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lemonluvgirl · 2 years

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You asked for it, babe (Ignore the ask game pun 🤣🤣)

3, 15, 19, 21, 23, 24, 25, and 27.

(lemme know if you answered any of those before but I demand ALL answers!! 🤣🤣)

WOW! Lots to answer! Let's get started!

3. Fave line/scene you wrote this year- I answered this one in detail a separate post. Its actually a scene from the very first fanficion I wrote (Burning Bright & Blazing Free) but here I'll just shorten it to a line instead of the whole scene and say, "we just lean on each other as we keep watch against the dangers in the dark. And it feels as if we've always done this. Like we've been here over and over again. It feels like this is who we are, and that it is finally, blessedly enough for us to be together this way."

15. Something you learned this year- Actually I learned how to insert fic cover aesthetics on AO3 from you Stella! And it really comes in handy! Thanks wifey ;)

19. Any new fics to start next year- well I recently got a couple tumblr ask/requests for drabbles, but there's also this one fic idea that evolved late one night while you and I were chatting with @jhsgf82, and that's to Everlark the movie Misery! I'm definitely wanting to start that fic next year.

21. Most memorable comment/review- There have been so many. Namely all of your reviews @sparklingdust4612, which are so in depth and encouraging they always make me cry happy tears. Your reviews are GOLD babe. I wish I could review as good as you. In addition to all of yours, ( I won't list them all because I'll run out of space) there are a few others.

"You truly have a gift. This is by the far the best reimagining I have read and I’m very excited to continue on to “Golden CagesBorrowed Wings” you really need to consider taking this on as career cause you strung these notes to make a beautiful symphony. Also, the listening suggestions is now my favorite playlist. I very much enjoy how the music really captures the color and feel of what you are trying to bring to life. Keep it up! Can’t wait to read how it all ends…begins? Comes full circle? Lol" -from Silentlight on Burning Bright & Blazing Free on FF.

"WOW! This was such an amazing fanfic for catching fire and is hands down the best rewrite I have ever read. Honestly. You have such a way of bringing out emotions in your writing that is so hard to put on paper. The way you had Katniss and Peeta connect over the course of this fic is the most natural and most true to the characters that I have ever read. It was never rushed and was done so beautifuly. You have such a strong ability to bring characters to life and have us all fall in love with them (deen for example). I am so thrilled you have decided to keep writing into mockingjay because your story cannot end here! We need to know how things are different now that Katniss is the one captured and how Peeta will deal with the rebellion. So amazing so beautiful! Congrats on such an amazing story!"-from Natalie5678 on Burning Bright & Blazing Free on FF

"This is my new obsession. Your writing is PHENOMONAL; the way you can keep the integrity of the characters and make all of their POVs so unique and distinctive. It is true talent that's for sure. I've blazed through your stories in the last few days, thinking about the next time I'm able to read throughout the whole day. I am just so captivated and hooked on this story. Honestly, I want to pay you for the hours of enthralling reading you've given me. Like I haven't felt this invested in a story for years. So seriously, drop or message me your Venmo or something and I will pay you. It is the least I can do."-from SimoneSnickers on Golden Cages & Borrowed Wings on FF

I read your catching fire story in two days and immediately read through all of Golden Cages that you have so far. I am obsessed. The writing, the characters, the life you’ve given them it’s so well done! I’m so invested and want to thank you for the amazing artistry youve allowed us to read. I eagerly await your updates!-from Ahyoka20 on Golden Cages & Borrowed Wings on FF

"I’ve beem reading your fic by the last days and i can say that i loved it, truly, i loved, this one and the catching fire alternative, both are amazing. One thing that really touched me was that the characters kept their essentials through the hole time, I've already read some fics that the characters kind get losts and seemd fake, so congratutions to keep everything "natural" . I am really excited to keep reading the next chapters 3."-from FlyingHighThias on Golden Cages & Borrowed Wings on FF.

