Film Library By Title
Title index: 1-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Y Z
R W Paul: The Collected Films 1895-1908 [FL 1323]
Robert W Paul is justly celebrated as the leading pioneer of British film and one of the founders of world cinema. Concentrating first on actuality films, he soon branched out, pioneering almost every kind of film from documentary to fiction and fantasy. This unique DVD collection of 62 films, many preserved by the BFI National Archive, represents an attempt to bring together for the first time the collected output of R W Paul and his studio. Paul produced what is arguably the first British narrative film A Soldier's Courtship (1896, now lost), and in 1898 became the first man to edit two scenes together in Come Along, Do!. With the help of former magician Walter Booth, he created elaborate fantasies in the mould of George Mlis such as The '?' Motorist (1906), in which an animated motorcar drives off into space and round the rings of Saturn. In addition to popular comedies, dramas, and elaborate trick films, this collection contains one of only two surviving films of the disaster caused by the launch of HMS Albion; some of the first films shot in Spain, Portugal, Egypt and Sweden, including frontline reporting from the Anglo-Boer War; Paul's famous record of the 1896 Derby and extensive coverage of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee procession. These, and the numerous actuality films that Paul made, show day-to-day life in Victorian London. These rare films are presented with a brand new musical accompaniment by celebrated pianist Stephen Horne. Extras * Commentary by film historian and author Professor Ian Christie ( Birkbeck College, London), whose forthcoming book The Time Traveller: Robert Paul and the Early Moving Picture Business will be published by Chicago University Press at the end of 2007 * Illustrated 24-page booklet with an essay by Ian Christie and an introduction to each of the films Robert W Paul, Ukraine, (silent), 93 min, fiction film, DVD-ROM
Radiant Path, The / Светлый путь [FL 144]
Comedy. In the 1930s, illiterate peasant girl Tatiana Morozova works as a maid in a provincial town. As she begins to study her master fires her. But the girl does not give up her studies; she goes to work at a textile factory, becomes an exemplary shock worker, and is finally elected as a deputy to the Supreme Soviet. Grigori Aleksandrov, Soviet Union, 1940, Russian, 93 min, fiction film, VHS
Radiation: Lines of Defense / Радиация. Линии защиты [FL 412]
Soviet educational propaganda film on nuclear energy I. Ponomarev, Soviet Union, 1987, /Voice-over: Hungarian, 19 min, educational program, VHS
Radicalized [FL 1155]
An animated short about a 57 year old woman who, after 33 years of working as a teacher, is "burnt out" by a life of modern stress. Klara Swantesson, Sweden, 2006, Swedish/Subtitles: English, 7 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
Radio Free Europe / A Szabad Európa Rádió [FL 233]
Short film essay on Radio Free Europe. Part of a television series "Magyarok cselekedete".Hungary, 1997, Hungarian, 5 min, art documentary, VHS
Radio La Califata [FL 712]
Why the patients of the Clinic for mental diseases in Buenos Aires re-elected Carlos Mehnem for a president without liking him? A documentary on the 2003 presidential elections in Argentine. IN April 2003 Radio La Colifata has organized mock "presidential elections" in a mental clinic in Buenos Airesfor just a day before the official ones. Radio La Colifata, which in Buenos Aires slang means Crazy Radio - was the first radio show in the world to broadcast live from a mental hospital. The founder of the radio, psychologist Alfredo Olivera, had started to use a simple small dictaphone as a speech therapy. More than mere therapy, the show has proven popular with an estimated 12 million listeners. Away from the media limelight, the hospital says the show has had great therapeutic results. Saturday afternoon in Buenos Aires: tucked away behind the towering, prison-like Jose Borda psychiatric hospital, a large group of people is gathering. The Radio La Colifata team are now organizing their own presidential elections. The film provides an idiosyncratic look at the origins of democracy from inside a mental hospital where the patients do not have civil rights to vote. It is a documentary on the meaning of choice, free will and civil rights albeit cast in a grotesque and almost absurd light. Valentina Monti, Italy, 2004, Spanish/Subtitles: English, Italian, 33 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
Radovan III / Radovan III [FL 480]
This bizarre TV-drama tells the story of a lost identity caused by socialist “progress.” In search of a better life, Radovan moved from his native village to the city suburbs where he lives with his weird family on the 12th floor. His first daughter was raised as a son and is now a truck driver deprived of any femininity. His other daughter has been pregnant for five years already since young Vilotić, the father, fled to America and Radovan does not allow her to give birth until she marries. Persuaded by official propaganda that the “enemy” is omnipresent, he starts his vendetta against the Vilotić family and imprisons one of them and forces him to marry pregmant Georgina. Radovan’s wife rejects the settlement, seeing in the prisoner an ideal surrogate for her sexually inoperative husband. Though Radovan appears powerful, he is in a fact utterly confused. In the name of “great ideals,” he has forgotten his roots and destroyed any prospects for a prosperous future for his family. When his nearest take the side of the “enemy”, Radovan, in self-betrayal, ultimately does the same. Ljubomir Draškić, Yugoslavia, 1983, Serbian, 165 min, fiction film, DVD-ROM
Rage, The / Furia [FL 59]
Two youngsters, Felia and Luca, owe a lot of money to the local mafia. None of Luca's schemes for making money fast to repay the debt work out. Finally he Comes up with Mona, a young girl who is supposed to be the answer to Adrian's (the mafia boss) dreams. But Luca and Mona fall in love, which leads to a dramatic end to the story. The movie reconstructs the life of present-day Bucharest in great detail. Radu Muntean, Romania, 2002, Romanian, 80 min, fiction film, DVD-ROM
Rage / Do koske [FL 542]
This brutal film, full of violent scenes, is set in Belgrade 1996 and follows the emerging clash between two generations of the Serbian mafia. Kovač is the mafia boss who over the years has secured a luxurious life, even becoming a part of the establishment. Now, he just wants to enjoy his heavenly status, but this becomes impossible when his teenage apprentice kidnaps him and, quickly joined by two friends, drives him to a deserted steel mill. As they put him to horrifying torture, the two contrasting mafia ethics are gradually revealed. Kovač, who climbed slowly through the hierarchy, is prepared to do everything necessary, even to cry, in order to survive. The youngsters, however, are wild, impatient and without any respect. They want everything and they want it now, even if they do not know what it is. In fact, the teenagers act purely on impulse, driven by rage and without a clear agenda of what to do with their hostage. As the night goes on, it becomes clear that their venture will result in senseless bloodshed. This indeed happens in a bloody finale when the police arrive amidst the shootout between the two gangs, with only Kovač leaving the scene alive. Slobodan Boba Skerlić, Yugoslavia, 1998, Serbian/Subtitles: Macedonian, 97 min, fiction film, DVD-ROM
Raging Grannies Anti Occupation Club, The [FL 1164]
The film accompanies 76 year old Hava and her friend Jossefa all across Israel as they partake in protest-manifestations, lawsuits, demonstrations, and everything in between. As "Ragging Grannies" these women make revolutionary texts and music, protest in front of checkpoints, and drive to occupied areas to meet formerly imprisones Palestinians. A film not merely on Israeli occupation policy but above all on those who once made it real and today fight against it with all their means. Iwajca Klinke, Germany, 2006, English, German, Hebrew/Subtitles: English, 88 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
Rainbow, The / Радуга [FL 1000]
