Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors has often been described as a Carpathian Romeo and Juliet - that is, if Romeo had the tenacity to live after his beloved's death. Sergei Paradjanov prefaces the tragic tale set in the Carpathian mountains as the land "forgotten by God and men", and from the austerity of the environment, it is evident that survival comes at a high price. In essence, the story is incidental to the observations of daily peasant life: the Orthodox order of mass, the rites of spring, the rhythm of the sickle cutting the fields.

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"Threatened by a deadly disease, Yussef, a blind Iranian university professor, goes to Paris for treatment. Before his departure, he made a pledge to God, asking that his life be spared. During this trip, Yussef experiences a life-changing event. Back home, the confrontation between his memories and the real world unleashes from within, primal fears and secret desires. The course of events will bring him to back face to face with another reality."

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"This film is, in part, a personal response to the life and teachings of Dr. Wilhelm Reich (1897-1957)." Not for the faint of heart, part documentary and part fictional surrealist philosophical sex comedy, Serbian director Dusan Makavejev assaults the viewers senses with imagery, music, politics and satire. "Mysteries of the Organism" is on many top 1000 film lists.

"The way your thoughts are, is the way you life will be." Father Tadej

Serbian Orthodox Christian monk, Father Tadey (Otac Tadej) (1914-2003) from monastery Vitovnica, was considered by many to be a Saint. This is an amazing interview he gave 1 year before his death. Although very old and ill, he has managed to give us a lot of Truth and Wisdom, some of it isn't very "orthodox" and was never heard before. Interview conducted by Velja Pavlovic

Wild sounds from Transylvania, Wallachia and Moldavia are the words on the back of this CD. They got that right: ear-grabbing vivid music by Romanian and Gypsy artists in studios from Bucharest--a wild splash of pulsating syncopated rhythms and instrumental colors ranging from the vicara cu goama (a horn-enhanced fiddle) to bold brass bands bouncing along in rhythm patterns of three-three-two. (Remember the background rhythm to Mission Impossible?) Female vocals are interspersed with soaring paper-whistle melodies, and village dances with running clarinet lines recall passages by George Enescu, Bela Bartok and Leos Janacek. Instrumental breaks, not out of place in jazz, run headlong into spiraling fiddles and hammered dulcimer. It s a rhythmic, dancing delight to the ears, with lyrical moments and exotic tunes.

"The Case of the Missing Switchboard Operator is a fascinating, offbeat, and engagingly idiosyncratic examination of love, betrayal, world history, psychology, and criminology. The film opens to Dr. Aleksander Kostic's droll lecture on sexuality, and cuts to the images of several provocative artworks..."

Last November, Tony Rayns interviewed Tsai Ming-Liang, one of the best living directors, about his last 2 flms:

"Wayward Cloud" and "I don't want to sleep alone"

A costume drama based on autobiographical Barbey D'Aurevilly's 1851 novel Une Vieille Maîtresse (An Old Mistress), the tale of an impoverished aristocrat obsessed by his former mistress.

Catherine Breillat says: "I think it's a magnificent work. It was written 70 years after Dangerous Liaisons and refers back to it. It depicts the last cry of the aristocracy, a period just before the rise of the bourgeoisie, who forced women to wear collars up to their necks and extinguished the enlightenment that allowed writers to discuss emotion and desire and knowledge."

"Jodorowsky wanted to change the World, to enlighten it spiritually, by making The Holy Mountain. Although he put a tremendous effort and knowledge and imagination, he failed to do so, because the World did not want to change. He changed. He found his "enlightenment" and nowdays he's a different person than his younger self in 1973. By watching this film, you have a chance of learning some important spiritual lessons. By listening to the Director's commentary ( included on separate audio track ) you have a chance to understand better this complex multi-layered film, which is a bit more than a film, and a bit more than a work of art. This is one of the rare directors that I really recommend listening to: there's so much knowledge, wisdom, insights, interesting life stories to hear from him, and a lot of chances to laugh as well...but, even if you're not interested in spirituality, you can just enjoy this visually stunning, colourful, surreal adventure..."

Life and Miracles of 17th Century Serbian Saint Vasiliye Ostroshky (1610-1671) from Serbian TV. Unfortunately, no translation is available. Zivot i Cuda Svetog Vasilija Ostroškog (1610-1671), preuzeto sa DVD izdanja TV emisije iz 2004-te godine.

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Khaled Hadj Brahim (born 29 February 1960), better known as Khaled (Arabic: خالد), is a raï singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist born in Sidi-El-Houri in Oran Province of Algeria. He began recording in his early teens under the name Cheb Khaled (Arabic for "Young Khaled") and has become probably the most internationally famous Algerian singer. His popularity has earned him the unofficial title "King of Raï".

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Wikipedia info

I wish to share with Avax users an old cassette, which I've listened to so many times that I was lucky to be able to transfer it to Mp3 :)

Probably the best biography of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, mentioned in Wikipedia, Senses of Cinema, etc. with a lot of black and white pictures. An insight into his character and films.

In 1999, during the NATO bombing in Serbia, a young television editor (Boris Milivojevic) in an underground shelter - turned mental institution is having a psychiatric exploration through which he reflects his story... Won Special Prize in Memoriam R.W. Fassbinder in Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival

Filmed in Lisbon 11 years before Wenders’ “Lisbon Story” (published here ) by a Swiss director Alain Tanner, and probably his best film, with Bruno Ganz and Teresa Madruga…one of the favourite films of mine, and also one of favourites of FNB.47 ‘s…

Specially dedicated to FNB.47, of all films, this is the best one I can present him!

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Pasolini’s documentary is an appeal to UNESCO to save the destruction of a beautiful Yemen’s ancient town of Sana’a. The old, fortified city has been inhabited for more than 2500 years and contains a wealth of intact architectural gems. It was declared a World Heritage City by the United Nations in 1984.

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