"I seriously think you should write a romantic or rom com book! You have an amazing talent at capturing these moments and making them feel so real! I loved this story!!"-from xmasrose20 on The Hoodie on AO3.

23. Fics you wanted to write this year but didn't- I had this one idea recently that captivated me all day. I told you about it on messenger once. I've even got a title and premise worked up.... In an alternate universe, where the Capitol ceased the Hunger Games and began celebrating art above violence, every year the nation of Panem holds a countrywide competition called the Aptitude Games to find the most promising talent from across the 12 districts. The winner of the competition becomes the newest victor, and gains an all access pass to the parties, shows, and secret workings of the Capitol. Katniss Everdeen & Gale Hawthorne are rebel spies tasked with infiltrating the Capitol Elite’s inner circle, by impersonating a rich benefactor and his alluring new mistress. Having run away from District 12 when they were just teenagers, and starting their lives over in District 13, they have trained for years to help the rebellion bring the Capitol down from the inside out. But on their first mission their past from district 12 comes back to haunt them, in the form of that year’s newest co-victors, Peeta Mellark and Madge Undersee.

How will the rebel spies keep their cover from being blown? And more importantly how will Katniss keep up the pretence of being a bought and paid for companion when she begins to desire Panem’s newest victor instead of her partner?

Anyway that's what I have so far. I wanted to start it but didn't. It seems like it would be another huge WIP. I don't know when I'll get around to it. But I want to call it Rebel Heart of Mine.

24. Fave Fic You Read This Year- Wow that's like asking me to choose between my loved ones. But....I guess if I had to choose....ahhh I would pick...Owning Me by Elisza94. The world building and characterization for this one is insane, especially for someone who is not a native English speaker.

25. Already answered this one ;)

27. Favorite Fanic Author of the Year- Again with the making me choose between all the things I love most!!! I guess if you put a gun to my head and told me to pick or else I'd have to say....NOPE! Can't do it. There are too many amazing writers. I would feel wrong picking just one! Can I just give you a list of all my serious nominations??? That's what I'm going to do!!

1. @sparklingdust4612 nominated for her everlark drabbles, especially "Chill..." & "It was just 3 times!!"

2. @endlessnightlock nominated for "A New Path"

4. @jhsgf82 nominated for her "I do Solemnly Swear" & "Today's Forecast..."

5. @mrspeetamellark nominated for "The Professor's Secret" & "Academia"

6. @softlikethesunset12 nominated for "The Most Amazing Coffee"

7. @bethpeaches123 nominated for “Oh, Its You.”

There. I can't narrow it down anymore than that. Don't make me!!! In my personal head canon all of you guys are the winner.

#fanficendofyearasks #letsplay #thiswashard #butfun

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finessetheshow · 7 years

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Film Review: Batman V Superman (Repost; Aug 2016)

