actually, this is about movies

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

Mods, please let me know if you'd like me to move this post off-comm.

So I was looking back at my movie log the other day, and I thought to myself, wow, this is a list of stuff by and about white people if I've ever seen one. I tend to watch geek movies (of the comic book/sff novel adaptation persuasion), musicals, artsy independent films, and animation, and the vast majority of the films in these genres that turn up in theatres around here, that I put in my Netflix queue, that I check out of the library-- very, very white. White directors, white writers, mostly white actors. (Except the animation, because I watch a ridiculous quantity of anime.)

This is not how I would like my viewing habits to work in a world in which I know damn well there is a long history of cinema coming out of India, Brazil, Senegal, and Korea, to name only areas about whose film industries I have already heard some things.

I like the model of this comm as a way of changing habits: numbering the books one reads so as to have an accurate measurement of what is going on as far as proportion of works read by POC, and having a time frame so as to help with not putting things off (with the understanding that different people have different amounts of time, read at different rates, etc.). I think that this model would also transfer well to movies.

Now, as far as I personally am concerned, I am not talking about a fifty-film project, because that would take-- well, a friend and I gave one another lists in 2005 of the top twenty movies we'd each like the other to see, and I still have four to go on that list. I watch a lot of TV-format anime. I rewatch comfort films from when I was younger. New movies take a lot of mental energy for me, a lot of emotional investment.

However, I think I could manage twelve films in a year. One a month. Films by and concerning POC. I will not be counting anime in this because the point is to change my viewing habits, not to finish in two months, the same reason I'm not counting manga for this comm.

Now, given that a great many people are involved in the making of a film, it can be harder to tell what one means by saying a film is 'by' anybody, especially since I personally am rather ambivalent about the auteur theory. However, I think the simplest way to do it is going to be to look at the director and/or the writer: I will watch films for this that are directed and/or written by POC. There are also films that are neither that I suspect might be reasonable to watch for this, such as Fassbinder's Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, but in general those are the criteria I'm going to use.

And I'll blog them. Here, if people think that's an idea; my own journal, in addition to or instead of here. If other people also wanted to do this and blog about it, maybe a sister comm to this one. ETA: If you would be interested in participating in a sister comm to this one, please let me know in the comments.

And-- please, please, I want recommendations! I have a preliminary list, but the films I've heard about that fit this challenge tend to be 'issue' or 'message' movies, with a side order of depressing, and I know I won't be able to manage twelve of those, though I'm sure I'll watch some. I want to watch films from everywhere. I want to watch comedies, romances, children's movies, slices of life, animation, documentaries, musicals, dramas. I would also love recs for books about international film and film by POC.

Comments

[livia-llewellyn.livejournal.com]

Eve's Bayou (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eve%27s_Bayou) - one of my favorite horror films. (And, it was the very first DVD I ever bought, back in the olden days, lol.) But please don't let the word "horror" put you off - there's no gore or "torture porn" or anything remotely off-putting in this film. It's really more Southern Gothic - and the all-PoC cast is phenomenal.

[capra-maritimus.livejournal.com]

How fortuitous of you to make this post - I was just reading about one of my favourite films and was sighing, "Darn, it's not a book! I can't review it in 50books_poc."

Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner)

Evil in the form of a mysterious, unknown shaman enters a small community of nomadic Inuit and upsets its balance and spirit of cooperation. The stranger leaves behind a lingering curse of bitterness and discord: after the camp leader Kumaglak is murdered, the new leader Sauri drives his old rival Tulimaq down through mistreatment and ridicule.

Years pass.

[from the offical website http://www.atanarjuat.com/]


writer: Paul Apak Angilirq
director: Zacharias Kunuk
photography: Norman Cohn
editors:Zacharias Kunuk, Norman Cohn, Marie-Christine Sarda
design:James Ungalaaq
original music:Chris Crilly
producers: Paul Apak Angilirq, Norman Cohn,Zacharias Kunuk

executive producer,national film board: Sally Bochner
producer,national film board:Germaine Ying Gee Wong

[capra-maritimus.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I'd be interested in joining a sister comm as well. :D

[sanguinity]

Mod here!

My preference is that you set up a sister comm. I have no problem with you doing an announcement here (or using this post to gauge interest for a comm), but I'd rather keep this comm about books.

If you do decide to set up a sister comm and want a link in our userinfo, let me know.

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Keeping this comm about books makes sense, and is what I expected. I will use this post to gauge interest, and see where to go from there.

[zillah975]

I would be interested in participating in a sister comm.

