Pastoral - To Die in the Country (1974)

Pastoral: To Die in the Country (Japanese: 田園に死す, Hepburn: Den-en ni shisu; lit. 'To Die in the Countryside'), also known as Pastoral Hide and Seek (French: Cache-cache pastoral), is a 1974 Japanese experimental surrealist film written and directed by Shūji Terayama. Adapted from Terayama's 1965 tanka poetry collection and a 1962 television drama he scripted—both sharing the film's Japanese title—the film stars Kantarō Suga, Hiroyuki Takano [ja], Kaoru Yachigusa, and Isao Kimura. Employing a film-within-a-film structure, it depicts an adult director (Suga)—a stand-in for Terayama—who encounters resistance from his younger self (Takano) as he attempts to complete a cinematic reimagining of his rural adolescence.

Phantom (1975)

Toshio Matsumoto depicts an unreal world created by piecing together fragments of fantasies and delusions seen by a single woman. The mysterious color tones, which are far removed from the actual sense of color, are due to the use of color infrared film.

Fruit of Paradise (1970)

Fruit of Paradise (Czech: Ovoce stromů rajských jíme) is a 1970 Czechoslovak avant-garde drama film directed by Věra Chytilová. It was entered into the 1970 Cannes Film Festival. The film is an adaptation of the Adam and Eve story. This was Chytilová's last film before she was placed on an eight-year ban by the Czechoslovak Government. Fellow Czech screenwriter and costume designer Ester Krumbachová collaborated with Chytilová on the screenplay, costumes, and decor.

"Himiko" (卑弥呼) 1974

Himiko (Japanese: 卑弥呼) is a 1974 bizarre Japanese fantasy drama film directed by Masahiro Shinoda. It was entered into the 1974 Cannes Film Festival Feature Film Competition.

The story follows the myth of the Sun Goddess, Himiko, who is the earliest Japanese historical figure documented in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean history, although her existence, identity, and location have been the source of endless debate.

Nevertheless, the consensus talks about a queen-shaman who was ruling Yamatai, the Kingdom of the Sun before Japan became a specific, separate entity.

In the film, she is a shaman who speaks for the Sun God, being revered in the society she lives in but also constrained by the will of her people for her to be a sacred entity. As the story begins, she finds herself in the middle of political turmoil regarding the succession of King Ohkimi, who is actually the true decision-maker in the kingdom, despite Himiko's role.

Ohkimi plans to have Mimaki as his heir, but his younger brother, Ikume also wants the throne, while priest Nashime prefers Himiko to be the ruler.

The tension in the film escalates when Takehiko, Himiko's half brother, returns after his world travels. Himiko, the shaman, finds herself falling in love with him, adding a layer of emotional conflict to the narrative.

However, Takehiko seems to have feelings for Adahime, a woman who assists Himiko in her various rituals.

As the story unfolds, the antagonism between the Kingdom of the Sun, the Kingdom of the Land, and The Kingdom of the Mountains also reaches a boiling point, further heightening the emotional stakes.

Here is the full-length film with English subtitles

The Rise and Fall of The Fall

The Fall were a groundbreaking band who created some brilliant music. They combined a poetic aesthetic with the gritty anti-authoritarianism of Punk. This was accomplished under the leadership of the late Mark E. Smith (1957 - 2018). But we need to examine how Smith worked and what his motivations were. This short documentary does that by looking at how he managed the band, leading it for more than 40 years with many different members.

In April 1998, Manchester band The Fall played a live show at Brownie's in New York City, where chaos reigned from the very first song. There was an on-stage brawl, most of the band quit after the gig, and frontman Mark E Smith was arrested by the NYPD. This is the story of what happened at that concert, and why.

Breathless (1960)

A masterpiece of the French New Wave cinema. In many ways this film is the birth of European cool.

Breathless (French: À bout de souffle, 'Out of Breath') is a 1960 French New Wave film noir crime drama. written and directed by Jean-Luc Godard. It stars Jean-Paul Belmondo as a wandering criminal named Michel, and Jean Seberg as his American girlfriend Patricia. The film was Godard's first feature-length work and represented Belmondo's breakthrough as an actor.

