New on Kamera: Hunger and Caos Calmo

Plenty of good stuff on Kamera this week, namely reviews of Hunger (about an IRA terrorist on hunger strike) and the Nanni Moretti-starred Caos Calmo (Quiet Chaos). Trailers below.

Hunger


Caos Calmo

Trailer: Of Time and the City

A trailer of Terence Davies' new film, Of Time and the City is available here. Davies' homage to his native city of Liverpool is redolent of the city film genre epitomised by Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (1927) and, to a certain degree, Dziga Vertov's The Man With a Movie Camera (1929). The blurb describes the film as a "meditation on time, memory and mortality" (heard that one before?) and it opens in the UK on Friday, 31 October 2008.

New on Kamera: The Animals Film

Those who doubt the power of influence that cinema can exert should look no further than The Animals Film. The groundbreaking exposé of the cruelty involved in animal farming and other forms of humanity's tyrannical domination over most species on the planet is credited with turning thousands of people to vegetarianism when it first aired on Channel Four in November 1982. It celebrated its 25th anniversary last year and now the film has received a BFI release.
Kamera received kind permission from the BFI to reproduce an excerpt from the DVD booklet, written by Philip Windeatt, in which the researcher describes his visits to America's bleak factory farms.

Acclaim for The Animals Film is unanimous, including this glowing piece written by Ken Russell for the Times. And here, Julie Christie, the film's narrator, remembers the impact of this seminal documentary.

Trailer: The Animals Film

Free outdoor screenings in London

New on Kamera: Filming on a Microbudget

There's no better way to become a filmmaker than making a short film. That's how most directors get started and, with low-cost digital technology, it's never been easier from a tecnnical point of view to make a film on a shoestring budget.

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New on Kamera: London Film Festival preview

The London Film Festival kicks off tomorrow. John Atkinson gives us the lowdown on the 2008 programme, which, although not a vintage year, offers a few delights. Speaking of which, I found this cute video starring Wim Wenders and a digitally-inserted Antonioni, philosophising about the future of cinema in a Brazilian southern city.

Back to Room 666 from Think Tank on Vimeo.

New on Kamera: Out At The Movies

One of Kamera Books' latest releases is an insightful book about gay cinema called Out At The Movies: A History of Gay Cinema, penned by Steven Paul Davies, who kindly agreed to do a Q&A with us. And guess what? YouTube has a great little number that includes excerpts from many of the films mentioned in the book. Enjoy it ...

All hail Cinéphilia, London's new film book store

Film lovers in London have noticed that the number of shops that specialise in their favourite subject matter have been dwindling over time. So it's fantastic news to hear that our mates at Wallflower Press have opened a shop to fill in the gap. Cinéphilia starts trading today and we wish them the best of luck. Located at 97 Sclater St, just off the centre of the universe, that is, Brick Lane, it sounds very promising indeed. Pop around and get your film culture fix.

New on Kamera: Twenty Puccini

Film artists Anthea Kennedy and Ian Wiblin have written a piece for Kamera with an account of their collaboration to the Twenty Puccini omnibus film project fostered by the Lucca Film Festival in Italy due to start next Thursday.

New on Kamera: calls for entry

We've just posted a few very interesting screening opportunities currently open for submission, including the instigating Teaserland initiative that specializes in fake trailers. The home page highlights an entertaining teaser for The Exorcist. You' ve been warned!