Retro Score: 6/10

No worries, no spoilers... But read this after youve seen the movie so it doesn't sway your opinion. So if youve been paying me a smidgen of your attention youd know my expectations were not extremely high. With that said I will say the movie was NOT horrible, alas it wasnt great either. It was solid. First the cinematography. Shots and color and tone were great. Beautiful visuals. Well picked shots and good mix of tone for different characters. This is important, you have two sharply contrasting characters in the star roles but the arent opposites, neither are they compliments. The dynamic of Batman and Superman is compelling in a way that hits close to home. You and your best friend are not the same, you might like similar food, clothes or hobbies but you have strong differences in opinion and you occasionally argue because you are human beings with depth. You are the respective main characters in your stories. Bats and Supes are very much like this. Therefore tact is required when approaching the tone of the separate characters.I felt after 1 viewing this was done well. Soundtrack. Meh. It felt like an after thought in the midst of everything. The score was seamless as most major motion pictures had better be, but it didnt move or add any zest or flavor and just wasnt memorable. Acting. Ok now to bash any of the acting in this movie would be in my opinion, nitpicking. I do think Gal's character (The WW herself) was a bit confusing as far as the role she was playing. I wasnt sure if they were going femme fatale who is secretly wonder woman or foreign diplomat with crazy secret identity but I think that comes down more to the writing..... Which was THE downfall of this movie. The movie spends the first act trying to decide if and what it wants to do with character development. It feels like this script traded hands a few times, which is something studios have a tendency to do when they are really feeling pressured to make a big feature work. Its a bit of an oxymoron. In trying to make a film good they tend to just make it worse. I dont know how true that is regarding the script trading hands (this is a fresh from the theatre review) but it certainly feels that way and if not well.... Jeez. Anyway because of this, there are a few scenes that are just incoherent and do not benefit the film nor add motivation to the characters or plot. Now I honestly feel we had something very close to a truly awesome film here. The fight scenes were well done, really capturing the nuances and character of the individual fight styles of the heros. And the two actors I was unsure about did well (Jesse and Ben) but with the shortcomings of the first act the second act couldnt bring the film to a strong enough close. WHAT WENT WRONG? Well I think there was a bit of flirtation with the origin story that didn't need to be there. Regardless of whether its been told or not, we are jumping into a point in this universe where Superman is the new kid and Bats has been around. We dont NEED Bats origin story. If they maybe gave a little more insight into the last 10 years of Batman (as he is 20 years in) that would have made for a more interesting story and could have added some unforeseeable motivation. Batman's crime fighting endeavors are alluded to but some solid exposition would have been interesting. Speaking of exposition. The pacing was ... confusing. In conjunction with a bit of unnecessary side plot and weird scene choices. Its like removing about 5 scenes would make this movie much better. Also they meshed two HUGE independent stories from the DC universe into one movie, which was cool and stupid. It should have been a case they bit off more than they could chew but man... They came close to devouring the thing. I didnt think Jesse would make a good Lex Luthor the Mastermind .... And quite honestly he didn't. I was feeling he was too Heath Ledger joker-esque but that speaks more the the epitome of comic book villian Heath is for us than what anyone else is/can/will do. But to retrack... Not a good Mastermind Lex....but a young mad man becoming the mastermind Lex Luthor... I could see right at the end. I left this movie wishing and knowing it could have been better but not upset that it wasnt. Not good enough to excite me for the Justice League, not bad enough to deter me. Good way to start this comic book movie frenzy year.

#batman #superman #movie #dawn #justice league

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topsolarpanels · 7 years

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50 documentaries you need to see

Ten of the best nonfiction film-makers today choose their own favourites, from serial murderer tales to meta pranks.

Joshua Oppenheimer

The Texan directors feature debut, The Act of Killing ( 2012 ), and its follow-up, The Look of Silence ( 2014 ), explore the consequences of the carnages in Indonesia. Both were nominated for Oscars .

Joshua Oppenheimer, photographed at home in Copenhagen. Photograph: Katherine Anne Rose for the Observer

Salaam Cinema, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, 1995

For this film, Mohsen Makhmalbaf announces a casting call: thousands of people turn up and theres a riot to get in. Each participant is channelling their worries and hopes into the desire to be in a movie. He interacts with them in this autocratic route, which builds the cinema ultimately about power and authority. He demands that people scream on command. One girl becomes so frustrated that she does start to cry, so he tells OK, youve attained it. And shes so happy, but then theres the frustration as she realises this was her moment on screen. She thought thered be a script and a real movie to make afterwards. Its a devastating, beautiful film.

A scene from Close-Up by Abbas Kiarostami.

Close Up, Abbas Kiarostami, 1990

A man pretends to be Mohsen Makhmalbaf, the director of Salaam Cinema . He insinuates himself into a familys life out of loneliness, to make friends. At one point the family realise hes not really the director and have him apprehended. The cinema follows this mans trial in an Iranian court, and then the real Mohsen Makhmalbaf satisfies the man and takes him to the family.

