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Category Archives: Philosophy

System Error

05 Oct

2018 ‧ Documentary ‧ 1h 36m

“System Error” seeks answers to the great contradictions of our time and makes it clear why, despite everything, everything continues as before. The film shows the world from the perspective of people fascinated by the possibilities of capitalism. Whether European financial strategists, American hedge fund managers or Brazilian meat producers: They cannot, must not or do not even want to imagine a world without an expanding economy.

A humorous personal and essay film addressing architecture, habitation, space, density, xenophobia, gentrification and urban development. A power struggle between mountain peasants who have been raising milk cows on common land and a village bailiff trying to gain power driving them off the land.

Initial release: May 10, 2018 (Germany)
Director: Florian Opitz
Screenplay: Florian Opitz
Cinematography: Andy Lehmann
Producers: Florian Opitz, Jan Krüger

WEBSITE

livia@icarusfilms.com
718-488-8900

 
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Posted by on October 5, 2019 in A: New/Just Added, Big Business/Corporations, Communism/Socialism, Documentary, Farm & Food, Finance, Global Economy, Philosophy, Technology

 

The Big Short (2015)

24 Dec
R | | Biography, Comedy, Drama | 23 December 2015 (USA)

In 2006-7 a group of investors bet against the US mortgage market. In their research they discover how flawed and corrupt the market is.

Director: Adam McKay 
Writers: Charles Randolph (screenplay by), Adam McKay (screenplay by)
Stars: Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling

 

 
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Posted by on December 24, 2018 in Big Business/Corporations, Drama, Finance, Global Economy, Philosophy, White Collar

 

Good Luck

23 Dec

Ben Russell 
France, Germany / 2017/143 min

Ben Russell’s third feature is an apparent simplicity that is only matched by its power of evocation. Divided into two distinct parts (and an epilogue), this conceptual ethnographic film takes us to the heart of two sites of intense manual work poles apart from each other. The first is a Serbian underground copper mine. The second is an open-pit gold mine in Suriname. Sublimely shot in super 16mm, in black and white and color, Good Luck is openly a study of contrasts that encourages us to reflect on the differences – and the similarities – between the anxious atmosphere of the state mine and the sinking sun of the semi-legal career. Constantly emphasizing the individuality and mutual aid of the workers, Good Luck is also, and above all, a great gesture of humanist solidarity. (BD)

Ben Russell’s third feature is as powerful as it is apparently simple. Presented in two distinct parts plus an epilogue, this conceptual ethnographic film transports us to two intense and very different manual labor sites. The first is an underground copper mine in Serbia, the second year open-pit gold mine in Suriname. Beautifully shot in 16mm, in both color and black and white, Good Luck is a study in contrasts that encourages us to think about the differences and similarities between the tense atmosphere of the state-run mine and the brutal sun beating down on the semi- legal quarry. Always highlighting the workers’ individuality and solidarity, Good Luck is also a work of deep humanist solidarity.

Review (NYT): In ‘Good Luck,’ Miners in Serbia and Suriname Share a Cinematic Link

 
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Posted by on December 23, 2018 in Documentary, Experimental, Global Economy, Industrial/Mine/Manufacturing, Philosophy, Technology, Working Class

 

Heather Booth: Changing the World

07 Mar

Heather Booth: Changing the World

2016 ‧ Documentary ‧ 1 hour

Release date: July 27, 2017 (CA)
Director: Lilly Rivlin
Editor: Pola Rapaport
Music composed by: Kyle Casey Chu
Producer: Lilly Rivlin
Cast: Heather Booth
Cinematography: Jo Freeman, Julie Gaynin, Michael Moser, MORE

heatherbooththefilm@gmail.com

Women Make Movies

coshea@wmm.com | http://www.wmm.com

 
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Posted by on March 7, 2018 in Documentary, Organizing, Philosophy, Politics, Women

 

YOUNG KARL MARX, THE [LE JEUNE KARL MARX; DER JUNGE KARL MARX]

07 Mar

Following his documentary I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO, Raoul Peck takes on the story of the formative friendship of Karl Marx (August Diehl) and Friedrich Engels (Stefan Konarske). From Germany to France to England, the young thinkers pursue justice for the working class, who toiled under obscenely exploitative conditions to enrich their employers (including Engels’ father, a mill owner) during the peak of the Industrial Revolution. Peck crafts an accessible biopic about these two larger-than-life thinkers, taking them down from their historicized pedestals and allowing viewers to relate to them as young strivers disrupting an inequitable status quo through the power of persuasion and organization. Official selection, 2017 Berlin International Film Festival. DIR/SCR/PROD Raoul Peck; SCR Pascal Bonitzer; PROD Nicolas Blanc, Rémi Grellety, Robert Guédiguian. Germany/France/Belgium, 2017, color, 118 min. In German, English and French with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Run Time: 118 Minutes
Genre: Historical drama

