video link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlD3EprZp5M

In 200,000 years on Earth, humanity has upset the balance of the planet, established by nearly four billion years of evolution. The price to pay is high, but it’s too late to be a pessimist: humanity has barely ten years to reverse the trend, become aware of the full extent of its spoliation of the Earth’s riches and change its patterns of consumption.

More than a movie, HOME will be a major event all over the globe : for the first time ever, a film will be released on the same day in over 50 countries and on every format : movie theatres, TV, DVD and Internet.

On June 5th we all have a date with the planet !

http://www.home-2009.com
http://www.ppr.com

..

video link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8IozVfph7I

“Throw Down Your Heart” follows American banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck on his journey to Africa to explore the little known African roots of the banjo and record an album. Béla’s boundary-breaking musical adventure takes him to Uganda, Tanzania, The Gambia, and Mali, and provides a glimpse of the beauty and complexity of Africa. Using his banjo, Béla transcends barriers of language and culture, finding common ground and forging connections with musicians from very different backgrounds.”

video link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDCxaQhhL0A

The film’s official site : www.throwdownyourheart.com

video link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLTXyycYjaA

Babel poster

Read the Wikipedia page here.

BABEL is the crowning achievement in the trilogy from the unstoppable creative pairing of screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga and director Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu, which also includes AMORES PERROS… BABEL is the crowning achievement in the trilogy from the unstoppable creative pairing of screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga and director Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu, which also includes AMORES PERROS (2000) and 21 GRAMS (2003). Building upon its predecessors’ method of weaving together disparate storylines, BABEL reaches new heights of ambition with a tale that, in the absence of traditional narrative and protagonist, relies on numerous incredible performances to evoke an affecting relevance by framing contemporary issues in very human struggles and mistakes. Richard and Susan (Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett) are a wealthy couple from San Diego who are vacationing in Morocco in order to heal after the death of their young child; their other two children are at home with their Mexican maid, Amelia (Adriana Barraza). In a complex shift of ownership to which the audience is privy, a rifle finds its way into the hands of a local herdsman’s young sons (Said Tarchani and Boubker Ait El Caid), who recklessly take a shot at a tour bus and catch Susan in the shoulder, causing her to nearly lose her life. The distraught Richard calls home to tell Amelia of the situation, who promptly departs for Mexico to attend her child’s wedding, with Richard and Susan’s children in tow. Disaster thus multiplies, with the situation in Morocco ascribed to terrorists in the media, while Amelia meets with the harsh immigration policies of the Bush administration. Meanwhile, in Tokyo, a widower (Koji Yakusho) tied to the rifle in question attempts to deal with his memories and his raucous, promiscuous, deaf daughter (Rinko Kikuchi). Nearly every performance of the film is devastating, offering an intimate, emotional experience that would approach melodrama if it weren’t rendered so realistically. Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto’s color palette masterfully captures the muted tones of the harsh natural landscapes of Morocco and the Mexican border, as well as the fluorescent lights of Tokyo that denote another, though equally barren, end of the spectrum. The misunderstandings born of cultural, language, and class barriers are on par with those that occur between family members, depicting a world that, while connected in the least expected of ways, is also faced with a deep-seated crisis that threatens to alienate humanity from itself. ( from here )

Trailer

Following the success of their first double Grammy nominated film & album, What About Me? is the latest offering from 1 Giant Leap. This visionary project took Jamie Catto and Duncan Bridgeman to over 50 locations as they explore through music, the complexities of human nature on a global scale, and aims to reveal how we are all connected through our creativity and beliefs, but most of all through our madness.

Covering universal topics such as God, Sex, Death and Money, What About Me? features an incredibly diverse collection of collaborators from Noam Chomsky to Will Young, Maxi Jazz to Tim Robbins, Billy Connolly to Michael Stipe, Eckhart Tolle to Baaba Mal, among many others.

Encompassing a TV series, film and album, this is a poignant, emotional and entertaining time capsule of humanity at its most inspirational.

video link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IG8AvHCpnkg

A superb film on the life and music of one of South Africa’s finest musicians, Abdullah Ibrahim. Following Ibrahim’s vivid stories, the film moves between New York and Cape Town, mixing documentary with dramatized episodes. Its form mirrors the non linear, narrative circular of Ibrahim’s musical composition, juxtaposing qualities that seem contradictory but evoke the complexity and diversity of his sources. Conceived in close collaboration with Ibrahim, It throbs with anticipation and skillfully describes provocative cultural history of the Cape, through the eyes of the country’s fines musician.

video link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C92LjvRSzzU

Africalls?

Africalls? is a documentary film, a book and an exhibition that show the work of 5 artists and two production centers of contemporary art in seven African cities.

It shows their interests and the urban context from which they create their works. Africalls? approcahes these artists’ work from an unusual perspective, direct and intimate, exploring the key aspects of their personalities and creative processes beyond the art objects they make in Dakar, Douala, Cape Town, Rabat, Luanda, Nairobi and Maputo. Africalls? is an audovisual journey to today’s art of an urban Africa, as cosmopolitan and unknown, as contemporary and global.

( from the film’s site )

video link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qfynxywhugc

Teaser Africalls

video link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wIQym1I9-U

“…cause comedy and rock are very much alike my friend”

I haven’t seen a proper movie for long …. it would be nice to watch South African movies but here in Planet Potchefstroom or ( Tannieland as I often call it ) not too much is happening when it comes to film festivals or art festivals so normally I end up working on the NET. Here is a film I just discovered …it’s called Bunnychow … and for those who don’t know what a bunnychow is …….

Bunny chow definition :    South African Cuisine
( The inside of a loaf of bread is
scooped out and replaced with
a curry of your choice )

Like the melting pot that is
Johannesburg …..

About the film the Wikipedia says …

‘Bunny Chow is a South African comedy film by John Barker, partnered by MTV. It premiered on 7 September 2006 at the Toronto International Film Festival ^[1] It follows the journey of three stand-up comedians and a guy called Jason Cope as they travel to the annual Oppikoppi music festival in South Africa.”

Trailer

video link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lZ3wIhUDlY

Behind the scenes

video link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPi9N3jsiZY

Seems like fun – please let me know about other films I should watch out for …