The impostors fragility ultimately embodies what it means to be poor and fighting in life, and through that you feel how sad it is that we live in a world where people are measured by wealth and power, and the cruelty that any human being could ever feel insignificant.

Gates of Heaven, Errol Morris, 1978

This was Errol Morriss first cinema. He was taking his time with it so Werner Herzog promised If you finish this film I will eat my shoe, which he did. Its about two families in California who operate pet graveyards, and it looks at humen relationships to their pets. Its an odd mystery, a pet. We eat animals, we use them for labor, but then we keep them in our home as objects upon which we project love that we maybe lack elsewhere. Morris has these carefully crafted tableaux: theres one continuous shooting where a woman has a 15 -minute lament, complaining about aspects of their own lives, and thats where the movie becomes something altogether greater and more mysterious.

Loss Is to Be Expected, Ulrich Seidl, 1992

This was constructed shortly after the fall of communism in eastern Europe and it looks at two communities on either side of the Czech-Austrian border. Theres an elderly human in Austria looking for a new spouse, and he fulfils a lone single woman on the Czech side of the border.

There are these amazing scenes where they go on a date to a funfair and then to a sexuality museum. Shes much more sexually comfy than he is, which is a source of incredible comedy. But its about passion and love and the fulfilling of our quotidian needs and the necessary, wilful blindness towards our deeper needs because ultimately, to contemplate those requires is to contemplate our own mortality.

A scene from The Hour of the Furnaces. Photograph: Tricontinental films

The Hour of the Furnaces, Octavia Getino and Fernando e Solanas, 1968

This is a furious, angry cinema about neocolonialism in Argentina, and its the most devastating look at colonialism Ive seen in nonfiction films. The sections about Argentinas oligarchy, and the exploitation on which they flourished, are so poetically rendered that you relate to the horror of totalitarianism purely through your emotions.

It was built secretly and was screened at illegal opponent meetings, in defiance of the authoritarian rule. People were arrested for screening it. I imagine that ensure it at the time you would come out feeling like youd “re going to have to” do something about the situation. There are segments of The Act of Killing where I surely had this film in the back of my head. KB

Lucy Walker: The Up series showed me what the medium was capable of

Director Lucy Walker. Photo: Linda Nylind for the Guardian

British director Lucy Walker has been Oscar-nominated twice, for Waste Land ( 2010) and The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom ( 2011 ). She is currently working on a remaking of Buena Vista Social Club .

Hoop Dreams, Steve James, 1994

Hoop Dreams follows two very talented African American boys in Chicago who get a basketball scholarship to go to a prestigious, predominantly white high school. It follows them for five years and its a spectacular example of a longitudinal documentary where you get to glimpse the machinery of life. You get a real sense of hour unfold and the big forces that act on us. The twistings and turnings are subtle , nothing much happens, and yet it feels unbelievably dramatic and compelling because its so well crafted and the characters are so beautifully rendered. I watched it repeatedly when I was stimulating my first cinema, Devils Playground , because it follows young people through this pivotal period in “peoples lives”, and I was trying to understand how you could get so much narrative, feeling and character into a movie. Theres a scene where the mum is icing a birthday cake for her sons 16 th birthday. Its an interview, in the sense that the film-maker is asking her the issues and shes talking to camera, but it doesnt feel like one, its so much more cinematic and compelling and the activity is so perfect.

Streetwise, Martin Bell, 1984

This film had its beginnings in a photojournalism assignment for Life magazine by the photographer Mary Ellen Markabout a group of street kids living in Seattle. She persuaded her husband, Martin Bell, to make a film about them. Its just so intimate that its hard to believe the film-maker is actually in the room with these kids. Its like hes put on a cloak of invisibility. I could have chosen any number of cinema vrit masterpieces but for some reason this moves me. Ive made quite a few films with young people and its fascinating because the plot of their lives is so close to the surface: one conversation can change the course of your life when youre young in a way that is rare when youre older and you are able to capture that nano-second when the course of a lifes direction is altered. When you put a camera and a cinema crew into a room, the observers paradox is almost always true you cant capture life because youre in the way of it. But these kids seem unaware of the camera and theyre behaving in a way that feels like life unfolding. The filmmaker is so present with them, you cant help but understand what theyre “re going through”, and to understand is to feel empathy and to want to help.

