Nass El Ghiwane - Taghounja

Taghounja (1980), Moroccan-Italian filmmaker Abdou Achouba’s ode to Sufi poet Abderrahman el Majdoub’s Qasidas starring Larbi Batma and Omar Sayed, two of the members of Nass El Ghiwane, who will also compose the film’s soundtrack. The film charts a quest for identity by two characters: one, a lyricist and musician (Batma), who strives to immerse himself in his country’s rich cultural heritage; the other, a young boy, who looks at the world around him through the eyes of innocence. Bringing to mind Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Uccellacci e Uccellini (1966), to whom the film is dedicated.

At Omar Sayed’s instigation, Larbi Batma desperately wanders through a mystical Morocco tirelessly collecting oral poetry, sounds and rhythms primarily drawn from popular music and the repertoire of the traditional religious brotherhoods (Gnawa, Aissawa, Heddawa, H’madcha, Jilala, etc.) While classified as fiction, Taghounja is, strictly speaking, a docu-fiction. However, its approach is markedly different from that of Transes (Maanouni’s essay film about Nass El Ghiwane). Instead of a biopic, it dramatizes the group’s lyrics, sometimes literally, within the sociopolitical life of the time. The parallel wanderings of the musician and the child mirroring the state of affairs of late 70s Morocco, a country still alienated by colonialism, neo-colonialism and the perversion of certain customs and traditions. The quest comes to nothing and Abdou Achouba refuses to give audiences an answer, preferring instead an open-ended conclusion.<å> Taghounja was awarded a prize at the Venice Film Festival and the Carthage Film Festival, and was widely acclaimed by French intellectuals and artists. However, the politicised audience of students at the Maison du Maroc in Paris gave Achouba a reserved welcome, reproaching him for not being critical enough of the regime. Moroccan film critic and Abdou’s former philosophy teacher Noureddine Saïl said in his weekly radio program, Écran noir, “You may like or dislike Taghounja, but you have to admit that the film includes certain shots that are on a par with works of art.”

Oscar Wilde Vs Charles Baudelaire - Dandies of Darkness

Two literary rebels. Two unforgettable lives.
In this documentary, we explore the brilliant yet turbulent journeys of Oscar Wilde and Charles Baudelaire—two iconic writers who defied convention, embraced beauty, and paid a heavy price for their genius.

From Baudelaire’s provocative Les Fleurs du mal and his battle with censorship, to Wilde’s meteoric rise in Victorian society and his tragic downfall, this video delves into their personal struggles, controversial works, and the cultural legacies they left behind.

The Mask (1961)

A young archaeologist thinks he is cursed by an Aztec mask that makes him have strange nightmares. Before committing suicide, he sends the mask to his psychiatrist, who soon plunges into the mask's nightmarish world.

The Mask (re-released as Eyes of Hell and The Spooky Movie Show) is a 1961 Canadian surrealist horror film produced in 3-D by Warner Bros. It was directed by Julian Roffman and stars Paul Stevens, Claudette Nevins, and Bill Walker. It was written by Franklin Delessert, Sandy Haver, Frank Taubes and Slavko Vorkapich.

In a contemporary review, Howard Thompson of The New York Times commended the film's acting and cinematography but criticized the film's nightmare sequences, soundtrack and melodramatic plot. The Hollywood Reporter praised the film as "a superior horror film".

In retrospective reviews, Time Out panned the film, deeming it "a bland and hackneyed murder mystery that was spiced up by surreal nightmare sequences" and "tacky" use of 3D. Brad Wheeler of The Globe and Mail gave the film one out of four stars, similarly criticizing its 3D and plot and stating that its appeal was "limited to genre fetishists and popcorn-chomping ironists". Conversely, Chris Coffel of Bloody Disgusting felt that, despite a thin story, the film's psychedelic visuals, makeup effects and set pieces made it an enjoyable B-movie in the vein of William Castle.

The film has since gained a fan following over the years and is now considered a cult classic.The film was also featured in a season 13 episode of the cult science fiction series Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Carts of Darkness

Murray Siple's feature-length documentary follows a group of homeless men who have combined bottle picking with the extreme sport of racing shopping carts down the steep hills of North Vancouver. This subculture depicts street life as much more than the stereotypes portrayed in mainstream media. The film takes a deep look into the lives of the men who race carts, the adversity they face and the appeal of cart racing despite the risk. Shot in high-definition and featuring tracks from Black Mountain, Ladyhawk, Vetiver, Bison, and Alan Boyd of Little Sparta.

