Dream, Black Cat White cat) would make a big hit internationally with the wild characters and vivid story lines that he created in his films….but his sense of humor and style didn’t spark out of nowhere. He drew from a specific culture that was developing in the 70s and 80s in ex-Yugoslavia. Ko to tamo peva is the finest gem from that period. Tragically, it was never screened that much outside its home country, although it’s considered by many to be the best Yugoslavian movie ever made. And that might even be an understatement. In fact, the film is pure magic.

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

Tags: , , ,

Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: Hola, ¿estás sola? (Iciar Bollain, 1995)

By: börek - June 8th, 2023  Filed under: Filmavond

Sunday 11 june 2023, Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: Hola, ¿estás sola? (Hi, Are You Alone?) * 1995 * by Iciar Bollain * 92 minutes * In Spanish with (special) English subtitles. doors open at 20:30, intro & film start at 21:00.

Behind this daft film title lurks an extremely rare gem from Spain’s speckly tradition of social realism. Except that, in this incarnation, it has left the arid countryside with a backpack or two in its freshest everyday summer top.

Hola tells the story of two young women who would much later be referred to as the ni-ni generation: ni estudia ni trabaja, i.e. neither working nor studying. Suddenly finding themselves homeless, they pack their bags and head southward to Big-Hotel-land dragging their smelly feet over asphalt and traintracks. Their intellectual baggage is so light they don’t even have their words to describe the quest they’re embarking on. But below this apparent poverty of ideas lies a deep humanity and a clear sense that adventures and ‘personal growth’ are pointless unless they’re a shared experience.

This little early film by Iciar Bollaín features some of the most delicious lines of dialogue she has ever written, in tandem here with Julio Medem, who by 1995 had made a name for himself with films like Vacas and The Red Squirrel. It features an astonishing Candela Peña. Already in this debut role, she let her enormous heart not only shine bright, but also make space for an arguably unworthy co-star: Silke, a pretty face who was being pushed by the film industry to be Spain’s one and only grunge star. Kind of like a Kurt Cobain, but for tampon commercials. Together with a few supporting male characters, these two girls made waves in the summer of 1995. And then they were forgotten, pretty much forever.

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

Tags: , ,

Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: Interrogation (Ryszard Bugajski, 1989)

By: börek - May 9th, 2023  Filed under: Filmavond

Sunday 14 may 2023, Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: Interrogation * 1989 * Directed by Ryszard Bugajski * 118 min * in Polish with English subtitles. Doors open at 20:00, intro & film start at 20:30.


Considered to be one of the most harrowing movies to come out of Poland in the last century, but also one of the best. Set in 1951, it is about a woman who goes out drinking with some friends, and gets drunk to the point where she passes out. She wakes up in a prison, and she has no idea why. She is endlessly interrogated, threatened and tortured, and accused of being part of a conspiracy with a Russian friend of hers. She is being forced to answer intimate questions about her sexuality and previous lovers, and also they attempt to force her to sign a confession of things she never did.

Actress Krystyna Janda gives a fierce performance as the main character Tonia. She won the best actress award at Cannes in 1982, but the film would not be released in Poland itself until seven years later because it was banned. Director Ryszard Bugajski only was able to make a handful of films, but they were ruthless and hardhitting. I recently screened a movie he later made in Canada called Clearcut about the treatment of the indigenous native people there, and it was breathtaking. Bugajski was always taking shots at those in power – left or right, communist or capitalist, and took sides with the people trampled by those systems. In a way it is a political drama, but it can also be seen as a different kind of horror movie.

Dramatically hard-hitting, fierce, it’s an experience you won’t forget, and something that many people experience around the world, behind closed doors.

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

Tags: , ,