NOBORU HONMA Japanese wood craftsman


2016-III-10 | 4 min 8s | Directed by Koji Hagiuda

Noboru Honma perfoming a traditional Japanese Hakone Marquetry.

The Engines That Came in from the Cold



2001-III-1 | Channel 4 | 50 min | Written and directed by Dan Clifton


The first of a new run of Channel 4's science documentary strand, this film tells the story of how the Russians, at the height of the Cold War space race, developed a very remarkable kind of rocket engine. Not only was the technology different from that used by the Americans, it was actually better. When half a dozen of these engines were rediscovered 20 years after they were built, they were found - to the amazement of the American rocket design establishment - to be superior in power to anything NASA had come up with in the intervening decades. What's more, they worked. Now, incredibly, Russian engines are being used to launch American rockets. 
via: dailymail 




TAMPOPO directed by Juzo Itami



1985-XI-23 | Color | Japanese | 115 min | Directed by Juzo Itami

Janus films has restored in 4K Juzo Itami's (伊丹十三) classic film TAMPOPO (タンポポ). The movie will be released by Criterion Collection in the US. It is already available in Japan in Bluray and DVD Here the new US and the original Japanese Posters.


JODOROWSKY'S DUNE directed by Frank Pavich


2013-V-18 | Color | Spanish, french & english | 90 min | Directed by Frank Pavich

SYNOPSIS 
This fascinating documentary explores the genesis of one of cinema's greatest epics that never was: cult filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky's (EL TOPO) adaptation of Frank Herbert's sci-fi classic Dune, whose cast would have included such icons as Salvador Dali, Orson Welles and Mick Jagger. In 1975, following the runaway success of his art-house freak-outs EL TOPO and HOLY MOUNTAIN, Alejandro Jodorowsky secured the rights to Frank Herbert's Dune - and began work on what was gearing up to be a cinematic game-changer, a sci-fi epic unlike anything the world had ever seen. 
Jodorowsky enlisted an elite group of artistic mercenaries, including French comic book artist Moebius, who illustrated the storyboards; screenwriter Dan O'Bannon (DARK STAR, ALIEN); artist H.R. Giger (ALIEN); and sci-fi paperback illustrator Chris Foss. For the cast, he lined up icons ranging from Salvador Dali and Mick Jagger to Orson Welles, and even his own son, who was put through two years of gruelling martial arts training to prepare for his role. Unfortunately, the film was never made. 
Director Frank Pavich tackles one of cinema's most enthralling "what could have been" stories, weaving interviews with the charismatic Jodorowsky, his collaborators, and supporters (including DRIVE director Nicolas Winding Refn), together with animation to bring Moebius' storyboards to life. Even though the project exists only in the imaginations of its creators, and as the hundreds of illustrations they left behind, Pavich's documentary chooses not to dwell on failure, but rather celebrates the ways in which the creative dreams of Dune planted seeds for many other iconic films that came after it, from STAR WARS to ALIEN to countless more. This is an inspirational story about the power of the creative spirit, one that establishes Jodorowsky as a master of cinema and a true visionary of our time. 
COLIN GEDDES, TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL



FRAGMENTOS DE AMOR directed by Fernando Vallejo


2016-VIII-18 | Color | Spanish | 100 min | Directed by Fernando Vallejo

The recently released Fragmetos de Amor (Fragments of love) is the debut film of director Fernando Vallejo with whom I had the honor to work this week, together with Jochi Melero in a Coors beer commercial in Puerto Rico. The film was awarded with the Glauber Rocha award for the best film from latin America in the last Montreal Film Festival last September.  Check the making of featurette here.


SNEKERHEADZ directed by David T. Friendly & Mick Partridge


2015-VIII-7 | Color | 73 min| Directed by David T. Friendly & Mick Partridge


To Rock or Stock? Sneakerheads will do almost anything to get their hands on a unique pair of kicks, going to such extreme lengths as hiding in trash cans to score a pair of Retro Jordan 11s to camping for days in sub zero temperatures for the latest Nike Foamposites. How did sneakers become as prized as collectable art? From the shores of Cali to the congested streets of Tokyo, Sneakerheadz examines the cultural influence of sneaker collecting around the world and delves into a subculture whose proud members don’t just want to admire art, they want to wear it.