The Church of Saint Coltrane is a short documentary film produced by Alan Klingenstein, directed by Jeff Swimmer and edited by Andrew Fredericks. It was filmed in 1996. Its subject is the famous jazz saxophonist John Coltrane, who became deeply religious after overcoming his addictions to alcohol and heroin in 1957. Posthumously, he was made the patron saint of the St. John William Coltrane African Orthodox Church church in San Francisco, which holds jam sessions every Sunday that are "five-hour jam sessions interspersed with liturgy, sermons, and fellowship." The 26 minute documentary film received awards at seven film festivals. In 1998, it was shown on BRAVO, then sold to cable networks in Europe and Asia.
BEAUTIFUL FUNERALS is a hand-painted double-step-printed film composed of 1) dense blackness variously punctuated by brilliantly colored jewel/flower-like shapes AND 2) interruptive white sections which are fuzzily dotted with blurred whites and criss-crossed by black "brushstrokes" and hard-edge straight black and white lines.
Australian-born filmmaker George Miller offers a personal view of Australian films. He suggests that they can be regarded as visual music, public dreaming, mythology, and song-lines.
When Hydro-Québec announced its intention to proceed with the enormous James Bay II hydroelectric project, the 15,000 Cree who live in the region decided to stand up to the giant utility.
An old tango singer tries to contact his teenage son. A woman who is death or the Devil appears to him and asks him to sell his soul to connect with his son again.
Director Mohsen Makhmalbaf claims to have never seen a movie before making his first film. Doubtful as it sounds, this boast matches perfectly with the controversial artist's personae.
Fearful that the Russians would continue their lead in the space race and be the first to put a man on the moon, NASA felt an enormous pressure to push the Apollo Program forward as quickly as possible, though they knew that pushing too hard could lead to the ultimate disaster.