The movie depicts life in a Nazi-occupied village at the beginning of World War 2. The German conquerors are above nothing, not even the slaughter of small children, to break the spirit of their Soviet captives. Suffering more than most is Olga, a Russian partisan who returns to the village to bear her child, only to endure the cruelest of arbitrary tortures at the hands of the Nazis. Eventually, the villagers rise up against their oppressors-but unexpectedly do not wipe them out, electing instead to force the surviving Nazis to stand trial for their atrocities in a postwar "people's court." (It is also implied that those who collaborated with the Germans will be dealt with in the same evenhanded fashion). Mark Donskoy, Soviet Union, 1944, Russian, 93 min, fiction film, VHS
Rain / Regen [FL 1335]
2.Rain by Joris Ivens, Mannus Franken is a lyrical, beautifully photographed impression of a shower of rain in Amsterdam. Joris Ivens, Mannus Franken, Netherlands, 1929, (silent), fiction film, VHS
Ravens / Crni gavrani [FL 309]
The story of Dušan Vuković, a father who decided to refuse the medal awarded to his dead son. Aleksandar was killed during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia and the Slobodan Milošević regime decorated him for bravery in defending his country. The father decided to return the medal. For Alexander's parents, his death is pointless. They do not see it as the sacrifice of a hero, but rather as a tragic waste. His grandfather, on the other hand, belongs to the generation that had been indoctrinated in the communist spirit. His grandson died defending the nation and he is proud of him. This family, unable to reconcile, is the microcosm of Yugoslav society, where people fail to look beyond their own interpretation of the truth. Ћelimir Gvardiol, Yugoslavia, 2001, Serbian/Subtitles: English, 15 min, VHS
Reacting against Racism [FL 1466]
An instructive documentary showing the diverse range of experiences in Switzerland made possible through the "Projects against racism and for human rights" fund. It serves as an incentive and useful tool in designing projects aimed at tackling racism. Anne Voss, David Hermann, Switzerland, 2003, German/Voice-over: English, French, Italian, 87 min, short film, DVD-ROM
Real Woman / Настоящая женщина [FL 371]
In a northern village in Russia lives a young woman who used to be a man. Rural life imposes strict social roles on the villagers, so what happens to people who do not comply with these expectations? Her father, once head of a collective farm, punished his son for wearing his mother's dress and shoes, and when her father died she felt a sense of relief. In school her classmates laughed at her, trying to understand if she was a boy or a girl. Local doctors could not help. One day she came across an article about sex-change operations and went for it. She was overjoyed to become a woman and thought all her difficulties were over, but the operation did not solve the problems of social adaptation. The decision to become a woman, which came so naturally to the protagonist, leads to isolation and mistrust from men and women alike. She longs for a harmonious family life, but will she be able to overcome the hostility of the environment? Natalia Zhuravleva, Russia, 2002, Russian/Subtitles: English, 18 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
Rear-View of Lives, A [FL 1449]
The filmmakers travel from New York City through Virginia, the Carolinas, Gerorgia, Alabama, Louisiana, texas, new Mexico, Arizona , and California- San Fransico to find out about "background" America. How the people they encounter think about The USA, its role in the worls, and the dierction it is going to. Elizabeth Germa, Esther Shubinski, United States, 2005, English/Subtitles: French, 80 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
Reckoning, The [FL 328]
In 1996 the UN War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague opened the hearings on Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić in the absence of the two accused. In spite of the many UN troops still stationed in Bosnia, to date neither Karadžić nor Mladić have been arrested and brought to trial for the war crimes they have committed. The film traces the story of the man whose name became synonymous with misguided Serb nationalism and who knew only too well how to incite the Serbs against the Muslim population. Included in the films are interviews with Karadžić's mother, his wife and old friends, which reveal various aspects of his contradictory character. Kevin Sim, United Kingdom, 1998, English, 95 min, VHS
Recycle / Ea' Adat Khalk [FL 1525]
Abu Amar, a Jordanian ex-Mujahid and father of eight children, used to run a supermarket that he named 'Al Jihad'. Now he scrapes together a living for his family by collecting cardboard on the streets of Zarqa, Jordan's second largest city. Zarqa, a hotbed of political Islamists, is also the childhood home of the film’s director and the birthplace of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the late and infamous al-Qaeda leader in Iraq. The film joins Abu Ammar on his daily work routine, in intimate family settings at home, at prayer, and after his arrest and four-month imprisonment on suspicion of involvement in the 2005 hotel bombings in Amman. His periodic, wide-ranging conversations with friends and neighbors include the inadvisability for Muslims of working or living in "infidel" countries, the 9/11 attacks in America, the rise of extremist violence, and the role of Muslim theologians. This is a revealing portrait of a desperate man, whose religious beliefs are put to the test by humiliating poverty. Mahmoud Al Massad, Netherlands, 2007, Arabic, 80 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
Red Art [FL 1556]
Under Mao's leadership, art was made to serve the "workers, peasants, soldiers, and the cause of socialism." Enormous amounts of artwork, including billboard-size paintings and mass-produced posters, were created to promote the Party's ideology. Two of China's most active independent documentary filmmakers talk to artists, including Liu Chunhua (who created the famous painting-turned-poster “Mao Goes to Anyuan”) about their work and participation in the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) and trace how folk art was transformed by the political campaigns. Other interview subjects include former Red Guards, academics, and collectors of Cultural Revolution relics and memorabilia, who discuss the significance of these works then and now. Hu Jie, Ai Xiaoming, China, 2007, Chinese, Mandarin/Subtitles: English, 70 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
Red Butterflies Where Two Springs Merge [FL 301]
A lyrical portrait of the 64-year old Janyl Alibekova, who lives in the border mountain village of Achy-Kaindy. Janyl continues the age-old tradition of making felt carpets into which she creatively incorporates national motifs. She never relied on anyone, least of all on the government and modern industrial technologies. As history would have it, after the break-up of the Soviet Union and in a period of general economic decline Janyl became famous in Europe, a star of the magazine Elle, and the director of her own workshop. Yet she didn't change her lifestyle or her independent anti-patriarchal views. This film is part of the Gender Montage: Paradigms in Post Soviet Space film series made by The Network Women's Program of the Open Society Institute - Russia and the Gender Policy Institute. Gaukhar Sydykova, Diliya Ruzieva, Kyrgyzstan, 2002, Kyrgyz/Subtitles: English, 15 min, VHS
Red Card, The / Carte ghermez [FL 1279]
In 2002, an Iranian woman named Shahla Jahed was accused of murdering the wife of her famous lover, the soccer player Nasser Mohammed Khani. The story of this adulterous affair, the news about the murder and the subsequent trial created an enormous media event in Iran. The newspapers couldn't get enough of it, and TV talkshows were devoted to the «syndrome» of this woman, who had fallen in love with a celebrity. In the film, we see flashes from the numerous articles and TV shows, as well as home movies in which Nasser's mistress films him. There is also a segment in which Nasser visits the house where his wife was murdered. But the most important element in the film is the trial: As a woman, Shahla officially has very little say in the Iranian legal system, but the way, in which she handles her own defence, would make you presume otherwise. She categorically denies any involvement in the murder, maintaining that she was forced into a confession. She contradicts the judge, and while constantly rearranging her chador, she even seems to be flirting with him. Mahnaz Afzali, Iran, 2006, Persian, 74 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
Red Carpet, The [FL 1370]