Honeyland (2019)

Honeyland (2019) is a stunning, meditative documentary that unfolds like a quiet epic about nature, tradition, and survival. Set in a remote village in North Macedonia, the film follows Hatidze Muratova, a lone, middle-aged beekeeper and one of the last in Europe to practice wild beekeeping in harmony with the land.

Living with her ailing mother in a crumbling stone hut, Hatidze climbs cliffs, whispers to her bees, and harvests honey with care — always leaving “half for the bees.” Her existence is simple but dignified, rooted in an unspoken code of balance and respect. That delicate balance is disrupted when a nomadic family with seven children and dozens of cattle settles nearby. At first, Hatidze welcomes them with warmth. But when the family’s patriarch decides to take up beekeeping himself, driven more by profit than sustainability, tensions rise. Greed clashes with wisdom, and nature bears the cost.

Filmed over three years, directors Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov use no narration or interviews. Instead, they let the camera observe, allowing the story to emerge organically through breathtaking visuals and deeply human moments. The cinematography captures the stark beauty of the landscape and the quiet poetry of Hatidze’s daily rituals.

At its core, Honeyland is about more than bees — it's a microcosm of global issues: climate change, capitalism, and the fragile balance between humans and nature. Hatidze emerges as a quietly heroic figure, both resilient and heartbreakingly alone.

The film is both intimate and universal, minimalist yet emotionally rich. Nominated for both Best Documentary and Best International Feature at the Oscars, Honeyland is a rare gem that speaks volumes without ever raising its voice — a powerful testament to harmony, loss, and the price of exploitation.

Click on the above image to watch the entire film.

Story of a Prostitute (1965)

"Story of a Prostitute" (Shunpu Den) is a 1965 Japanese film directed by Seijun Suzuki. The movie is set during the Second Sino-Japanese War and follows the story of a young woman named Harumi, played by Yumiko Nogawa, who becomes a prostitute for the Japanese army. The film explores themes of love, sacrifice, and the dehumanizing effects of war. Seijun Suzuki's direction is characterized by his bold visual style and unconventional storytelling techniques, and "Story of a Prostitute" is no exception. The film features striking imagery and imaginative camerawork that enhance its emotional impact. "Story of a Prostitute" received critical acclaim for its powerful performances and gripping narrative. It's considered one of Suzuki's masterpieces and a highlight of Japanese cinema from the 1960s.

Click on the above image to watch the full film.

Vampyros Lesbos (1971)

Directed and cowritten by Jess Franco, this West German-Spanish collaboration was released in Spanish as Las Vampiras. It was shot in Turkey in 1970 and featured a notable soundtrack that was released in the 1990s as Vampyros Lesbos: Sexadelic Dance Party, which became a hit on the British alternative charts. Soledad Miranda stars as Countess Nadine Caroday, who uses her erotic nightclub act to lure and then kill nubile young women.

Number One (1973)

"Number One" (1973) is an Italian crime-thriller film directed by Gianni Buffardi. It stars Renzo Montagnani, Luigi Pistilli, and Claude Jade, and it's loosely based on a real-life story about crime and drugs in the Rome underground. The film explores the dark underbelly of Rome in the early 1970s, revealing drug use, crime, and sexual scandals. Click on the image for the full film.

The Devil Rides Out (1968)

The Devil Rides Out (U.S. title: The Devil's Bride), is a 1968 British horror film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Christopher Lee, Charles Gray, Niké Arrighi and Leon Greene. It was written by Richard Matheson based on the 1934 novel of the same title by Dennis Wheatley. It is considered one of Terence Fisher's best films. Click on the image above to watch it.

Good Copy Bad Copy

Good Copy Bad Copy is a documentary about copyright and culture in the context of Internet, peer-to-peer file sharing and other technological advances, directed by Andreas Johnsen, Ralf Christensen, and Henrik Moltke.

It features interviews with many people with various perspectives on copyright, including copyright lawyers, producers, artists and filesharing service providers.

A central point of the documentary is the thesis that "creativity itself is on the line" and that a balance needs to be struck, or that there is a conflict, between protecting the right of those who own intellectual property and the rights of future generations to create.