[anitabuchan.livejournal.com]

I'd be very interested in participating - or at least watching the comm, since money's a bit tight for a dvd a month as well as all these new books I'm getting! But I would love getting some good film recs.

As for non-depressing recs...off the top of my head, you've probably heard of Gurinder Chadha (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurinder_Chadha) (Bend It Like Beckham, Bride and Prejudice, Bhaji on the Beach) but I love her films so I want to make sure. My Beautiful Laundrette and Sammy and Rose Get Laid were both written by Hanif Kureishi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanif_Kureishi). Anita and Me (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anita_and_Me_(film)), written by Meera Syal (who also wrote Bhaji on the Beach). Caramel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caramel_(film)), written and directed by Nadine Labaki. I think all of those are quite well known, but, I love them all and kind of want everyone to watch them :).

[oyceter]

I'd be interested, especially since I've been meaning to watch Bollywood movies for the past two years or so.

Most of my recs are Chinese art movies, HK movies, or Korean movies... I keep feeling like you've seen most of them, but I may be wrong? I can rec some if you'd like.

[wingstodust.livejournal.com]

Ooooooh!! I'd definitely be interested in joining a sister comm. xD I love watching movies, and while I watch quite a bit of Chinese/Korean/Japanese movies already, that's only one sphere of the globe and I'd like to try out more movies from around the world. XD

And, um, I have quite a few recs...

Japanese:
Tada, Kimi wo Aishiteru
Little Dj~Chiisama no 10 no Yakusoku

Korean:
King and the Clown
Too Beautiful to Lie

Chinese:
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (okay, maybe you've watched it already, but I couldn't resist putting it in)
Perhaps Love
Shaolin Soccer

And that's all for now...

[lady-tigerfish.livejournal.com]

I would be interested in joining a sister community. I haven't seen enough good films, period.

[waelisc.livejournal.com]

I'd be interested in joining a sister community. One film a month would be about my speed. They'll have to be limited to ones I can get from Netflix or the library, but there's always interlibrary loan.

I really enjoyed The Watermelon Woman, written and directed by Cheryl Dunye, who is African-American. I posted about it on my journal (http://waelisc.livejournal.com/1568.html#cutid1) a while back. (The other two films in that post are not by PoC, afaik.)

[puritybrown.livejournal.com]

You must be reading my mind, because I've been turning over in my head how to phrase a request for something like this! I've had a lot of "aha!" moments from film that are similar to the "aha!" moments a lot of posters get from books, and I was kind of hoping somebody else would be interested in modding a film-equivalent of 50books_poc, seeing as how I'm not really organised enough to be a mod myself...

Recommendations (all live-action, since you've got anime covered):

From Japan:
Afterlife (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165078/) is one of my favourite films ever. It's thoughtful, beautiful, intelligent, and very moving, and it has an intriguing fantasy premise: after they die, the dead have to choose a memory in which to spend the rest of eternity.
The same director also made Nobody Knows (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0408664/), which is heartbreaking. It's about four childen abandoned by their mother. It's kind of like Grave of the Fireflies except with parental neglect instead of firebombing; I wept just as much.
There are three films directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara and written by Kobo Abe that I love: Pitfall, Woman of the Dunes, and Face of Another. They're sort of like Beckett plays, with extra ghosts.
Also, anything directed by Akira Kurosawa, but especially Yojimbo, The Bad Sleep Well, Seven Samurai, and Rashomon. There's a reason he became so acclaimed. I don't particularly recommend I Live In Fear or Stray Dog -- they're not bad, just preachier than usual. (If you watch a lot of Kurosawa movies, then watch the original Gojira, you get the thrill of double-taking every time you see Takashi Shimura. Or at least I did. Because, man, was he ever wasted on that flick... not that Gojira doesn't have its own merits, mind you.)
The Life of Oharu (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045112/) is a period drama by Kenji Mizoguchi that I really enjoyed.
Battle Royale (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266308/) is... kinda trashy, but the good kind of trashy.

From Iran:
10 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0301978/) dir. and written by Abbas Kiarostami - 10 journeys in one woman's car; kind of experimental, but a lot easier to watch than you'd think, and not depressing at all!
Crimson Gold (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0371280/) dir. Jafar Pahani, written by Abbas Kiarostami - okay, this one is depressing, but it's really good! It's about a pizza delivery guy who tries to rob a jewellery store.

From the US:
Hoover Street Revival (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0332649/) dir. Sophie Fiennes - hands-off documentary (no voiceover) about a black church in Los Angeles and the community surrounding it. Highly recommended.