Axel Brauns is a well-known, highly-regarded novelist and film director in his native country of Germany. He is also autistic, so by nature he has great difficulty understanding people’s emotions, facial expressions, and social customs. The Red Carpet (Der Teppich Roche) is a full-length documentary by Eric and Andrea Asch about Braun’s creative process, his autism, his opinions, and his life. Andrea Asch, Eric Asch, Germany, 2007, German/Subtitles: English, 88 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
Red Chinese Battleplan [FL 318]
China 1900-1960. When this documentary was made in 1960 American anticommunism was strong. During the Korean War Chinese communist soldiers had fought and killed 50,000 Americans. This documentary does an excellent job of depicting the horrors of Chinese communism and its insidious dissemination by secret agents. It is a leading contender for the title of the most anti-communist film ever made about the Red Menace!United States, 1960, English, 28 min, VHS
Red Files, Part 1: Secret Victories of the KGB [FL 275]
An episode from the "Red files" series on cold war espionage and the theft of American A-bomb secrets by the KGB. William Cran, United States, 1999, English, 55 min, educational program, VHS
Red Files, Part 2: Secret Soviet Moon Mission [FL 276]
An episode from the "Red files" series on the space race between the USA and the USSR. Also about Sergey Pavlovich Korolyov, chief Soviet designer of guided missiles, rockets and spacecraft. Greg Barker, United States, 1999, English, 55 min, educational program, VHS
Red Files, Part 3: Soviet Propaganda Machine [FL 277]
An episode from the "Red files" series on the propaganda war between the Soviet Union and the USA after World War II. Elizabeth Dobson, United States, 1999, English, 55 min, educational program, VHS
Red Files, Part 4: Soviet Sport Wars [FL 278]
An episode from the "Red files" series on the relationship between propaganda and sports in the Soviet Union. Greg Barker, United States, 1999, English, 55 min, educational program, VHS
Red Flyer, The (aka Wings of Victory) / Валерий Чкалов [FL 196]
Biographical film about a famous pilot, Varerii Chkalov (1904-1938). Chkalov is presented as a reckless hero who test-pilots new models of planes and finally undertakes a risky endeavor: a long-distance non-stop flight from Moscow to the Far East and via the North Pole to the USA. Mikhail Kalatozov, Soviet Union, 1941, Russian, 82 min, fiction film, VHS
Red Nightmare [FL 268]
US anticommunist propaganda film, produced for the Department of Defence by Warner Brothers, dealing with the nightmare of a small-town American who finds his community taken over by communists. George Waggner, United States, 1962, English, 25 min, propaganda film, VHS
Red Nightmare [FL 604]
The famous anti-Communist propaganda film, commisioned for the Department of Defense, was a standard curriculum in civics, history, etc. throughout the sixties. Today it is sometimes shown as "The Commies are Coming!" in classes about the anti-Communist excesses of the period. It's also become something of a cult comedy classic. "Red Nightmare" opens on a seemingly all-American town complete with American cars, soda fountains and freedoms but surrounded by barbed wire barricades and Russian soldiers. Jack Webb tells us "it may be assumed that such a town does exist, shrouded in secrecy and protected by utmost security, deep behind the Iron Curtain." According to Webb, it is used to train Russian students in "espionage as a science" and "propaganda as an art" in order to destroy American freedoms. Webb then launches into our main story, that of a typical complacent American, Jerry Donovan, who, the narrator tells us, "tends to take his freedoms much for granted." After being shown an idyllic picture of a typical American family complete with younger kids, the movie takes an eerie turn. The next day Jerry awakes to a Red Nightmare, his community overun by communists. He can't make a phone call without a permit, his wife & children are automatons, Bill is a Communist soldier who transports Linda to a farm collective in order to free her "from the lingering bourgeois influence of family life."Jerry is ultimately tried and convicted of crimes against the state for complaining of lack of warrants, his children being sent to a state school to make up for his failure to indoctrinate them, etc..Jerry awakens from his Red Nightmare with new dedication to the defense of liberty. And as an added bonus, his daughter defers her decision to mary until her fianceBill completes his hitch in the service. George Waggner, United States, 1962, English, 29 min, propaganda film, DVD-ROM
Red Square (CD 1) / Красная площадь (CD 1) [FL 507]
The first four episodes of the TV series, an adaptation of Eduard Topol's novel.. The film's opening scene shows the Chief deputy of the Soviet KGB, general Vigun immediately after an unpleasant talk with the Chief Party secretary Suslov. Vigun is on his way to Brezhnev's dacha intending to report some secret information. His car is halted on the motorway by a traffic jam imitated by the Suslov's people. Vigun manages to escape from the surveilance, returns to his Moscow flat and is found dead shortly after. The official Soviet media report his death to had been caused by a grave illness, which does not seem like a credible version for people who knewVigun. Rauf Kubaev, Russia, 2004, Russian, 176 min, fiction film, DVD-ROM
Red Square (CD 2) / Красная площадь (CD 2) [FL 507]
The final four episodes of the TV series, an adaptation of Eduard Topol's novel. It is a story of a man who happened to be at the epicenter of the clash between the two competing power clans - the party nomenklatura and the top KGB functionaries. The chief protagonist of the film, investigator Shamraev, personifies the moral and professional pathos of the film - the ability to maintain one's ethical integrity and to carry out once professional and civil duty in a situation that seemingly excludes the possibility of making and defending one's moral choice. Rauf Kubaev, Russia, 2004, Russian, 176 min, fiction film, DVD-ROM
Red Years: Were We Terrorists?, The / De rode jaren - waren wij terroristen? [FL 1241]
Former members of the Dutch radical Red Youth organization look back on their activities, violent attacks and victims in the 1970s. Thirty years on, the memories of their “red years,” which were determined by revolutionary ardor and sincere indignation over injustice, but also by adventure and recklessness, are still emotionally charged. They were prepared to fight, place bombs and use weapons. Some of them still consider the armed struggle “a technical matter.” Others, on the contrary, feel uncomfortable about the violence and the resulting victims. In the shadow of the German Rote Armee Fraktion, they carried out bomb attacks against the Vietnam War and capitalist society. When a group of them went to Yemen to take part in a Palestinian guerrilla training camp, the point of no return seemed to have been reached. Were they fit to be terrorists? And will they ever lose the stigma? Leo de Boer, Netherlands, 2005, Dutch/Subtitles: English, 75 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
Regular Funerals: Back and Forth / Rendszeres temetések: oda-vissza [FL 287]
Video essay on the symbolic meaning of public funerals in the USSR and Hungary. András Sólyom, Hungary, 1992, Hungarian/Voice-over: English, 41 min, cultural program, VHS
Repatriation / Songhwan [FL 1027]
In the spring of 1992, the South Korean film director became acquainted with two elderly North Korean men after their release from prison. Sent to South Korea as spies, they were arrested and spent over thirty years in prison, serving out their sentences without renouncing their communist beliefs. By the end of the 1990s, relations between North and South Korea had improved somewhat, and even the most hardened unconverted cases were released. The director's friendship with the released inmates allowed him to film them for more than a decade. Starting with questions on the dehumanizing conversion process, the filming evolved into a record of the diverse reactions towards the ex-spies now living in South Korean society. In 2000, sixty-three former ‘unconverted’ prisoners were finally repatriated to the North. When the filmmaker tried to follow them to Pyongyang he was refused an entrance visa and his communication with this group virtually stopped. This self-questioning reflection on the possibility of understanding the experiences and standpoints of others leaves the viewer with a disturbing question to ponder: can hope for peace and coexistence overcome ideological differences? Kim Dong-won, South Korea, 2003, Korean/Subtitles: English, 149 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
