Tag Archives: Documentary

Remember II

Posted on February 8, 2018 by Kamran Ahmed

His best film to date, Raz Vahn’s self-made documentary Remember II gleans from Eastern European masters, such as Andrei Tarkovsky and Bela Tarr, to form an austere old-world-religious tone of his estranged homeland Romania. Vahn’s long take form encourages reflective … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged Diary, Documentary, film, Film Festival, Raz Vahn, romania, short film, Vahn Productions | Leave a comment

A Vital Moment In History: Monterey Pop

Posted on July 20, 2017 by Kamran Ahmed

DA Pennebaker made history by documenting the first major festival of its kind, the huge (at the time) Monterey Pop Festival, which I consider to be a more significant moment in the late 60s hippie revolution than even Woodstock. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews (capsule) | Tagged 1967, big brother and the holding company, Concert, concert film, country joe and the fish, da pennebaker, Documentary, filmore, grace slick, hippie, historical document, historical moment, janis joplin, jefferson airplane, Jimi Hendrix, lsd, mamas and the papas, moby grape, monterey, monterey pop, music, music documentary, music festival, music film, quicksilver messenger service, ravi shankar, simon and garfunkel, sixties, summer of love, the byrds, the who | Leave a comment

The Damaging Impact of a Neglectful Nation: After the Last River

Posted on April 20, 2017 by Kamran Ahmed

Vicki Lean’s heartbreaking documentary of suffering in Attawapiskat reveals the damaging impact on first nations livelihood of industry and government regulations ostensibly designed under concealed agendas. Her expository documentary requires little convincing, as Lean makes readily observable through first hand and … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged after the last river, attawapiskat, Canada, capital, david suzuki, david suzuki foundation, debeers, debut feature, diamond mine, Documentary, doxa, first nations, government, hegemony, ontario, poison, raise awareness, socially conscious, vicki lean | Leave a comment

Best of 2016

Posted on February 18, 2017 by Kamran Ahmed

This comes a little later than usual, but since Oscar season is fast approaching, better late than never! My complete 2016 Watchlist/Ranking The 2016 Next Projection Awards (my contributions included) Films qualify for my Best of 2016 when their initial … Continue reading →

Posted in Lists, Miscellaneous | Tagged 2016, a year in review, Academy Awards, animated, Best Actor, Best Actress, best adapted screenplay, best of 2016, Best Picture, best screenplay, Documentary, favourite films, Oscars, Ranking, shorts, top films | Leave a comment

A Revisioning of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Dekalog – All Episodes Reviewed and Ranked

Posted on September 8, 2016 by Kamran Ahmed

What I take most from this complete revision of the Dekalog is that Kieslowski never truly left documentary cinema. While the films in this series are, of course, fictitious, penned by Kieslowski in collaboration with Krzysztof Piecewicz, these stories are a way of examining the truth of … Continue reading →

Posted in Miscellaneous, Reviews | Tagged Aleksander Bardini, Art, Art Cinema, Artur Barcis, cinema, dekalog, Documentary, film, film series, intuition, Janusz Gajos, Kieślowski, masterpiece, metaphysics, Pacific cinematheque, Poetry, poland, polish cinema, Religion, retrospective, revision, The decalogue, three colors trilogy, Zbigniew Preisner | Leave a comment

Junun (Anderson, 2015)

Posted on October 13, 2015 by Kamran Ahmed

Anderson’s direction is singular and subtly thematic in what seems to be a significant moment in contemporary music and culture. At times, the dynamic hand-camera makes one feel present; at other times, it loses perspective and displays amateur control, ridding … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews (capsule) | Tagged 2015, caste, cinema, collaboration, culture, Documentary, electronic music, film, greenwood, india, innovation, jonny greenwood, junun, Life, Mubi, music, new york film festival, paul thomas anderson, pta, radiohead, rajasthan, relaxation, Shye Ben Tzur, world music | Leave a comment

Taxi (Panahi, 2015)

Posted on October 9, 2015 by Kamran Ahmed

Panahi’s most aesthetically pure and visually provocative film, chalk full of self-reference, cultural exposition, and homage to cinema. The Kiarostami-esque close up of a rose, eastern string instrumentation in the soundtrack, and long tracking takes from the taxi’s interior render … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews (capsule) | Tagged arrest, cab, censor, censorship, cinema, consent, culture, Documentary, Fiction, homage, Iran, jafar panahi, kiarostami, middle east, panahi, persian, philosophy, reality, taxi | Leave a comment

Our Daily Bread (Geyrhalter, 2005)

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Kamran Ahmed

Shot in a contemporary-observational style, Our Daily Bread (Geyrhalter, 2005) intends to show and not tell. Documenting the technology of modern food production companies, there is no commentary and the only authorial expression the film retains is through the director/cameraman’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews (capsule) | Tagged Active Spectator, cinema, Cinematography, Commentary, Documentary, film, Food Industry, Food Processing, Food Products, Geyrhalter, Mechanical Movements, movie, Observational, Observational Documentary, Our Daily Bread, Spectator, Technology | Leave a comment

Waltz With Bashir (Folman, 2008)

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Kamran Ahmed

Ari Folman’s Waltz With Bashir (2008) presents a convergence of fictional and non-fictional elements in that the story is true—depicting actual events—yet animated. Shifting the viewer’s attention between modes of documentary and fictional consciousness, the film has shored up much … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews (capsule) | Tagged Animated Film, Animation, Ari Folman, cinema, Documentary, Documentary-Fiction, Dream, Fiction, film, Iran, Subjectivity, Trauma, Waltz With Bashir, War | Leave a comment

The Trial Of Joan Of Arc (Procès de Jeanne d’Arc, Bresson, 1962)

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Kamran Ahmed

The Trial of Joan of Arc (1962), with its few settings, minimal action, and plenty of dialogue, reads more like a play than a film. Still, it retains Bresson’s particular formal style; in many ways, the extreme minimalism makes one … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, Robert Bresson | Tagged Aesthetic, aesthetic experience, Art, Black and White Film, bresson, Bresson Retrospective, cinema, Cinematheque, Documentary, film, Florence Delay, Form, formalism, Jean-Claude Fourneaux, Jeanne d'Arc, Joan of Arc, Leonard Cohen, Minimalism, movie, Play, Religion, robert bresson, Roger Honorat, Spirituality, transcendentalism, Trial of Joan Of Arc | Leave a comment