Upon its initial release in France, the film attracted over two million viewers. It has since been considered one of the best films ever made, In May 2010, a fully restored version of the film was released in the United States to coincide with the film's 50th anniversary.-Wikipedia.

Fully restored version with English subtitles.

"Violent Nation - Episode 1 (2005) | Rik Mayall - Documentary"

Presented by Rik Mayall, this history series questions the current belief that violence and violent crime are ont he rise in 21st Century Britain by unearthing the hidden violence in Britain's past.

First Mongrel Nation debunked the myth that Englishness was under attack from a tidal wave of immigration. Now Violent Nation takes on the real bogeyman – violence. Each hour-long show is themed around one aspect of Britain’s violent history: VIOLENT STREETS, VIOLENT STATE and VIOLENT LIVES.

Each programme encompasses its own chronological sweep, focussing on six key events, moving from the 1600s to the first half of the 20th century. These stories shatter the misconception about how dangerous our country has become by revealing the surprising truth about how things really used to be.

First transmitted in 2004.

The Magical Writings of Ithell Colquhoun

She was too surreal… even for the Surrealists. Ithell Colquhoun stepped into a movement built on dreams, rebellion, and the subconscious—and still managed to make them uncomfortable. While others flirted with mysticism, she went all in, studying the occult and refusing to separate her art from her inner life. That’s where the tension began. The Surrealists, led by André Breton, wanted control over the movement, and Colquhoun refused to choose between their rules and her beliefs. So they made the choice for her—and expelled her.

But she didn’t disappear. She kept creating, developing her own techniques, building a visual language that was entirely her own, and pushing deeper into the subconscious without permission or approval. For years, she was overlooked while others became icons. Now, her work feels more modern, more fearless, and more honest than ever—because she wasn’t trying to fit into a movement, she was building something beyond it. Some artists wait to be accepted. Others redefine what acceptance even means.

Ithell Colquhoun’s reputation as a provocative and accomplished visual artist and writer is becoming well established. However, less is known about her work as an occult and esoteric essayist, primarily because many of her essays were published in occult ephemera, and limited run local and specialist magazines. This illustrated talk will be an introduction to the wide range of topics that Colquhoun masterfully tackled, ranging from primers on the Kabbalah to Celtic spirituality, meditation, mysticism, and magical color theory.

Jessica Hundley Series Editor for TASCHEN Publications multivolume collection, The Library of Esoterica, a book series exploring the visual history of Tarot, Astrology and other esoteric traditions introduces the event.

Dr. Amy Hale is an Atlanta based writer, curator and critic. She has a PhD in Folklore and Mythology from UCLA and has published academic and popular articles on a wide range of topics such as Paganism and the New Right, women’s esoteric art, Cornish cultural nationalism, Arthuriana, color theory, and occult performance art. She has written widely on artist and occultist Ithell Colquhoun, notably the biography Ithell Colquhoun: Genius of the Fern Loved Gully (Strange Attractor 2020) and is currently editing a selection of Colquhoun’s esoteric essays. She is also the editor of Essays on Women in Western Esotericism: Beyond Seeresses and Sea Priestesses (Palgrave 2022). She has contributed gallery texts and essays for a number of institutions including Tate, Camden Arts Centre, Art UK, Arusha Galleries, Heavenly Records and Spike Island, Bristol.

The Fisherman's Daughter - Tzarevna Scaling (2020)

A fishmonger's daughter drinks some tea rumoured to cure insomnia and enters into a hallucagenic fairy-tale world where she must complete a series of tasks to determine if she has what it takes to become a Tzarevna (the daughter of the Tzar). Click on the image above to be taken to the full film.

'Musical Holdouts' (1975)

An expansive survey of 1975 American musical subcultures that steadfastly refuse to be blanded by mainstream consciousness. Directed by John Cohen(1932-2019. From front porch banjo pickers in Appalachia and the Bluegrass Festival circuit to black children on the Carolina sea islands, cowboys, and Cheyenne and Comanche Indians, they have all retained their cultural identities despite pressures from the mass media and popular culture.—Folkstreams