Respite / Aufschub [FL 1536]
Westerbork camp was established by the Dutch government in October 1939 to intern Jewish refugees from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland. From 1942 to 1944 it served as a transit camp for Jews and Roma before they were deported to extermination camps. In these years, a freight train left every week for Auschwitz-Birkenau, Sobibor, Bergen-Belsen or the Theresienstadt concentration camp. Westerbork was a very strange place. There was a school, a hair-dresser, an orchestra and even a restaurant. These "comforts" were designed by the SS in order to avoid problems during further deportations. Harun Farocki resurrects footage shot by temporary inmate Rudolf Breslauer, who was commissioned by the camp's SS commandant to produce a glossy film about camp life. Breslauer devoted much of his footage to the varied work and activities of the inmates, and also filmed the unloading and loading of incoming and outgoing trains. A close study of the surviving 16mm footage discloses chilling details of everyday life at Westerbork, but also questions generally accepted visual understandings and impressions of the concentration camp system. Harun Farocki, Germany, 2007, (silent), 40 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
Return [FL 1454]
Liya’s past is troublesome—her mother was killed by her father, and she herself was beaten by him many times—and she spends her adult life attempting to cope with her memories. To cut the vicious circle of violence in the village of her childhood, where domestic violence is considered “normal”, Liya returns to her former home to awaken the villagers and establish new relationships among them. Levan Glonti, Georgia, 2006, Georgian/Subtitles: English, 28 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
Return of “The Written off”, The (Episode 01) - The Return / Povratak otpisanih (Epizoda 01) - Povratak [FL 592]
This 13-part sequel to the same-length TV-series made two years earlier, managed to acquire legendary status and stands out as one of the best examples of Yugoslav WWII movies. The sequel follows the successful pattern of its predecessor and focuses on the same group of characters – mainly Prle and Tihi, two Belgrade members of the communist resistance. The only difference is the time period as the new series shifts from the beginning of the occupation towards the end of the war, with the first episode beginning in the summer of 1944. As victorious partisan forces close in on the city, Prle, Tihi and Joca now must continue their underground work in order to prepare for the liberation of the city. In the first episode Prle and Tihi are on their latest mission: to take a radio transmitter into Belgrade, still under Nazi occupation, and set up a communication post. They join forces with postman Joca, their old acquaintance and moody radio-operator. As always, they succeed in the end and establish a new radio link with the partisans. Aleksandar Đorđević, Yugoslavia, 1976, Serbian, 89 min, television series, DVD-ROM
Return of “The Written off”, The (Episode 02) - Parachutists / Povratak otpisanih (Epizoda 02) - Padobranci [FL 587]
This DVD includes two new episodes of the famous TV series about the adventures of Belgrade resistance fighters during in the final stages of WWII. In the second episode, Prle and Tihi find a new base in the Belgrade apartment belonging to Marija who, despite being an official of the special police and coming from a “politically correct” family, is a partisan supporter. During an allied air raid, Prle is seen by his old mentor Kenta who tells the police about his whereabouts. In the meantime, just outside Belgrade, Tihi picks up two American parachutists and hides them in a hangar owned by a local partisan supporter. While Tihi explains his rescue plan for the pilots, back in Belgrade the local police and Gestapo surround the building, but the group escapes the raid by hiding in Marija’s bathroom. Back at the office, Marija learns about Kenta’s treachery and Prle decides to pay him a visit. They end up fighting and Kenta is shot dead. Next day the Germans start to search the nearby villages for the parachutists, but Tihi’s group exchanges uniforms with the pilots, thus distracting the German soldiers and allowing the Americans to escape. Aleksandar Đorđević, Yugoslavia, 1976, Serbian, 56 min, television series, DVD-ROM
Return of “The Written off”, The (Episode 03) - Biplane / Povratak otpisanih (Epizoda 03) - Dvokrilac [FL 587]
While the special police run an undercover operation against the partisans, Mali and Žile discuss joining them. Meanwhile, Tihi’s group is assigned to monitor mines laid in the Danube with the help of Tihi’s uncle Mile, now recovered. Shortly afterwards, Mali is arrested and shot by the police and Žile shares with Mile his suspicions about the fake partisan recruiter Ratko. The two of them set off to warn the group, but they are followed and shot at by the police. Meanwhile, back at the office Marija encounters the Gestapo’s secret agent Ratko, code-name “dvokrilac”, and the group prepares a trap and eventually captures him. They first interrogate him and he tells them that their radio link with the partisans is in danger since Special Forces with a radio-locator unit are coming to Belgrade. Ratko then tries to escape but is killed in the process. The next day the Gestapo sets off with the locator truck, but the group is now ready. They successfully blow up the truck and escape. Aleksandar Đorđević, Yugoslavia, 1976, Serbian, 53 min, television series, DVD-ROM
Return of “The Written off”, The (Episode 04) - Agent / Povratak otpisanih (Epizoda 04) - Agent [FL 588]
The DVD includes three further episodes of this 13-part TV series, actually a sequel to a famous predecessor of the same length, telling the story of the communist resistance in Belgrade during WWII. The main characters of the original series, underground fighters Prle and Tihi, are still young, but now just a bit more experienced. Each episode brings new adventures for Prle and Tihi who together with their comrades defy the occupation of their city, but almost as a leitmotif in each of them the pair are forced to witness the death of one of their close comrades. Aleksandar Đorđević, Yugoslavia, 1976, Serbian, 57 min, television series, DVD-ROM
Return of “The Written off”, The (Episode 05) - Assassination / Povratak otpisanih (Epizoda 05) - Atentat [FL 588]
In the fifth episode, young partisans under Prle’s guidance fail to assassinate a high ranking German officer, but Tihi gives them a second chance. Meanwhile, a whole village is burned down and its occupants shot in retaliation for the assassination attempt. A survivor from the village, Ljubiša, comes to Belgrade looking for revenge. He comes to his brother, a small-time police official, for help. Ljubiša tries to kill the general who ordered the killings, but is discovered by his brother’s colleague and killed by the police. In the meantime, Caki, one of the young partisans, gets hold of some bombs for the next assassination attempt from his neighbor, who is a military warehouse supervisor. He is soon captured too, but admits nothing and is finally released. The targeted general is recalled to Berlin suffering from a nervous breakdown and the whole assassination operation is canceled. Prle and the youngsters decide to dispose of the bombs at the station, accidentally wounding the general who is on the train. Aleksandar Đorđević, Yugoslavia, 1976, Serbian, 53 min, television series, DVD-ROM
Return of “The Written off”, The (Episode 06) - Moth / Povratak otpisanih (Epizoda 06) - Moljac [FL 588]
In the sixth episode, another new character appears as partisan agent Stana arrives from Zagreb to coordinate the next mission of Tihi’s team. Since the partisans will soon begin to fight openly against the Germans, they have to set up an clandestine hospital in Belgrade. Meanwhile, Marija manages to copy from the special police safe important documents about the Germans' evacuation plan. Prle decides to involve a group of boys in the assignment and their leader, nicknamed “Moth” becomes his main assistant. When Tihi locates an abandoned building suitable for the future hospital, Prle and the youngsters successfully transport the beds to the building. “Moth “ asks for a new assignment and Prle lets him guard the hospital the next evening. That night two police officers decide to take a couple of ladies into the hospital building, so Moth tries to distract them. He throws stones at them and they chase him in a fury, finally killing him. Aleksandar Đorđević, Yugoslavia, 1976, Serbian, 53 min, television series, DVD-ROM
