BFI - Mark Kermode reviews London Symphony

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Beware of Images - A history of visual representation

BEWARE OF IMAGES is a feature-length, animated documentary about the history of visual representation. The movie explores the intricate relationship between the technology, regulation and social effects of media.

From cave paintings to video games, BEWARE OF IMAGES will take its audience on a fascinating journey that is insightful, harrowing and hopeful. 

The film is divided in 14 chapters, which deal with a variety of interconnected subjects such as: the history of visual language and its application to propaganda, gender and cultural stereotypes, media violence, the emergence of broadcasting technologies, the rise of modern advertising, the commercial takeover of the public airwaves, the consolidation and cultural consequences of media conglomerates, the effects of intellectual property on innovation and creativity, the information economy, Net Neutrality and the future of the open Internet.

The 40-minute video that won £40,000

A 40-minute video art installation inspired by migration and religious persecution wins a £40,000 prize.

BBC News - Entertainment & Arts

Reggie Yates Documentaries

Reggie Yates was born on May 31, 1983 in Archway, London, England. He is an actor writer and director, known for The Voice UK (2012), Top Of The Pops (2003 -) and Doctor Who (2007). Reggie is establishing himself as a documentary maker on the BBC and in early 2011 he fronted the leading BBC3 show Autistic Superstars for which he received a prestigious RTS nomination, and a follow up series 'Tourettes: Let Me Entertain You'. Reggie filmed a documentary, 'Inside Teen Gangs' also for BBC3 which was broadcast in 2012 followed by a new three part series shot in South Africa for the BBC.

United States of Hate: Muslims Under Attack

United States of Hate: Muslims under Attack

In this one-off documentary BBC Three examines America's recent upsurge in Islamophobia, meeting both Texan anti-Islam groups and American Muslims as tensions rise at some of America's mosques. Award-winning director and producer Steph Atkinson asks how America got here and are the fears between these different groups justified?

Banned Iranian film-maker Jafar Panahi: 'The necessity to create becomes even more of an urge'

The director of the infamous This Is Not A Movie has filmed features while the Iranian authorities prohibit him from doing so – and has underlined the importance of free speech.

The film-maker Jafar Panahi, currently banned from making films in his native Iran, has issued a statement underlining the spiritual and political importance of free creativity.

He was convicted of spreading anti-government propaganda after the Iranian government took umbrage at the content of his films, and sentenced with a film-making ban, as well as a jail sentence which he has so far managed to avoid. Despite the threat of imprisonment being held over him, he has made three films since: This Is Not A Movie (smuggled to Cannes on a USB hidden in a cake), Closed Curtain, and Taxi, which will debut at the Berlin film festival this year.

Opening up about the ban, Panahi said in a statement:

'Nothing can prevent me from making films since when being pushed to the ultimate corners I connect with my inner-self and, in such private spaces, despite all limitations, the necessity to create becomes even more of an urge. Cinema as an art becomes my main preoccupation. That is the reason why I have to continue making films under any circumstances to pay my respect and feel alive.'

Panahi may no longer be under house arrest, as he documented in This Is Not A Movie, but he is not allowed to leave the country. He therefore won’t be in Berlin for the premiere of Taxi, in which a taxi driver played by Panahi has a series of encounters with passengers in his cab.

Persuasive Elements

We have been discussing in class the use of 'persuasive elements' used by film-makers to emphasis a point or to illustrate an opinion. Film-makers employ a range of creative and technical techniques to communicate a range of ideas, messages or situations.

A recent text we have been focusing on is the 2004 documentary 'Fahrenheit 911' by Michael Moore. The text is about Michael Moore's view on what happened to the United States after September 11; and how the Bush Administration allegedly used the tragic event to push forward its agenda for unjust wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In this documentary we see Mr Moore use a range of persuasive elements to make his point and influence other. Below I discuss a range of these elements and how Moore used them within his film and what the purpose of this was.

For example.

• Selective Editing - where a cut away will be used to either strengthen a point being made or to act as a juxtaposition to what it being said.

Eyes Wide Open

If Media studies teaches you anything let teach to always question what you are shown, presented with and even force fed. In my opinion their are always three sides to every story; theirs, yours and the truth. You know yours, you are given theirs but you have to search for the truth.

