One of the best documentaries to emerge from 2011 is the incredibly inspired, polished and dreamy The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975. A treasure trove of hundreds of hours of 16 and 35mm footage shot by Swedish journalists and filmmakers during that tumultuous and very eventful period in the US has been
Continue readingTag: Friday Film Pick
Art Threat: Little pink blenders for you and me – Friday Film Pick: Pink Ribbons Inc
This week’s Friday Film Pick is a fantastic new NFB documentary opening in theatres across Canada (rest of the world: you’ll have to probably wait a little). Pink Ribbons Inc goes behind the scenes of the breast cancer campaign (the pink ribbon campaign) and reveals the absolutely grotesque levels of
Continue readingArt Threat: Historical truth is in the outtakes – Friday Film Pick: A Film Unfinished
A Film Unfinished (2010, Germany-Israel) had so much festival hype that when I couldn’t get my hands on a screener, I feverishly pre-ordered the film from Amazon – a practice I seldom initiate. When the handsomely designed DVD package arrived I watched it instantly, and as soon as the film
Continue readingArt Threat: Two films show effects of uranium mining – Friday Film Pick: Don’t Mine Me & Uranium
Continuing with our new initiative of highlighting at least one Indiegogo project each month, one of this week’s Friday Film Pick is Don’t Mine Me – a doc looking at the history of uranium mining on a Navajo Indian Reservation in the US. Since you can only watch the trailer
Continue readingArt Threat: Let’s keep this planet & change Hollywood – Friday Film Pick: Earthkeepers
Suffering through the late night throes of programming for Cinema Politica I stumbled upon what seemed to be a promising documentary called Greenlit, a film about sustainability and the film industry, made by LA insiders. It had a light-hearted start that seemed to me conspicuously set up to suck in
Continue readingArt Threat: Not a cool time to be Canadian – Friday Film Pick: Everything’s Cool
On Monday the Canadian government officially announced the very unpopular decision to withdraw from Kyoto, furthering Canada’s status as eco-pariah on the international stage while reinforcing the massive chasm that exists between Canada’s citizens and its Conservative government. Stephen Harper’s Conservatives won a majority in last year’s election despite the
Continue readingArt Threat: Help fund new doc about a rebel poet – Friday Film Pick: Alice Walker – Beauty in Truth
This week’s Friday Film Pick kicks off a new initiative at Art Threat where we will select at least one IndieGoGo project per month to highlight important fundraising efforts. IndieGoGo is an independent fundraising platform for all kinds of projects, including political films and political art initiatives. Since political art
Continue readingArt Threat: Help fund Project Homophobia film – Friday Film Pick: The Boy Next Door
Gregor Schmidinger’s 2008 short film The Boy Next Door has received its share of positive attention, and to date, has had over 52,000 viewings on Vimeo. The film, while mildly suffering a few stilted moments between adult and child actors, is a well-executed narrative fragment about a male prostitute, his
Continue readingArt Threat: Propaganda and consumption – Friday Film Pick: Outfoxed & Wal-Town
Best Buy shoppers camp out before Black Friday, proving that certain kinds of occupations are indeed acceptable. This week’s Friday Film Pick is a double bill, commemorating two important moments. Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism is a pick that commemorates the recent poll published by Fairleigh Dickinson University showing
Continue readingArt Threat: We must remember war in order to stop it – Friday Film Pick: Come and See
For Remembrance Day watch Klimov’s classic anti-war film COME AND SEE.
Continue readingArt Threat: Remember Burma? – Friday Film Pick: Happy World
A short while back, Bryan Farrell, who also writes for WagingNonviolence, told Slate readers about a short web doc called “Happy World.” A peak inside the bizarre dictatorship currently gripping Burma, the doc blends satire and observation to reveal the absurdity of the ongoing regime. The film lacks real analysis, but is a solid compendium […]
Continue readingArt Threat: Let’s not make money – Friday Film Pick: 10 docs on capitalism & economics
Ten great docs that bring context to the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Continue readingArt Threat: Ambiguous portrait of the well known Wiebo Ludwig – Friday Film Pick: Wiebo’s War
When we left the theatre after seeing Wiebo’s War at VIFF (The Vancouver International Film Festival) the main thing on our lips was “that man is incredibly well spoken,” followed by “that is a seriously difficult situation”. Wiebo Ludwig is a stranger to few who live in BC and Alberta. The articulate bearded man was […]
Continue readingArt Threat: “Pipe Dreams” hits screens – U.S. documentary maker takes on the Keystone XL
American filmmaker, Leslie Iwerks, has turned her attention to Canada once again in her new film “Pipe Dreams.” In 2009, Iwerks produced two documentaries — “Downstream” and “Dirty Oil” — that were critical of the health and social impacts associated with the Alberta oil sands. This year, the Academy Award nominated director is shedding light on the environmental battle […]
Continue readingArt Threat: A crushing defeat for gas guzzlers? – Friday Film Pick: Lithuanian mayor crushes car blocking bike lane
Arturas Zuokas, the mayor of Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius has come out in strong opposition to cars parked in bike paths on roads.
Continue readingArt Threat: King and Queen of the Road – Friday Film Pick: You Never Bike Alone
Get naked. And bike on the road where the cars dare to roll.
Continue readingArt Threat: Blue Gaza – Friday Film Pick: Gaza Strip
An award-winning 2002 documentary on Gaza from filmmaker James Longley is now available on line.
Continue readingArt Threat: Jesus freaks, jew-haters & Guinea pig savers – Friday Film Pick: David Modell – A Passion for Faith, Death and Freedom
Christian born agains, radical animal rights activists and neo nazis – sound like the USA? Nope, it’s the land of lovely cups o’ tea, Great Britain.
Continue readingArt Threat: No asylum in progressive Denmark – Friday Film Pick: Denied
A short 2009 documentary by Aage Rais-Nordentoft about the Iraqi asylum seekers who sought refuge in Brorson’s church, Copenhagen, to avoid being deported to Iraq – but were ultimately forcefully removed despite protestations from supporte…
Continue readingArt Threat: The fight to sell or save water – Friday Film Pick: Water on the Table
New DVD release of Water on the Table, a doc beautifully showcasing the public-vs-private fight over water.
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