Today’s Sunday Morning Short is a 15-minute collaboration between the magnificent South-African rap-rave act Die Antwoord and writer / director / cinematographer Harmony Korine. Die Antwoord who present the world with the wonders of the Afrikaner language and an odd aesthetics and a nice fit with Korine. Korine, known for his work on films such as ‘Kids’ (1995), ‘Gummo’ (1997) and ‘Ken Park’ (2002). This short by him comes in a long lines of shorts that he has been directed in the last few years.
The first thing that strikes is the return of the rabbit suit from ‘Gummo’. Dreamy characters with a hyperactive sense of imagination stuck in a desolate place. In this Die Antwoord and Harmony Korine fit together perfectly. And welcome a sense that is expressed in other works, like Ron Currie Jr.’s book God is Dead, or ‘Beast of the Southern Wild’ (2012) by Benh Zeitlin or the documentary series – that I discussed in a post in December of 2011 – by filmmaker Emil Trier and DJ Torgny. A joyous [Continue]
At first I wondered, is it a photograph or is it a painting? A couple of months ago I discovered the work of Lee Price and since then I’ve developed a healthy obsession.
Lee Price | Self Portrait in Tub with Chinese Food | Oil on Linen, 44” x 44”
Not just by being in awe* of the skill of creating pieces so real they are bound to get off the canvas. It is moreover, on the intimate moment of a eating Chinese Food in the bathtub, sleeping with peaches, or grilled cheese caught by the artist. Documenting a human moment in pure form. Of an intimate relation with food.
Lee Price | Grilled Cheese II | Oil on Linen, 38″ x 72″
The eerie feeling of a honest moment creeps up. Of a painting capturing life more truthfully and real, much better than some documentaries. You don’t objectify this person but observe the whole and get lost in splendor. You sense the crunch of the bread and the warm melted [Continue reading]
After a stint abroad I return with a ‘Sunday Morning Short’ entitled: Birth of a Book.
A Geyrhalter-esque documentary on the mechanics of making a book, not the labors of the writer who tortured him/her-self in solitude but rather the grand production of the physical object.
There is something rotten in the state of Denmark ... even-though the king is dead, there is always the harrowing arrival of the new king. The subject North Korea. More specifically a recent report about the harrowing situations for people living in North Korean Labour Camps.
A classic piece by VICE already took note of this insane phenomena known as the North Korean Labour Camp:
“Somewhere between documentary and music video…” that’s the way Norwegian filmmaker Emil Trier describes his project with Trogny. Which consists of three short films – ‘The Only Game’, ‘Big Day’ and ‘I Came Here’ - that depict life of the youth in Norway.
The first one is on the realm of youth in rural Norway. Out from the wheelie caused smoke and stale smell of Bacardi rises a picture that seems to correspond to … [continue]
Bant Singh is a lower caste Mazhabi, Dalit Sikh farmer and singer from the Jhabhar village in the Mansa district (Punjab, India), who has become an agricultural labour activist, fighting against the power of the local landowner. Described by Amit Sengupta as “an icon of Dalit resistance”* he has been active in organizing poor, agricultural workers, activism that continues despite a 2006 attack that cost him “both of his lower arms and his left leg.”*
“Bant Singh – Word Sound & Power” is a short film attempting to showcase Singh’s songs of rebellion, inter-cast conflict and violence.
Word, Sound & Power or The Bant Singh project wants to spread Singh’s social critical message to the masses using dancehall, dubstep, ragga and poetry, produced by Chris McGuinness in collaboration with dancehall artist Delhi Sultanate.
Thus we see, activism, music and documentary collide in this 12 minute piece.
One of the best documentaries that I’ve seen in the last year is Vous êtes Servisby Spanish-Belgium filmmaker Jorge León. A friend of mine saw it in Sarajevo and subsequently screened it at Cine Migratorio, a film festival on migration in Santander (Cantabria, Spain). It details the plight of maids-to-be in a recruitment center in Jogjakarta, Indonesia.
Vous êtes servis / 2009 / Belgium / 60’
How do you clean a microwave? How to get the washing machine started? How to speak Mandarin? How to serve your bosses guests in a popper manner? All skills that the women at the recruitment Centre for maids have to learn before they are send to work throughout Asia or the Middle-East.
This documentary contrasts images of women preparing to go abroad with letters home that cry out the horrible circumstances under which they have to work. The style that the filmmaker use reminds us of Wes Anderson, in the focus on inanimate objects and the subtleapplication of a reoccurring prime-color. The objects form the tools that these women have to use daily, they become an extension of their being, in the eyes of some of their bosses, these women become those machines. Even in the way they are presented in identical white and red checkered aprons and a crisp white shirt, against a red backdrop, makes them into like-minded drones.
We meet new recruits, the agents, the jaded maids waiting for their opportunity to earn, the teachers and the boss. The subject matter of this film is similar to that of Abner Benaim’s documentary [Continue Reading]
Nick Waterhouse isn’t hung up on any specific neighborhood but it is most definitely in or around South of Market, San Francisco. As Waterhouse stated San Francisco was the place that “just made sense”. There was something in the air. However it couldn’t be pinned down to something/someplace specific [continue]
Where my friend, the maniac, busies himself with his electronic graffiti,
Finally his language touches me,
Because he talks to that part of us which insists on drawing profiles on prison walls,
In that moment, poetry will be made by everyone,
And there will be emu’s in the zone.”
I woke up with these words echoing through my head. A sound clip that is usedby Kasabian at the beginning of their song ‘West Ryder Silver Bullet’.
It haunted me so that I climbed down opened my laptop and went on a search. Resulting in my trusted – corporate – friend Google answering: Sans Soleil(1983) by Chris Marker. A experimental documentary almost Eliot-esque.
I’d like to introduce you all to a real man. One who prefers whiskey, has tattoos and isn’t scarred of an amplifier. His name is Hanni El Khatib. I first noticed him with his EP, Bullfighter’s hart(2008), and most particularly with the song ‘I know it’s Bad for me’. As it paralleled particular actions and situations I happened to find myself in. Wild drunk nights in which you end up hanging out in a joyous melancholia with a collection of people you don’t really know and don’t really care about.
Last Sunday Night – February 5th – I defied the snow and traveled to Rotterdam to see him play at Rotown.
On this Sunday Morning Short, a taste of Hanni El Khatib and Alaska, in ‘Grizzlies, Pickles & Whiskey’
Today’s Sunday Morning Short is a 15-minute collaboration between the magnificent South-African rap-rave act Die Antwoord and writer / director / cinematographer Harmony Korine. Die Antwoord who present the world with the wonders of the Afrikaner language and an odd aesthetics and a nice fit with Korine. Korine, known for his work on films such as ‘Kids’ (1995), ‘Gummo’ (1997) and ‘Ken Park’ (2002). This short by him comes in a long lines of shorts that he has been directed in the last few years.
The first thing that strikes is the return of the rabbit suit from ‘Gummo’. Dreamy characters with a hyperactive sense of imagination stuck in a desolate place. In this Die Antwoord and Harmony Korine fit together perfectly. And welcome a sense that is expressed in other works, like Ron Currie Jr.’s book God is Dead, or ‘Beast of the Southern Wild’ (2012) by Benh Zeitlin or the documentary series – that I discussed in a post in December of 2011 – by filmmaker Emil Trier and DJ Torgny. A joyous [Continue]
Bant Singh is a lower caste Mazhabi, Dalit Sikh farmer and singer from the Jhabhar village in the Mansa district (Punjab, India), who has become an agricultural labour activist, fighting against the power of the local landowner. Described by Amit Sengupta as “an icon of Dalit resistance”* he has been active in organizing poor, agricultural workers, activism that continues despite a 2006 attack that cost him “both of his lower arms and his left leg.”*
“Bant Singh – Word Sound & Power” is a short film attempting to showcase Singh’s songs of rebellion, inter-cast conflict and violence.
Word, Sound & Power or The Bant Singh project wants to spread Singh’s social critical message to the masses using dancehall, dubstep, ragga and poetry, produced by Chris McGuinness in collaboration with dancehall artist Delhi Sultanate.
Thus we see, activism, music and documentary collide in this 12 minute piece.
At first I wondered, is it a photograph or is it a painting? A couple of months ago I discovered the work of Lee Price and since then I’ve developed a healthy obsession.
Lee Price | Self Portrait in Tub with Chinese Food | Oil on Linen, 44” x 44”
Not just by being in awe* of the skill of creating pieces so real they are bound to get off the canvas. It is moreover, on the intimate moment of a eating Chinese Food in the bathtub, sleeping with peaches, or grilled cheese caught by the artist. Documenting a human moment in pure form. Of an intimate relation with food.
Lee Price | Grilled Cheese II | Oil on Linen, 38″ x 72″
The eerie feeling of a honest moment creeps up. Of a painting capturing life more truthfully and real, much better than some documentaries. You don’t objectify this person but observe the whole and get lost in splendor. You sense the crunch of the bread and the warm melted [Continue reading]
One of the best documentaries that I’ve seen in the last year is Vous êtes Servisby Spanish-Belgium filmmaker Jorge León. A friend of mine saw it in Sarajevo and subsequently screened it at Cine Migratorio, a film festival on migration in Santander (Cantabria, Spain). It details the plight of maids-to-be in a recruitment center in Jogjakarta, Indonesia.
Vous êtes servis / 2009 / Belgium / 60’
How do you clean a microwave? How to get the washing machine started? How to speak Mandarin? How to serve your bosses guests in a popper manner? All skills that the women at the recruitment Centre for maids have to learn before they are send to work throughout Asia or the Middle-East.
This documentary contrasts images of women preparing to go abroad with letters home that cry out the horrible circumstances under which they have to work. The style that the filmmaker use reminds us of Wes Anderson, in the focus on inanimate objects and the subtleapplication of a reoccurring prime-color. The objects form the tools that these women have to use daily, they become an extension of their being, in the eyes of some of their bosses, these women become those machines. Even in the way they are presented in identical white and red checkered aprons and a crisp white shirt, against a red backdrop, makes them into like-minded drones.
We meet new recruits, the agents, the jaded maids waiting for their opportunity to earn, the teachers and the boss. The subject matter of this film is similar to that of Abner Benaim’s documentary [Continue Reading]
After a stint abroad I return with a ‘Sunday Morning Short’ entitled: Birth of a Book.
A Geyrhalter-esque documentary on the mechanics of making a book, not the labors of the writer who tortured him/her-self in solitude but rather the grand production of the physical object.
Nick Waterhouse isn’t hung up on any specific neighborhood but it is most definitely in or around South of Market, San Francisco. As Waterhouse stated San Francisco was the place that “just made sense”. There was something in the air. However it couldn’t be pinned down to something/someplace specific [continue]
There is something rotten in the state of Denmark ... even-though the king is dead, there is always the harrowing arrival of the new king. The subject North Korea. More specifically a recent report about the harrowing situations for people living in North Korean Labour Camps.
A classic piece by VICE already took note of this insane phenomena known as the North Korean Labour Camp:
Where my friend, the maniac, busies himself with his electronic graffiti,
Finally his language touches me,
Because he talks to that part of us which insists on drawing profiles on prison walls,
In that moment, poetry will be made by everyone,
And there will be emu’s in the zone.”
I woke up with these words echoing through my head. A sound clip that is usedby Kasabian at the beginning of their song ‘West Ryder Silver Bullet’.
It haunted me so that I climbed down opened my laptop and went on a search. Resulting in my trusted – corporate – friend Google answering: Sans Soleil(1983) by Chris Marker. A experimental documentary almost Eliot-esque.
I’d like to introduce you all to a real man. One who prefers whiskey, has tattoos and isn’t scarred of an amplifier. His name is Hanni El Khatib. I first noticed him with his EP, Bullfighter’s hart(2008), and most particularly with the song ‘I know it’s Bad for me’. As it paralleled particular actions and situations I happened to find myself in. Wild drunk nights in which you end up hanging out in a joyous melancholia with a collection of people you don’t really know and don’t really care about.
Last Sunday Night – February 5th – I defied the snow and traveled to Rotterdam to see him play at Rotown.
On this Sunday Morning Short, a taste of Hanni El Khatib and Alaska, in ‘Grizzlies, Pickles & Whiskey’
“Somewhere between documentary and music video…” that’s the way Norwegian filmmaker Emil Trier describes his project with Trogny. Which consists of three short films – ‘The Only Game’, ‘Big Day’ and ‘I Came Here’ - that depict life of the youth in Norway.
The first one is on the realm of youth in rural Norway. Out from the wheelie caused smoke and stale smell of Bacardi rises a picture that seems to correspond to … [continue]