Return of “The Written off”, The (Episode 07) - Vili / Povratak otpisanih (Epizoda 07) - Vili [FL 589]
The DVD consists of three new episode of this TV-series portraying the WWII adventures of Prle and Tihi, two very active young members of the Belgrade communist resistance, in the wake of the partisan liberation of the city. With its mixture of action, suspense and humor, the series stands out as one of the best examples of the genre of Yugoslav partisan war movies and has acquired as legendary a reputation as its predecessor, made two years earlier and set in the initial stages of WWII. Each of these episodes sees the two leading characters Prle and Tihi heavily involved in new underground resistance operations against the German occupying forces who are now rapidly approaching their final defeat. Aleksandar Đorđević, Yugoslavia, 1976, Serbian, 53 min, television series, DVD-ROM
Return of “The Written off”, The (Episode 08) - Gold / Povratak otpisanih (Epizoda 08) - Zlato [FL 589]
The eighth episode finds the Germans preparing for the evacuation to Berlin and taking huge amounts of gold bullion and jewelry from the bank. Meanwhile, Marija has managed to smuggle out a secret list of prominent Belgrade intellectuals whom the Germans plan to take with them to serve the German nation. Prle is frustrated that the partisan committee is letting the Germans take the valuables and is more worried about the fate of the intellectuals, but there is nothing he can do. Since the police have already started to round up people on the list, Tihi’s group tries to get them to safety. The police soon realize their plan has been discovered, since only seven of the men on the list are still in Belgrade and thus decide to set a trap. Meanwhile, Joca sneaks out to save doctor Lukić who once operated on his wife. He manages to do this, but the police catch up with him and it is Prle who saves him at the last moment, concealing the incident from Tihi. Aleksandar Đorđević, Yugoslavia, 1976, Serbian, 56 min, television series, DVD-ROM
Return of “The Written off”, The (Episode 09) - Escape / Povratak otpisanih (Epizoda 09) - Bekstvo [FL 589]
In the ninth episode the local German supporters prepare to escape as they realize that the Germans are losing the war. Marija’s sister reappears after two years to offer her assistance and warn her about her work at the police, but Marija still hides the fact that she is working for the partisans. The Belgrade special police are given a final assignment: to destroy their records and eliminate the remaining prisoners, who are to be divided into three groups: one will be liquidated, the second transported to Germany and the third left to the Chetniks. The partisans realize they can only save the last group and after Tihi’s team has successfully accomplished this, they set off to investigate the timing and security measures of the special evacuation train which will take the Serbian government and the highest German officers to Germany. With the help of Marija’s pass their man discovers the exact route of the train and its last stop. Meanwhile, Prle and his associates hijack the truck with the police archives and within hours the records are safely stored. Aleksandar Đorđević, Yugoslavia, 1976, Serbian, 56 min, television series, DVD-ROM
Return of “The Written off”, The (Episode 10) - Water Supply System / Povratak otpisanih (Epizoda 10) - Vodovod [FL 590]
The DVD includes two new episodes as this excellent TV-series on the Belgrade communist resistance gradually approaches its end. The tenth episode starts of with Prle meeting his old school friend Pufna, who tells him that the Germans plan to destroy the water supply system before they leave. Tihi warns Prle that his friend might be working for the Germans so Prle checks him out while the rest set off to examine the main pumping station. In cooperation with two insiders the attack is set for 9 o’clock the following evening, but just before that the Germans lock all the civilian workers in the basement and the plan has to change, with the group entering the building on their own. They set free the captives and capture the pumping station, but one of the officers manages to escape and, still determined to carry out the demolition, kills Pufna before he is shot down himself. The German authorities realize that sabotage is going on, but there is nothing they can do. Aleksandar Đorđević, Yugoslavia, 1976, Serbian, 54 min, television series, DVD-ROM
Return of “The Written off”, The (Episode 11) - Power Plant / Povratak otpisanih (Epizoda 11) - Elektrana [FL 590]
The eleventh episode finds the Yugoslav partisans together with their Russian allies just outside Belgrade. The Germans have planned one last desperate action – to destroy the main power plant. Meanwhile, Marija admits to Prle she has feelings for Tihi and fears for his life because of their latest assignment. But all seems to go well and Tihi succeeds in contacting a reliable worker at the power plant in order to organize its capture as the group decides to plan the attack from the riverside. They suspect that the Germans have mined the plant so they engage an explosives expert who soon defuses the mines so that everything is ready for the big entry of Tihi’s group. With help from headquarters and the local workers, the partisans successfully capture the plant, suffering light casualties themselves. Aleksandar Đorđević, Yugoslavia, 1976, Serbian, 52 min, television series, DVD-ROM
Return of “The Written off”, The (Episode 12) - Bridge / Povratak otpisanih (Epizoda 12) - Most [FL 591]
This DVD includes two final episodes of this 13-part TV-series on Belgrade communist resistance in the wake of the liberation of the city. In the twelfth episode it is already obvious that the partisans will be in Belgrade within hours. Tihi’s group has one last mission: to save the bridge that the Germans plan to blow up after crossing it on their way to Austria. The mission is delicate and the explosives expert is called in again. Marija and Tihi finally admit their feelings to each other. Meanwhile, frustrated ex-miner Zaharija who lives near the bridge decides to join in the liberation of the city. While Tihi and Prle are investigating the situation around the bridge, Zaharija removes explosives planted in his basement. Prle reveals his plan to divert the guards on the bridge so that engineer Milan can cut the cables. But Zaharija makes a move on his own and when in the evening Prle and Milan get to the bridge they can only see that somebody has already cut the cables. On their way back Prle realizes his friend Cane has been shot. Aleksandar Đorđević, Yugoslavia, 1976, Serbian, 52 min, television series, DVD-ROM
Return of “The Written off”, The (Episode 13) - Kriger / Povratak otpisanih (Epizoda 13) - Kriger [FL 591]
The concluding episode of the series finds the partisans fighting the few remaining German soldiers. Notorious Gestapo officer Krüger is trying to sneak out of the city, but his neighbor recognizes him and tries to warn the partisans. Realizing that Krüger is still in Belgrade, Tihi’s group sets off to arrest him, only to discover that he has already left. He kills both his neighbor and a partisan guarding the apartment and then turns for help first to his old friend, now married to a Russian soldier, and then to his colleague Ristić. The latter starts calling the guards, but Krüger kills him too. When Tihi sees the victims he realizes that Marija is in danger too, and in fact Krüger finds out that she works for the partisans and forces her to escort him to the river, where a boat is waiting for him. Tihi’s group starts the chase while Krüger hijacks a car, but Marija is saved and tells Tihi about Krüger’s plans so that they can set an ambush. Krüger shoots Tihi and Prle’s close friend Mrki, but all is well as he gets killed in the end. Aleksandar Đorđević, Yugoslavia, 1976, Serbian, 60 min, television series, DVD-ROM
Return of Budulai / Возвращение Будулая [FL 189]
The main hero, a gypsy named Budulai, was severely beaten up by bandits and lost his memory for half a year. By chance he meets his son Vania, who learned from his mother that his real father is Budulai. The appearance of the son makes Budulai's memory come back. Alexander Blank, Soviet Union, 1985, Russian, 288 min, fiction film, VHS