 
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Posted by on March 7, 2018 in A: Highly Recommended Labor Films, Comedy, Communism/Socialism, Drama, Labor History, Philosophy, Working Class

 

WILD MOUSE [WILDE MAUS]

07 Mar

A music critic in midlife crisis seeks revenge on the boss who fired him in this satirical seriocomedy, the directorial debut of actor Josef Hader (THE BONEMAN, STEFAN ZWEIG: FAREWELL TO EUROPE). Unwilling to come clean about his termination, Georg (Hader) pretends to go to work each day, but instead hangs out in Vienna’s Prater amusement park, where he befriends ride operator Erich (Georg Friedrich), previously his childhood tormentor. Georg becomes increasingly attracted to Erich’s Romanian girlfriend Nicoletta (Crina Semciuc), more alienated from his therapist wife, Johanna (Pia Hierzegger) and more aggressive in his stealth harassment of his ex-boss (Jörg Hartmann). Official Selection, 2017 Berlin Film Festival. DIR/SCR Josef Hader; PROD Veit Heiduschka, Michael Katz. Austria/Germany, 2017, color, 103 min. In German and Italian with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Run Time: 103 Minutes
Genre: Dark comedy

 
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Posted by on March 7, 2018 in Cities-Urban, Class, Comedy, Communications, Drama, Philosophy, White Collar

 

Joy of Man’s Desiring (Que ta joie demeure) (2014)

10 Oct

1h 10min | Documentary, News | 16 January 2015 (USA)

Director: Denis Côté
Writer: Denis Côté
Stars: Olivier Aubin, Ted Pluviose, Hamidou Savadogo |

An open-ended exploration of the energies and rituals of various workplaces. From one worker to another and one machine to the next; hands, faces, breaks, toil: what kind of absurdist, abstract dialogue can be started between human beings and their need to work? What is the value of the time we spend multiplying and repeating the same motions that ultimately lead to a rest – a state of repose whose quality defies definition.

Trailer: https://youtu.be/jIaWeSRqNAg

 
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Posted by on October 10, 2016 in Automation, Documentary, Global Economy, Manufacturing, Philosophy

 

7 Chinese Brothers (2015)

11 Nov

76 min  |  Comedy  |  28 August 2015 (USA)

Director/writer: Bob Byington

Stars: Jason Schwartzman, Stephen Root, Olympia Dukakis
Larry (Jason Schwartzman) is content with his dog Arrow and booze, barely tolerating anything or anyone else. His marginally successful relationships include his grandmother, who keeps him afloat financially, and his best friend Norwood, who provides him with pharmaceuticals. But a chance encounter at a Jiffy Lube gives Larry a beguiling new boss and the impetus to head in another direction for a while. This movie showcases all that may be needed to help a person get unstuck in life: love (or an unrequited crush), friendship (or someone your family likes better than you) and family (or in this case a grandmother who will support you whenever you get fired from a job).

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/28/movies/review-7-chinese-brothers-a-slacker-comedy-starring-jason-schwartzman-and-his-dog.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share

This droll film, written and directed by Bob Byington, drifts aimlessly but appealingly with Mr. Schwartzman as its lost hero.

 
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Posted by on November 11, 2015 in Comedy, Philosophy, Self-Employed/Freelance, Working Class

 

Open Eyes (2013)

11 Nov

Filmmaker: Martin Aletta

Argentina/Japan | 2013 | Fiction | 15 minutes

Tokyo. Ryo goes to his job at the railway company where he’s task is remove the remains of the railroad due to the numerous suicides. Saki, a young girl, wanders around her city contemplating an apathetic society. Her walk drives her to the platform of station where Ryo finds her…

2015 Brazilian International Labour Film Festival

 
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Posted by on November 11, 2015 in Cities-Urban, Drama, Philosophy, Transportation, Women

 

Second Class (2013)

11 Nov

Filmmakers: Marta Dauliute and Elisabeth Marjanovic ́ Cronvall

Sweden/Lithuania | 2013 | Documentary | 60 minutes

“Do you feel cheaper?” We are filming Lithuanian migrant working men in Sweden. They do not want to be on camera, they do not want to participate in creating one more media image for guilt and pity. They film us. We empty a bottle of moonshine, we dance on their porch. They might let us film them tomorrow.

Through sincere and frustrating negotiation to get access to film the migrant workers, Second Class becomes a discussion about class, the value of work and human. While showing the filming process film raises questions about power relations in film industry itself.
2015 Brazilian International Labour Film Festival

 
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Posted by on November 11, 2015 in Class, Documentary, Global Economy, Immigrants/Immigration, Migrant workers, Philosophy

 
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