Phoenix Cinema says right up front (right under the quote from Rainer Werner Fassbinder) that: "Phoenix Cinema is not meant to be a comprehensive site, so don’t expect to find reviews of the latest releases. Instead, you will find archived reviews of films, and I hope the categories feature proves useful to you. The categories reflect my tastes and interests, so my favourite directors, actors, actresses are listed here."
The primary author and film reviewer, who goes by the name "Tribe," indeed has iconoclastic and eclectic tastes. Films reviewed here include many that are new to me, and categories range from "Barbara Stanwyck" to "Documentary" to "militarism" to "Mae West," and, of course, "Fassbinder." There's also a category for "Favourite Film Lists," featuring suggestions from the likes of John Waters, Pedro Almodovar, Peter Greenaway and Cineaste. And -- although I quail at the thought of sitting next to (even if only electronically) such luminaries -- there is also a list from me of my favorite documentaries. Tribe did me the honor of asking me for a list of my favorite ten documentaries. I couldn't limit my choices to just ten, so I sent 12 instead, along with comments on each film.
While you're at the Phoenix Cinema site, be sure to check out the nice review for Here Kitty, Kitty, too. Thanks to Tribe and the other contributors to Phoenix Cinema for the opportunity to be part of such a fine resource.
More information about Pip and his untimely passing is available at Sydney's Indymedia website. Our deepest condolences to Pip's friends, colleagues and family. Pip left behind a powerful legacy of inspirational work.
Our friends at Archipelago Media recently announced the DVD release of "A Thing of Wonder," a fascinating look at octagenarian magician and philosopher Jerry Andrus.
We at Prolefeed Studios were saddened to learn of the recent and untimely death of Hillary Michael Milko, former candidate for the President of the United States. Mr. Milko died on November 5th, 2007. You can read his obituary in the Las Vegas Review Journal. Mr. Milko was featured prominently in Jim Taylor's 1997 documentary Subdue the Universe, about fringe candidates in the 1996 New Hampshire Presidential Primary. In memoriam, here is a clip from Subdue the Universe featuring Mr. Milko's first appearance.
Thanks to ETS Pictures for bringing this to our attention.
Nicole Gruter is a Madison-based performance artist, musician and bartender, and Master of Fine Arts candidate from the University of Wisconsin. Nicole and her alter-ego, Wilhelmina Baker, have graced the Madison area with challenging, entertaining, slightly off-kilter works. Nicole recently commissioned Prolefeed Studios to document some of her recent work, which we are pleased to share with you.
Nicole performed "Happy Taxday 2007" on April 17, 2007, the deadline for filing federal tax income returns. Watch as Nicole hands out receipts for the amount the average Madison taxpayer has paid for the Iraq War.
"Can I Get You Anything Else?" was Nicole's entry into the 2007 University of Wisconsin's First Year M.F.A. show. A woman tethered to a table cheerfully serves pies to puzzled art gallery patrons. Perhaps there's some hidden meaning here, or perhaps, as Nicole says, it's just that, "some days it's really hard to serve pie."
Prolefeed Studios is very proud to announce the online edition of Better Futures, a 26-minute video on microcredit and sustainable development in Nicaragua. Downloadable Windows Media (wmv) and MP4 versions are also available. Free copies of the DVD are available by e-mailing: exdir@wccnica.org.
In 2006, the Wisconsin Coordinating Council on Nicaragua (WCCN) commissioned Prolefeed Studios to create a promotional video about WCCN's innovative NICA fund. Using a sustainable model, the NICA Fund helps alleviate poverty by channeling funds from socially responsible North American investors to Nicaraguan nongovernmental organizations (partner agencies) that specialize in lending to the poor. Through the NICA Fund model, small loans, typically 600 dollars or less, are issued to Nicaraguan entrepreneurs, farmers and households who are not served by commercial banks.
Better Futures shows how the NICA Fund works, through short interviews with Nicaraguan rural and urban business owners and producers, as well as NICA Fund investors. Borrowers tell how they use their loans, and investors relate why they invest in the NICA Fund. Most of the footage was filmed in Nicaragua in the cities of Managua, Juigalpa, and Nueva Guinea.
Prolefeed Studios announces the release of Psalm 5, a video short featuring the renowned Nicaraguan poet and revolutionary Ernesto Cardenal. Ernesto Cardenal is a towering figure in Nicaraguan politics, literature, religion and art.
One of the founders of liberation theology, Nicaraguan Minister of Culture under the Sandinista government, and Nobel Prize nominee in literature, Cardenal continues to live and work in Managua. In this 2006 footage captured by Madison documentarian Brian Standing, the 81-year old Roman Catholic priest, sculptor and revolutionary reads his classic poem "Psalm 5." Cardenal's "Psalm 5" rewrites the familiar song from the Old Testament into a searing indictment of war, propaganda and goverment lies. Originally written in 1967, "Psalm 5" is as note-perfect today as it was forty years ago.
"Psalm 5" is available in Windows Media, MP4 and 3GP formats as a free download.