Return to Europe: Serbia: Exit Europe [FL 1747]
This film is part of the ten episode documentary Balkan Express - Return to Europe, a German-Austrian co-production, in collaboration with European Stability Initiative (ESI). Heralded as one the "most ambitious TV projects on Southeastern Europe produced in recent years," the series was awarded the "Erasmus EuroMedia Grand Award" in 2008. Serbia: Exit Europe explores two powerful but contradictory forces now at play in Serbia. The loss of Kosovo has rekindled nationalism and bitterness towards the international community, while the victory of the pro-European forces in the May 2008 elections steered the country towards EU integration. Key questions hover over Serbia's future: Is Serbia on track to joining the EU? Is it confronting the crimes of the Milosevic era? Or will the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU remain on hold and application for EU membership a distant prospect? Wolfgang Niedermair, Franz-Leopold Schmelzer, Austria, 2008, English, 53 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
Return to Europe: Turkey [FL 1746]
This film is part of the ten episode documentary Balkan Express - Return to Europe, a German-Austrian co-production, in collaboration with European Stability Initiative (ESI). Heralded as one the "most ambitious TV projects on Southeastern Europe produced in recent years," the series was awarded the "Erasmus EuroMedia Grand Award" in 2008. Istanbul, Europe's biggest city and the former capital of two European empires (The Byzantine and the Ottoman) is today the best place to grasp the contrasts, contradictions and promises of modern Turkey at the beginning of the 21st century. The film explores the tensions which lie just underneath the surface of this glittering town. How to deal with a complicated multiethnic past? How to overcome the bitter power struggle – in Istanbul and across Turkey as a whole – between new and old elites? How to define a place for religion in general, and Islam in particular, in a country that seeks to join the European Union? From Rumeli Hisari – a 500-year-old village at risk of seeing its old Armenian population completely disappear – to Kadikoy, a modern district setting new standards for women's emancipation movements in Turkey, the film explores many aspects of life on both shores of the Bosporus. Peter Beringer, Austria, 2008, English, 52 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
Return to Kosovo [FL 283]
"The National" news program on the conflict in Kosovo. Nancy Durham, Canada, 1999, English, 15 min, documentary film, VHS
Returning Home: Revival of a Bosnian Village [FL 935]
Filmed between 1999 and 2001, RETURNING HOME documents the return of the internally displaced Muslims or Bosniaks to their homes seven years after being expelled from an ethnically mixed (Bosniak/Croat) village in central Bosnia. The film is a sequel to WE ARE ALL NEIGHBOURS, produced in 1993 by Granada Television in co-operation with Tone Bringa. The earlier film chronicles the breakdown in personal relationships between Muslims and Croats, and eventually the expulsion of the Muslim population, and the destruction of their homes by Croat (HVO) forces as war overtook the village of "Dolina." RETURNING HOME shows the how the dream of getting back to their village was a constant in the refugees' lives. Following some of the same families featured in the 1993 film, this film highlights the significant contribution of the United Nations (OHR), the European Union and foreign donors in making possible the returns to this village. Above all, however, it talk to the determination and will of the displaced villagers to rebuild their pre-war lives, and surprisingly shows how the Bosniak refugees found common understanding based on shared experience with Croat refugees who had taken over their homes. Tone Bringa and Peter Ljoizos, Bosnia and Hercegovina, 2001, Serbo-Croatian, 48 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
Return / Возврашение [FL 657]
Liya's past is troublesome - her mother was killed by her father, and she herself was beaten by him many times. She spends her adult life attempting to cope with her memories. To cut the vicious circle of violence in the village of her childhood, where domestic violence is considered "normal," Liya returns to her former home to awaken the villagers and establish new relationships among them. Levan Glonti, Georgia, 2006, Georgian/Dubbing: Russian/Subtitles: English, 28 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
Revenge, The (aka The Payback) / Revansa [FL 62]
Second part of a trilogy in which Sergiu Nicolaescu plays the indestructible police chief Tudor Moldovan, who returns to take revenge on fascist leader Zavoianu and his henchman Paraipan. The action takes place just before the beginning of World War II. Paraipan kidnaps Moldovan's child, and the police inspector seeks to take revenge on Paraipan and his bosses and to finish off the fascist movement, lead by Zavoianu and his allies. Helped by the communists fighting for power, Moldovan eliminates his enemies one by one. After he has accomplished his mission, however, he is betrayed by his superiors, leaving the door open to the intrigues of the third part of the series. Sergiu Nicolaescu, Romania, 1978, Romanian, 105 min, fiction film, DVD-ROM
Revenge. The Murder of Kirov. Year 1934. / Месть. Убийство Кирова 1934 год [FL 357]
The episode presents a version of Kirov's assassination. Kirov was killed on 1 December 1934 by Leonid Nikolaev, husband of Kirov's secretary, for personal reasons. The murder was used by Stalin to start the purges against the Zinoviev's Bolshevik 'old guard' in Leningrad. Iosif Trakhtengerts, Russia, 2001, Russian, 26 min, documentary film, VHS
Rhythm of the City / A város ritmusa [FL 1604]
A small boy is walking in the streets listening to the sounds of the city around him. The noise, clatter, humming of the city metamorphose into rhythm in his head. Then again the city provides a full cacophony of rhythms, and thus do they live day by day. The boy listens, the city talks. Andras Salamon, Hungary, 2007, (No dialogue), 15 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
Rich Bride, The, aka The Country Bride / Богатая невеста [FL 817]
Essentially propaganda on behalf of Soviet collectivism, "The Country Bride" also manages to succeed as entertainment. Ivan Diubeznov plays Alexei, a tractor driver who falls in love with buxom wheat farmer Marinka (Maria Ladyina). She likewise falls in love with him, but finds his chauvinistic attitudes towards female farm workers rather annoying. Only when Marinka and her wheat-stacking friends show themselves to be the equal of any man does Alexei eat humble pie and promise never to underestimate her again. Watching from the sidelines is elderly Naum (F. N. Kurikhin), the film's most lovable character. Ivan Pyriev, Soviet Union, 1937, Russian, 94 min, fiction film, VHS
Riding Solo To the Top of the World [FL 1301]
Riding Solo is a film about filmmaker Gaurav Jani's solo motorcycle journey from Mumbai to one of the remotest places in the world, the Changthang Plateau in Ladakh, bordering China. The film is even more extraordinary for the fact that Jani was a one-man crew who loaded his 200 kg bike with over 100 kgs of equipment/supplies and set off on a journey to one of the world's most difficult terrains. Gaurav Jani, India, 2006, English, Hindi/Subtitles: English, 94 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
Rise and Fall of General Mladic [FL 1741]
The film portrays the contradictory personality of the first man of the Serb army during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is in hiding now, avoiding arrest and surrender to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, where he faces charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. The film re-examines the myth of Ratko Mladic as a soldier, leader, hero, an extraordinary man – a myth that has come into being as an instrument of political propaganda. He was general of two armies at the same time: Yugoslav and Bosnian Serb. The film presents a comprehensive image of Ratko Mladic, recording various opinions of the man and the changes he has been through. Lazar Stojanovic, Netherlands, 2005, Serbian/Subtitles: English, 45 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
Ritchie Boys, The [FL 1013]
