Directed by Forugh Farrokhzad • 1963 • Iran
The only film directed by trailblazing feminist Iranian poet Forough Farrokhzad finds unexpected grace where few would think to look: a leper colony whose inhabitants live, worship, learn, play, and celebrate in a self-contained community cut off from the rest of the world. Through ruminative voiceover narration drawn from the Old Testament, the Koran, and the filmmaker’s own poetry and unflinching images that refuse to look away from physical difference, Farrokhzad creates a profoundly empathetic portrait of those cast off by society—a face-to-face encounter with the humanity behind the disease. A key forerunner of the Iranian New Wave, THE HOUSE IS BLACK is a triumph of transcendent lyricism from a visionary artist whose influence is only beginning to be fully appreciated.
Directed by Mika Kaurismäki • 1994 • Brazil, Finland
Starring Jim Jarmusch, Samuel Fuller
In 1954, Hollywood maverick Samuel Fuller traveled to the Brazilian jungle to scout locations for an adventure film called TIGRERO that was to star John Wayne, Ava Gardner, and Tyrone Power—a project that w...
Directed by Yevgeni Tsymbal • 2002 • Russia
The fascinating and tumultuous lives of Mikhail, Boris, and Denis Kaufman—the last better known as revolutionary Soviet director Dziga Vertov—are the focus of this illuminating documentary. All visionary artists who pushed the stylistic boundaries of c...
Directed by Leo Hurwitz • 1948 • United States
Starring Alfred Drake, Muriel Smith, Gary Merrill
In 1945, the free world rejoiced over the defeat of fascism. But the sense of peace was short-lived, and as the Cold War began, the United States entered a period of national paranoia and political r...
