24th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival
MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A.
synopsis
Producer and singer M. I. A., who is originally from Sri Lanka, covers the subjects of immigration, a non-Western view of Western society, and minority rights in her music. The film uses her personal video diary and comments on the frequent accusations that the identity of Maya Arulpragasam is partially a construct,
biography
Steve Loveridge is Maya’s former classmate. The film, his debut, was made primarily from 700 hours of archival material that Maya gave him in 2013. The resulting film caused a controversy between him and the subject of his film.
more about film
| director: | Stephen Loveridge |
| producer: | Lori Cheatle |
| editing: | Marina Katz |
| music: | M.I.A. |
other films in the section
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Lost Tune
Reetu Sattar
Bangladesh / 2018 / 13 min.
section: Siren Test
East European Premiere
The (cinematic) archeology of electronica. Eugeniusz Rudnik revolutionized the idea of music using a pair of scissors and a magnetic tape. At Polish Radio’s legendary Experimental Studio, he revealed the hidden value of rough and rejected sounds long before the rise of DJs. 15 Corners of the World is an attempt at hearing the vision of his music.
15 Corners of the World
Zuzanna Solakiewicz
Poland, Germany / 2014 / 79 min.
section: Siren Test
Czech Premiere
A fascinating portrait of an artist who donated all his belongings to the Danish National Gallery. Goodiepal combines music, performance and his own life into a crazy and uncompromising, but also loving and logical, answer to today’s world. Hidden beneath the outer layer of absurdity lie well-considered viewpoints and a social and environmental sensibility.
The Goodiepal Equation
Sami Sänpäkkilä
Denmark, Finland / 2017 / 70 min.
section: Siren Test
International Premiere
How the pleasure from the sound of electric guitars and rock and roll helped break down Communist power in the Soviet Union. During the Cold War, the desire of thousands of amateur and underground bands for Western-style freedom became a nonviolent opposition force. Even the CIA and the KGB understood the power of rock and roll. The film maps the Soviet music scene from 1955 to 1991 from an American perspective.
Free to Rock
Jim Brown
United States / 2017 / 61 min.
section: Siren Test
Czech Premiere
Today’s re-evaluation of the 20th century is happening on many fronts – one example is this portrait of German music producer Conny Plank, who helped shape the music of Kraftwerk, David Bowie, Brian Eno, Neu!, Devo, Cluster, Ultravox and Eurythmics, and who died at just 47.
Conny Plank: The Potential of Noise
Reto Caduff, Stephan Plank
Germany / 2017 / 92 min.
section: Siren Test
East European Premiere
Rapper Lil Peep and his life cut short are the subject of this film, which paints a portrait of the protagonist using images from the post-internet age - from mobile phone videos to film clips to original cinematographic work (the film was executive produced by Terrence Malick). The film follows the rise of fragile, vulnerable Peep from his discovery as a hip-hop sensation, up to his narcotics overdose at age 21.
Everybody’s Everything
Sebastian Jones, Ramez Silyan
United States, United Kingdom / 2018 / 115 min.
section: Siren Test
Central European Premiere
Film sound design, its art, history and celebration! The film, presented this year in Cannes, is an elite feature-length lesson on everything relating to sound in contemporary cinema: high-quality, refined, drawing on the tradition of cinematic tricks and sophisticated technology. In a film chock-full of clips from films and from the sound studios, film legends George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Barbra Streisand, Robert Redford, David Lynch, Ang Lee, and Sofia Coppola share their experiences.
Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound
Midge Costin
United States / 2019 / 94 min.
section: Siren Test
Czech Premiere
Different ways of describing the same thing: riot grrrlz, third-wave feminism, the female invasion of the punk scene. This portrait of Kathleen Hanna (Bikini Kill, Le Tigre) captures the revolutionary wave of underground girl bands and the changing relationship between feminism and society since the 1990s. A film that manages to balance punk wildness with serious investigation.
The Punk Singer
Sini Anderson
United States / 2013 / 83 min.
section: Siren Test
Czech Premiere
An energetic documentary that presents the story of a unique musical rebel who represented the essential opposition element in Nigeria, yet still managed to define the explosive afrobeat style. The film avoids the myths, preferring to let witnesses tell a more realistic story. Fela Kuti, whose importance for the entire Pan-African generation is indisputable, is presented in more detail and more vividly than ever before.
My Friend Fela
Joel Zito Araújo
Brazil / 2019 / 94 min.
section: Siren Test
East European Premiere
100 years of archival footage in the guise of an experimental film. The magic, charm, and disorder of rural life. Cinematic memories of folk festivals, masked processions, sowing, and harvesting. The electro-acoustic music helps to define this film essay showing the beauty, brutality, and madness of rural Britain.
Arcadia
Paul Wright
United Kingdom / 2017 / 78 min.
section: Siren Test
East European Premiere
This personal film essay starts out following three sound artists (including Chris Watson, who is known for his recordings of nature), but takes a surprising turn when the director meets the deaf writer Louise Stern. The poetic film diary shows the growing role of audio media in the world of images.
Little Tsunamis
Toby Clarkson
United Kingdom / 2017 / 81 min.
section: Siren Test
World Premiere
As the camera follows the political, rebellious, bitterly entertaining and vulgar Sleaford Mods, it uncovers many sides of the social reality of Brexit-era Britain. Jason Williamson, whose performance The Guardian once compared to Peter Handke’s drama Offending the Audience, captures the feelings of, among others, people stuck in “shit jobs” in small towns.
Bunch of Kunst - A Film about Sleaford Mods
Christine Franz
Germany / 2017 / 102 min.
section: Siren Test
Czech Premiere
