Sunday, 13 November 2011

Friday, 28 October 2011

Yevgeni Sherstobitov, Сказка о Мальчише-Кибальчише (1965)

 
Yevgeni Sherstobitov 
Skazka O Malchishe-Kibalchishe (1965) 
Thomas Rainer, Nachtmahr 
Feuer Frei!, Kunst Ist Krieg (2007)
   

Thursday, 29 September 2011

Patrick Keiller, Robinson in Space (1997)



Robinson in Space (1997) by BFIfilms


Robinson didn’t like to continue into London fearing reprisals for his earlier study …. Coming soon on this site a Warner Brothers nine-screen multiplex cinema

Locke … The Succession of Ideas …. For whilst we receive successively ideas in our minds, we know that we do exist, and so we estimate the existence, or the continuation of the existence, of our selves
 Marlow, the narrator of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness tells his story on a ship lying off Grave’s End

 
 There is a house near by where Daniel Defoe wrote Robinson Crusoe
  Total Team Culture
  Robinson’s Utopia

Patrick Keiller
Paul Schofield

Friday, 23 September 2011

Patrick Keiller, London (1994)

 
London (1994) by BFIfilms



  Robinson is a materialist. His vision of the universe that of Lucretious.

In his enthusiasm for crowds and public places Robinson is a modernist.
 
  Robinson credits Sterne with the discovery of the cinema in his description of duration as the succession of ideas which follow and succeed each other

Patrick Keiller
London (1994)
Paul Schofield

Saturday, 17 September 2011

Friday, 16 September 2011

Wolf Rilla, Village of the Damned (1960)


VILDAM1 by maleville

Wolf Rilla (1920-2005) 
Village of the Damned (1960) 

This is part 1 of the French version. See the remaining 4 parts at dailymotion. Alas, the thought police just removed an excellent English flv from youtube.   

Sir Christopher Frayling, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Nightmare Birth of Horror (1996)


Sir Christopher Frayling 

Saturday, 10 September 2011

Rapporteur: Dick Marty, Switzerland, Alliance of Democrats and Liberals for Europe, Abuse of state secrecy and national security: obstacles to parliamentary and judicial scrutiny of human rights violations, Report, Extracts


3. In some countries, in particular the United States, the notion of state secrecy is used to shield agents of the executive from prosecution for serious criminal offences such as abduction and torture, or to stop victims from suing for compensation. The United States also refused to co-operate, in particular, with the judicial authorities of Germany, Lithuania and Poland in the criminal investigations launched in those countries in view of numerous elements of proof of abductions, secret detentions and illegal transfers of detainees (see Resolution 1507 and Recommendation 1754 (2006) and Resolution 1562 and Recommendation 1801 (2007) of the Assembly).


8. The media play a vital role in the functioning of democratic institutions, in particular by investigating and publicly denouncing unlawful acts committed by state agents, including members of the secret services. They rely heavily on the co-operation of “whistleblowers” within the services of the State. The Assembly reiterates its calls for adequate protection for journalists and their sources (Recommendation 1950 (2011) and for “whistleblowers” (Resolution 1729 and Recommendation 1916 (2010)).


9. The Assembly can only welcome the publication, in particular via the “Wikileaks” site, of numerous diplomatic reports confirming the truth of the allegations of secret detentions and illegal transfers of detainees published by the Assembly in 2006 and 2007. It is essential that such disclosures are made in such a way as to respect the personal safety of informers, human intelligence sources and secret service personnel. The appearances of such websites is also the consequence of insufficient information made available and a worrying lack of transparence of Governments.

B. Draft recommendation
1. The Assembly refers to its Resolution (2011) and recalls its Recommendations 1916 (2010) on protection of “whistleblowers”, 1876 (2009) on the need to eradicate impunity, and 1950 (2011) on protection of journalists’ sources.

C. Explanatory report by Mr Marty, Rapporteur
“Real power begins where secrecy begins.”
Hannah Arendt
(The Origin of Totalitarianism, 1951)


3. It should be emphasised, however, that, for the most part, these additional revelations were the outcome, not of parliamentary and judicial inquiries launched in the wake of the two Parliamentary Assembly reports and that of the European Parliament, but of relentless efforts by investigative journalists and nongovernmental organisations. The fact is that the “official” investigations are stalled or have even already been abandoned or dismissed without addressing the merits of the cases, as in the case of the compensation claims brought before the American courts by victims of the “renditions”. Official procedures have in every case come up against the argument of “state secrecy”, used by the governments concerned to impede the course of justice and the requests of the parliamentary commissions of inquiry set up in several countries. We consider that this is simply unacceptable: a democratic state based on the rule of law is duty-bound to have judicial and parliamentary mechanisms to get to the bottom of serious human rights violations committed by agents of the executive, however “special” they may be. A “licence to kill” (or to abduct and torture) only exists in certain films, and in dictatorial regimes. In democratic systems, parliaments, as representatives of the people, have a right and duty to know what the government is doing in the name of the people, and the justice system has a duty to prosecute and punish the perpetrators of criminal acts, including, where appropriate, agents of the executive. The principles of separation of power and “checks and balances” must not only be quoted in nice speeches; they must above all be implemented.

Wednesday, 24 August 2011

Adam Curtis, Oh Dearism (2009)

Adam Curtis, The Trap (2007)

 
Adam Curtis 
The Trap (2007) 

Adam Curtis, Pandora’s Box (1992)


Adam Curtis 
Pandora’s Box (1992) 

Friday, 19 August 2011

Adam Curtis, The Mayfair Set (1999)

 
The Aroma of Levantine Remains

Adam Curtis
The Mayfair Set (1999) 

Thursday, 18 August 2011

Janus Metz, Armadillo (2010)


Janus Metz, Armadillo (2010) 
Download 

Friday, 5 August 2011

Peter Greenaway, Darwin (1993)



Sasha Feiner, The World in Progress (2007)

Kiyoshi Kurosawa 黒沢 清, Cure キュア (1997)



Offensive

J. G. Ballard (2006)

Thursday, 4 August 2011

Peter Greenaway, Intervals (1969)

Viy Вий (1967)



Alas, some lawyer/business mollusk (probably working unpaid overtime, the loser) has blocked this excellent complete version Try Downloading
  
See Viy (1967)
 

Saturday, 2 April 2011

Sir Patrick Moore interviews Linguist

The similarities between the English and the Japanese never cease to astonish. Perhaps they all spend too much time inside small rooms.

Wednesday, 5 January 2011