2014
MONSOON-REFLECTIONSWomen's Studies Sensory Ethnography Lab Labor Studies Asian Studies Anthropology 2014 Directed by Women
Drawing its title from a poem by the renowned Nepali poet Lekhnath Paudyal, which depicts the monsoon season as sublime and blissful, “joyous from start to finish,” filmmaker Stephanie Spray captures the melancholy and grit of two strong-willed female field hands (passengers in Spray and Velez’ Manakamana) as they carry out their arduous routines; a deeply felt reflection on labor, gender, and fleeting pleasures in rural Nepal.
|
THE YELLOW BANK2014 Sensory Ethnography Lab Asian Studies Anthropology
A short documentary that captures the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century, The Yellow Bank takes you on a contemplative boat ride across the Huangpu River in Shanghai, China. The film uses the eclipse as a catalyst to explore the way weather, light, and sound affect the urban architectural environment during this extremely rare phenomenon.
|
SONGHUASensory Ethnography Lab Labor Studies Environmental Studies Asian Studies Anthropology 2014
In northeastern China, the Songhua River has for generations served as a vital center – for leisure, commerce, and most importantly, drinking water –
for the people of Harbin. Filmed only one year after a major chemical spill in its waters, Songhua depicts the enduring and complex relationship between
the city’s residents and their "mother river," and considers the environmental implications of the waterway’s condition.
|
DEMOLITION / CHAIQIAN (拆 - 迁)Sensory Ethnography Lab Asian Studies 2014 Sociology Urban Studies Labor Studies
Focusing on a vast demolition site in the center of Chengdu, the Sichuan capital in western China, a bustling site emblematic of the rapid growth and development occurring throughout the country, J.P. Sniadecki’s Demolition is a wonderfully patient and revealing portrait of the migrant laborers who work and live in its shadow.
|
TERRACE OF THE SEASensory Ethnography Lab Photography Middle Eastern Studies Anthropology 2014 Art History Directed by Women
Filmed in an unofficial Palestinian Bedouin camp that was established in 1948 on a stretch of beach in South Lebanon, Terrace of the Sea uses a collection of family photographs taken over three generations as a prism through which to reflect on memory, loss and history.
|
STILL LIFESensory Ethnography Lab 2014 Anthropology Photography Aging / Gerontology Middle Eastern Studies Art History Directed by Women
"The Arab governments pushed us out of our homes… I was twelve years old… I’ve been here for 60 years." A beautiful, poignant, documentary, Still Life examines the effect a collection of personal photos showing life in Palestine before the 1948 displacement have on an elderly Palestinian fisherman living in exile in Lebanon.
|
COME WORRY WITH US!Women's Studies Music Labor Studies Family Relations 2014 Business Directed by Women
What happens to female artists once they become mothers? A heartfelt exploration of how motherhood affects and impinges on one's creative life, Come Worry With Us! follows violinist Jessica Moss and singer/guitarist Efrim Menuck, founding member of the revered Montreal band, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, as the couple attempts to integrate their young son into their lifestyle.
|
WHAT NOW? REMIND MELGBTQ Cinema Studies AIDS 2014
Joaquim Pinto has been an instrumental figure in Portuguese cinema for over 30 years, as a director of his own films, or producer and sound designer for other renowned filmmakers. In What Now? Remind Me Pinto, who has been living with HIV, looks back at his life in cinema, at his friendships and loves, and at the mysteries of art and nature.
|
KILLING TIMECriminal & Law African-American Studies Death & Dying 2014
Neither advocating for the death penalty nor against it, Killing Time is a devastating investigation into the futility of taking a life - both a murder and a state sanctioned execution. It is an honest look at the private, logistical and business-as-usual aspects of capital punishment in today's America.
|
THE ART OF OBSERVING LIFE: conversations with documentary filmmakersCinema Studies 2014 Directed by Women
In the wonderful Art of Observing Life, renowned documentarian Marina Goldovskaya delivers a master class in cinema verité and an appreciation of the filmmakers who transformed the Documentary. Composed of intimate conversations with Robert Drew and Richard Leacock (Primary), Allan King (A Married Couple), Albert Maysles (Grey Gardens), Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker (The War Room), Lionel Rogosin (On The Bowery) & others.
|
AMERICAN ARABIslamic Studies American Studies Middle Eastern Studies Religion & Spirituality Kartemquin Films 2014 Immigration
A provocative look at the complexities of Arab identity in post 9/11 America, American Arab interweaves filmmaker Usama Alshaibi's own story, and that of his family, as well as other Arab Americans to thoughtfully explore the values, passions, hopes and perceptions of his community, from inside and out.
|
MANAKAMANAAsian Studies Cinema Studies Anthropology Cultural Studies 2014 Sensory Ethnography Lab Directed by Women
Produced by the directors of Sweetgrass and Leviathan, Manakamana is an exhilarating, one-of-a-kind documentary experience. Filmed entirely inside the narrow confines of a cable car, high above a jungle in Nepal, that transports villagers to an ancient mountaintop temple, it is an acute ethnographic investigation into culture, religion, technology and modernity.
|