From the UK:
East is East (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0166175/), written by Ayub Khan-Din - family comedy/drama in a typically British mode, where it's ultimately a feelgood flick but there are lots of issues and grit along the way. It's about a (large) Pakistani family in the north of England in the 70s. It's very funny and I liked it a lot.

From India:
Fire (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116308/) - I saw this ages ago and I can't remember much about it except that it's about a woman who falls in love with her husband's first wife, and there is a whole thing about a woman being tried by fire that went completely over my head at the time. I think I may need to give it another try.
A River Called Titas (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070809/) - ah, this one's a bit odd, and it kind of feels like several films in one because of the way it's structured, but it's wonderful.

From Taiwan:
20 30 40 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0397229/) - three parallel stories about women aged, you guessed, 20, 30, and 40. Funny and touching.

I have more! But that'll do for one comment. Do start the comm! It'll be awesome.

[ladydreamer.livejournal.com]

Battle Royale we watched in Japanese Club and laughed inappropriately at bits I'm not sure we were supposed to be laughing at. I would definitely rewatch.

[puritybrown.livejournal.com]

I think a lot of the point of Battle Royale is wringing humour out of the grotesque situation. It is a very funny film, in a dark, oh-God-I-can't-believe-I'm-laughing-at-this way. And I'm pretty sure that's intentional.

[ladydreamer.livejournal.com]

Well, that's good to know :)

[noorie.livejournal.com]

Yes, please do set up a sister comm. I was just considering joining *this* comm and thinking there's no way I can commit to reading 50 books. Glad I hit the "recs" tag just to get some ideas for what to randomly read on my own.

As for film recs, I've got a few for you already, in alphabetical order (romanized titles, since I don't know Korean/Cantonese/Thai and my comp doesn't support the characters):
Agiwa Na (2008) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_and_I) AKA Baby and Me (AKA Baby and I) // Not the best film I've ever seen but cute + light-hearted.
Doosaboo Ilchae (2001) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0301214/) AKA My Boss, My Hero // It's got quite a lot of violence and a couple of WTF?! moments (like the way it ends), *but* great characters and loltastic moments. There's a sequel, but more of the same and not as good.
Mou gaan dou (2002) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338564/) AKA Infernal Affairs // A highly-recommended HK thriller, great acting, visual poetry + interesting symbolism and themes.
Satree Lek (2000) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0263957/) AKA The Iron Ladies // Sports comedy based on a true story about a Thai team of GLBT volleyball players. I love it to bits. Detailed rec here (http://noorie.livejournal.com/113783.html) (after the nummy pics). There's a prequel, which is also nice, but not a good.
Wang-ui namja (2005) (http://imdb.com/title/tt0492835/) AKA The King and the Clown // Historical drama/romance/comedy hybrid, with one of the main characters being an unforgettable, super-awesome, witty/rude clown.
Yeong-hwa-neun yeong-hwa-da (2008) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1345734/) AKA Rough Cut // KICKASS!!!!!!!!!! full rec here (http://noorie.livejournal.com/221091.html).

Also, and this isn't a movie, Coffee Prince (http://topazera.livejournal.com/8542.html) will make your life better. Guarenteed.

[ladydreamer.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow. I second Infernal Affairs. My housemate bought the trilogy and I watched the first with her. It's really good. Exciting and full of tension.

[noorie.livejournal.com]

ooh, i haven't seen 2&3 yet, but it's on the list. by the way, if you enjoyed it, i think you'd like 'rough cut' as well. it has that same awesome parallels thingie with the two main characters, identity seepage, that sort of thing + action-packed!

[ladydreamer.livejournal.com]

I'll have to rec to the roomie. I'm sure she'd be interested. She picked up AI because she's an rper and wanted to get inspired for that kind of gangs vs police.

[noorie.livejournal.com]

oh, it's not so really gangs vs. police, it's reality vs. cinema (one of the characters is a gangster who has a thing for acting/cinema and the other is an actor who takes his gangster role a bit too seriously). but still, def. worth your friend's time.

[ladydreamer.livejournal.com]

That actually sounds a bit awesome :)

[ladydreamer.livejournal.com]

I would be interested. Sadly I have nothing recent for you.

Peking Opera Blues is a Hong Kong action film with crossdressing both ways, a bit of history, and a lot of fun. I picked it up while I was taking a class on the subject and it's one of my favorites. A lot of my movies are "issue" movies, no matter who creates it, but this one is just sheer fun, if you can get it.

Sankofa written and directed by Haile Gerima reminds one of Kindred, if you've read it, only the protagonist, a self-absorbed model, is transported into the deep south and experiences slavery there as though she's a part of the setting, not a person from the future gasping at being in the past. It's really an excellent film. It's pretty heavy, but worth it.