"The Ritchie Boys" is the untold story of a group of young men who fled Nazi Germany and returned to Europe as soldiers in US-uniforms. They knew the psychology and the language of the enemy better than anybody else. In Camp Ritchie, Maryland, they were trained in intelligence and psychological warfare. Not always courageous, but determined, bright, and inventive they fought their own kind of war. They saved lives. They were victors, not victims. Christian Bauer, Germany, 2004, English, 93 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
River, The [FL 1333]
Landmark Depression-era American documentary film from Pare Lorentz, The River was made to promote Roosevelt's New Deal as a way of repairing previous devastation to the land and its people in the vast river valley of the Mississippi. The film is accompanied by Virgil Thomson's original scores.United States, 1937, (silent), documentary film, DVD-ROM
Road to Life, The / Путевка в жизнь [FL 181]
Social drama, taking place in 1923 in Soviet Russia. A group of homeless teenagers is organized into a commune as a social experiment. They live together, learn different crafts and build the railroad. Their old friends - petty thieves, bandits, and robbers - are trying to lure them back to old life. Some are tempted, but the group discipline forces them to return. In revenge, the bandits kill Mustafa, one of the commune members. His body is carried on the first train of the newly built railway. Nikolai Ekk, Soviet Union, 1931, Russian, 106 min, fiction film, VHS
Robbery Of The Third Reich, The / Pljačka Trećeg Rajha [FL 575]
Shot after 1990, this comedy is supposedly based on true events that took place at the very beginning of WWII in Yugoslavia. The film’s unlikely heroes are not Yugoslav partisans, however, but two charming, stylish crooks. Glavonja – older and wiser of the duo, and Kalauz who is younger and quite naïve, but makes up for it by his courage, are inseparable friends and masters of their trade. Witty and proud of their “employment”, they are constantly in and out of the prison, with each departure and arrival passionately mourned and celebrated by their faithful wives, who literally adore them. With the beginning of the war, the two realize that the Germans have been stashing enormous amounts of stolen gold, money and artworks in Berlin. Confident in their skills they head for Berlin with the intention of robbing the famous “Hermes Bank,” where the stolen treasure is kept. After series of comical adventures, they successfully fulfill their mission and thus accomplish their “noble” revenge against the German invaders. Zdravko Šotra, Serbia and Montenegro, 2004, Serbian/Subtitles: English, 97 min, fiction film, DVD-ROM
Robert Capa: In Love and War [FL 1079]
Heralded as the pre-eminent documentarian of the 20th century, Robert Capa (1913-1954) photographed five epic conflicts on three continents, all in the 40 short years of his life. This is a compelling insight into the life and loves of the iconic war photographer. Celebrated as the "Greatest War Photographer in the World," the Hungarian-born Robert Capa achieved fame with the Spanish Civil War of 1936. It was during this conflict that Capa produced heartbreaking image of Falling Soldier, capturing the death of a Spanish freedom fighter at the moment of the bullet's impact. Capa went on to photograph several of the major battles of WWII, including D-day. His brilliance with the camera transformed Capa into an international celebrity, bringing him in close contact with several other notables, among them actress Ingrid Bergman, with whom he had a brief romance. Bergman's daughter Isabella Rosellini is among those interviewed in this documentary. He died stepping on a land mine during his coverage of the French-Indochina war of the early 1950s. Anne Makepeace, United States, 2003, French, 92 min, documentary film, VHS
Rock Star and the Mullahs, The [FL 700]
The lead singer of Pakistan's biggest rock group travels to Peshawar, where the local government has banned all music, and asks, "Why can't spirituality be expressed in pop song?" That's an issue that "The Rock Star & the Mullahs", a 50 minute documentary commissioned by the BBC sets out to explore. It follows Salman Ahmed, the charismatic lead singer of one of South Asia's biggest rock band 'Junoon' and a devout Muslim, who's concerned about his own country Pakistan's growing Islamic fundamentalism which condemns music as obscene. In this thought provoking film, Ahmad travels to Peshawar, where the local government, voted in on a wave of anti-Americanism, has banned all music. Ahmad confronts and challenges the Mullahs in Peshawar, he meets local musicians to see how they have been affected, he visits young men in madrassas (religious schools) to see what they think about music and finally he shows how the majority of people in Pakistan follow their religion. This is a film about Pakistan grappling with who it wants to be in the 21st centurym while some fear in the West that it may turn into another Taliban state. It is a contemporary film in style with a touch of politics and a mixture of sounds. Ruhi Hamid, United Kingdom, 2003, English, Persian/Subtitles: English, 50 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
Rocking the Nation / Dübörög a nemzeti rock [FL 1243]
A concert tour with ”Romantic Violence”, the cult band of ”national rock”, and its fans from December 2005 till the fall of 2006. Folk musicians and skinheads, football fans and college students speak of their radical nationalistic views. They started out as a high school band in the 90’s, but today they are one of the top representatives of “national rock”. They claim they are patriots; their role models are the freedom fighters of ’56. They tour former Hungarian territories annexed by Romania and Serbia, play in clubs and at the Hungarian Sziget Festival. They travel tirelessly, for their music is their mission, “to strengthen national identity”, “to shake people up”, “to make people think” at home and abroad. Their concerts are much more than a party for the fans: they have created a community, and a way of life. They sing folk-rock numbers, legends and revisionist songs along with the Ferencvaros football team anthem. Their slogans are rocking: freedom, anti-Communism, Trianon, the Jews, Hungary, to arms! Bori Kriza, Hungary, 2007, Hungarian/Subtitles: English, 70 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
Rocky Soil / Skalna ziemia [FL 1730] Włodzimierz Borowik, Poland, 1956, Polish, 16 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
Romani Bakht [FL 1190]
Montreuil, spring and summer 2005. Romany families are evicted from a squat where they had lived for several years. Among them is Sorina’s family. With her husband and their two children, Sorina tries to survive in the streets. Bielka Mijoin -Nemirovsky, France, 2005, /Subtitles: English, 32 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
Romanian-Hungarian Conflict in Targu-Mures/Marasvasarhely in March 1990. [FL 291]
Amateur footage (although some of them could have been taken by local TV crew) made during the escalating conflict between Hungarians and Romanians in Targu-Mures/Marosvásárhely in March 1990. Most of the footage is unedited and covers the events and opinions on both sides of the conflict. Some footage covers the pre-history of the conflict with images from the Revolution of 1989 in Targu-Mures/Marosvásárhely and some events in February 1990 in the same city, all related to the emerging ethnic conflict.Romania, 1990, Romanian, Hungarian, 166 min, amateur footage, VHS
Roots of the Sky, The / Корни неба [FL 1083]
The film is set in the Udege community, of whom only two thousand currently survive in the Far East in Russia. The filmmaker uses a collage of native paintings, footage of the surrounding nature, and foreboding sounds from the local environs to introduce community's cosmology, framed by the commentary of indigenous woman during the course of the Shaman's ritual. The film includes fragments of a 1928 documentary film Forest People by A. Litvinov which captured life in the Udege community and the Shaman's preparation for the healing ceremony. Ilgar Safat, Russia, 2003, 11 min, VHS
Rosa's Story / Historia de Rosa [FL 1448]
In 2003, Nicaraguan 9-year-old Rosa was snatched and raped by a stranger. Five weeks later they found out the girl was pregnant. Her parents wanted her to get an abortion. The case mobilized international organizations that gave support to the parents’ wish, but it also came to the attention of the government and the church, which were against the abortion. The case shocked Nicaragua and aroused an international debate about abortion. Florence Jaugey, Nicaragua, 2005, Spanish/Subtitles: English, 33 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