Below is a link to 'Films for action' website. I am not presenting you with the truth here but I hope you will at least start asking the questions.

www.filmsforaction.org

Ones to watch in 2014

2014 is set to be another great year for film on a global scale. Below are three films coming out this year that deal with a wide and varied range of human emotion, interaction, morality, faith and tragedy.

KIDS FOR CASH is a riveting look behind the notorious judicial scandal that rocked the nation. Beyond the millions paid and high stakes corruption, KIDS FOR CASH exposes a shocking American secret.

In the wake of the shootings at Columbine, a small town celebrates a charismatic judge who is hell-bent on keeping kids in line... until one parent dares to question the motives behind his brand of justice.

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/kidsforcash/

Would you choose your natural son, or the son you believed was yours after spending 6 years together? Kore-eda Hirokazu, the globally acclaimed director of "Nobody Knows", "Still Walking" and "I Wish", returns to the big screen with another family - a family thrown into torment after a phone call from the hospital where the son was born.

Ryota has earned everything he has by his hard work, and believes nothing can stop him from pursuing his perfect life as a winner. Then one day, he and his wife, Midori, get an unexpected phone call from the hospital. Their 6-year-old son, Keita, is not 'their' son - the hospital gave them the wrong baby.

Ryota is forced to make a life-changing decision, to choose between 'nature' and 'nurture.' Seeing Midori's devotion to Keita even after learning his origin, and communicating with the rough yet caring family that has raised his natural son for the last six years, Ryota also starts to question himself: has he really been a 'father' all these years.

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/ifcfilms/likefatherlikeson/

Based on the #1 New York Times best-selling book of the same name, HEAVEN IS FOR REAL brings to the screen the true story of a small-town father who must find the courage and conviction to share his son's extraordinary, life-changing experience with the world.

The film stars Academy Award nominee and Emmy award winning actor Greg Kinnear as Todd Burpo and co-stars Kelly Reilly as Sonja Burpo, the real-life couple whose son Colton (newcomer Connor Corum) claims to have visited Heaven during a near death experience. Colton recounts the details of his amazing journey with childlike innocence and speaks matter-of-factly about things that happened before his birth, things he couldn't possibly know. Todd and his family are then challenged to examine the meaning from this remarkable event.

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/heavenisforreal/

Documentary Making Tips

Documentaries

Below are some recommended documentaries that we will be viewing and discussing. By viewing them we hope to gain a clearer understanding of the medium on the documentary and how you can create an interesting and engaging story from a subject that from the outside may seem mundane.

The Boy Who's Skin Fell Off (2004)

A frank and moving film about Jonny Kennedy, an extraordinary man with a terrible condition - Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) - which means his skin literally falls off at the slightest touch.

Spellbound (2002)

"Spellbound" is one of those documentaries that isn't soaked with politics or social dilemmas, but it is touches on them indirectly. It's the story of 8 kids from all over the United States, their study habits, lives, relationships with parents and personal beliefs, views and opinions. And how they make it to the National Spelling Bee Contest.

An Inconvenient Truth (2006)

An Inconvenient Truth offers a passionate and inspirational look at one man's fervent crusade to halt global warming's deadly progress in its tracks by exposing the myths and misconceptions that surround it. That man is former Vice President Al Gore, who, in the wake of defeat in the 2000 election, re-set the course of his life to focus on a last-ditch, all-out effort to help save the planet from irrevocable change.

The Bridge (2004)

People suffer largely unnoticed while the rest of the world goes about its business. This is a documentary exploration of the mythic beauty of the Golden Gate Bridge, the most popular suicide destination in the world, and those drawn by its call.

Fahrenheit 911 (2004)

In this film, muckraker Michael Moore turns his eye on George W. Bush and his War on Terrorism agenda. He illustrates his argument about how this failed businessman with deep connections to the royal house of Saud of Saudia Arabia and the Bin Ladins got elected on fraudulent circumstances and proceeded to blunder through his duties while ignoring warnings of the looming betrayal by his foreign partners. When that treachery hits with the 9/11 attacks, Moore explains how Bush failed to take immediate action to defend his nation, only to later cynically manipulate it to serve his wealthy backers' corrupt ambitions.