The Five Obstructions by Lars Von Trier.

The Five Obstructions, Lars von Trier and Jrgen Leth, 2003

In this underrated cinema the iconoclastic Danish director Lars von Trier challenges experimental film-maker Jrgen Leth to remake one of his earlier movies, The Perfect Human , 5 times, each time with a different creative constraint. The first obstruction imposed by von Trier, for example, was that the cinema had to be made in Cuba, using shootings of no more than 12 frames. Another was that it had to be made as a cartoon. Its basically these two creative egos going up against one another and it dedicates a fascinating insight into the film-making process, what goes on in a directors head and how you cope with stress and constraint and challenge. Its delicious and playful and theres never a dull moment watching these two maestros needling each other.

The Gleaners and I, Agns Varda, 2000

This film was made during the early days of the hand-held digital camera, when for the first time you could capture something high-quality enough to show on a big screen on a camera that would fit in your handbag. Its an essay about the people who pick through other peoples leftovers, whether it be the remains of the harvest in the countryside, or in cities. Its very casual, but Varda is so astute and the quality of the film-making is such that it becomes something very beautiful, a meditation on life. Were having this golden age of documentary right now and its being driving in technology. In the past you would need to write a script first because the editing process was so laborious but now you are able to shoot a whole bunch of stuff and capture life in a way that you couldnt before and this movie, shot by a 72 -year-old woman employing a very low-key format, shows you just what level of artistry is possible.

Jackie in 21 Up, 1978. Photo: ITV

Up series, Michael Apted, 1964

Im fascinated by longitudinal film-making and this series, which has followed the lives of 14 British infants since 1964, when they were seven years old, showed me what the medium was capable of. This series is head and shoulders above any other attempt to record dramatically a whole human life. And because its a whole group of people, you learn not just about the individual but also about the organizations of the system in which theyre living. I cant think of any other artefact in our culture that can tell us so much about Britain in our lifetime and how society is evolving as this body of work. Its light and fascinating and its one of the things that inspired me to do the work that I do. JOC

Alex Gibney: Fake home movies dont bother me you might as well object to dreams

Going Clear director Alex Gibney. Photo: Larry Busacca/ Getty Images

Alex Gibneys award-winning films include Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room ( 2005 ), Taxi to the Dark Side ( 2007) and Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God ( 2012 ). Last year he released documentaries on Scientology and Steve Jobs. He tells: I dont believe in five best films. But I do believe in influential films. These are five of mine .

Night and Fog, Alain Resnais, 1955

What really impressed me about this movie was its concision. Its about the Holocaust, but it has a simple and horrible beauty to it, because it describes the scaring nature of the Holocaust through a powerful series of images and a narration that was specific, naming the collections of items of the prisoners and survivors. Its the cruel verse of detail that is so heartbreaking: the handles of the ovens, the fingernail scrapings on the ceilings of the cells. We assure piles of combs, shaving brushes, shoes and a vast mountain of human hair. It took something so horrible but discovered a way to go to the heart of the matter through simple details.

Gimme Shelter , Albert and David Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin 1970

Here you assure the Rolling Stones on tour singing about empathy for the demon, but their posturing about satanism blows back at them at the Altamont music festival. Its structured like a detective tale: it starts with a assassination a Hells Angel stabs somebody who seems to have a gun in the audience and then you go back in time. Maybe one of the most powerful scenes is of the Stones listening to a playback of Wild Ponies in the studio. Its stunning in its simplicity. That movie went route beyond a concert reveal; it celebrates music but its really about a few moments in time and how dark forces-out get unleashed. Its powerful both in its observation and its analysis, which is a rare combination.

Leon Gasts When We Were Kings. Photograph: Sportsphoto Ltd/ Allstar

When We Were Kings , Leon Gast, 1996

This is perhaps the greatest sport cinema ever attained. It has wonderful cinema vrit footage of the Rumble in the Jungle, the famous 1974 battle between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. Gast has the most magnificent material, particularly in Muhammad Ali on a running, dancing, gooning for the camera, at his most charismatic. And then the dwell figure of George Foreman. But Gast wasnt be permitted to put that footage together, and in arrives Taylor Hackford, shoots some interviews with people who were there , notably George Plimpton and Norman Mailer, and through their recollection you also have a sense of analysis and understanding rather than mere observation. So its combining those two things in the film that really is magnificent.

Stories We Tell , Sarah Polley, 2012

This is a detective narrative thats very much in the first person. Its about identity, trying to understand your childhood, and ultimately paternity. Sarah Polley is digging back into the relationship between her mother and father, who she discovers isnt her biological father. In some quarters she was criticised for using a series of fictional home movies that she manufactured, but it didnt bother me at all they might as well any objections to dreamings and memories, because those are everyday recreations. The trick is receiving the verse in their own homes. Its a very powerful movie about memory and exploration and love, because she comes to appreciate her adoptive father in a manner that is she might not otherwise have done.

Waltz With Bashir, an animated documentary.

Waltz With Bashir , Ari Folman, 2008

Part of the small but growing category of the animated documentary, Waltz With Bashir is actually a film about repressed memory, and the recollection of Israeli soldiers trying to understand why theyre having these nightmares. The notion of using animation to convey what is mostly going on inside their heads, in their imaginations, is such a powerful one. It doesnt become clear until nearly the end that the soldiers all took part in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camp massacre in Lebanon in 1982. And the very end of the movie includes just the slightest bit of real footage: a woman whimpering in the wake of that carnage. It really is one of the most poignant movies about the trauma of war. KB

Kim Longinotto: All the very best Tv documentaries are on the BBC at the moment

Film-maker Kim Longinotto. Photo: Martin Godwin for the Guardian

British film-maker Kim Longinotto tackles topics such as female genital mutilation ( The Day I Will Never Forget ) and women opposing abuse ( Sisters in Law ). Her most recent cinema, Dreamcatcher , is on Chicago females trying to leave the sexuality industry .

Shermans March, Ross McElwee, 1986

I saw this at film school, then watched it again at a festival a couple of years ago and thought it was so charming, so good. It has a very simple premise. The director is meant to be making a film about General Shermans march through Georgia during the course of its American civil war, but he falls out of love with the idea. Instead, the film becomes about his attempts to find a girlfriend, shooting as a kind of video diary an approach that was completely new at the time. Its so candid and affectionate and lovely, and everyone at the celebration loved it. Not many cinemas bear rewatching, but this one does.

Tales of the Grim Sleeper, Nick Broomfield, 21

Nick Broomfield has become much more serious and political in recent years and this is a difficult and perpetrated cinema. Its about a man who was arrested in 2010 for killing as many as 100 prostitutes in Los Angeles over a period of 25 years. Whats extraordinary is how he managed to get away with it for so long the police didnt seek because his victims were mostly black prostitutes. Its a very timely cinema, in terms of Black Lives Matter and police abuses in the US, and I thought he got it just right. Its also a really good crime story.

Solar Mamas.

Solar Mamas, Jehane Noujaim and Mona Eldaief, 2012

This is a film about Bedouin women trying to get solar energy in their village in Jordan. It follows one woman travelling to a college in India to become a solar engineer. I like it because its not saying, Oh, look at these poor women. Instead, it presents women actively changing their lives and I found that very inspiring. So many documentaries tell you what to think. This one doesnt it puts you straight into the story and you get to know the characters merely by watching them. It was part of a very good BBC series on poverty. Thats where all the good Tv documentaries are at the moment: on the BBC.