Rough Treatment aka Without Anesthesia / Bez znieczulenia [FL 734]
A famous journalist presents the powers-that-be with a problem when he displays his full political skill and knowledge on a television show. His enemies take away his privileges when he is away. The shock of being "unwanted" parallels a deeper disappointment in his private life: his wife has an affair with a jealous young rival, and after 15 years of marriage and two daughters, she wants a divorce. She offers no explanations as he tries to solve these problems himself. He takes to drinking heavily with students eager to attend his seminar after discovering the class has been canceled. A female student moves into his apartment. The journalist, once suave and commanding is reduced to silence. In a widely publicized divorce case he refuses to contest the lies presented to the court. Shortly afterwards he dies mysteriously in his apartment when the gas heater explodes. Wajda shows how the communist regime can destroy its people with no hesitation and warns that the system works without anesthesia. This message is symbolically illustrated when the journalist visits a dentist – he is offered an anesthetic, he declines, but then he faints. Many critics compared Zapasiewicz’s acclaimed performance to Kafka’s Joseph K. Andrzej Wajda., Poland, 1978, Polish, 109 min, fiction film, DVD-ROM
Route 181: Fragments of a Jounrney to Palestine - Israel (part I) [FL 705]
Capturing the fragments of a land shattered by politics, history, and colonialism, "Route 181", clocks in at about four and a half hours. The film's length is epic-worthy, but it allows the filmmakers to present oral history from a wide variety of people who live along the 1947 partition line, while at the same time allow for minutes-long footage of the monotonous grey concrete wall that quietly runs along one of the region's main roads. By portraying both the divide of the physical landscape and that of the humans that inhabit it, viewers receive a fuller understanding of this conflicted part of the world. Viewers meet Israelis and Palestinians of a wide variety of backgrounds and politics. Disillusioned Israeli Jews of Moroccan descent wish they had never emigrated to Israel in the first place, while adolescent Palestinian citizens of Israel, because they are educated with an Israeli curriculum, squabble over whether they are Palestinian or Israeli. Thus the film introduces to its audience, through extended interviews with various Israelis and Palestinians, the nuanced complexity of those people who live along the green line. Eyal Sivan, Michel Khleifi, Belgium, 2004, Hebrew, Arabic/Subtitles: English, 83 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
Route 181: Fragments of a Journey to Palestine-Israel (part II) [FL 706]
Capturing the fragments of a land shattered by politics, history, and colonialism, "Route 181", clocks in at about four and a half hours. The film's length is epic-worthy, but it allows the filmmakers to present oral history from a wide variety of people who live along the 1947 partition line, while at the same time allow for minutes-long footage of the monotonous grey concrete wall that quietly runs along one of the region's main roads. By portraying both the divide of the physical landscape and that of the humans that inhabit it, viewers receive a fuller understanding of this conflicted part of the world. Viewers meet Israelis and Palestinians of a wide variety of backgrounds and politics. Disillusioned Israeli Jews of Moroccan descent wish they had never emigrated to Israel in the first place, while adolescent Palestinian citizens of Israel, because they are educated with an Israeli curriculum, squabble over whether they are Palestinian or Israeli. Thus the film introduces to its audience, through extended interviews with various Israelis and Palestinians, the nuanced complexity of those people who live along the green line. Eyal Sivan, Michel Khleifi, Belgium, 2004, Hebrew, Arabic/Subtitles: English, 102 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
Rule of the Fists / Faustrecht [FL 1373]
A long-term documentary about two violent teenagers. The two directors observed Tim and Gibran between their 16th and 18th birthday. Tim is an introverted teen who is subject to uncontrolled fists of violence. The film shows his “odyssey” through institutions and foster homes, “looking for a quiet little spot” (quote Tim). Gibran is an extroverted charmer who uses violence to get what he wants. “I will hit anybody looking to be hit – no matter if man or woman” (quote Gibran). He spends time in a detention centre where he is strongly confronted with his violent behaviour. The film casts a glance behind the statistics of violence, looking at young offenders that are victims of their own. Bernard Weber, Robi Mueller, Switzerland, 2006, German/Subtitles: English, German, French, 84 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
Runaway [FL 1117]
A powerful documentary about a Tehran shelter for girls and young women who have fled their homes due to domestic discord. While the women who operate the home provide support for girls from abusive families, they also offer counseling and try to find out the truth about the situations that have brought the women to the shelter. The sisterly feelings of the girls towards each other, their spiritual strength, their courage to rebel, and their wit are shown with a great degree of compassion and empathy. Yet the primary goal of the counselors is to work towards family reunification. The girls who have exaggerated the severity of their problems are sent home - often with mixed feelings of relief and despair. Kim Longinotto, Ziba Mir-Hosseini, United Kingdom, 2001, Persian, 87 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
Russia That We've Lost / Россия, которую мы потеряли [FL 336]
In 1914 French economist Edmond Terris wrote: "By the middle of this century Russia will be dominant in Europe politically, economically and financially. Using archival shoots, director Govorukhin in this documentary ponders why it did not happen." Stanislav Govorukhin, Russia, 1992, Russian, 112 min, VHS
Russia: The Missing Years - Secrets of the KGB (volumes I & II) [FL 1011]
A chilling examination of the secret workings of the Soviet Union's feared secret police, told through a glimpse into the organization's own confidential film archives. The first part, "The Early Years (1917-1933)", shows how the organization's beginnings can be traced back to the Cheka - the Extraordinary Commission for Fighting Counterrevolution and Sabotage - founed in 1917 by Felix Dzerzinsky. The Cheka perfected its art of espionage, political assassinations and rigged trials as Bolsheviks consolidated power. The second part, "The Professionals (1934-1953)", shows how during Stalin's rule, the Soviewt secret police became the ultimate tool of control over the country. In the 1930's and the 1940's the KGB - then the NKVD - orchestrated the mass purges and consolidated immense resources and political power to permeate every aspect of Soviet reality. Alexander Aizenberg and Matthew King Kaufman, United States, 1997, Russian, 106 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
Rwanda. Through Us, Humanity... / Rwanda. A travers nous, l'humanite... [FL 1267]
Filmed in Rwanda in April 2004, during performances of the show Rwanda 94, in the context of the 10th commemoration of the genocide of the Tutsis and the massacre of Hutu moderates. How can theatre question reality when faced with the primary actors of the story told on stage? The intense, cathartic, active answer of the Rwandan audience brings to the fore the current concerns of the survivors. What is life like for them 10 years after the genocide? Echoing the issues in the play, "Rwanda. Through us humanity..." allows the survivors of the genocide to speak out, in their current reality, during this special period of mourning. The memory of the genocide is sought out, is established through the traumatic awakenings, the evocations, the disinterment and dignified burial of victims, the fears and worries with regard to the threats that still weigh upon them today. They express their profound resentment of us for having abandoned them, and of the international community for their silent complicity during the genocide, but also of the exclusion, discriminations and violence to which they are still submitted. Marie-France Collard, Belgium, 2006, French/Subtitles: English, 105 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM
