An Introduction

I am crazy about watching films. I like all types of cinema as long as there is passion in the work. I love film directors with a clear vision and an original voice who place a clear mark upon their work. I studied film production and never realised how techinical making a film can be. I realised it was not just about being creative and having a vision . A great filmmaker is an artist, a business man and a scientist put together.

I have joined this site to learn about new film makers and to to discover new hidden masterpieces. In return I hope to share with people some of my finds and to introduce and champion directors, maybe people hadn’t heard of or never thought to watch. Through my youtube channel, particpation in the Director’s Cup and discussion in the forums I hope we can both learn from each other and look forward to the new discoveries.
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João César Monteiro: WINNER OF THE DIRECTOR’S CUP 2011

Nations of peoples all have distinctive “characters,” even if it is dangerous to try to define them, and so if the Portuguese are, as British diplomat and author Marcus Cheke said in the mid-20th century, “distinguished by a kind of artless simplicity that to a sophisticated mind often appears incomprehensible,” it remains a moving hazard to box up Portugal’s nativity and label it. Still, it gives pause to consider how the three world-renowned filmmakers to come from Portugal—Manoel de Oliveira, João César Monteiro, and Pedro Costa—all manage a stylistic variation on a theme: a tone of regal peasant simplicity coupled with a fiercely recalcitrant abstruseness. Increasingly, Oliveira has been the warmest of this snippy trio, while Costa is the upstart intent on fragmented miserableness.

Between them, Monteiro appears to be one of world cinema’s most troubling figures, except when you realize that trouble was his (second) middle name, and virtually nothing he did on film was ever meant to be “filmic” per se, much less actively captivating to any but the most self-crucifying art-house audiences. At the same time, his texts were absurdly simple (often folktales), as if to dash his viewers’ assumptions of sophistication and elitist cinema on the rocks of pre-industrial tradition, all the while withholding ordinary cinematic pleasures. On top of that, it seems he regarded himself, in front of and behind the camera, as a comic figure. Except he’s never funny, and never tries to be. As Ozu has been labeled at home the “most Japanese” of homegrown filmmakers, could Monteiro be the definitive Portuguese film artist?

FIVE GREAT FILMS

Fragments of An Alms Film

Veredas

Silvestre

Hovering Over Water

Recollections of the Yellow House

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THE AFRICA PROJECT

The Africa Project: An Introduction
The Africa Project Part 1: Algeria- Congo Kinshasa
The Africa Project Part 2: Djibouti – Guinea
The Africa Project Part 3: Ivory Coast – Morocco
The Africa Project Part 4: Mozambique – Sao Tome and Princpe
The Africa Project Part 5: Senegal – Zimababwe

Okay this is my new project for 2011. African film has little or no exposure in world cinema. This page will list country by country, key films and filmmakers, film festivals, internet links, books, essays, film links, trailers and clips. It is a vast project and will take some time. I will also be submitting many African films to the database, and constructing biographies for the directors’ homepages. Later on I plan to start a new You Tube channel devoted to exposing lesser seen African films.Thanks go out to Kenji whose list inpsired this project Essential African Films, and Blue k’s Songs of the Griot

- Create a thorough list of A-Z African films, filmmakers, festivals, books, links
- Submit films from African countries onto the database
- Write biographies for leading African filmmakers to be put onto database
- Create a Youtube Channel dedicated to African film
- Create forum debates and discussion for selected African films

THE AFRICA FILM POLL
I am currently collecting a poll asking members, critics and filmmakers for their ten favourite African films. I would be really grateful if you could contribute to this poll which aims to highlight the great work coming from this continent.

Ok so what I need…..

A list of ten films either favourite / influential to you as a filmmaker.

If you would like to compile two lists that would be even better, one for your home country / area and a general one for the rest of the continent. Either way any participation would be great!! The aim of these polls is to promote work by artists in Africa and create a better awareness of the diversity that exists.

The deadline for this poll will be 15th December. I look forward to your contribution….

Forum Thread
Facebook Page

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TWELVE ESSENTIAL FILMS YOU HAVE TO SEE

1. The Treasure, Lester James Peries, Sri Lanka, 1972

2. The Diary, David Perlov, Israel, 1983

3. The Dupes, Tewfik Salah, Syria, 1973

4. Chased By the Dogs, Kamal El Sheikh, Egypt, 1962

5. Garrincha: Hero of the Jungle, Joaquim Pedro de Andrade, Brazil, 1962

6. Courage of the People, Jorge Sanjines, Bolivia, 1971

7. Rhthym Thief, Matthew Harrison, United States, 1994

8. Dancing In the Rain, Boštjan Hladnik, Yugoslavia, 1961

9. Le Peau Trouee, Julien Samani, France, 2004

10. Farewell Johnny, Jens Rautenbach, South Africa, 1970

11. Black Snow, Xie Fei, China, 1990

12. Road, Alan Clarke, United Kingdom, 1987