Virunga, Orlando von Einsiedel, 2014

I watched this in the cinema, which was good because its very beautifully filmed a real spectacle. Its set in a reserve in the Congo, which is home to the last mountain gorillas on earth and it follows the people who are trying to save them, as well as the corrupted people trying to get the land to drill petroleum. Theres a moment when the person or persons in a neighbouring village are assaulted. It was filmed so well, I dont know how they did it. Youre right in the thick of it and you feel so angry, because you know it all come to corrupt practices and greed.

Five Broken Cameras.

Five Broken Cameras, Emad Burnat, Guy Davidi, 2011

This is about a Palestinian man who films the destruction of his villages olive orchards by the Israeli army. His cameras maintain get broken by the Israelis, hence the title, but he just maintained filming. I think he was feeling: Theres an incredible incorrect being done to my people, Im going to film it, even if I succumb doing it. Then he linked up with an Israeli film-maker, who edited the footage. I recollect people saying he shouldnt have worked with an Israeli, but I thought it was so great that they came together and made something very powerful which showed us what is really going on in Palestine. KF

James Marsh: In my view there should be no borders to film-making

James Marsh at the 2015 Palm Springs film festival. Photo: C Flanigan/ Getty Images

James Marsh is a British film-maker, best known for the Oscar-winning documentary Man on Wire ( 2008) and the acclaimed Stephen Hawking biopic, The Theory of Everything .

Man with a Movie Camera , Dziga Vertov, 1929

This was the first truly subversive, playful documentary. Its notionally a day in the life of a city in the Soviet Union and so it has, on a purely sociological/ historical level, great value. But what it does beyond that is to show you the means of production: the filming, the trim room, the editing all the things that are going into the stimulating of this film. Its style before its period, the Tristram Shandy of documentaries, if you like. Its so inventive and it has techniques that, 87 years later, still look pretty revolutionary: the freeze frames and slow motion. Its simply full of inventive and brilliant formal ideas as well as being a very beautiful cinema to watch. And its informative too, showing us the Soviet Union in a halcyon period before Stalins terror, when you felt that things were still possible in a new political context. Of course we now know that Vertov suffered in the Stalin era, as many other independent artists would have done, but theres a sort of optimism and a playfulness to it that you wouldnt expect from a Soviet documentary from 1929.

Le Sang des Btes , Georges Franju, 1949

This is a documentary about an abattoir that was built in Paris just after the second world war. If the cinema had been shot in colouring it would be unwatchable, its so gory and weird and disturbing, but its in black and white and so it becomes a bit more abstract. There are images in that cinema that I think are some of the most powerful Ive ever seen. Theres a surreal sequence where lots of sheep have been beheaded and theyre all dancing without their heads on this conveyor belt. Its like a bit of choreographed horror, but its all real. The director Georges Franju went on to have a career doing very artistic horror movies in French cinema, most famously a cinema called Les Yeux Sans Visage .

The War game by Peter Watkins.

The War Game , Peter Watkins, 1965

In this film, Watkins takes a possible scenario a nuclear attack on London and shows you very carefully, each step of the style, what is likely to happen. It was banned by the BBC for many years because it was just too harrowing a depiction of a reality that all individuals at that time was very concerned about: this was in the middle of the cold warand at the time there were dozens of warheads pointing at us. Its like a documentary made by Brecht youre staging something to flush out a reaction in the audience, and that reaction is one of utter horror. Some people would say this is not a documentary because everything was staged, but its a speculative documentary the director is saying: This is how it could be and Im going to show you this in a way thats very truthful.Its very responsible, even if the imagery is very disturbing: youre find bobbies firing at people in the street, people with their clothes burned off. His information is sourced directly from the government and based on scientific fact, so the bed of it is factual, and people responded to it “as if its” a real documentary.