Morning all,
Thank you for so many - more than 50 - interesting suggestions re our illegal-copies-of-our-films-on-YouTube dilemma. What an absolute joy and treasure trove this mailing list is*. Lizzie and I need to discuss and think about what to do next, as you lovely lot have pointed out so many angles we hadn’t previously considered. Will let you know what we decide. Probably the most convincing point was made by Mark Achbar, director of The Corporation, who said that they’ve had more than 6 million (6 million!) views of their films on YouTube on their official page. If you haven’t seen their classic doc from 2003, here you go:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pin8fbdGV9Y
* I do appreciate that this list is not a joy if a) you’re trying to get off it and b) you reply to a message and get the annoying auto-bounceback reply thingy. Sorry. Believe it or not, various tech people have tried and failed to solve both those problems at various times, but we’ve now booked Mr Very Clever Robin to come and have another go in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, if you want to unsubscribe, email
addtolist@ageofstupid.net and Lizzie or I will do it manually. And if you have any friends who’d like to join, they can just email
addtolist@ageofstupid.net
Anyway... this is a quick message to let you know about some fantastic films finally coming our way after the terrible drought we lived through this summer.
The most anticipated doc of the year finally hits the UK tonight, Friday 17th October. There’s a live event at the BFI London Film Festival, linked by satellite to 60+ cinemas round the UK (sound familiar?). Find your local screening here
citizenfourfilm.com and please please go along and show your support if you possibly can. It is getting harder and harder to make these kind of films and then harder again to get them distributed.
Here’s the blurb: ”In January 2013, filmmaker Laura Poitras was several years into the making of a film about abuses of national security in post-9/11 America when she started receiving encrypted emails from someone identifying himself as “citizen four”, who was ready to blow the whistle on the massive covert surveillance programmes run by the NSA and other intelligence agencies. In June 2013, she and reporter Glenn Greenwald flew to Hong Kong for the first of many meetings with the man who turned out to be Edward Snowden. She brought her camera with her. The film that resulted from this series of tense encounters is absolutely unique in the history of cinema: a 100% real-life thriller unfolding minute by minute before our eyes."
Five star review in the Guardian
here "Citizenfour is a gripping record of how our rulers are addicted to gaining more and more power and control over us – if we let them"
Still The Enemy Within still going strong - “Thirty years ago, Thatcher went to war. These are the miners who fought back.”
I’ve been trying to see this film for ages, but every time I try, the cinema is sold out…. "Still the Enemy Within is a unique insight into one of history’s most dramatic events: the 1984-85 British Miners’ Strike. No experts. No politicians. Thirty years on, this is the raw first-hand experience of those who lived through Britain’s longest strike. Follow the highs and lows of that life-changing year. This is ultimately a universal tale of ordinary people standing up for what they believe in. It challenges us to look again at our past so that in the words of one miner, “we can still seek to do something about the future”.
"An intricate tale of 'medicine, monopoly and malice', FIRE IN THE BLOOD tells the story of how Western pharmaceutical companies and governments aggressively blocked access to low-cost AIDS drugs for the countries of Africa and the global south in the years after 1996 - causing ten million or more unnecessary deaths - and the improbable group of people who decided to fight back."
Another one I haven’t managed to see in the cinema as it keeps being sold out…. "Through intimate, quasi confessional interviews and his personal, photographic and film archive ‘Will And Testament’ reveals a very human face behind the political mask. Tony Benn also criss-crosses the UK bearing witness to major social and political upheavals and events. This documentary is an exclusive and deeply personal look at the life of a national treasure, a frank, candid and sometimes painful exploration of the great themes of life that affected him and affect us all, love, loss, hopes, dreams, fears and death."
If you’re in America, there’s a new film out now in cinemas which looks like (I haven’t seen it) the veggie film I always intended to make:
Cowspiracy "As eye-opening as Blackfish and as inspiring as An Inconvenient Truth, this shocking yet humorous documentary reveals the absolutely devastating environmental impact large-scale factory farming has on our planet, and offers a path to global sustainability for a growing population.” http://cowspiracy.com
Our old friends The Yes Men are back with their third documentary,
The Yes Men Are Revolting which was a big hit at the Toronto Film Festival last month. It seems from
this review in IndieWire that our merry pranksters are facing many of the same issues Lizzie and I are grappling with:
"After chronicling another successful hoax, the movie slows down to explore the contrast between their home lives. Mike embraces domestic life with his wife and two young children, but winds up moving from New York to Scotland in an attempt to get away from the rush. With another child on the way, he hides the news from Andy, who's buried in their next efforts and uncertain about Mike's future commitments. A tireless workaholic, Andy attempts to settle into a relationship with a new boyfriend, only to find that his other priorities endanger his romantic prospects. "I find work easier than people," he admits." Sign up to their mailing list
via their website to hear when the movie is coming your way
Over and out
Franny
@frannyarmstrong
@lizziegillett
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