Native American:
Powwow Highway is a barrel-load of fun and meaning (Written by David Seals and directed by Jonathan Wack). It's been years since I watched this one, but it is essentially a buddy-film that puts a post AIM-type with his more easygoing friend together on a road trip to release the former's sister.

The Business of Fancydancing is another favorite (written and directed by Sherman Alexie, which explains it). It may make you cry, however. It's about a NA openly gay author who has had some success as a poet and feels conflict between his identity at the Rez and the persona he puts out for his readers. After a friend commits suicide, he has to return home.

Keep in mind that both deal with 'issues,' but it isn't all depressing. In BoF, I both cried and burst out laughing. There are "slice of life" vignettes. I wish I owned these two so I could read them continuously. I'd recommend Alexie as an author overall, but I liked what he did here. He allowed a lot of freedom with his actors, and I wish he could have done more movies, gotten a budge, evolved as an author and director, etc.

[arantzain.livejournal.com]

I would also be interested.

Spike Lee's Jungle Fever and Do the Right Thing rocked my world when I saw them, although I understand they're not recent.

Oooooh

[alias_sqbr]

I am SO up for joining your comm, I've been thinking about this for ages.

Question that needs to be made clear in your userinfo: what about tv shows, short films, etc?

And as with manga in this comm, people will have to decide for themselves whether not to count anime.

One anime movie I think is worth watching for a different cultural perspective is "Vexille", which is basically a long metaphorical diatribe against japanese isolationism (and a very cool sf film at the same time :))

[jjhunter]

I'd definitely be interested in joining a sister comm, though I won't be able to start participating until April (RL issues, eheu).

[clodia-risa.livejournal.com]

Please do a sister community! I just canceled my cable, and love netflix, and would love an excuse to watch more foreign or other interesting films.

[wendelah1]

This seems like a great idea to me.

[firecat]

I would love to join a films directed/written by POC comm.

A screenwriter of color is Kevin Grevioux, whom I first encountered when watching Underworld.

[mollydot.livejournal.com]

Rec: Tampopo is my favourite Japanese film. I also recommend Hanabi. My mind has gone blank now and I can't think of any others.
Oh, a Hong Kong one: In the Mood for Love.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

I'd definitely watch a sister comm, and might even post sometimes.

[cyphomandra.livejournal.com]

Film recs from NZ/Aotearoa, skewing towards the light-hearted. Pasifika (the Pacific Islands cultural festival is on this weekend, so I'll start with two movies about Pacific Islanders in NZ.

Sione's Wedding (imdb informs me this was retitled Samoan Wedding in the US) is about four feckless Samoan guys who get into trouble at every wedding they attend, until the local minister sets an ultimatum - they can only attend the next wedding, of one of their younger brother's in one month's time, if they show up with girlfriends. Written by Oscar Kightley (Samoan/NZ) and James Griffin (Pakeha). Shot in my old suburb, so I'm probably biased (and homesick), but it's funny and light-hearted, and the characters are very genuine.

No. 2 (apparently Naming Number 2 in the US) is directed by Toa Fraser (Fijian/NZ) and is about an elderly Fijian matriarch who calls all her family together for a big celebration, at which she will name her successor. Fraser did this as a play first, where all the parts are played by one actor, and I haven't actually seen the film version (which has multiple cast members), but people who have say the film is also excellent.

From the Maori side, Taika Waititi's short film (written and directed), Two Cars, One Night is brilliant and was up for an Oscar, but I don't know how easy it is to find. It takes place outside a pub, where a bunch of kids have been left in cars while their parents are inside drinking, and it's not issues-based or safety-commercial at all. Whale Rider is a bit more of a stretch by your criteria (the novel it's based on is by Witi Ihimaera, but the screenplay and directing are by Niki Caro, who's Pakeha) and I have problems with the plotting, but it does look gorgeous and the day-to-day life parts are very well done. And, if you have a spare slot for depressing, Once Were Warriors (based on the novel by Alan Duff, script by Riwia Brown, director Lee Tamahori - all Maori) is excellent, but very, very bleak (it's about gangs and domestic violence).

[srevans.livejournal.com]

I'd watch that community, as I do this one. :)

[thette.livejournal.com]

I'd definitely watch.

The Fares brothers (Josef Fares and Fares Fares) were born in Lebanon and have grown up in Sweden. I've only seen Jalla! Jalla!, which is a comedy/drama about a man who's about to enter an arranged marriage and have to leave his girlfriend. I've been planning to see Kopps, which is plain small town comedy.

[riverlight.livejournal.com]

I'd definitely be interested in such a community!